Regularly scheduled programming

Let's just chalk up the last month to seasonal affective disorder, shall we? SMACK! was offline for a whole month, for which I apologize profusely, but you're not here to see me grovel. So let's move on, and dive back in.

LOADS to catch up on! Most urgently, some sh*t going down today in Congress, where a subcommittee is considering the Chemicals in Commerce Act. The who in what? It's draft legislation that would replace the woefully out-of-date Toxic Substances Control Act. Now, does it stand to reason that if the name of the bill is less assertive than the one it's replacing, that the actual legislation is less assertive too?

In this case, yes. The CICA is considered a major setback by those who care about such things as chemicals hiding in our everyday lives. As out-of-touch and ineffective as the TSCA is, the newer CICA does little to benefit consumers, but plenty to benefit industry. 

Here's a very, very telling synopsis straight from the horse's mouth (by that I mean the Environment and the Economy Subcommittee). My favorite line by far:

"This is a commerce bill, not just a chemical safety bill."

Anyone else hear that 'cha-ching'? No, seriously. I mean, the very objective is to "improve public confidence in the safety of chemicals produced and used in the United States, and to facilitate interstate commerce in American-made chemicals and the products that contain them."

Well done, Rep. Shimkus (R-Illinois and chairman of the subcommittee). You've managed to take legislation that was supposed to prioritize the health of consumers over corporate interests and completely flip it around. The safety of chemicals never comes into question; rather, it's the public's mistrust of those chemicals that is on the line here. 

Bullcrap!! Decades upon decades of American consumers being poisoned, and we're wrong to question it? How naive of me to think that our elected officials would use their positions to benefit the very people who vote them into office.

So let's make some noise!!! The Breast Cancer Fund has created this online form through which consumers can voice their opposition to the CICA. Use it. Share it. Tell your friends. This is how real reform happens. Consumers have power. Not just with their wallets, but with their voices. Their influence. Use YOURS to support change that will mean healthier lives, now and for future generations.

Glad to be back,
Jazzy