Molly Ivins August 27

AUSTIN, Texas — What the people of this country really need is a truth-in-legislative-packaging law. Take the National Motor Vehicle Safety, Anti-Theft, Title Reform and Consumer Protection Act. Please take it. Away.

This is such a total Alice-in-Wonderland, turn-the-truth-on-its-head law that it's enough to gag a maggot. It will do precisely the opposite of what it claims to do because it's more loophole than law, and it's a beautiful example of how special interests corrupt the political process.

It's also a perfect little gem of an illustration of the kind of laws that are being passed by the dozens in this Congress while everyone else obsesses about Monica Lewinsky. If the media are the Watchdogs of Democracy, then take it as written that while we are chewing on the juicy scandal bones that Ken Starr keeps throwing at us, the burglars are making off with all the silver in the house.

And of what concern might this insanely titled "Consumer Protection Act" be to you? Not much, unless you ever plan to buy a used car or let your teenager buy one or ride in one.

About 2.25 million vehicles a year nationwide are declared "salvage" after being wrecked and declared a total loss. According to Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety, a million of those are put back together, resold and back on the road, even though many are structurally unsound. According to the Consumer Federation of America, they cost consumers an estimated $4 billion a year. They are so dangerous that Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott (a man we do not normally think of as the consumers' friend) has declared, "The number of victims in the rebuilt salvage vehicle industry is growing, and it must be stopped."

Alas, Lott's bill, strongly supported by the National Automobile Dealers Association and the auto insurance industry, will only aggravate the problem.

You will not be amazed to learn that Lott and many of the bill's co-sponsors are the recipients of generous campaign contributions from the car dealers and auto insurers. The Center for Responsive Politics says that the auto dealers alone have given $7.4 million to congressional campaigns during the last four years (75 percent of it to Republicans); the dealers list this bill as their top legislative priority. The attorneys general of 38 states, many of which already have stronger laws on the books than Lott's proposal, have asked Congress not to vote for this proposal, which will (among other things) repeal the stronger laws.

Here's how it works: Under Lott's original legislation, a car would be considered "salvage" only if the repair costs equal more than 80 percent of its pre-damaged value.

In many states, a car is already considered salvage if the repair costs 65 percent of pre-damage value. After vociferous complaints from state attorneys general, Lott dropped the figure in his bill to 75 percent. Lott's bill also applies only to cars less than 6 years old — that lets out 50 percent of the cars on the road in this country.

The bill provides no civil or criminal remedies against those who sell salvaged cars. The House version of the bill, passed last fall by a 336-72 vote, at least contained criminal penalties (three years in prison and/or fines of $50,000); Lott has removed those penalties, and consumer groups say the bill is unenforceable without them. According to Consumers for Auto Reliability and Safety, another recent change would limit any civil penalty to $2,000 per vehicle, a mere cost of doing business for crooked dealers.

The Lott bill effectively provides for pre-emption of existing state laws and titling procedures regarding salvage and non-repairable vehicles; any state that does not "opt in" to the new, low federal standards would be cut off from certain federal funds. So much for "devolution." The bill would require disclosure of a car's condition only in a situation when it can be proved that the sellers have actual knowledge that the car was previously damaged up to 75 percent of its value. ("Duh, I thought it was only 73 percent.")

So IF your used car is less than 6 years old OR worth more than $7,500 AND was damaged more than 75 percent of its value, THEN the dealer has to tell you it was previously wrecked and considered salvage; BUT if he doesn't, the most you can do about it is get the dealer slapped with a $2,000 penalty IF you can prove the dealer knew all of the above. Aren't you lucky?

Of course, if none of the above applies, you'll just have to let the worthless, dangerous piece of junk sit in your garage while you continue to pay $350 a month for it — and by the way, the warranty that came with it isn't worth the paper it's written on. Is that some great consumer protection or what?

This is Chapter 98,723 in the Big Book of why we need campaign finance reform.

Molly Ivins is a columnist for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. To find out more about Molly Ivins and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate web page at www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 1998 CREATORS SYNDICATE, INC.