Stratton leaves, consumers benefit

June 27, 2006

When Bill Clinton was president, he appointed Ann Brown to chair the [tag]Consumer Product Safety Co[/tag]mmission. The panel doesn’t get a lot of ink, but it’s responsible for reviewing thousands of consumer products to see which, if any, pose a health risk and might need to be recalled. Brown had spent 20 years as a consumer advocate and served as vice president of the Consumer Federation of America, so she was a logical choice, who ended up doing a fine job.

Then [tag]Bush[/tag] was elected. He nominated [tag]Hal Stratton[/tag].

A former state representative and attorney general in New Mexico, Hal [tag]Stratton[/tag] never asked for his current job, protecting American citizens from such dangers as lead-laced toy jewelry and flammable Halloween costumes. Instead, the former geology major who went on to co-chair the local Lawyers for Bush during the 2000 campaign initially wanted a job in the Interior Department. “That didn’t work out,” he told the Albuquerque Journal, “but I told them, ‘Don’t count me out’ … and they came up with this.” […]

[Now Stratton has] a track record: rare public hearings and a paucity of new safety regulations, as well as regular (often industry-sponsored) travels to such destinations as China, Costa Rica, Belgium, Spain, and Mexico. But at least Stratton won’t let personal bias influence him: Despite saying that he wouldn’t let his own daughters play with water yo-yos — rubber toys that are outlawed in several countries because of concerns that children could be strangled by them — he refused to ban them in the United States.

It’s classic [tag]Bush[/tag] governing. Take a reasonably important government post that helps protect consumer safety, hand it over to a partisan [tag]hack[/tag] with no credible experience, and watch the public agency stop working.

I’m pleased to report that Stratton submitted his resignation yesterday, not because anyone in the White House wanted him out, but because Stratton intends to “pursue other interests.” If recent history is any guide, the president will find someone equally unqualified to replace him.

It’s just the way the administration works, or in this case, doesn’t.

kakistocracy.

  • “All a means to attract and distract” – Michael Franti

    It’s the plan for the Corportarians to dull the elctorate down with yet another incompetentcy story, thus verifying to the idiot electorate that ALL government is useless, underming faith in Democracy, and allowing their form of Fascism to grow.

    Nice work George!!

  • Nice word choice Mr. Furious. I will second the nomination of kakistocracy for 2006 word of the year!

    Interesting to note that the Greek kakos is also the root of the word caca (to defecate) which makes the meaning of kakistocracy when applied to the Bush administration so much more accurate and enjoyable.

  • Do we have any evidence that Stratton’s time in office has adversely affected consumer safety? Have consumer deaths or injuries made any significant increase during his time? How many kids have gotten strangled by water yo-yos?

  • friggin’ GOPers don’t believe in the missions of many federal govt agencies.

    If they were principled, they wouldn’t appoint anybody to those positions. But instead they just hand out the jobs to friends.

  • David,

    NYPIRD identifies 185 parental compalints within the US related to the ball’s cord stretching out and wrapping around a child’s neck. They’re also calling into question the safety of the toy based on its manufacturing content (probable use of deisel hydrocarbons and volatile flammability). Funny thing—it’s okay, according to the government, for children to play with these things; however, if I were to mail a box of the wretched things to the White House, or to Capitol Hill, I’d quite likely be in prison for a good many years. Go figure….

  • My last job was at a company that made and sold products regulated by CPSC. When I took the job, Ann Brown was the chair of the CPSC. She was appointed by Bill Clinton and tried to build CPSC’s reputation by recalling a lot of products. During her tenure, CPSC had a close relationship with Good Morning America and USA Today and frequently announce how many unsafe products they had recalled. Most manufacturers did not like dealing with CPSC and even avoided reporting incidents because it almost meant an automatic (and expensive) recall.

    After George W. Bush was elected, it wasn’t long until Ann Brown left CPSC. In most circles, then-commissioner Mary Gall was considered to be a good choice to be the next chair of the CPSC. She wasn’t as aggressive as Ann Brown was but was still very concerned about product safety and took a very reasoned approach. Instead, we ended up with Stratton, a Bush stoolie who has done very little to protect the public. Mary Gall resigned a little while ago. With Thomas Moore and Nancy Nord. Thomas Moore is intelligent, but he is not good at interfacing with manufacturers on technical matters. Nancy Nord is a Bush appointee who has spent a lot of time inside the beltway.

    Good luck, America. The consumer products industry (including toys) is virtually self-regulated.

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