In 2007, congressional Democrats called for the chair of the Consumer Products Safety Commission, Nancy Nord, to resign after she failed to respond quickly to news of lead-tainted toys imported from China. Not only did she refuse to step down before her term expires in 2012, but she actively opposed Congress’ move to double her agency’s budget. In early 2008, an exasperated Lou Dobbs, examining her record, asked, “is she as imbecilic as she appears to be as absolutely insensitive to American consumers, as absolutely lacking the judgment to run a federal agency designed and created to protect the American consumer?”
Nord managed to survive not just Dobbs’ tirade but a change in administrations. But today, Florida Sen. Bill Nelson revived the “Nord must go” movement, writing to the Obama administration to demand Nord’s firing for “neglect of duty.” His beef? The CSPS under Nord’s leadership has failed to recall or ban the import of toxic Chinese drywall that’s been installed in thousands of homes across the South, particularly those built after Hurricane Katrina. The drywall has been linked to sulfide gasses that corrode electrical wiring, air conditioning units and household appliances. “The agency is doing too little, too late to help residents of Florida and other states who are reporting serious health and safety problems associated with living in homes built with tainted drywall,” he writes.
