Public/private partnerships BUILT this country. From the intercontinental railroad to the internet. The government's role is to protect me from all threats foreign and domestic? Then leave the FDA, EPA, CDC, SEC, OSHA, etc. alone. They protect me from all kinds of domestic criminals. Here's a couple: Woburn, Mass. was the scene of a high-profile water contamination crisis. During the mid to late 1970s, the local community became concerned over the high incidence of childhood leukemia and other illnesses, particularly in the Pine Street area of east Woburn. After high levels of chemical contamination were found in City of Woburn’s Wells G and H in 1979, some members of the community suspected that the unusually high incidence of leukemia, cancer, and a wide variety of other health problems were linked to the possible exposure to volatile organic chemicals in the groundwater pumped from wells G and H. In May 1982, a number of citizens whose children had developed or died from leukemia filed a civil lawsuit against two corporations, W. R. Grace and Company and Beatrice Foods. Grace's subsidiary, Cryovac, and Beatrice were suspected of contaminating the groundwater by improperly disposing of trichloroethylene (TCE), perchloroethylene (perc) and other industrial solvents at their facilities in Woburn near wells G and H. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Woburn,_Massachusetts Jan. 21, 2009 -- More than 125 consumer peanut butter products, from more than 70 companies, have been recalled in the ongoing U.S. salmonella outbreak. The most recent person to get sick fell ill on Jan 8. Since it takes up to three weeks for cases to be reported to the CDC, more cases are expected. So far, the CDC has received reports of six deaths and 107 hospitalizations among the 486 people sickened in 43 U.S. states and one Canadian province. Adults and children sickened at hospitals, nursing homes, and schools tended to have eaten the King Nut brand of peanut butter. In all 14 institutions for which detailed information is available, the CDC and state health departments traced salmonella illnesses to the King Nut brand of peanut butter. The second piece of evidence against PCA's Blakely plant comes from the FDA's ongoing investigation of the plant, which has been shut down. FDA detectives isolated salmonella in two places inside the plant. While the salmonella found in the plant is different from the outbreak strain, it shows the plant did not operate under safe manufacturing procedures, says Stephen Sundlof, DVM, director of the FDA's Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. http://www.webmd.com/news/20090121/peanut-butter-salmonella-outbreak-rages-on?page=2 That's the problem with wingnuts, the only threat you see is if it speaks a different language and comes at you with a gun or bomb. The corporate terrorists who endanger your food, water, and economy are A OK! Maybe if it was your wife or child who died of lieukemia or salmonella you'd think differently. Out of sight out of mind I guess. Must be nice to walk around with the delusion that the only people keeping us safe are in the military. All other government employees are useless.
Are we cutting funding to abstinence programs? Please say yes. Because I noticed we're cutting family planning.
All threats to a citizens' rights. Not all threats. That being said I can see a need for the EPA. They do protect citizens' rights. The others you mentioned do not.
Lets cut the police budget. Real men buy guns and protect their own family. Besides, the police pension liability is huge cuz so many of these moocher and looters retire early and eat off of us.
Hell! Cut 20% of defense you could fund every entitlement program in America including healthcare and keep them solvent for the next 60 years AND pay for every kid in America to go to college.
I am talking about the most fundamental right TO LIFE. Which you accept as the government's main focus and I agree. You just choose to ignore that their are other forces that can take lives other than those in the military. The CDC protects my life from pandemics and outbreaks. The FDA from unsafe drugs and foods. OSHA from unsafe working conditions. Gee I sure miss those good old days when you could go to work around asbestos, and chemicals with no safety equipment or heat/ac. Go home to tainted drinking water and samonella and e.coli laced foods. If you were lucky you were immune to that strain of typhoid fever making it's way around.... Do you not remember the statistics on work related accidents before these regulations were put in place? http://www.weitzlux.com/workaccidentshistory_725.html
If you're truly concerned about this, I've got something that can be cut - here, I'll actually graphic it for you: Uploaded with ImageShack.us
According to the Constitution I read, the purpose of the government is also to "promote the general welfare".
Those are threats to your life. Not your right to life. There is a difference. By your definition the government could force food producers to only produce food the government deems healthy to protect your life. If you interpret that expression the way i think you are then the government can do anything. The government can claim anything is for the "general welfare". What then is the purpose of the rest of the Constitution?
If I go out and eat a toadstool that is my fault. The government shouldn't protect me from my own stupidity. However these are products being sold to American consumers. American consumers need to be aware of their potential for harm. As consumers caveat emptor should not apply to basic life staples like food. We do not have the time or expertise to inspect everything before we buy it and eat it. We should be able to safely assume that if it can be purchased at a reputable supermarket it is safe. Seems like a common sense function of the government should be to assure us of this not just for our own safety but also for our convenience. That is something that is nice about not living in a third world country. I suppose we could let free markets work this out. Once word got around that Skippy peanut butter was killing people, they would go out of business. Not sure how many deaths it would take but at least we could keep the government out of it. That's worth a few deaths right?
So as the Fisher foretold, so as it came to pass. We are now posting about toadstools versus barbie dolls. Still no poster (or no poster who is not on my ignore list) has defended avoiding the defense budget.
:grin: Cutting the defense budget means losing jobs. But cutting the CDC, FDA, etc. won't lose jobs because the people who work there are evil soulless liberal moochers and they don't count towards the census of for the BLS.
Why don't we use the DOD to kill people who don't have jobs, and then people on medicare. Unemployment and one entire entitlement program: solved. That would at least justify our immense defense budget.
The FDA does not tell you what's in your food. It tells you what you can and can't put in your body. Thus taking the choice out of my hands. If the FDA's function was just to inform people what's in their food then it would get a lot less guff from me and others. The FDA kills far more people then it saves (this is my assumption). The average drug takes 10 years to get past the FDA. You can speculate what that means in terms of number of deaths.
Christ, Fisher was right, Oh well one more common sense attempt. Show me the law or rule or statute where the FDA says I can't eat something. Show me where it says if I eat dirt I will be arrested. Show me where the FDA agents are to prevent me from doing so. They do not tell me what I can or cannot put in my body they just restrict products to be sold to consumers that are unsafe. Again we as consumers rely on anything in the store to be safe. Drinking bleach is unsafe. If I drank it I would not be arrested. However if I tried to sell it in a supermarket marketed as soda it would not be allowed. Jeez why is that difference so hard to comprehend? And we all know what assuming does. You are reaching into the stratosphere if you think that because drugs are delayed that more people die then if they would not have. Look at how many drugs go through this strenous process and still kill people. Now think if it was just a free for all.
