Fighting Mad over Fighting Metals


A law passed on July 21, 2010 by a Democrat-controlled Congress and signed into law by Democrat President Obama outlaws the use of specified metals in the products of American manufacturers.

It seems like another effort to destroy our country and drive manufacturing overseas.

The metals involved are gold, tantalum, tin, and tungsten.

With the exception of gold, which people have been fighting over since the beginning of recorded history, the other metals are not normally associated with human conflict.

Tantalum is used in the production of capacitors which are used in almost all electronic devices.

Tin is used in the manufacture of fungicides, tin cans, paint and solder.

Tungsten is used for fishing weights, golf club heads and the filaments of incandescent light bulbs. The manufacture of incandescent light bulbs (Invented in the United States by Thomas Edison) has already been driven overseas and they are now made in Mexico since their sale in the United States was outlawed beginning next year by the Energy Independence and Security Act Of 2007.

The legislation outlawing these “fighting metals” is Public law 111–203: Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act. “Fighting metals” is one reason the Dodd-Frank Act is on the list of laws to be repealed if conservatives ever get into power.

The term used to obfuscate the legislation is not “fighting metals” but “Conflict Minerals”

The Securities and Exchange Commission is busy writing rules to implement the law by changing the annual reporting requirements of companies. I wonder how much that effort is costing the taxpayers.

More information on the metals and the meddling of our government can be found at. Wikipedia.

If anyone can explain what these “Conflict Minerals” have to do with either “Wall Street Reform” or “Consumer Protection”, the purported purposes of the act, we would be interested in hearing from you.