69°F
weather icon Clear

An example of why you should not trust Congress to fix anything

To all those politicians calling those protesting ObamaCare un-American liars and tools of the evil insurance companies, to those who say your brilliant representatives in D.C. would never pass a law that would cause problems, I say: Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act.

It passed the Senate with only three dissenting votes and the House with only one, Texas Rep. Ron Paul.

The bill was meant to protect children from those Chinese toys that contained harmful levels of lead. Instead, it has cost businesses millions of dollars and is putting some out of business entirely.

The law requires expensive testing of items intended for children under 12 — clothing, books, ATVs, bicycles, backpacks, board games, jewelry, furniture, sporting goods, you name it — often at a cost that prohibits profits. Failure to do so carries fines of $100,000 and jail time.

So what is being done to remedy the problem? As The Wall Street Journal reported in an editorial Wednesday, nothing. Eight bills have been introduced. All have stalled.

Since Review-Journal columnist Glenn Cook reported on this problem earlier in the year, the congressional action has been nil.

So don’t start calling people liars when they look at the huge bureaucracy being assembled under the guise of health care reform and say they are fear mongers when they connect the dots and envision “death panels” pulling the plug on grandma. You’re not paranoid if they really are out to get you.

MOST READ
Don't miss the big stories. Like us on Facebook.
THE LATEST
DOJ says members of Congress can’t intervene in release of Epstein files

U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, and Rep. Thomas Massie, a Kentucky Republican, say they have “urgent and grave concerns” about the slow release of only a small number of millions of documents that began last month.

Keebler tweaks popular cookie recipe following fan backlash

Keebler said, it’s trying to make it right with consumers, revealing on Friday that it has reformulated the cookies’ recipe yet again to deliver “improved taste.”

MORE STORIES