Thursday, January 22, 2009

More CPSIA from the ALA

This is an excellent article on the position of the ALA (American Library Association) along with the AAP (American Association of Printers). This is not good. I'd like to leave a comment in that not only will the CPSIA affect libraries and schools but any organization that has books for this specific age group. Scouting groups won't be able to have handbooks, patches, or camping gear; other organizations that rely on handbooks as well. Again, there is double talk in the article from the CPSC side's - they realize and acknowledge that the deadlines are difficult to be met yet they are not doing anything about repealing the law and getting it written to target the items originally intended to target.

Of course the reason CPSIA of 2008 passed unanomyously in both the Senate and House is that no one wanted to be the naysayer of rejecting something set out to "protect the children". The more we contact our representatives, by phone, the more likely it is the public will be heard. I urge all of you to please tell your friends, family, acquaintances, email buddies, online friends, everyone to call their representatives. Tie up the phone lines as much as you can. Tell them to repeal CPSIA of 2008 and rewrite it. Protect the children and the economy. It is definitely going to take more than a few hundred voices to be heard. It will take the nation of voters (we all elected these folks to Congress and they work for us), to get this law repealed. Do not let February 10 come without any action. I, for one, do not want the books burned nor children banned from schools and libraries and museums and other places that carry items that cannot or will not be tested. Burning and banning are wrong. This is not protecting our children. If everyone of you who reads this blog, sends a mass email to your friends and families and get all of them to do the same thing, maybe we will reach enough people to voice the cry - Repeal CPSIA of 2008, protect the children, protect the economy, Don't ban or burn books and other items that have no lead whatsoever in them. I'm only a small part and I've written a letter to President Obama and included a copy of my first book in the series, hoping that he will read the inscription to his daughters and the letter to see how deep this law goes. He did not vote either time the Act came up for voting (either was present and did not vote or wasn't present). If our representatives see the big picture and how much havoc they are creating and not targeting the right people, then maybe they will do something.

Time of truly of the essence and there is no time like the present to act. Please, do your part (even if you have no children in the house, this will affect you in the long run because the cost of ordinary, non-children's items will go up so high that the everyday consumer will not be able to afford anything and there will be no businesses left to buy from), speak up and tell the governing body to repeal this horrendously written, ill thought out, double talk, contradictory, ambiguous law - Do it today.

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