Product safety is supposed to be about protecting consumers

If the CPSC chairman can't get on board, then it's time to find a replacement. Considering the steady stream of tainted products in the market, it would be nice to see someone take their role seriously.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) yesterday called on the head of the Consumer Product Safety Commission to resign, and a Senate committee passed legislation to increase the embattled agency's funding and expand its authority.

Pelosi criticized acting chairman Nancy A. Nord for her opposition to parts of the Senate bill that would widen the CPSC's regulatory role in response to several high-profile recalls of toys containing dangerous amounts of lead and powerful magnets.

The bill, sponsored by Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), would more than double the agency's funding over seven years, to $142 million. It would ban lead in products for children and raise the cap on civil penalties to $100 million, from $1.8 million. It would also give the agency new responsibilities, including collecting and acting on corporate whistle-blower complaints about product safety.

In a perfect world, industry would care about what they sell and we wouldn't have to worry about such penalties but just as the tooth fairy and Easter Bunny don't exist, industry self regulation doesn't exist either so it's important that we step up regulation.