There is not yet a book on the market as striking as Sinclair Lewis' "The Jungle" addressing the dangerous foods and products are being imported into the U.S. and it there were, and assuming that conservatives actually read anything other than Tom Clancy novels, the Bush administration does not believe that government is capable of doing anything. But the news that American consumers are being exposed to dangerous foods and products are being imported into the U.S. must have appeared on FOX News. The Bush administration does not believe in government action, but it recognizes a public relations problem in a heartbeat. Lead paint on children's toys is a public relations problem.
So the Bush administration as acted! The White House has posted Fact Sheet: Import Safety Action Plan: Increasing Protection of American Consumers on its web site! They actually have 'A plan!'
Unfortunately, it is not a plan for the government to take any actions. The bush administrations action stop with presenting this document on the White House web site. Rick Perlstein deconstructs all the pretty language, with a particular emphasis on how it applies to the food additive industry. The food additive industry has entirely moved overseas, so any food additives in our food must be imported.
The Bush administration's pretty "plan" takes no effective government responsibility for ensuring consumer safety. The plan instead is to recommend two things.
First it includes a statement telling companies the party line that "[a]ny private entity that seeks to benefit from access to the U.S. market" already has the same responsibility domestic producers have to ensure their products meet all applicable U.S. safety standards." As Rick points out, that statement is not true. That great conservative guru Milton Friedman said that private entities have a responsibility to sell the lowest cost product at the highest price, either without getting caught selling unsafe products or without getting penalized if they are caught.
Friedman emphasizes that Companies have a responsibility to provide the greatest return on investment to their stock holders. For corporate managers to spend company money on other activities (like consumer safety, which is a social responsibility function) is stealing from the stockholders. This is core conservative doctrine, and no pretty documents posted on the White House web site is going to change corporate belief in that doctrine. Still, companies who are caught importing dangerous products need some fig leaf, a cover to use to avoid being penalized for selling dangerous products. They need to appear like they are concerned about consumer safety. Friedman would approve of such expenditures as long as they don't get out of hand - as they would if they involved a real program to ensure consumer safety. So Bush's government "plan" goes on to recommend a public relations type program to appear conscientious, (but the plan does not fund any form of enforcement. Wouldn't want the government to get carried away and keep records or shudder actually do something or ask companies to actually do something effective. That's unFriedmanlike. K-Street Lobbyists would be up in arms.) Here is their recommendation.
The second element of the "plan" suggests that American companies which are importing additives should establish "private entities to certify the safety of the imports." The plan does promise that the FDA will train the inspectors of the private entities, but gives no hint how the FDA will pay for such activities. Of course, large companies like General Mills or Kraft can afford to take such actions, but their smaller competitors cannot. So it is a giveaway to large importers. No surprise. The smaller importers can't afford the high-power lobbyists on K-Street.
Rick's excellent article, another in his "E-coli Conservatives" series, should be read in its entirety.
So now we know that the Bush administration has recognized the problem of toxic imports and decided to take action on it. Unfortunately, they recognize the problem as a public relations issue that demands a public relations response. They have now taken all the action that they know how to do - write the PR document and place it on the White House web site.
Surely you didn't expect this crew, who want to take American government back to the Gilded Age, to do anything else did you? If voters elect Republicans and conservatives to office and the voters will get wars, overspending (Ted Steven's Bridge to Nowhere - descriptions by and by Wikipedia.) designed to get Republicans reelected, corrupt government (Randy "Duke" Cunningham, Jack Abramoff, Brent Wilkes, Larry Craig, and a cast of thousands more), great public relations campaigns, and nothing else. It's the inherent nature of the conservative beast.
Feel safer yet?
No comments:
Post a Comment