There's a story everyone should read in the New York Times. It is about a young woman, paralyzed from the waist down, as a result of e. coli tainted hamburger.
This is a rare, but violent case, in an industry under-regulated, and heavily protected by the wealth of the industry that cares more about providing us cheap beef than safety. A few years ago, a best seller [Fast Food Nation] detailed the problems in the beef industry, but illustrates what happens when an industry provides its own regulation, and government inspection isn't adequately funded.
This shouldn't be a liberal/conservative issue. This is our health - how much of a guaranty do you have that in a restaurant, or even in your own home, that the cook has killed the bacteria in cooking? What price do we pay when we don't adequately regulate business?
Do we prohibit litigation ["tort reform" as always proposed by business] so that industry does not pay the full price for its conduct - if you listen to the business community, the free market should control everything, except penalties for the damage it causes - sort of like corporate bailouts for the consequences of their gambling.
