It seems that more than a few people in Washington have had just about enough of Nancy Nord and her whole “No, don’t make my agency regulate the industry its supposed to regulate” thing. Nancy has come out against currently proposed legislation that would give the CPSC both more money and more power, because she says it would make consumers “less safe” by overwhelming her office with complaints about trivial stuff.

From Reuters:

U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Nancy Pelosi joined other Democrats on Tuesday in calling for the resignation of the head of the nation’s top consumer product safety watchdog, following a wave of recalls of dangerous toys, food and other goods.

“I would join my colleagues … in calling upon the president of the United States to ask for the resignation” of Nancy Nord, acting chairman of the Consumer Product Safety Commission, Pelosi told reporters at a news conference.

Oh, Nancy. You’ve made them mad.

Nord says she has no intention of resigning and that she’s not a puppet of the administration:

“At this point I have no intention of resigning,” said acting Chairwoman Nancy Nord . “I’m doing my job, and part of my job is to talk with Congress about the tools and resources we need.”

Nord rejected criticism that she is controlled by the White House and too cozy with manufacturers.

“I’m dedicated to the mission of this agency. We work every day to make sure the marketplace is safe for consumers,” she said in an interview on CBS’ “The Early Show” on Wednesday.

She still maintains that the legislation is inappropriate.

“I want to be hiring more safety inspectors and scientists and compliance officers, I don’t want to be hiring lawyers,” Nord said.

We’d like to believe her, but we seem to remember a certain hearing where she was prohibited (by the administration) from telling Congress whether or not the CPSC needed more money. She was literally not permitted to say the word “Yes.” She kept repeating “If you give me money, I’ll spend it,” over and over again as if she was some sort of trauma victim on a badly written TV show.

CPSC Head Says She Won’t Resign [Associated Press]
Pelosi seeks to oust head of product safety watchdog [Reuters]

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