Friday, May 20, 2022

Out of the Mouths of American Babes

Out of the Mouths of American Babes
Commentary by Sanford D. Horn
May 20, 2022

Seeing is believing; so on Tuesday, I saw, and I believe. Visiting a CVS, a Kroger, a Target, and a Wal Mart here in Westfield, IN, with pictures as supporting evidence, the cupboards are bare and the shelves bereft of precious baby formula.

As is typical, when government touches it, bad things happen. The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) is a government kickback-monopoly that has not only deleteriously impacted WIC recipients, but full-price paying parents. Abbott Nutrition Company, the producer of Pedialyte, PediaSure, and Similac, is at the crux of the baby formula crisis. Abbott closed its Sturgis, MI plant due to contamination. WIC beneficiaries receive vouchers for the procurement of baby formula from one specific company - a contract awarded by the government, ostensibly to the highest bidder, or in this case, the company offering the largest rebates.

One company, Abbott, accounts for 42 percent of the baby formula in the United States, according to The Wall Street Journal. Most states have their WIC contracts with that company. WIC recipients represent 57 to 68 percent of formula sales, according to the Department of Agriculture. When that one company incurs the problems it is suffering, those problems have far reaching tentacles, as witnessed by the empty shelves around the country.

Now, after the horse has escaped the barn, the Biden administration has decided it’s time to act. Is this what is meant by leading from behind? On Wednesday, May 18, Biden invoked the 1950 Defense Production Act (DPA) which allows the president to mandate “companies to enter into contracts to produce materials considered necessary for national defense,” according to Forbes.com. While clearly not war materials, the lives of our infants are in jeopardy, and that is a priority. The DPA also prohibits hoarding of, and profiteering from such materials. But what can this act encourage that is not already being done? Does the administration think Abbott is intentionally depleting the market?

“Our number one priority is getting infants and families the high quality formulas they need, and this is a major step toward reopening our Sturgis facility so we can ease the nationwide formula shortage,” according to an Abbott statement.

This is the United States of America. No one should ever go hungry in this country, especially our children and most vulnerable unable to provide for themselves. Such monopolies should not exist, for, as has occurred, when one company suffers, all consumers suffer in a quest to find the food needed as more people have fewer options from which to choose.

Additionally, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is now confiscating imported baby formula because there are non-English labels and an issue with the dosing cup. FIX IT! That the United States, the United States, has to import baby formula is both embarrassing and shameful.

Compounding matters, while the shelves in our stores look like vacant lots, at the southern border palettes a-plenty stock-piled with baby formula is at the ready for, wait for it - illegal aliens who have invaded the United States. This heretofore unknown information has been unearthed thanks to the intrepid investigatory work by Congresswoman Kat Cammack (R-FL). Cammack has been a hero and leading from the front, and not just on this particular issue. I would be proud to call her my Congresswoman. 

Any American not outraged by this chicanery, should not call him or herself a real American. This administration, this government, this so-called leader should be ashamed, first for allowing even one illegal to invade the United States, as all predecessors should, then for putting them ahead of even one American in line for such precious resources. Resources, when part of the WIC program, are earmarked for Americans in need - paid for by other Americans - some of means, many not so much. Taking food out of the mouths of American infants is deplorable - in the truest sense of that word. 

This is yet another example of putting America and Americans last - and without proper nourishment, dead last. As is usually the case, the government creates the problem, then takes credit for the solution. Smaller government is better. Less government is also better. The government kickback-monopoly failure regarding baby formula has proven that spectacularly. 

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN.







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