The new mantra: Don’t let the shoe hit you on your way out the door. Bush is leaving office in a toxic wake of re-regulations, leaving consumers stranded on a reef with nowhere to go, not even state court.

We used to say, don’t let the door hit you on the ass on you way out.

Thanks to an irate Iraqi reporter who couldn’t let his last opportunity to take advantage of Iraqi’s new-found a la Bush-style “DEMOCRACY” at the point of a gun, to tell George “Wreck the World” Bush what he thinks of him.

He has capturing the world’s imagination with his shoe throwing.

The “door” has forever been changed to a “shoe.”

George “The Equal Opportunity Destroyer” Bush is going out that door to a barrage of figurative shoes, and leaving a soulless trail of deregulations and re-regulations in the wake of his toxic waste.

According to a report by Keith Olbermann on Countdown last night, the E-vil one is stabbing all of us in our hearts, purses and throwing arms by prevent us from suing major corporations in all industries from car manufacturers to pill pushers in state court.

That means if a new “Pinto” comes on the market and makes French fries out of you and the kiddies, the only thing you can reach for is a bottle of ketchup.

Or if that magic new pill that was to cure you lumbago, cures it by making your legs fall off, all you’re left with is a wheelchair to do your wheelies, and if it is defective and flips you to the ground, you can’t double sue.

And so it goes.

The offenses against Americans committed by Bush won’t cease until the last shoe hits him on his way out the door, and Barack Obama’s honeymoon never had a chance to get started, because Bush is leaving him with more crap to clean up than any other newly elected president in history…and plenty of them have left messes to be cleaned up.

Since being elected, a team of Obama attorneys have been working feverishly to overturn most, if not all of Bush’s egregious re-regulations.

But until they do, we’re screwed.

So it is that there are still toxic toys on store shelves.

Parents worried about toxic toys containing lead prompted City Attorney Rocky Delgadillo to institute a Lead Toy Exchange by having toys tested for lead at four locations in Los Angeles this weekend.

Normally, I’d much rather write humorous pieces, but when it comes to product safety, or lack there of, my hackles go up.

My hackles went up big time when I read in the Los Angeles Daily News that the Lead Toy Exchange will be open from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. on Saturday at the Ritchie Valens Aquatic Center in Pacoima; Stoner Recreation Center in West Los Angeles; Hollenbeck Recreation Center in East Los Angeles; and Green Meadows Recreation Center in South Los Angeles.

Toys containing lead may be exchanged for a $25 American Express gift card, and families can receive two gift cards per household.

The gift cards can then be used to buy a safe toy, but how do you know a new toy is safe? Have it tested, too?

It can say “made in America” on the box, but if the company is registered to do business in the U.S. they can import toys or parts and still be labeled “made in the U.S.A.”

It’s no secret that the source of toxins in products come from imports, mostly from China and other Asian countries.

It’s magnanimous of a huge company like American Express to participate in this program to protect its customers, but they -- along with, Delgadillo and parents across the country should be lobbying President-elect Barack Obama and Congress to write and enforce stiff consumer protection laws, even if they have to stop all imports until that’s accomplished.

They can also lift the business licenses of companies, such Southern California-based Mattel, which has been cited and heavily fined along with other companies, for endangering their customers’ health by importing dangerous toys, and encouraging them with tax incentives to bring manufacturing back home.

If charity begins at home, then so does consumer protection.

Just testing for lead, which can be fatal after ingesting, isn’t nearly enough. Candy and other food products have been found to contain other toxins that are equally bad.

After the Lead Toy Exchange program is completed, there should be a complete accounting of which toys, manufactured by which companies were found to contain lead.

In a recent AP story parents were advised by Ed Mierzwinski, program director of the U.S. Public Interest Research Group to not buy their children metal jewelry, because of lead content, and in the same breath said not to worry about lead based paint, because the levels of lead are usually pretty low.

Is he nuts or just typical of government-related people who are missing the logic gene?

Let him suck on the jewelry or any toy containing even the tiniest amount of lead as a child would do, and see what happens after he’s ingested even a small amount. He can also buy them for his kids and/or grandchildren first if he thinks they’re safe.

A new president and a new Congress must give the FDA some teeth and some stiff laws to protect American consumers.

Until governmental -- local, state and federal -- take action, when in doubt don’t buy it.

It’s almost Christmas and Chanukah and it no time to risk our children’s health with toxic imported toys. It also not the time for parents to have another stress heaped on them.

Maybe it’s time for parents, especially those of tots who explore and learn about their world by putting everything in their mouths, to use some ingenuity and make their kids toys out of wood or paper, decorated with water-based paint manufactured here.

Put some wooden spoons and an old pot in a gaily wrapped box for that little one. We all know they’d rather play with the box anyway, and banging on a pan with a wooden spoon is great fun for them. Empty round oatmeal boxes also make fantastic drums.

All products on store shelves should be safe! ... Period! ... End of story!

It's criminal for them to be anything other than safe.