Authority Without Resources

The Washington Post delves into the world of private food inspections today, noting, not surprisingly, that they leave something to be desired when it comes to uncovering threats to the food supply. Recently, for example, both Wright County Egg and the Peanut Corp. of America had salmonella-related recalls of their products months after an inspection firm gave them "superior" ratings for food safety.

Here's the money quote: "The FDA has the authority but not the resources to routinely inspect the estimated 150,000 food-processing plants in the United States or the 250,000 facilities abroad that supply U.S. consumers. "

So again I have to ask: do Americans want FDA to have the capacity to inspect all of these facilities on a regular basis? And if so, are they willing to pay for it--along with the capacity to fight expensive wars overseas, prevent oil spills, respond to natural disasters of all types and sizes all over the country, and the myriad other things we as citizens take for granted? This is the face of big government. And if people don't like it, that's fine. But that means they can't blame the government for failing to prevent the occasional salmonella outbreak.