Let's be clear: The "Stay of Enforcement" only gives the CPSC more time. IT DOES NOT GIVE BUSINESSES MORE TIME FOR ANYTHING. The effective dates and limits are unchanged. It’s the CPSC that “dodged the bullet,” not business. Do you folks understand the extent of this calamity? With the law as it stands, not only will you not be able to buy a book for a child under 13, you won’t be able to go to the library either. Well you can, but the shelves will be empty. Further, if your Aunt Martha sells an untested pair of hand knit baby booties at the church bazaar, she’s a felon, subject to a $100,000 fine and the booties are “Hazardous Waste.” We are experiencing the consequences one of the most far reaching legislative blunders in decades, and NPR takes the opportunity to morph it into a “Yodeling-Pickle” human interest story. It is interesting to watch (or listen), “as the ground shifts beneath our feet,” how quickly the media transitions from “SHOCK and AWE” to “MISS THE POINT and GIGGLE.”

Contrary to what was reported in this story, businesses do not have "another year to comply." They have 8 more days to comply. They simply don't need to "prove" to the US government that the products affected by the stay are safe, through expensive third party testing. They have to ensure they are safe, which by the way, the vast majority of children's products companies have successfully done for many many years.

The comment was also made that parents have no guarantee that the toys are safe for the next year. First, the new standard hasn't been delayed, secondly, the rule for 3rd party testing of lead in paint has been in effect since December, and was not delayed. In fact, this is the reason why we have discontinued our beautiful wooden fruits & vegetables that use a very clean water paint for coloring, until further notice. The types of testing that received the stay are "substrates," or unpainted items, such as books, cotton, wooden toys (without paint), children's clothing, shoes, etc, which have not posed any danger in the past and are unlikely to pose any danger in the the future. So you can rest easy America. That is unless you care that natural toys, interesting children's clothing, hand made crafts, and other innovative products are at risk of disappearing, not because of any danger, but because of an overreaction to the narrow dangers of lead in paint and jewelry

The blame here doesn't lie with the CPSC. They have done what they could do to make sense of this overly broad, cumbersome, complex, and confusing law. Asking them to interpret or clarify the unreasonable rules in this law, does nothing to fix it. We need Congress to fix this before we lose thousands more businesses at a time when the country cannot afford to do so, and for no good reason.

Finally, what the story didn't cover, is the problem of the CPSIA being applied to existing inventory. Inventory that is safe for you to buy today, but not safe on February 10th unless proved otherwise. Can you imagine the monumental task of testing every size and style of every children's product in the USA with very little notice? There are thousands of companies, with millions (if not billions) of dollars worth of inventory that cannot be legally sold, without being tested to make sure they meet the standard. This would not happen in any other industry (consider new innovations in the auto industry...these are always grandfathered in, for a reason....to avoid bankrupting an industry).

The CPSC has stated that only Congress can resolve the issue of the retroactive application of this law. The giant clock is ticking. Will the media please report on this ticking time bomb rather than yodeling pickles?

Businesses and others can join the discussion at www.cpsia-central.ning.com

Perhaps the time spent on the yodeling pickle was meant to be funny, but this is a very serious situation for small businesses facing financial ruin. The one-year stay of parts of the CPSIA for testing and certification just gives a bit more time to stay in business while Congress hopefully corrects the problems with this ill-written law. We all want safe toys, but this new law needs to be clarified and rewritten so that it can be followed without causing undue burden to small businesses in the US.

This goes way beyond yodeling pickles. You got about 1/10 of the story here. The CPSIA affects not only toys, but clothes, books, thrift stores, bicycles--anyone who makes or sells products for children. The law left no exemptions whatsoever. Even children's libraries were facing the very real prospect of closure on Feb 10. Read the press coverage cataloged at www.handmadetoyalliance.org.

This stay is a reprieve and a chance to get the law fixed. But it's not a complete fix and many companies will still be facing significant burdens as they attempt to comply with parts of the law which have not been stayed.

What we need is time for proper rulemaking from the CPSC and Congressional fixes for provisions of this law that do nothing to promote public safety but do substantial harm, particularly to small businesses.

This issue affects thousands of businesses and livelihoods. It deserves more thorough and less glib coverage by your show and by NPR as well, which has been entirely silent thus far.