Just today appears another example of how corporate interests seem not to be held accountable, no matter who is in the WH or which party controls Congress.
From an AP new release on the Manufacturing.net website:
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The peanut industry executive whose filthy processing plants were blamed in a salmonella outbreak two years ago that killed nine people and sickened hundreds more is back in the business.
Stewart Parnell, former president of the now-bankrupt Peanut Corp. of America, is working as a consultant to peanut companies as the federal government's criminal investigation against him has languished for more than 18 months, The Associated Press has learned.
Parnell, who invoked the Fifth Amendment to avoid testifying before Congress in February 2009, once directed employees to "turn them loose" after samples of peanuts had tested positive for salmonella and then were cleared in a second test, according to e-mails uncovered at the time by congressional investigators.
Not that nothing has been happening:
A federal judge in Virginia earlier this month approved a $12 million insurance settlement for Almer's family and more than 100 other salmonella victims.
One wonders what is going on in the FDA to keep this case going for so long:
It's unclear why the government probe has taken so long or whether it is still in the hands of the FDA or the Justice Department, which would prosecute the case. The FDA traditionally conducts investigations and then hands such cases over to Justice Department prosecutors.
Even actions taken by the WH and the House of Representatives have come to naught due to our do-nothing Senate.
Parnell's legal limbo comes amid a congressional debate over a bill that would give the FDA more power and more money to inspect food facilities, trace illnesses back to their source and take action against unscrupulous food manufacturers. Spurred by the peanut outbreak during President Barack Obama's first weeks in office, the White House has pushed the bill and said food safety overhaul is a priority.
Despite Obama's backing, the bill's future is uncertain. The House passed the bill last year, but it has stalled in the Senate and few measures are expected to be signed into law before the November elections.
I have a simple question: when we will finally see government agencies charged with protecting the citizens of this country actually do so, with some alacrity and speed, rather than foot dragging and hoping everyone forgets the problem at hand?