Safety Board Head Under Fire Over Recalls

Pelosi Calls For CPSC Head's Resignation After She Opposed More Money For Agency

(CBS/AP)  House Speaker Nancy Pelosi on Tuesday called for the resignation of the head of the Consumer Product Safety Commission following the recall of millions of Chinese-made toys.

Pelosi says it's clear that Nancy Nord, the acting chairwoman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, doesn't understand the gravity of the situation, because she opposes legislation now before Congress that would double the agency's budget over the next seven years to more than $141 million a year, reports CBS News correspondent Chip Reid.

The legislation, which was passed unanimously by the Senate Commerce Committee Tuesday, would also give the agency tough new tools to go after companies that make or market unsafe products.

For example, the bill would raise the cap on penalties from $1.8 million to $100 million per offense and give company employees big rewards for blowing the whistle on unsafe products, reports Reid.

“Any commission chair who (says) ... we don't need any more authority or any more resources to do our job, does not understand the gravity of the situation,” said Pelosi, who has been joined in her call for Nord's resignation by other Democrats in the House and Senate. “I call on the president of the United States to ask for the resignation.”

Nord says the Democrats have it all wrong, reports Reid.

She agrees the agency is badly in need of more resources to modernize testing labs -- some of which are straight out of the 1950s -- and to help the agency’s mere 420 full-time employees, including only 150 scientists, handle hundreds of thousands of product safety reports.

“Show me a bureaucrat who doesn’t want more money,” she told Reid.

In an Oct. 24 letter to the Senate Commerce Committee, Nord wrote that the bill “could have the unintended consequence of hampering, rather than furthering, consumer product safety.”

She said Democrats want to change the mission of the agency’s focus from product testing to litigation against companies producing unsafe products, reports Reid.

“This agency will end up hiring lawyers rather than the scientists and the safety inspectors that I think we need," she said.

The White House also opposes the legislation, citing the same reasons as Nord, reports Reid.

"We have serious concerns with a number of provisions in the legislation,” said Allan Hubbard, director of the National Economic Council and assistant to the president for economic policy.

[kaelinda]

This is amazing. Some of you seem to have commented without reading the article. Nord objects to having to fill her agency with lawyers. She agrees that more scientists and inspectors are needed - but there are provisions in the proposed law that would require CPSC to hire expensive and unnecessary lawyers to fight all the appeals that the product manufacturers will file against the imposed fines. Nord makes a lot of sense here; more sense than Pelosi and her left-wing comrades.

[ioweign]

We have 100,000 private mercenary Blackwater types in Iraq protecting 50 to 100 diplomats and military bigshots !

We have 300 million population and a mere 420 full-time employees, including only 150 scientists, to check all the ***** that American business is importing from China and where ever. 420 employees !!

[gkc99]

If Al Queda were putting poisons into toys and sending them to the U.S., Bushit would be on TV warning us all to be very afraid and to forget about the Bill of Rights, because we''re at WAR!

But his corporate buddies put poisons into toys and send them to the U.S. just to line their own pockets with money, and that is AOK with Bushit and Darth!

It''s not sick kids that bother Bushit and Darth, it''s less profits for the billionaires who own and operate the Bushit Administration!

[skyk-2009]

Sounds to me like Nord makes a lot more sense than Pepsicola. Is the Product Safety Commision part of the Justice Department?


Posted by pockoleotis at 09:07 PM : Oct 30, 2007
+ report abuse

Strange but I don''t see anywhere in the proposed change that makes this department a part of the Department of Justice. It would seem that you poor souls have been fed Kool Aid so long that all the Bush people have to do is put it out there and you lap it up. Maybe you should stop allowing OTHERS to tell you what someone means and start looking at it for YOURSELF. What the proposal does is allows law enforcement to bring those who harm our children and our people with cheap products to justice. That most certainly is NOT new... not at all.

[watcher269-2009]

The Bushit administration wants the corporations to govern themselves and doesn''t want this new funding to prosecute those companies who don''t protect americans from their own products. Well, that selve policing is not working - look at all the recalls for unsafe toys, food products, medicine etc....... There is no self policing by companies and they get to walk away with small fines while kids suffer from their neglegence! Seems like Bushit''s admin is against anything and everything that helps the american people. If it doesn''t have oil or the middle east involved then it is not good for American in his opinion!!!!

[johngress]

The Bushites are planning another "FEMA like" fake news conference. They''ll be telling everyone how they fully screen all toys coming into this country and have this issue under control. Be Afraid, Be Very Afraid!

[walt1944-2009]

Once again, another appointee of the Great Emperor Bush II''s is under attack for not knowing their job, in fact, not knowing which way is UP! It has often been said that the total amount of intelligence of all the Emperor''s appointees, including those in Justice and the supreme Court, wouldn''t fill a lunch bag, and the new battle with Nord and the CPSC is a perfect example.

While other departments are crying for money, she refuses it, claiming they are doing their job without need of more money. Naturally, the Great Emperor agrees with this assessment because after all, what are the lives of the children of the USSA when compared to "supporting the troops" (and Blackwater, and Halliburton, and KBF, etc.)! The Great Emperor doesn''t care one bit if the children of the new USSA are poisoned by the Chinese, just so long as the toy companies can post higher profits, which, the Emperor "thinks" will "stimulate the economy" (and most upper manager''s wallets)!

