Tucson, Ariz. – We already know that Jesse Kelly wants to “eliminate” FDR’s legacy – Social Security – on which millions of American seniors rely to avoid poverty. But this week we learned that Kelly also wants to eliminate Theodore Roosevelt’s legacy – the Food and Drug Administration.
At two recent events, Kelly asserted that the government should play no role in American food safety. In Kelly’s words, the FDA should be reduced “as much as humanly possible.”
At a barbeque at Continental Ranch on Saturday, Kelly was asked what the government could do protect consumers from incidents like the recent recall of half a million salmonella-tainted eggs that made more than 1,000 Americans dangerously sick. Kelly’s response was simple: “it’s our job to protect ourselves.”
When pushed by the questioner about the absurdity of this response, Kelly likened the recent salmonella outbreak to the BP oil spill, saying it was excessive government involvement that caused the crisis.
“Nobody is going to look out for your best interests but you,” he told the questioner.
This exchange echoes the promise that Kelly made to the Rotary Club of Tucson on Oct. 6: “I want to reduce the FDA, in fact, reduce them as much as humanly possible,” he said.
The Food and Drug Administration is tasked with approving prescription drugs and vaccines for market, as well as enforcing food safety laws. Its roots are in the 1906 Pure Food and Drug Act, signed into law the same year by Republican President Theodore Roosevelt to protect Americans from being injured or killed by defective medicines or hazardous foods.
According to the U.S. Center for Disease Control, about 76 million Americans are sickened and 5,000 die every year from food-borne diseases, such as E. coli and salmonella, which was the very disease Kelly was asked about at Continental Ranch.
“When Jesse Kelly was asked by an Arizona woman what he would do to protect her family from salmonella if he got to Congress, he told her the truth,’ said Rodd McLeod, campaign manager for Giffords for Congress. “He told her he wouldn’t lift a finger for her — or her family. He said she was on her own, because Mr. Kelly is too scared to break the rules that the big corporations have assigned to him.”
The video of the Continental Ranch event can be viewed here http://bit.ly/94wrUb and the Rotary Club talk can be viewed here http://bit.ly/bbmGBc.
But even a quick look at what Kelly is calling for – life before Theodore Roosevelt’s landmark food safety bill – is enough to make every voter sick: http://bit.ly/c79I8l.
The transcript of the Continental Ranch exchange:
Questioner: “Given the salmonella outbreaks we have every three weeks, with the chicken industry, with the pesticides and whatnot they put on spinach, we have rules and regulations, but however there is no rule mandating they must be enforced. Is there some way that when you are in Congress you can have a bill passed that will say that instead of having these companies voluntarily change, mandate that they must change or give them the ability to shut them down? And that goes for mining companies and everybody else who has hundreds of violations against them?”
Jesse Kelly: “That’s the first time I’ve ever had that question. Congratulations on being unique. First shot out of the box, I do not believe we’re lacking in new federal regulation or mandates on business. We have over 300,000 federal regulations that come with a criminal penalty right now. You could literally spit on the grass and be arrested by the federal government, if they so chose. And the three industries in this county that failed, the auto, energy and the housing sectors are the three most regulated parts of our government, our society or economy. More regulations, more control, giving Nancy Pelosi more power over the country is not the solution right now.”
Questioner: “Who’s protecting us?”
Jesse Kelly: “That’s the thing, ma’am, it’s our job to protect ourselves because no one else is going to look out for your best interests like you. No one else is going to protect your money like you. If you go to government right now, they look out for their own best interests.
Questioner: “Am I supposed to go to a chicken farmer and say, ‘I’d like you to close down because all of your birds are half dead?’”
Jesse Kelly: “Well, I don’t know anything about the chicken farmers or the salmonella outbreaks right now, ma’am. I’ve actually not heard about that recently. Obviously there’s a new thing that comes along every day. But I know this – any portion of any economy, whether it’s our own or another, that’s heavily regulated by the government doesn’t have fewer disasters, they have more. That oil spill in the gulf that came about because we forced the oil company into five thousand feet of ocean water to drill for oil because they were not allowed to drill offshore. That was not caused by the evil greedy corporations. Government did that.”
Gabrielle Giffords is a third generation Southern Arizonan and the only person in Congress with an active duty military spouse. Gabrielle is not like other politicians. She takes an independent view on the issues and was rated Arizona’s most moderate member of Congress by the National Journal in 2009. She’s voted against a Congressional pay raise every time one has come up, and she doesn’t make earmark requests for campaign contributors. Most importantly, Gabrielle stands up for Southern Arizona by working across the aisle to secure the border, protect our military and veterans and create jobs by investing in solar energy.
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