He's Right, They Are Stooges

Reuters reports today that Montana Gov. Brian Schweitzer (D) has riled up the hacks at the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) when, after revelations of Mad Cow disease, he announced plans to test Canadian cattle entering his state and charge meat processing companies for the extra inspection. Schweitzer said he wasn't surprised by the USDA's willingness to fight for the meat industry and against his pro-consumer efforts. "A few years ago, the four big meat companies, they expanded their role in this country," he said. "They bought a U.S. company called the United States Department of Agriculture." Schweitzer said the USDA officials "are a bunch of stooges" and noted that "The USDA crawled right into bed with them (the meat companies) and they run our internal policy and our international (beef) policy." He's exactly right.

As Knight-Ridder reported on 5/18/03, President Bush has made sure USDA "is staffed with former executives of the meat industry, now in charge of regulating their former employers." USDA "Chief of staff Dale Moore, senior adviser Elizabeth Johnson, and Chuck Lambert, deputy undersecretary for marketing and regulatory programs, all came from the National Cattlemen's Beef Association. Deputy Undersecretary James Butler joined USDA after serving as partner in Butler & Son Charolais Ranch, a Texas cattle company, while Deputy Secretary James Moseley was managing partner of Infinity Pork L.L.C., an Indiana hog farm. Donna Reifschneider, the agency's administrator of inspection is the former president of the National Pork Producers Council."

COMMENTS: Go to Sirota's Working Assets site to comment on this entry