Those old sayings like "the road to hell is paved with good intentions" become old sayings because they are true. All too often lawmakers intend to do good and horrible, unforeseen consequences cause far more trouble then they fix.

My friend Kim Owens, owner of Moonfly kids (which is in an "economically-and-legislatively-induced hibernation state") is quoted in this Wall Street Journal story on the CPSIA law. The law has effectively shut down her small, made in the USA, clothing line and left her with thousands of dollars in inventory and materials that she can't do anything with. She's had to give up her dream of making the clothes she'd dress her own son in and go back to real estate. That sucks, but what sucks more is all the money and time and effort she put into making great clothes and great designs as well as the people whom she employed through her company who have now lost that income.

In this case, the desire to protect kids is having rippling economic effects and forcing hundreds of small businesses to shut down or declare bankruptcy. It's also effecting major retailers as well, and NOT just the "made in china" junk that caused the lead scare in the first place. ANY company ( regardless of nationality or manufacturing location) that makes any item intended for children 0-12 has to comply with these very costly testing standards, weather or not there is reason to believe the items might be tainted. This includes grandma Gracie down the street who knits hats to give to the local church orphanage and all those items you see at your local goodwill or second hand store all the way to books at your public library and the education materials at your child's school. I am certain this is not what Congress had in mind. I urge you to contact your representative and let them know that the law needs to be amended to provide for safety without the "guilty until proven innocent" methodology of testing that is causing these issues and damaging our economy at a time when we can least afford it.