Okay, today is the last day to vote in Obama's "ideas for changing America thing on his site. Even though most Americans just want to sit around and get high all day, there are some who want to work. I am begging everyone who cares about small business and American jobs to not only vote at change.org (http://www.change.org/ideas/view/save_handmade_toys_from_the_cpsia) but to write your congresspeople about CPSIA. The bill's intent was to make Chinese toys safer, but now it's forcing thousands of businesses to go under because they can't afford expensive testing.
In a nut shell: Starting Feb 10, if you make anything product for children, you can't sell it without having it tested for lead and phalates. If you like buying handmade, American made items for your children, you can forget it. No one but large manufacturers can afford it. The same cloth I buy for any other project can't be used to make kid's clothes. The same yarn an adult's hat is knitted from can't be used to make an infant's. Make sense? Of course not!
Originally, this law also made selling anything used (yard sales, goodwill) illegal w/o testing! A clarification on that was made last week (after tons of angry calls and emails I bet!)
PLEASE WRITE YOUR REPRESENTATIVES! For more info about CPSIA, you can check these out
http://cpsia-central.ning.com/
http://liletsyshop.blogspot.com/2008/12/why-you-should-care-about-cpsia.html
http://coolmompicks.com/savehandmade/
http://www.cpsc.gov/ABOUT/Cpsia/cpsia.HTMLLabels: Politics