The Financially Deprived Administration

I said earlier that U.S. Supreme Court Justice Anthony Kennedy may be the most important figure in our government because he apparently is all that stands between some remnant of sanity on the high court and a total right-wing Repug takeover. I should add, based on some recent reading, that the second most important figure is Democratic Rep. Henry Waxman, since he is apparently the only one watching over the Food and Drug Administration.

According to an article in USA Today yesterday...

The Food and Drug Administration issued 535 warning letters in the fiscal year ended Sept. 30, a 15-year low and down 54% from five years earlier, says the report by the Democratic minority staff of the House Committee on Government Reform (Waxman sits on that committee).

What really got me was this, I should point out…

“The FDA, which declined an interview request…”

Wait a minute here.

We’re talking about a U.S. government agency. You know, an agency on behalf of the government, the members of which were elected or appointed to serve...US!

And they’re “flipping off” Waxman, and in so doing, giving us the same treatment?

Well, you can just imagine how that went over with me, right? So I decided to look into things a bit, and I came across this Common Dreams article about whether or not the FDA is policing fraudulent drug ads (yes, I know the article is over three years old, but consider the budget cuts I’ve highlighted below from this article and then ask me if you think the status quo has changed since October 2002):

The new FDA budget proposes major cuts in both foreign and domestic inspection programs, including significant spending reductions in the following areas:

• 5 percent for domestic food safety inspections,
• 5.8 percent for foreign drug plant inspections, and
• 4.7 percent for inspections of national blood banks.

I visited the FDA web site to learn more and discovered that the person in charge is currently Dr. Andrew C. Von Eschenbach of Philadelphia. His resume is impressive, and I have no prior knowledge of him so I can’t say anything one way or the other.

No, dear reader, I strongly suspect that the issue here is funding for industry policing and enforcement, which is definitely lacking from the most radically pro-business congress and presidential administration that this country has ever seen.

And that’s why we need to speak out on this and support Rep. Waxman however we can. Standing up for our political beliefs, important as that is, is one thing. Speaking out on matters directly affecting our health and safety, however, is something else altogether.