27 May 2012

Rand Paul Drops Bomb To Disarm Feds

Senator Rand Paul (R-KY) is taking on the federal government once again, specifically the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). On Wednesday Sen. Paul introduced an amendment to a FDA funding bill that would disarm the FDA and would achieve several other goals.

While I don't generally agree with everything the younger Paul says, he's spot-on here with the state overstepping its authority by intervening in exchanges between consenting adults. How can there be a crime without a victim?

Paul began his statement to the Senate,

"I'm troubled by images of armed agents raiding Amish farms and preventing them selling milk directly from the cow. I think we have bigger problems in our country than sending armed FDA agents into peaceful farmers' land and telling them they can't sell milk directly from the cow."

It seems his primary concern is over the federal government regulating the food industry from start to finish. One of the issues concerns unpasteurized milk, which is more healthy for you than, the stuff you get in the store, and it tastes better too. The federal government forbids it in interstate commerce. They think raw milk is a weapon of some sorts and farmers are the new terrorists.

Paul said that the first provision of the amendment would stop, "overzealous regulation of vitamins, food and supplements by codifying the First Amendment prohibition on prior restraint."

"The First Amendment says you can't prevent speech, even commercial speech, in advance of the speech. You can't tell Cheerios that they can't say there's a health benefit to their Cheerios. Under our current FDA laws, FDA says if you want to market prune juice, you can't say that it cures constipation," he said.

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