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Consumer safety zeal
By: Timothy P. Carney
Examiner Columnist
09/04/09 11:06 AM EDT
One problem President Obama is facing with his push for a government option in health insurance and new insurance mandates and regulations is the public apprehension about government meddling in our personal affairs.
On that score, his Consumer Product Safety Commission isn't doing him any favors with it's new intitiative, "Resale Roundup," which can come across as a sting operation on yard-sales;
“Those who re-sell recalled children’s products are not only breaking the law, they are putting children’s lives at risk,” said CPSC Chairman Inez Tenenbaum. “Resale stores should make safety their business and check for recalled products and hazards to children.”
...
CPSC’s Internet surveillance team is monitoring online retailers and auction sites for sales of recalled and hazardous products.
I imagine Resale Roundup, despite its name, is not about pulling a paddy-wagon up to a church bazaar, but is about pulling recalled products off the shelves--or driveways--of resellers. But the words "Roundup" and "Internet surveillance team" don't do much to quell worries about Big Brother.
Here's a post by Katherine Mangu-Ward at Reason, who's been following these sorts of "consumer protection" regulations, and here's my column today on other aspects of the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act: the third-party testing requirements.
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