In a nutshell, what is bad about this bill is it is about to be passed without being completed. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will be granted wide discretion and authority to regulate all US-based food producers and processors. The language of the bill leaves so much up to be fleshed out at a later time the FDA could, for example, easily wipe out anything from organic farmers to your kid’s lemonade stand.
What is scary for smaller food producers and processors is they could, in the eyes of the FDA, be indistinguishable from their multi-billion dollar competitors. They could be expected to keep the same kinds of records, follow the same procedures or even pay the same licensing fees. To put that in perspective, my friend who sells home-made jams on etsy.com could be forced to pay the same licensing fees and use the same equipment as Welches or Smuckers.
Borrow for retirement, die in debt
I came across this article on USA Today and am a bit disappointed they are portraying seniors who die with debt as people I should pity. Is USA Today serious? At a time in life when most people try to cope with the cards they’ve been dealt, these folks use their age to their advantage.
In short, seniors are going into debt at higher rates these days. They are charging medical expenses and vacations, taking out second mortgages, and pretty much doing everything financially irresponsible everyone else does. However, they won’t be around long enough to have to repay it. (more…)