So, the Great Emperor has another battle on his hands thanks to the evil, cowardly Democrats who don''t want the children of the new USSA poisoned by Chinese lead.
Instead, their attitude is that all those toys should be sent to Rush Limbaugh, Bill O''Reilly, Micheal Savage, Anne Coulter and other Fascist neocons as no one would really miss them except the Great Emperor!

SIG HEIL, BUSH!!!

[pakaal]

Posted by thefarrier at 09:07 PM

Er, Ron who?

[ixoye_02]

I am not a strong fan of Pelosi, but at least she has spoken up for issues that Americans care about. And I will give Pelosi some credit speaking out. Hastert didn''t seem to speak up much about anything. Would we want the Speaker of the House to be mum on issues? I don''t think so!!!
Also, it is tough for the Congress to to override a presidential veto when there are stick-in-the-mud republican''ts voting with Bush''s veto. Of course, republican''ts and the Liar-in-Chief would criticize congressional democratic leaders for seemingly doing little by way of passing laws. Republican''t are using the same circular and nonsensical reasoning they have been using to confuse the issues. It''s time that Americans at all levels demand better from our politicians. After all, these politicians are entrusted with spending our tax dollars. We''ve already seen the republican''ts give our tax dollars away to lobbyists'' special interests. Not any more....

[Pocko]

Sounds to me like Nord makes a lot more sense than Pepsicola. Is the Product Safety Commision part of the Justice Department?

[usaprophet]

I want to report a major fire, friends. CBS isn''t reporting it. Our Constitution is currently on fire. And it''s being burned in Congress. See H.R. 1955, a.k.a., Violent Radicalization and Homegrown Terrorism Prevention Act of 2007. I couldn''t believe it. Apparently, online activists are really begining to anger the elite insofar as they are publically holding corrupt politicians accountable for their evil. The bill passed the house on Oct 23, in spite of Congressman, Ron Paul''s opposition. The right to free speech on the Internet is gone, my friends. Look it up for yourself, and weep for your country as I have that our rights have eroded this far. Here''s a short excerpt from the bill''s DEFINITIONS statement: "The development and implementation of methods and processes that can be utilized to prevent violent radicalization, homegrown terrorism, and ideologically based violence in the United States is critical to combating domestic terrorism." Here''s another excerpt from the bill''s FINDINGS statement: "The Internet has aided in facilitating violent radicalization, ideologically based violence, and the homegrown terrorism process in the United States by providing access to broad and constant streams of terrorist-related propaganda to United States citizens." And guess who get''s to decide what is "terrorist-related propaganda" is? You got it! The Department of Homeland Insecurity, an agency that''s answerable ONLY to The President. Unless Ron Paul is elected, our country is doomed!

[hsinco-2009]

Chimp believes that regulation costs the bottom line and therefore is bad.

Gut regulation and profit$ go up! Disallow tort actions, profit$ go up.

Then comes the cost in American lives, often times children. But the Idiot doesn''t care. They are not his "base".

[ixoye_02]

It seems like the president is really out of touch with keeping the lives of Americans, especially American children, safe. It IS up to congress to inform and advise the president. But Bush''s head is too far up his A** to really do anything smart. And the fruit of Bush''s stupi*ity and short-sightedness is apparent to most Americans. And there are few Americans who are like Bush - totally clueless

[one_american]

Nancy Pelosi once again shows her incompetence, and her Democrat Brand of smearing people in the press, or attemping to tell the President what to do, rather than trying to help solve a problem.

No surprises here.

Fancy Pants Nancy Pelosi will be home in her rocking chair after the next election.

[creeper00]

You can be sure that Nancy Nord is doing nothing more than following the "administration''s" set policy. That policy is pretty simple...not one red cent more for anything which doesn''t benefit Bush''s cronies or wage his wars.

Our government has left US out of their plans entirely.

[lastdance4]

Boycott : China - India -

Boycott : Stores that sell from : China - India

Don''t buy their Products ! ! !

Lastdance

[tnt1954]

all drivers in the u.s.a. should be required to
wear crash helmets in their cars when in motion,
and all passengers too. with stiff fines.
to reduce head trauma. all pedestrians also.
should you slip and fall, or be hit and knocked down.

[condumism]

When you vote Republicon, you get what you vote for: 9/11 terrorist attacks, lies to war, $9 TRILLION national debt, cronyism, incompetence, fascism. YOu ConDumbs really need to do the rest of US a favor: either kill yourselves, or move to Mexico where they have the same disorder as we do now in the USA.

[kansas1946]

The White House also opposes the legislation passed unanimously by the Senate Commerce Committee Tuesday.
***************
Well, what a surprise. This administration opposing legislation that would protect our children. Surely not. I hope that if 2006 didn''t send Republicans a message, that 2008 will. Don''t line up behind a dictator with a low IQ no matter what party he/she belongs to. Try to put America first, if that is possible for a Republican at this point.

[badmofojim]

As much as i support the US, I do feel we need to shut our borders down for a bit. and Recollect our "American" Image.

Clearly the Chinese are trying to impose Communism on the US.