U.S. Farmers & Our Government

Many of the CJD Families I've talked to have a certain bitterness towards the U.S. governemnt. Ok, just to be fair there is animosity towards the British government as well. Why? For putting profit above the safety of the people. Proper testing procedures cost money. And you wouldn't want to caution the public in the name of harming the beef industry when a cow is testing positive for BSE. The U.S. government could fix the mad cow issue in this country by testing every animal for human consumption. They could take the money they spend on beef public relations and use it for testing. It's such an easy solution!

Considering all the bitterness I've heard from CJD families all over the world about their respective governments valuing profit over human lives, this article didn't surprise me at all. Yes, the government worries about trade above your safety. That's why the U.S. government is trying so hard to get our beef into Japan, but Japan very wisely keeps saying no.

http://newstribune.com/articles/2006/02/26/business/309news23.txt

Here's a tidbit from the Jefferson City, Missouri News Tribune:

Rep. Jerry Moran, R-Kan., called Johanns' comments against extension “premature,” though he conceded the option should not be eliminated altogether. He said the farm bill should be driving negotiators at the WTO, not the other way around.

“It seems better for us to develop what a farm bill should look like for the benefit of American farmers, as compared to letting our WTO negotiators and the rest of the world determine what our farm policy should be in this country,” said Moran, a member of the House Agriculture Committee.