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Read the nastygram I got from Rep Schakowsky
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Jody
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 13, 2009 8:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

People strike back when they feel threatened. I'm guessing she's worried about the next election. The economy is likely going to get worse before it gets better. And, being a co-sponsor of a bill that will ultimately be responsible for many livlihoods lost ("epic failure" I think were the words Rich Woldberg accurately used to characterize it), she's probably feeling pretty vulnerable right now. We can expect to see a lot of political CYA over this bill. That's why we need to keep their feet to the fire. Don't lose any sleep over this. I think it can actually be viewed a measure of the success of your efforts. She knows you and your "consituents" have now achieved some political clout. And, she knows that very soon, she may be hanging onto her seat in Congress by her fingernails. Kudos :)
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LindaNan
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 14, 2009 12:19 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I was reading her letter to you searching specifically for references to fabric & supplies for children's apparel. Funny, I didn't find any mention of them.


ETA Please feel free to append my comments to any reply to the irissponsible letter to you from the congesswoman. Other FI members may feel as I do.

Lindanan
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Marlene Sevacherian
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 14, 2009 1:17 am    Post subject: Outraged and offended??? Reply with quote

It took a picture of a tombstone to outrage and offend her? I'm outraged and offended that all these elected officials are signing bills without even reading them. We vote for them, not their staff. I am still wondering how many of our esteemed elected officials actually read what was in the cpsia or understood it. Let's get real here, no one read the bill they passed this evening and that was enormous! I understand that they will have a week off and then be back on the hill. I think we have to get back to writing letters, calling all our elected officials and hope that now that the big issue for them is done, maybe we can get some support. Kathleen, please keep up the great work and know that we are all supporting you! Don't tone anything down! Thank you for all you do! Whew, I feel a little better now.
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guest
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 14, 2009 9:32 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

I always thought it was the parents responsibility to keep their children safe. I am outraged that the government thinks we are not capable of it and starts dictating our lives in intimate details. This congress woman really thinks she can safe lives with her silly legislation giving the government control over the once free market. Sounds like communism to me and if you speak out against it, watch out, the KGB will be at your door and you will disappear leaving no trace.
Too bad the woman herself does not understand the laws she sponsored and can't even write a good argument. Or she does understand and wants to detract from it to make it sound less intrusive for the good of the children.
Keep it up Kathleen, I can't wait to read your response. I have a hunch she picked on the wrong person, you are very intelligent and not a push over. This will be a battle worth watching. javascript:emoticon('Very Happy')
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Sue T.
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 14, 2009 10:08 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
I always thought it was the parents responsibility to keep their children safe. I am outraged that the government thinks we are not capable of it and starts dictating our lives in intimate details.


Okay, I'm going to virtually hold up my hand and say "WHOA!" here. This is most definitely not a libertarian issue. Yes, it is the parent's responsibility. Yes, the Government has a right to assist legally. Two instances:

1. Children's cribs and the distance between the slats. My daughter came along just after the legislation that banned cribs with openings exceeding 2-3/8" (if I recall directly). Before then, cribs were being made and sold with greater distances between the slats. Some infants died when their heads got caught between the slats. Now maybe I was a poor parent, but I don't remember feeling that I had to go measure everything in sight. Before that legislation and the surrounding publicity, I don't think it would have even occurred to me to go around measuring slat openings. A crib was a crib. In this case I am glad that legislation was enacted that removed a clear danger from the market. It is unlikely that anyone waving a finger and saying "Don't do that" would have changed anything; it took legislation with defined consequences to do that.

2. I am old enough to remember riding in cars that did not have seatbelts, head restraints, or airbags of any kind. I also sat through gruesome driver's ed. slideshows presented by the State Troopers on what can happen to a human body during an accident if no seatbelt is worn. I am frankly glad that legislation was enacted requiring manufacturers of cars to install seatbelts, head restraints and airbags. Likewise I am also glad that seatbelts are not mandatory and that there are switches to turn off the passenger-side airbag if you have a small child riding there. You have the right to choose what level of safety protection you want to use.

While the CPSIA law is a piece of nonsensical blather, remember that the lobbying groups were the ones responsible for it. USPIRG and others are where the real problem lies. Lobbyists are the second biggest industry in Washington. (The biggest, of course, is the Federal government). You need to fight back with truth well documented. You will NOT win any friends on Capitol Hill by stating that the entire Federal Government should stay away from you.

