Consumer Products Safety Commission Chiefs Toy With Integrity.

Well the great mystery of how dangerous, lead covered toys could be all over American store shelves has been solved. Now the who-dun-it definitely had a fall guy all set up with the Chinese manufacturers. The story also had toy companies like Mattel as obvious bad guys in this debacle. But now the real cause of how harmful and dangerous toys can make our market has been brought to light by the Washington Post. It seems the cops were on the take and that’s how everyone was able to get away with these garbage products hitting our shores until the fourth estate became involved.

CPSC Chairwoman, Nancy Nord is starting to get heat for her acceptance of free trips to vacation areas in the United States and abroad that were paid for by the toy manufacturing association and other organizations which her agency is supposed to monitor.

Amazingly, the woman finds no conflict of interest in her accepting these gratuitous trips stating she needs to spend time with these manufacturing officials to communicate and address mutual concerns. Of course she does. She can also spend that time meeting with them in her office or their office or at the local Starbucks. To try and pass on to the American consumer that she needed to go to exotic cities and ports to meet with companies she is directed to police is just beyond any and all concepts of ethics and public decency. The woman obviously has no shame.

The Post reports show that Nord and her predecessor, Hal Stratton, have received 30 trips that were paid in part or in total by companies who have vested interest in being left alone by the agency created in 1973 to protect us from inferior and dangerous products. In nine instances, junkets were paid by companies or their lobbying interests having immediate issues before the CPSC and Nord doesn’t see the problem with this?

Of course, like all government bodies, we hear the same old, Well it might not be a good idea to do this but it isn’t illegal" tripe coming out of even detractors of Nord’s failures to maintain her integrity. Washington has to protect their own since most of them have their own skeletons rattling around just waiting to be unearthed.

The obvious influence by lobbyists can readily be seen in Nord’s latest round of decisions. She is against expanding her agency. Have you ever heard that one before? A politician who doesn’t want more money and manpower? Of course more manpower would mean greater inspection opportunities to check the garbage coming over here and no one in the exporting of American jobs and the importing of cheap consumer products wants that. It seems neither does Nord.

The woman also is on record as stating requiring imported toys be completely lead free is unrealistic and will place too great a burden on foreign toy manufactures. Hey, Nancy, American toys cannot contain ANY lead so don’t tell us you want to give a pass to a company that after taking our jobs, might have to spend a little money to meet the same requirements we must.

Nord is also against higher fines against corporations caught importing inferior products and that defies logic unless you see the correlation between free trips and unaccountable access to our economy.

The Chairwoman is quick to point out her trips all were approved by a CPSC ethics officer but in several instances the approvals came after the trips were over and in one case the ethics officer went along for the freebee. Can you imagine anyone doing this in the real world and keeping her job for a minute? Right now there is zero pressure for this woman to be fired and that in itself tells us just how corrupt the good old boys and girls network has become.

I will leave you with one last tid bit of information that should make your blood boil. Nord’s predecessor, Hal Stratton, who started this breach in ethics, including taking a free vacation valued at $11,000 to China, has a great job since leaving the CPSC. He’s a lobbyist for the Toy industry.

Comment by Danny Davids^(13,038) (189 days 4 hours ago.)

Comment by Mike Fak^(17,924) (189 days 3 hours ago.)