A Bureaucratic Surprise

Given Simpson, the whose Nixon home is Administration's bland record on consumerism, the appointment last year of Richard O. Simpson, 44, to head the new Consumer Product Safety Commission caused no great expectations. But Simpson confounded the skeptics by taking on the job of protecting the public against dangerous merchandise with surprising vigor and independence. The CPSC has just raised loud protests from traditionalists by banning all firecrackers beginning next week -- thus muting the Fourth of July. The commission is now scrimmaging with the management of the National Football League over whether to bar artificial turf in stadiums; falling on plastic turf, players complain, causes injuries far more severe than those resulting from being tackled on grass.

Simpson, whose home is in Oakland, Calif., is an unassuming self-made millionaire who founded and sold an electronics firm, then joined the Commerce Department five years ago. At CPSC he quickly outraged White House staffers by choosing his top assistants without touching base with the President. When the Civil Service Commission refused to approve his appointments, he hired all five people involved as "consultants." Says Simpson: "We're not a captive of anybody." Under Simpson, the CPSC has moved against exploding soda-pop bottles, easily shattered glass doors, poorly wired electrical appliances. In its first year of operation the CPSC has forced a total of 15 million product units off the market for repair or replacement.

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so viewer discretion is required.