Yesterday, in an extraordinary example of our American Democracy, there was a Rally in favor of amending the CPSIA in the U.S. Capitol complex. As a reminder, the CPSIA is a law passed in haste by our Congress in response to a rash of toy recalls. Turns out that the law is inherently flawed and in need of amendment (for more see, www.amendthecpsia.com). The Rally was organized by Rick Woldenberg, Chairman of Learning Resources, a leading educational products manufacturer. The room was standing room only, with the crowd spilling out into the hallways.
The speakers included Senators, Congresspeople, representatives of trade groups, small businesspeople, toxicologists, authors of childrens books and concerned citizens. But, not a single elected Democrat showed up. Why, you may ask, would Democrats not come to at least hear what is being said about this law? Why would no Democrats speak at the Rally to defend the law, or otherwise address the law's shortcomings? For the same reason that there has been no progress to date in fixing this law.
They don't want to hear it. They literally do not want to hear from us. Rep Waxman even cancelled an appointment we had to speak to his staff yesterday. The Congressional Democrats are not interested in compromise. They have taken child safety law and politicized it. Rather than try to forge the most sensible public policy in this critical area, which is what we pay them for (to govern, that is), they are more interested in kicking around this political football.
We deserve better than this. We really do. And it is outrageous that our elected officials (who are supposed to work for us, remember, to run our country) will not even give us the courtesy of a hearing to listen to our concerns.
What concerns me even more than this is what this law, and the subsequent obstructionist manner in which the Democratic majority has acted, portend for the future. Not good news for us, folks. This trend, if allowed to continue, will result in a further concentration of power in Washington, where bureacrats can determine what is best for us, on a whole new level. This trend will become clearer over time, but you can see the outlines of it now.
The Congressional Democratic Majority is the best friend the Republican Party has right now. The Democratic Majority may actually save the Republicans from themselves. All the Republicans need to do is get out of the way (oh yeah, and they should also do somthing to stop Rush Limbaugh from defining what they stand for).
W
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