Connecting The Dots

Another article about consumers not felling safe about Chinese toys.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The vast majority of Americans surveyed say they associate China with unsafe toys, and they are divided on whether they trust major toymakers to ensure products on store shelves are safe, according to a MSN-Zogby poll released on Monday.
The poll found 83 percent of Americans polled said they associate unsafe toys with China.

It was not that long ago the Senate had a debate about the budget for the Consumer Product Safety Commission. If you remember the Democratic Party wanted to double the budget. The republicans led by CPSC head Nancy Nord, wanted to cut the budget. Remember, that the CPSC has only one employee that tests toys full time. Since that debate, toy after toy has been found with lead paint and some date rape drugs thrown in for good measure. None of this mentioned in the article about consumer confidence in toys from China. Heck, It might be why Americans do not have confidence in Chinese toys.

Now lets see what GW and company want to do about this. Perhaps add some inspectors, some mandatory testing, penalties for violating current law, maybe a regulation or two. But no.

Last week, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson met with Chinese officials and the two countries agreed to make sure that Chinese-made toys meet U.S. safety standards

Well I feel safer. How about you. How did the budget battle go?

The year-end measure mostly sticks within Bush's budget, though it shifts billions of dollars into politically sensitive programs he sought to cut[...]

Democrats were able to put their imprint on the bill, restoring Bush-sought cuts to state and local law enforcement grants, aid to community action groups and airport modernization grants.[...]

The chronically underfunded Consumer Product Safety Commission would get a 28 percent hike in its budget.

Politically sensitive programs Bush wanted to cut: police, CPSC, aid to first responders. The media always has to put a few paragraphs between Bush's cuts and what they are. Bush is unpopular and so are his budget cuts. The media must portray dear leader in the most positive light. It is immoral that they will not test toys, in light of all the evidence that it should be done.