Utter Frustration

I cannot explain how annoyed I am right now at the stupidity of our country in electing Obama president. I hate how that election was based on race NOT on politics. I'm sorry to say it, but people who voted for Obama largely were simply looking to not repeat Bush, rather than searching to elect the best candidate. Now what we have is a president who is putting a finger of the government in every pie, dictating every aspect of our lives, and slowly eliminating our freedoms.

My current frustration is over a law called the CPSIA which is set to go into effect in August, requiring ALL people who make and/or sell children's products (from clothes to shoes to toys to bedding) to provide tracking labels permanently affixed to all products. Great if you are a huge company and produce large quantities of product and actually have batches and lots. Not so great if you are a stay at home mom who is plunking out products for people you know or online and selling them to make a little extra money.

This act even goes so far as to affect YARD SALES, consignment stores, libraries. Fortunately, the even more outrageous part of the law (lead testing) has been put on hold for a year while the commitee (of now 3 people I might add) decides how to handle the general anger toward this law. But still, they did not take into account the millions of small business owners or online sellers who will no longer be able to offer their product because the law would make production too expensive. So, in essence, your options will go from boutiques, ebay, etsy, and the like to ... WALMART. Because the people who are trying to preserve quality, functionality, style, and value will no longer be able to do so. And the cost for non-compliance (though possibly not investigated on such a low level) would be damning.

The more annoying part about it is that the whole point of the act is to create ease in locating the manufacturer and pinpointing product when there needs to be a recall of a product. Great. That sounds like it will make it much easier if they can just tell me the crib I bought which comes from batch 7-1020-494786 has been recalled. BUT, if I'm making a mei tai carrier for someone who buys it from me off etsy, I'm going to go to Joann's, buy the materials I need, and make that ONE carrier. If that person then decides there's a problem with it and alerts someone that it needs to be recalled, its only their carrier that will need to be recalled because I'm not using the same fabric over and over. So, why do I need to comply with this law if I will never have a problem with recalls?

I'm searching to find more information about this act and to understand how and if it is really going to go into action. I'm hoping the people over there at the CPSC will stop sitting on their brains and think about the ramifications of this act, because they didn't when they first signed it. They have 1 month. Less than 40 days to figure out if they are going to actually do something about it.

I realize that this act was started with the Bush administration, but it has been pushed forward heavily by Obama. Does anyone else see that slowly our government is becoming the voice for all our decisions, our opportunities, and our future? Do you realize that if things continue at the pace they are, there will be laws or government interest to dictate almost every aspect of our lives? And you voted for this. Thanks.

Yes, I'm a little frustrated.