Chinese imports into the US are 300 billion dollars annually. There was a recent issue with tainted pet food but I'm not aware of any spate of children deaths.

The myth that the FDA is going to protect you is just that, a myth. They have 600 inspectors to inspect not only the domestic food supply but the flood of imports coming into 500 entry points daily. Recently, the FDA wrote a letter to the food manufacters in the US that it's their responsibility to ensure the safety of their product, not the FDA--they can't possibly handle the load. Which is exactly what some of us have been saying on this site.

before you go into a diatribe about you don't trust US companies to regulate themselves, you may as well go into a shell and grow your own food, build your own housing, generate you're own power, etc.

In fact, when it comes to china, the US Fireworks industry is an excellent example of how well self-regulation works. 100% of fireworks are imported from china. At one point, the us fireworks industry became frustrated with the level of quality and failure of safety tests that they banded together as an industry and set up American Fireworks Standards Laboratory (AFSL) in China to test them and work the chinese manufacturers to meet their safety guidelines. Now injury rates among consumer users have decreased dramatically and sales are booming.

No manufacturer has a desire to produce a product that is going to harm the consumer of such product. They won't be in business for long(unless they are protected by the government). The problem with the chinese(and there are issues with respect to the quality of their manufacturing, no doubt) is not that they are evil commies(the nature of their survellience state is another matter) who don't care about the quality of their goods, but that they have grown so fast with really no history or tradition as a capitalist manufacturing base. If more industries--such as the Grocery Industry--followed the lead of the Fireworks industry, I think we have a much more reliable framework--a self-regulatory framework--than we have now.

excellent post above on the FDA BTW. If the POV you spoke against wasn't so harmful, it would be laughable.

The paradox is mind boggling. The government delivers so much less than many think in terms of the advertised benefits attributed to it...while the private sector is SO MUCH MORE responsible for these matters than many give it credit for. And they do it everyday and many hardly notice...or care.

Millions of products and services are smoothly exchanging hands, getting us through the day and improving our quality of life everyday...with very few hiccups...and those hiccups are pounded into our minds when they do happen (Don't you worry!). But politicians and government agencies, like the FDA as you mention, do comparatively very little and don't even do it as well and they treated with such reverence. We're SOOOOO lucky to have you have, FDA!!

I once read a snide libertarian comment that this is nothing new. In medieval times, everyone loved the King and Queen, while they hated the artisans and merchants. The king did very little good for them yet they were revered for so many things. The artisans, masons, smiths and merchants, OTOH, were mistrusted and frowned on as greedy opportunists even though they sold everyone their needed bread, cheese, clothing, tools among other needed products and services...like buildings.

It's really unfair when you think about. Kinda like Cinderella getting the shaft while those worthless step sisters got treated like royalty.

But. yes...the Dems are pandering. They'll throw a few lollipops on these matters and fight meaningful reform...but they won't go as far as to give the base elements like the AFL-CIO everything they want. They know better...even though they don't show it.