Lawmakers Pander to Food Lobby Again

(Update, 6 p.m. Thursday: The House passed the food safety measure 283-142. The Senate is expected to take it up after the August recess. If enacted, it will be the first major reform in food-safety law in 70 years.)

No special interest is more special to lawmakers than the food/farm lobby, a fact that was proved once again on Wednesday when a sweeping overhaul of the nation's food safety system was defeated in the House.

The measure will likely pass anyway, perhaps as soon as today. What's striking though, is the power of the food lobby to make lawmakers do and say the wrong things to appease special interests, even on the most crucial matters of public safety.

Several House members complained that the bill was rushed to the floor and they hadn't had time to review it thoroughly. Because the bill was expedited, a two-thirds majority was needed, but it lost with 280 votes for it and 150 against.

But some lawmakers just don't like the idea of keeping people from getting sick if it means their political sponsors—farmers and food manufacturers or both—won't like them anymore.

Frank Lucas of Oklahoma, the ranking Republican on the House Agriculture Committee, said the bill would "add burdens to many small businesses and farms across this country" and "will increase the cost of food for consumers." Further, he warned, it could cause some companies to move overseas, where, presumably, they will be freer to sell disease-tainted food.