Another moment of "What are they thinking?"

So have you heard of the new law going in to effect next month? I'm not sure our gov't officials really thought this through very well. It affects everything!

If you haven't heard (or read the article in the link), there's a new law on the books effective Feb 10, 2009, that says that ALL children's items being sold or given away must be tested for safety (free of lead and something else I can't remember the acronym of). So resale shops, handmade items at craft fairs and online and *gasp*, stores that sell used children's books (including homeschool books) will have to have all their items tested. The problem is is that it's quite pricey to have those items tested, and most of the small businesses and work-at-home moms won't be able to afford it. And even our children's libraries will be affected.

This is just craziness. Now I'm feeling compelled to go stock up on clothes for the kids from the great little resale shop I just found. And I need to get the kind of sling that I was planning on buying because the only way you can find them is handmade. AND I'll need to go buy all the baby bows I was planning on getting from a work-at-home mom.

I wonder if our marvelous gov't will bail my behind out with all the debt I may incur before Feb. 10.

At first, I thought this was totally no big deal and just a case of a slow news day and sensationalist reporting on the part of the news station I heard it on (local news, not my precious Fox News). But the more I've heard and read and learned, the stupider this sounds. At a time of 'economic crisis', they choose to enact a law that could shut down an entire industry?? What are they thinking???

Of course, one thing I read said that early last year, people were jumping up and down about the safety of our kids' toys after all the recalls. We were all yelling for gov't intervention. That's another moment of, "Be careful what you wish for".