Obama Administration Will Increase Food Safety Inspectors
For years, critics of the Food and Drug Administration have shouted from the rooftops on the need to increase food inspectors. It appears the Obama Administration will be doing just that.
In his weekly address today, President Barack Obama said:
As part of our commitment to public health, our Agriculture Department is closing a loophole in the system to ensure that diseased cows don’t find their way into the food supply. And we are also strengthening our food safety system and modernizing our labs with a billion dollar investment, a portion of which will go toward significantly increasing the number of food inspectors, helping ensure that the FDA has the staff and support they need to protect the food we eat.
When we argue over the proper role of government in society, sometimes it’s the obvious things that get left behind in the political battles. With multiple issues with Chinese products and one of the largest producers of peanut products in the country is found to have serious health problems in two of its plants, who is supposed to protect our safety? The Bush Administration knew there weren’t enough inspectors to adequately cover all the bases. One has to ask why wasn’t this action taken at the White House level months ago?
To all of my “tea-partyin’” friends out there, this sort of thing is what we’re talking about when those of us who voted for President Obama speak of change. Today’s action is a prime example of government priorities shifting from being a door mat for big business and begin serving the American people – all of them – once again.
Full Text: White House Memo to Cabinet Agencies – Scientific Integrity
(Source: White House Press Office)
MEMORANDUM FOR THE HEADS OF EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENTS AND AGENCIES
SUBJECT: Scientific Integrity
Science and the scientific process must inform and guide decisions of my Administration on a wide range of issues, including improvement of public health, protection of the environment, increased efficiency in the use of energy and other resources, mitigation of the threat of climate change, and protection of national security.
Buffet Says ‘Patriotic Americans’ Will Get Behind Obama
The Bloomberg lowdown on Warren Buffett’s time on CNBC today:
“We are doing things now that are potentially very inflationary,” he said. Buffett called on Congress to unite behind President Barack Obama, comparing the economic crisis to a military conflict that needs a commander-in-chief. “Patriotic Americans will realize this is a war,” he said.
Taliban, Iraqi Sunnis – Apples, Oranges
Filed under: Afghanistan, Iraq, National Security, Obama Administration, Terrorism
What I’m reading about President Barack Obama’s latest pronouncements on turning the tide in the war in Afghanistan makes me uneasy.
There is no doubt that U.S. and NATO fortunes have backslid in Afghanistan, through no fault of our troops on the ground – there just haven’t been enough to pursue any of a number of strategies effectively. We also know that in many respects the “surge” in Iraq worked to some effect in that war. The surge was not just about troops, it was also about effective counterinsurgency policy and tactics. One of those tactics was to co-opt Sunni tribal elders and their followers who had fallen in line with al-Qaeda in Iraq.
Now, as if Afghanistan is just like Iraq, we’re going to surge there as well. More troops makes sense if those troops are protecting civilians and not leaving them prey to the Taliban. More troops make sense if we are capturing or killing Taliban. Paying off Taliban in the way we worked with Sunni leaders in Iraq is a suckers bet, however.
Too many Americans view the Islamic world through a single lens ground from the images of 9/11 and the Bush war on terror. In this view all muslims are sixth century throwbacks who routinely take to the streets and chant death to America.
The truth is that most muslims want the same things most of us want – peace, prosperity, liberty. Another part of the truth is that there is a very vocal, in your face segment of Islam, who are grounded in a medieval view of the world. They are inherently evil. Their most apparent incarnation is in the Taliban and al-Qaeda.
CNN: Dr. Sanjay Gupta Out as Surgeon General
According to Wolf Blitzed, Gupta wants to continue his career, has a baby on the way and has withdrawn his name to spend more time with his family. Waiting to hear something about taxes.
Gupta Opts Out – CNN
Transcript: OMB Director Peter Orszag Press Briefing on Budget
(Source: White House Press Office)
DIRECTOR ORSZAG: Good morning. The budget that we are releasing this morning fulfills the President’s campaign promises to be honest and responsible, to reorient the federal budget towards programs that work and away from those that don’t, and to invest in education, promote clean energy, and reduce health care costs. Unfortunately, those tasks are substantially more difficult because of the pair of trillion-dollar deficits that we are inheriting.
