We Got a Plan.. An Import Safety �Plan� - Part 1

On Tuesday, an article came across my RSS that I just knew was going to lead to a post.. or series of posts. Bush�s Import-Safety Plan Is Detailed in the NY Times reported that the “plan” has been released

There is a lot of information that I am going to try and pack in here, so bear with me.

On November 6, the White House released its Fact Sheet while Michael Leavitt and Dana Perino were giving a press conference on “the Plan”, the process behind “the plan”, and what the plan in terms of “the plan” being rolled out.

So first some highlights from the press conference. Of course, over the last 6 months, there has been an increased effort to deal with this problem. There were toys from Mattel and RC2, tires, toothpaste, and other products that were being recalled during the summer, and Americans were scared of products from Communist China poisoning and killing Americans.

so, with that in mind, the Import Safety Commission set out on a mission to get down to the bottom of things:

I, personally, went to ports and border crossings and freight hubs and post offices and I saw drugs and vegetables and fish being processed. I went to retailers and wholesalers and fruit stands. I’ve inspected personally everything from imported tire irons to gingerbread houses.

and they asked questions….

They went deep. They asked questions like, “What are the current authorities that we have?” Asked questions like: “Do we need more authority?” “What are the changes that need to happen if we’re to be able to respond in a global economy?” “What are the limitations we have?” “Do we have enough resources?” Et cetera.

and they got answers…