Crossposted at http://politicook.net
Always a tool for big business, the administration is in court today arguing that the Creekstone Farms Premium Beef company’s practice of screening all of its beef carcasses for BSE (Mad Cow Disease) should be prohibited.
Here is a link to the story:
http://www.cnn.com/...
Since the link is available, I’ll just briefly summarize the story. The company mentioned screens all of its beef for BSE, while USDA requires somewhat under 1% to be tested. Creekstone argues that it is free to exceed the requirements of the guidelines, and, not surprisingly for this administration, says it is not. Creekstone argues that it gives its customers a higher level of confidence in the safety of its beef. The administration argues that this is false confidence, and goes on to say that it is possible for a false positive to panic the industry.
The article points out that "larger meatpackers" have opposed greater frequency of testing because of the cost involved, and are fearful that if Creekstone is allowed to do it, consumers just might want any beef they buy to be screened. The article ends up by stating that this case was supposed to be resolved in the favor of Creekstone last year, but the administration appealed.
Here is my analysis. This a recurring pattern with this administration. For example, for the first time ever California was denied a waiver for automotive emissions more stringent than the Federal standards, a concession to Big Oil and Big Auto. Environmental standards have been lowered for refineries and power plants, more concessions to Big Industry. New drugs are fast tracked and patent terms extended for Big Pharma.
What is the pattern here? There is a consistent, nonrelenting tendency to provide greater profit for big corporations, always at the expense of health and safety for the citizens. But, this administration serves its core constituency, the "haves and the have mores", to use the actual words of the soon to be former President (thankfully, soon to be former).
My sincere hope is that President Obama remains consistent with his stated goals of transforming the government back into an agent of change for the good of the people, rather that the current situation. The irony is that in the long run greater protection for the citizens will be good for business, as sustainability will help to assure long-term stability rather than the mess we have now. Comments, disagreements, and questions are always welcome.
Update: a commenter asked for a link to Creekstone, and here it is. They appear to accept online orders, too.
Warmest regards, Doc.http://www.creekstonefarms.com/