Clinton may not have even seen it; that legislation was a huge bill, and the zinger that was slipped in to remove the deadline for highway metrication was quite likely carefully buried so as to be almost unnoticeable. The person who did this knew EXACTLY what he was doing.
Carleton -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Victor Jockin Sent: Sunday, May 11, 2008 17:14 To: U.S. Metric Association Subject: [USMA:40891] Re: More hints of US companies' readiness for metric-only labellng I agree that we could see traditional units disappearing from some consumer goods if FPLA is amended (bottled beverages would likely lead the way again), but I'm not so sure about your faith in the Democrats. Members of Congress from both parties are equally beholden to lobbyists (that would exclude USMA, unfortunately, leaving us effectively voiceless). The same lobbies often contribute most to whichever party happens to be in the majority. It's also interesting to recall that Republicans Ford and Bush #1 took pro-metric action during their administrations, while Democrat Clinton signed some truly damaging anti-metric legislation on highways, even though he could easily have sent the bill back to have those provisions removed. -------------------------------------------------- From: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Sunday, May 11, 2008 1:49 PM To: "U.S. Metric Association" <[email protected]> Subject: [USMA:40890] More hints of US companies' readiness for metric-only labellng > USMA list: > > I may have missed this change-over when it first happened, but I just > noticed today that the Oral-B dental floss that I bought is now labeled > with meters as the primary unit and the US Customary length in > parentheses afterwards. > > I know that Glide dental floss (now also sporting the Crest brand) was the > first brand of dental floss to put metric in first position, but it seems > like this trend is spreading. Once we are able to amend the Fair Packaging > and Labeling Act (FPLA) to allow metric-only labels here in the States in > place of dual-unit labels (which I think will happen once Obama gets > elected along with increased Democratic majorities in Congress), I suspect > metric-only labeling will spread like wildfire because of the way it > simplifies manufacturing and inventories for US companies. > > This might also give the UKMA and other supporters more ammunition to > convince UK companies and retail stores to drop "supplementary > indications" altogether even if they are allowed to keep them (assuming > the EU directive on units of measure is amended as proposed last year to > allow them to continue to be used indefinitely). > > Ezra > >
