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The Obama administration is overhauling the Consumer Product Safety Commission, a government agency often criticized for being too cozy with corporations. As part of the overhaul, President Obama yesterday announced the nomination of the Commission’s new chair: Inez Moore Tenenbaum, a former U.S. Senate candidate and education chief of South Carolina schools. Tenenbaum’s nomination is being criticized as overt political payback for the strong support she provided to Obama’s election campaign in South Carolina. Still, she has the potential for greatly improving the original mandate of the CPSC in the interest of consumers. The CPSC is currently headed by Nancy Nord, appointed by President Bush – Nord came under intense criticism and calls for resignation for her industry ties and taking trips paid for by corporations. The past several years have seen a spike in product recalls particularly of children’s toys tainted with lead. Last year Congress passed a ground-breaking piece of legislation, the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008, which authorized, among other things, a dramatic increase in the CPSC’s budget, and an increase in the commission’s members from three to five.

GUEST: Liz Hitchcock, Public Health Advocate with US PIRG