Consumer Product Safety Commission needs more muscle

President Obama finally named his pick to head the long-neglected Consumer Product Safety Commission on Tuesday and called for a big increase in funding for the agency.

That's the good news.

The bad news is that it looks as if he's using the appointment as a political pat on the head for a prominent supporter, and not necessarily as a first step toward kick-starting an agency that for too long has come up short in safeguarding the public.

Obama said he would nominate Inez Moore Tenenbaum to serve as the commission's first chairperson in nearly three years.

The White House cited Tenenbaum's "extensive experience in administrative and regulatory matters." But she has no track record to speak of in consumer affairs.

Aside from serving two terms as South Carolina's education superintendent, Tenenbaum's main claim to fame was an unsuccessful Senate campaign in 2004. She now serves as special counsel to the McNair Law Firm for public school finance issues.

Oh, and she was co-chair of Obama's South Carolina campaign steering committee.

As if to compensate for Tenenbaum's seeming shortcomings as a consumer advocate, the president also tapped Robert S. Adler, a professor of legal studies at the University of North Carolina, to fill one of two new seats as the agency expands to five commissioners from three.

Adler previously served as an advisor to the Consumer Product Safety Commission and sits on the board of Consumers Union.

"We're optimistic that new leadership will breathe new life into this agency," said Liz Hitchcock, public health advocate for the U.S. Public Interest Research Group, a watchdog organization. "There's a lot of work to be done."

The Consumer Product Safety Commission has jurisdiction over more than 15,000 types of products, including toys, power tools and kitchen appliances. It now has about 400 staffers, fewer than half the number when the agency was established in 1973.

The position of commission chair has been vacant since July 2006. That's when Hal Stratton, an appointee of former President Bush, departed to take a job with a law firm that specialized in fighting class-action lawsuits filed by consumers.

Bush nominated Michael Baroody, a top manufacturing industry lobbyist, to head the commission in March 2007. Baroody withdrew from consideration after lawmakers demanded copies of his severance agreement with the National Assn. of Manufacturers.