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Reps. John Dingell and Bart Stupak have dispatched investigators to the west coast "to pursue reports of extensive melamine contamination of wheat gluten, rice protein, and other vegetable protein."  Did you think the problem was going to remain limited to pet food?  Yeah me neither.

I think this is a very good place to start addressing a topic that needs revisiting — the Reagan era myth that "all government is bad"  which desperately needs to be re-written.  Appropriate oversight needs to climb out of Grover Norquist's bathtub and reassert itself in our lives.  Henry Waxman shows his appreciation of this fact in his statement:

We have reason to be concerned — to examine the strengths and weaknesses of this agency in the light of ever increasing demands — and to ensure that it remains strong.

Some believe in having the smallest government possible and live by the old joke that the scariest words in the English language are “I’m from the government and I’m here to help.”

I and others have a fundamentally different view. I think government can be a tremendous instrument of good and I’ve seen it help Americans in countless ways. The Social Security system transformed our country. Landmark health and environmental laws have improved the quality of life for millions of Americans. Regulatory and consumer agencies have made financial stability and basic safety precautions a part of everyday life.

In this regard, FDA has had a remarkable record of accomplishment. It has been, and by and large remains, an agency with highly qualified and dedicated staff doing a big job under difficult circumstances. But it is our job to ensure that it has the resources to continue to perform with competence. 

Because we know from other areas, that without proper support — or with deliberate weakening of agency leadership or unwarranted outside interference — things can change.

We need only look at the example of FEMA. Once it was the gold standard for government. But something has gone very wrong in recent years.

We saw government at its worst during the Hurricane Katrina disaster. FEMA completely failed America’s citizens. We saw it break down again at Walter Reed Hospital, in the deplorable conditions provided to our bravest Americans. And we’ve seen profound problems in the Iraq War, from flawed basic intelligence to a failure to supply our troops with the right armor and equipment.

In all those cases we know incompetent government can have deadly consequences.

If the wingnuts want to bellow and scream, they can go right ahead:

In recent years, for instance, China's food safety scandals have involved everything from fake baby milk formulas and soy sauce made from human hair to instances where cuttlefish were soaked in calligraphy ink to improve their color and eels were fed contraceptive pills to make them grow long and slim.

Bon appetite, warmongers. 

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