FDA Wants More Power After Failure On Tainted Eggs

I'm sure that, by now, you have all heard of the massive egg recall that is going on because of salmonella infection. Would it surprise you to learn that the FDA is asking for more regulatory authority because of this?

If that doesn't sound strange to you, why not think about it a little more? The FDA didn't stop the infected eggs from being sold. They failed in their mission. And they want MORE power?

Does it work that way in the real world? If you fail to do your job, do you get a promotion or a raise? No, you get punished, possibly fired. Only in government can a failure mean more money and/or more power.

That's the way it works in government. Failures are often used to justify increases in power and/or funding. Think about it... What happens when test scores drop in our schools? They claim it's because of inadequate funding and they usually get more money to spend... not that this fixes the problem.


It would be nice if these government officials would admit they'd screwed up and say, "if you trust us again we'll probably screw up again." But you'll never hear that.

Are there alternatives to a stronger, more invasive FDA trying to control a food supply that is so vast that it defies exactly that kind of control? Of course their are.

If we realize that grocery stores and suppliers, such as egg farms, don't WANT people to get sick from their product, we are on the road to understanding that the free market system rewards companies who get it right and punishes those who mess up.

In other words, the free market works fairly well to correct problems. Granted, it's not perfect, but then there IS no perfect solution, no guaranteed method of verifying 100% safe food. It can't be done, not even by a monolithic government agency hell-bent on closing down every lemonade stand or charity kitchen that doesn't have the proper government documents.

The free market solution is simple. If you get sick from eating bad food, you sue the companies involved. This punishes them for their misdeeds, and they either clean up their act or go out of business from the bad publicity and all the jury awards.

It works pretty darned well, actually. Further empowering a federal agency that acquires more power and grows from its failures won't do anything but perpetuate our problems.

Our elected officials should reject the FDA's request and instead let the market handle this kind of thing. If they simply MUST do something, then strengthen liability laws so that the injured party isn't prevented from holding the companies responsible for their problems.

But I certainly wouldn't let them do anything MORE than that...