Awww, ain't that cute?

For toys and cars, antifreeze and fireworks, popcorn and produce and cigarettes and light bulbs, among other products, industry groups or major manufacturers are calling for federal health, safety and environmental mandates. Some of those industries are abandoning years of efforts to block such measures, often in alliance with the Bush administration, which pledged to ease what it views as costly, unnecessary rules.

(NYTimes)

They want their blankies back. And why?

The tactical shift by industry groups is motivated by a confluence of self-interests: growing competition from inexpensive imports that do not meet voluntary standards, and a desire to head off liability lawsuits and pre-empt tough state laws or legal actions that were a response to laissez-faire Bush administration policies.

Laissez-faire - that's French for don't give a damn. And also, well, another thing is they're afraid before long somebody might elect more of those nasty Dems and then they'll be really screwed. So you see.

Meanwhile, Bunky, if you want to get yourself some of that voluntary spinach or buy yourself some voluntary butter-flavored popcorn, better run out and get it now. Before you have to start eating the government-inspected kind.