ANGRY BOVINE
Its a good time to vote with your pocketbook, America. If you want to see more mad cow problems, just keep buying beef. The Secretary of Agriculture, who erred in her initial assurances about the extent of the states exposed via their processing plants, is a former huckster (sorry, lobbyist.........I'm not sure which is the more pejorative term) for the beef industry. Even at a time of record prices and profits for the beef industry, it is resisting the sorts of measures that would need to be put in place to prevent and successfully test for mad cow. And please spare us the sob-stury about how "devastating" the loss of exports is to the industry: 90% of the beef raised in the U.S. is sold here, only 10% is exported. This is no crippling blow.

Yes, America, it costs more to do it right and be safe. Organic beef already costs more because it has an inherently higher cost structure, but there has never been a case of mad cow from an organic beef farm. Buy organic beef (it tastes better), or give up beef for a while, or keep your whining traps shut when the next outbreak of mad cow occurs. You cannot count on this adminstration - favored by the industry - to do any more than is minimally necessary to assure the safety of beef. You can bet your bottom dollar, however, that the industry would respond very quickly if enough people took this seriously enough to vote with their pocketbook. The choice is ours.