Just sayin'.
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guest
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 14, 2009 1:59 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for your response. I can look at a crib and tell you why I wouldn't use it. Try the co-sleeper. javascript:emoticon('Very Happy'), much safer with real sides. Why would you want your child to look at the world through prison bars anyway.
All the seat belt laws are silly to me as well. As an adult I should be allowed to make decisions that can or can not impact my life for good or bad. I've seen accidents where the child survived because she was not wearing a seat belt and was ejected from the car. Had she been strapped in she would have been crashed. What I don't agree with is government making decisions for us. Educating the public is good, forcing them to comply is socialism. I have seen countries where there are plenty of consumer safety groups testing toys, hygiene articles, cribs, car seats, and so on, and publishing their results. Consumer buy their reports before shopping, cheap stuff does not get bought and won't sell. It is regulated by the consumer, not the government. I am all for that. How did your ancestors survive without all the regulations and laws I wonder?
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Julia S
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 14, 2009 5:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Just like everyone else, when I first read this letter last night was, "wow."

Now I read it again and still it is "wow." Mindboggling. This woman is truly off the mark.

I am sorry about the kids that had died, but I look at more that it wasn't all the manufacturers fault of producing these items she mentions, but the parents must take responsibility, too.
How old was little Jarnell for swallowing a charm and who would put that on his shoe to begin with?!?...Young kids put things into their mouths and I am sorry, but the parent should have known better. Question about Kenny,who swallowed the magnets from a siblings toy, why did Kenny have access to the toys meant for an older child?

I am not making light of these deaths. I am just saying that parents need to be held accountable for what they give their children and what is in their homes. Parents need to parent their own children. What's next, no more sharp utensils because a child might get a hold of a fork and poke his/her eye out?!? Parents need to be parents and take a closer look at what they give their kids.

I have a sick feeling that this is just the beginning. What will be next? Will there be laws to dictate what can and can't be made for adult clothing?

This Rep. Schakowsky is covering her butt to stay in the good graces of the special interest groups - it has nothing to do with our industry.

We're not disputing that any product made for the consumer, be it for kids, adults and even pets, should be deemed safe, however, we are all accountable for what we buy and give. A little education doesn't hurt to know what these products are made of and using common sense (something i see less and less of these days!) of what is appropriate for a child at any given age. To have to pay expensive fees for redundant testing and on items that are safe to begin with is what we have issue with and the toll it will take on OUR local economy.

Kathleen, I hope you do respond to this representative. She is out of touch with the true issue at hand. She has no idea who she is dealing with!!
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Sue T.
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PostPosted: Sat Feb 14, 2009 6:55 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Quote:
Thanks for your response. I can look at a crib and tell you why I wouldn't use it. Try the co-sleeper, much safer with real sides. Why would you want your child to look at the world through prison bars anyway.


Considering my daughter is 31 years old and 5'10" tall, I think we'll pass.


Quote:
How did your ancestors survive without all the regulations and laws I wonder?


Far too many of them didn't. Like I said, I got to see the photos of the results of accidents where no seatbelts were worn. Back then, seatbelt use was not mandated by the government, and many older cars had no seatbelts. Hell, my first car didn't even come with backup lights - the previous owner installed them separately. (It was a German car, btw.)

I also grew up when polio vaccine was introduced. After testing, it was made mandatory. Polio has been nearly eradicated worldwide. I have friends who had polio as children - not only were they crippled then, but now they are suffering from post-polio syndrome which strikes later in life. Before that it was mandatory smallpox vaccinations, and that disease has officially been eradicated. Child labor laws took children out of horrible, dangerous situations where they were forced to work and were sometimes maimed for life.

I sincerely doubt that I could even begin to change your mind about the role of government and whether it should even exist, so I'm not going down that path. What I have been trying to point out is that in this case government is not the real source of the problem. It is those special-interest groups that do all of the lobbying. If you don't pay attention to that, then there is little or no chance of getting this legislation set aside or changed. The money and the strength are in their hands. Ranting about the government in toto will have no effect, and will probably have the result of getting you marked as a loony. You need to find the SIGs that support your position and support them, in addition to working on an individual level with your elected representatives.
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Kathleen F.
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Location: NM Albuquerque

PostPosted: Sat Feb 14, 2009 7:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I agree with you Sue, I'm very uncomfortable with some of the claims that have been made here. But also, I'm not comfortable with the idea that everything special interests groups do is bad and that they're up to no good. I can't tell you how many SE groups I belong to. I've been saving eagles since I was nine years old. I've been a committed left wing tree hugging hippie vegetarian for my entire adult life. I've done a lot of legal work pro bono translating for political asylum seekers, I've had my butt shot at in central america...and a whole lot more.

