Social Dues Not At Work

Here is one of a hundred ways that the lack of willingness (read: greed) of U.S. citizens to pay their taxes social dues ends up hurting all of us:

The NYT and WSJ highlight how this is the latest example of the growing rift between the United States and China over safety issues. Meanwhile, it's becoming clearer just how little oversight there is of imported products. A new government audit says the FDA would have to invest an additional $56 million next year simply to begin full inspections of foreign plants. At the current pace, "the F.D.A. would need at least 27 years to inspect every foreign medical device plant that exports to the United States, 13 years to check every foreign drug plant and 1,900 years to examine every foreign food plant," reports the NYT.

Mind you, $56 million is a drop in the bucket when you consider we're spending that much in about fours in Iraq. But if you look at the government's budget, you'll see where the priorities are. Including this numbskull:

In a blunt piece inside, the WSJ says that the tax cuts Sen. John McCain is vowing to push through as president "would either cause the federal deficit to explode or would require unprecedented spending cuts." He has proposed a total of more than $650 billion in tax cuts a year that would mostly benefit "corporations and upper-income families." Details are scarce, but he has promised deep cuts would equal $160 billion a year, which was "the total budget in 2007 for the departments of Education, Energy, Homeland Security, Justice and State."