WaPo reports on how the government gave away millions of dollars of commodity to ranchers and created an Enron-style system of trades and price hikes. "The milk was being bought and sold, bought and sold. Some of it was probably ending up in dog food and pet food," said Matthew J. Hoobler, a Wyoming official who oversaw the distribution of more than 60 million pounds of powdered milk in that state. That trading was possible, he said, because "there was no enforcement."
Tons of the surplus milk entered the commercial market in one of two ways. Some states ended up ordering more powdered milk than ranchers could use and then auctioned the rest to brokers. And ranchers sold powdered milk they didn't want or need back to feed dealers, who marked it up and sold it to other dealers or brokers.
"Because there was no enforcement." Kind of sums up everything that's wrong with this administration, doesn't it? From Enron to money wasted and "lost" in iraq to Katrina to secret spying programs -- all possible because there was no enforcement.
1 comment:
This is the new way of saving taxpayer dollars, you know. Without enforcement personnel, well, you may be eating contaminated food and unable to pay for hospitalization, but at least you didn't have to pay for inspection.
from Ruth
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