The point is, this time these groups are wrong. Somehow, they got focused on the wrong track, they have not revisited it and either through stubbornness or an unwillingness to admit a mistake, they're not mending the situation. What will happen now, as it stands, is we'll have lots of people failing to follow or enforce the law for a myriad of reasons. Either there's no enforcement, it's not enforceable (no funding for the agency etc) and it will be NO DIFFERENT from the situation previously meaning that had CPSC regs and standards been followed, then at least three of these four children may have been saved.

More importantly tho, CPSIA would not have saved ANY of these children so it's kind of dumb for congressman whatshername to use them as a justification for it. Frankly, I'd be embarrassed to put my name to something publicly that proves I didn't have the first clue as to what the law I signed was about. And she's outraged? That makes many of us. Too bad we didn't think of ways to outrage more of them a lot sooner than now. Maybe that's what we should do, make them mad.

[edited] Boy, I just noticed that I badly misspelled her name, had to go google it. It's Schakowsky. Here's her website. Eric was teasing me this morning that if she were from NM that I'd vote for her just because she was a democrat, he said I'd walk into the voting booth pinching my nose closed with my fingers but I'd still vote for her. Eric says her husband has been caught up iin a big scandal, embezzlement and that she was supposedly on the board but says he's innocent. Maybe he is, but maybe she needs to score some points with constituents back home. He says she took her last race with 70% of returns.
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Kathleen F.
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 15, 2009 11:35 am    Post subject: Re: About "Danny" Reply with quote

Guest wrote:
Jarnell and the lead charm-- lead has been illegal for years. Importantly, the charm was from a bracelet that came with HIS MOTHER's shoes.

I have verified this is true. The lead charm Jarnell swallowed was not even a product intended for children meaning cpsia will have no effect in preventing further incidents.
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 15, 2009 1:43 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

thanks, Kathleen, for that verification.

it is amazing how choice words can be used to both convince and deceive soooo easily.
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Guest
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PostPosted: Sun Feb 15, 2009 3:01 pm    Post subject: The facts Reply with quote

Thank you. I have been following the CPSIA issues closely and this is the first time I've read that the Reebok sneakers w/ the bracelet charm were LADIES shoes. That's a critical FACT. CPSIA makes no difference in adult shoes.

And, has there been a definite medical statement that the charm caused the death? Is there a FACT? I've read that the boy died after ingesting the charm, which clearly had excessive lead, but I haven't seen statements that medical experts say the charm caused the death.

Next, with all the hue & cry: where is the money promised to the CPSC? Their budget is a disgrace, but all Congress does is whine. Where is the FUNDING for safety?
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PostPosted: Thu Feb 19, 2009 12:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Ugh. I used to live right across the street from Schakowsky's office in Edgewater, Chicago. I went in there a couple times to voice my opinion. I never knew much about her, but it's a pretty intelligent diverse part of town, I always assumed she must be alright.

Until I saw her speak on C-SPAN in favor of the CSPIA. It flabbergasted me. She seemed like a shrill, irate parent who always has something to complain about at the PTA meeting.

This letter is really disgraceful. Notwithstanding the fact that, indeed, those children might be dead, because no law is airtight (for instance, in Chicago guns are illegal, and it enjoys the highest gun violence rate in the country) the tone is totally inappropriate, and she does nothing as a public servant to address your legitimate concerns. Shame on her. I would vote for a house pet over her next election season.
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lisa versaci
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PostPosted: Fri Feb 20, 2009 1:30 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

I believe this is absolutely a Libertarian issue! It is state coercion. It's a consolidation of power. It's SCARE TACTICS! The state is our enemy. I am "fed up"!

edit: I have to add that our ability to participate in special interest groups is called DEMOCRACY..... even if you don't agree with their causes.
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Guest






PostPosted: Fri Feb 20, 2009 5:44 pm    Post subject: re: CPSIA Reply with quote

Honestly, if the USA wasn't owned by other countries (we are so indebted to them, b/c most of America's worth is tied up in the holdings of foreign countries, we are forced to keep trade open to repay them by using American's to stimulate their economies)...we could keep ONLY local trade within the states and WAHLA...none of those deaths would have occurred. All of our problems stem from buying goods and supplies from the other side of the planet, where chemical laced ingredients are acceptable because those people are going to die early anyways from being worked to death just to get some food for their kids.

What needs to happen is a worldwide boycott of goods, only buy MADE IN THE USA, and make sure those makers get their goods only from the USA. That would settle all our problems, keep our homemade items from going under, AND represent the actual AMERICAN DREAM everyone thinks we have here.
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