Man, I haven't seen Wild at Heart in forever.

I mean seriously, you guys don't even have the CPSC RSS feed?

That grey residue was yummy.

@SaveMeJeebus: Good thing is, with this kind of support...he can veto all he wants and it will still make it into law with a 2/3rds vote.
@homerjay: You're funny homer! They haven't used lead in pencils in 20 years. It's all graphite now...

"Virtually eliminates"

The only lead in toys should be trace environmental amounts of lead.

@mopar_man:

Agreed. I mean - you just can't rush these things.

#1 should read that a 30% increase is $81,081,000.

I feel like this is half-uh...hearted.

#1 - Increase the budget by 30%. Last year (for 2007), they requested $62,370,000. [www.cpsc.gov] is 81,081,000.

Meanwhile: The President's Budget:
Provides $439.3 billion for the Department of Defense's base budget-a 7-percent increase over 2006 and a 48-percent increase over 2001-to maintain a high level of military readiness, develop and procure new weapon systems to ensure U.S. battlefield superiority, and support our servicemembers and their families;
Requests $50 billion in 2007 bridge funding to support the military's Global War on Terror efforts in Afghanistan and Iraq into 2007;
Expands the Predator Unmanned Aerial Vehicle force from 12 to 21 orbits, each supporting 3-4 aircraft, to increase sustained 24-hour surveillance capabilities;
Increases substantially the size and capabilities of the Special Operations Command;
Adds $173.3 million to continue developing and refining a New Triad of smaller nuclear forces, enhanced missile defenses, and improved command and control; and
Provides an additional 2.2-percent increase in basic pay.

439,300,000,000 + 50,000,000,000 + ? (Predator) + ? (Special Operations Command) + 173,000,000 = 489,473,000,000 + 2 ?'s. CPSC's budget is .016564958639189495641230466236136% of what the Department of Defense spends on the War on Tarrah.

#2 - Companies already track products.

#3 - If the local news station can go to Wal-Mart to test items, or if a local angry mom can get the local news station to come with her to Wal-Mart to test items, I hope the CPSC can go to a specialized facility to test items.

#4 - Let's say you fail, miserably, and very publicly, at your job. Will your boss appoint you to find an adequate replacement?

#5 - [archives.cnn.com] From 6 (nearer to 7) years ago.

#6 - A double edged sword. 2 cannot do the job of 5. But how/why did we get rid of 3 anyway?

#7 - Duh. I'm tired of math. You go see what percent of profits 1.25 million, or even 10 million, is for Mattel, Fisher-Price, Playskool, or Wal-Mart.

This is 10 years late and far short of what it should be.

Thank God.

Now let's get the lead out of another consumer products. Anybody else ready to join the no-lead in dinnerware ban?

Great to hear they're reducing lead content. Anyone know if they are going after phthalates as well? These plasticizers show up in a lot of products and aren't exactly safe, either, but you don't hear about them over the lead media frenzy.

407-0? What are the odds of that? I'm with Bohemian on Bush's veto too. The lead toys will follow us home for sure.