Rick sends important news:

I wanted to let you know that I will be featured as part of a 60 Minutes segment on the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 (CPSIA) phthalates ban. The segment will air this Sunday (May 23) on CBS and is entitled “Are They Safe?”. If you miss it, you can watch it later on the 60 Minutes website. This is a very important development in our continuing effort to force change in the CPSIA. 60 Minutes is the number one news program in the world and one of the most watched programs in the United States of any kind.

My interview was filmed last September at Learning Resources’ office. I was interviewed by Lesley Stahl for this feature. We have not seen the segment yet (we will see it when you see it) and hesitate to predict what they will say. I believe I was the only businessperson interviewed. The focus of my interview was the “unintended consequences” of the phthalates ban, of which there are many… We are hopeful that 60 Minutes will draw attention to the doubtful and wasteful impact of this law on law-abiding companies like ours.

The 60 Minutes piece did not focus on other aspects of the awful CPSIA. For those of you who do not know, the best place to learn about this law and its horrific impact on our market is my blog Learning Resources.

I was also recently called to testify before Congress on this issue on April 29th. You can find clips from my testimony at this link. The House Energy and Commerce Committee is currently negotiating an amendment of the CPSIA which does not address the real issues under the law. Your voice matters! I urge you to contact your Congressman and Senators to push for real change to this law.

Get the popcorn ready – we’re going to have an interesting Sunday evening this week!