HELENA BOTTEMILLER, - FOOD SAFETY NEWS
Stephan: More on the attempt to gut food and other safety regulatory agencies. This dates from a couple of weeks ago, but got little coverage.
House Republicans Thursday released a more detailed picture of the cuts that would be required under their budget proposal for the remainder of fiscal year 2011, which is slated to be considered on the House floor next week. Food and public health regulatory agencies, including the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS), and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention would face significant spending cuts under the plan.
According to a preliminary summary unveiled by the House Appropriations Committee Thursday, the proposed continuing resolution that would fund the government from March to October calls for more than $74 billion in spending reductions, but all of the itemized cuts in the outline are reductions compared to the president’s fiscal year 2011 request, not the current continuing resolution that is funding the government.
At first glance, it appears the proposal would cut $222 million from FDA, $53 million from FSIS, $755 million from CDC, $336 million from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)–an agency that is playing a major role in testing Gulf seafood for chemicals in the wake of the oil spill–and $246 million from the Agriculture Research Service, the research arm […]
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Stephan: The Illness Profit System at work; our healthcare model just gets more Orwellian year by year.
We’ve all seen them in newspapers and magazines, on TV and the Internet — cheerful people in glossy, picturesque ads claiming that by taking a little magic prescription pill their lives were immeasurably improved.
As the TV ad fades, a cautionary voice quietly recites a host of ‘risk factors,
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Saturday, March 12th, 2011
BOB WILLIS and SHOBHANA CHANDRA, - Bloomberg
Stephan: This is a bit of good news. The big concern, for me, is whether, if gas goes to $5 a gallon, a second recession occurs.
U.S. retail sales increased in February by the most in four months as Americans took advantage of more seasonable weather to buy cars, clothes and electronics.
Purchases climbed 1 percent after a revised 0.7 percent rise in January that was more than double the previous estimate, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. February sales matched the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey.
Job growth and lower taxes are helping Americans keep up spending after the biggest quarterly increase in four years. A separate report showed consumer sentiment fell to a five-month low in March, indicating surging gasoline prices may restrain the household demand that makes up 70 percent of the economy.
‘Consumers are not yet showing any ill effects from rising food and energy prices,
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Saturday, March 12th, 2011
TERESA COTSIRILOS, - Salon
Stephan: We should have done this years ago.
In an effort to cut costs, the Government Accountability Office recently suggested that the federal government eliminate the one dollar bill. According to a report released last week, using a dollar coin instead could save up to $5.5 billion over the next 30 years. Here’s the argument in favor of the switch:
* Coins are cheaper and more durable: Due to rising cotton prices, the dollar bill is now literally worth less than the paper it’s printed on. Dollar coins cost considerably less to produce and last much longer. Dollar notes only last two to three years; dollar coins can last up to 30 years or more.
* All the cool people are doing it: The European Union, Canada, and Britain have already made the switch, and now use mostly coin money. Their transitions took a coordinated government effort, but were also relatively painless. And given how easily Americans have adapted credit cards, online bill payments, and other forms of ‘digital money,’ the switch might not be too jarring.
* Coins are more eco-friendly: Retiring greenbacks could actually make the U.S. economy more green. Because of the paper […]
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Saturday, March 12th, 2011
Stephan: Yet another food recall. You'll be happy to know that Republicans are committed to gutting the regulatory agencies which oversee food safety. In essence the consumer is going to become the test rat for discerning whether food is safe. Every hamburger will be a high risk adventure.
After third party lab results confirmed E. coli O157:H7 presence in ground beef, Creekstone Farms Premium Beef, of Askansas City are recalling 14,158 of their produce. So far, no reports have come in of illnesses linked to these products, the company and the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) inform.
The recall includes the following products (View Labels, PDF):
* 40-pound (approx) Beef Chuck Fine Grind 81/19 Natural, containing 10-pound chubs. Product code 80825.
* 40-pound (approx) BEEF FINE GRIND 90/10 NATURAL, containing 10-pound chubs. Product code 80495.
* 40-pound (approx) BEEF SIRLOIN FINE GRIND 91/9 NATURAL, containing 5-pound chubs. Product code 85165.
* 60-pound (approx) BEEF FINE GROUND 93/7, containing 10-pound chubs. Product code 86191.
Inside the USDA mark of inspection you can read the number EST. 27. The recalled products were produced on February 22nd, 2011 and were transported to companies in Arizona, California, Georgia, Indiana, Iowa, Montana, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Washington, where they were processed further and/or distributed on.
The recalled products could have been repackaged into smaller consumer-sized packages under different retail brand names. Retail distribution lists(s) […]
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