But it has the word "safety" in it....

Watch as shop owner and initial supporter of the Consumer Protection Safety Improvement Act suddenly gets a little Goldwater flowing through her veins when she finds out this Act, designed to prevent toys with lead and phthalates any contact with "our most precious commodities", has an adverse effect on her own business.




Smaller outfits that produce hand-crafted and/or eco-friendly toys are squeezed out of the market because they cannot afford the testing to comply with the law.

Small-scale toy manufacturers that make safe toys and clothing as an alternative to the mass-produced-from-China products are wiped-out of the U.S. market by a law that would ensure.... only safe toys and clothing come into contact with our children.

And barring a reprieve, this same law because of the testing requirements will effect clothing retailers and thrift shops which sell second-hand clothing.

Carol Vaporis, owner of Duck Duck Goose Consignment in New Port Richey, Fla., said her store stocks barely used brand-name clothing from places such as Limited Too and Gymboree.

"We really provide a service to the community to help people get clothes for their children they otherwise couldn't afford," she said.

and...

Cynthia Broockman, who owns two consignment stores and a thrift shop in Virginia, recently stopped accepting children's products for resale. That raised the ire of a man who was trying to sell his son's castoffs there and had not heard of the new rules.

That's a double-whammy as far as we're concerned. Not only do you hose the little guy who is making and retailing "safe" toys but you stick it to the poor as well. How is that not a good thing?

Yet another example of hastily-conceived legislation based upon nothing more than "we need to do something" that's unintended consequences actually prove to be counterproductive to both the producers and the consumers.

Nice work, Congress. Give yourself the rest of the day off. Please!

H/T: Hot Air