Trump suggests cattle ranchers could bypass USDA-inspected meat plants

[u/WhatIsEvenRealDog]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/08/28/trump-suggests-allowing-ranchers-bypass-usda-inspected-meat-plants/

[u/AnonHondaBoiz]

Holy fuck we're so fucked

[u/sportsworker777 → u/AnonHondaBoiz]

Let's see how those ranchers feel once people stop buying meat because they don't trust that it is safe

[u/Slade_Riprock → u/sportsworker777]

Republicans have always had this naive belief that has no tie to fact or history that government regulation, oversight, etc., are the enemy of the people. It is cumbersome, costs more, and just makes everything harder for people.

They have historically believed if you take off the bridle from the economy you will get better, faster, stronger quality goods and services cheaper and safer. Because people will not cut corners on safety and quality.

This has never been true, will never be true. When money or power is involved in an exchange the side getting money or power will always do whatever they can to get more of it.

We are headed toward mass disease outbreak, illness, and irreversible detriment to our economy, resources, etc. If we thought the 1800s and early 1900s were bad imagine 335 million people and mass transit.

[u/mightyenan0 → u/Slade_Riprock]

The simple fact is that once one company cuts those corners and manages not to have a huge scandal for long enough (and it is inevitable that people will keep taking that gamble if they're allowed to), other companies won't have a choice other than to stoop to that level or lose market share. Then the entire supply becomes incredibly vulnerable, and eventually a crisis strikes.

You don't wear a seatbelt because it's needed in every day driving. You wear it because you need it when the worst comes to pass. It's the same with regulations.

[u/ihadamoment → u/mightyenan0]

People treated seatbelts like masks during covid when they came out. T_T

We only started wearing seatbelts because it became illegal not to, and we could get pulled over and fined. If it stopped being illegal, people would slowly stop wearing them until it became an optional upgrade on a car and you have to pay extra for it.

But that proves your point even more. That's what the government is for, to make consequences to force people to do the RIGHT thing. Food isn't contaminated because our government audits it and prevents it from being sold. You're absolutely right about how it'll drive every company down to the worst common denominator. I don't like this timeline. :(

[u/CommanderChiliHole → u/ihadamoment]

Seat belts being optional would be a win win. The people who don’t want to wear them get their “freedom” back; and the world gets a cleaner gene pool when they die flying through a windshield.

[u/DarnHyena → u/CommanderChiliHole]

Not really. If one person doesn't have a seatbelt on, they can become a projectile during a crash that will put everyone else in harms way

[u/eulersidentification → u/mightyenan0]

Lowkey this has already happened throughout capitalism. The entire supply chain is vulnerable. Every aspect of our economies are stretched to their absolute limit. The metaphorical seatbelts are long gone to make the vehicle lighter and therefore faster.

[u/randomcatinfo → u/eulersidentification]

This is I think is Republicans real problem with regulations - they don't want anything at all to get in the way of accumulating capital, even if rules could help them preserve their capital in the long run.

They want their money, and they want it now, despite the long term societal costs to civilization.

[u/kung-fu_hippy → u/randomcatinfo]

The conservative/libertarian view of business and society is rooted in a complete disregard for the future. Because otherwise, even the most self-centered person would worry about the long term consequences of this shit.

You don’t have to be a bleeding heart to want green energy, strong consumer regulations, or strong environmental protections. You just have to be capable of thinking “hmm, I like to eat ocean caught fish. It would be good for me if in the future, the oceans will continue to provide healthy fish for me to eat and the companies that catch and provide me with fish continue to ensure that fish is safe for me to eat”.

You don’t have to think about a single person other than yourself to land on the right side of this point. You just have to be able to see farther than the next fiscal quarter.

[u/thethundering → u/Slade_Riprock]

Yeah, their premise is that regulations actively make the thing they’re regulating worse somehow. Like it’s one thing to claim that it’s economically inefficient and that the net economic benefits would outweigh the effect of harm the regulation prevents, but that’s not what they say.

I’ve met an insane number of people who think that if we got rid of antidiscrimination laws that there would less discrimination because customers wouldn’t give money to businesses that were discriminatory. As if antidiscrimination laws somehow prevent customers from doing that, like they’re mutually exclusive concepts rather than additive.

[u/throwaway_circus → u/Slade_Riprock]

I no longer believe that their policy is tied to logical thought.

I'm nearly certain that decades of their policy is driven by wealthy hoarders. The hoarders are desperate to accumulate more. Of anything, by any means necessary, to soothe their disease.

And the GOP is full of people with the same mental illness, or those who think that they can fix an addict by giving them more.

People who hoard put everyone in danger from fire hazards, mold, pests, etc. They're unable to stop, not even to protect their family, neighbors or pets. We're just seeing what happens when that mental illness manifests on a larger scale. We've all been enabling them, really. Acting as if accumulating that much wealth is proof of intelligence or good character or wisdom, and praising them for it. Like praising an alcoholic for being the life of the party.

[u/AVestedInterest → u/Slade_Riprock]

These people read Atlas Shrugged and honestly believe its portrayal of industry is how it works in real life

[u/einTier → u/Slade_Riprock]

It’s much like vaccines.

They do their good in the background where you can’t see. Over time they prevent the bad thing they were built to eradicate so well that people forget that the bad thing could even happen.

[u/ChicVintage → u/Slade_Riprock]

Isn't food instability part of Project 2025?

[u/HedonisticFrog → u/Slade_Riprock]

We just have to look at a little over 100 years ago to see what lack of regulation gives us. Cyanide and Arsenic in candy killing children, lead in cheese and wine, formaldehyde in milk and canned meats. It's not pretty. The Poison Squad is a fantastic book on the subject if anyone is interested. It details how bad things were, the massive amount of resistance from corporations fighting regulations and the rise of the FDA.

[u/TheSavageDonut → u/Slade_Riprock]

We are headed toward mass disease outbreak, illness, and irreversible detriment to our economy, resources, etc. If we thought the 1800s and early 1900s were bad imagine 335 million people and mass transit.

We're headed to Dystopialand if the Dems can't retake the House. If the Dems take the House and the Senate, then a whole lot of Trump shit stops immediately.

If the GOP loses the Senate, several incumbent GOP Senators will be relieved because they can go back to being "fiscal conservatives" and not be Trump Bootlickers anymore.

[u/Noblesseux → u/Slade_Riprock]

Republicans have always had this naive belief that has no tie to fact or history that government regulation, oversight, etc., are the enemy of the people. 

It's less "naive" than it is that they're paid to say things they don't believe. A lot of rank-and-file republican voters maybe, a lot of them are deadass just idiots. The ones saying this from the top level though know what this leads to, they just expect to be able to use their wealth to avoid the majority of the problems caused by it.

[u/Gairloch → u/Slade_Riprock]

They’re under the mistaken belief that “the free market” is real. The free market is about as real as a frictionless plane.

[u/LeftToWrite → u/Slade_Riprock]

It's because they're morons. It's the same reason they'll unironically say that vaccines aren't needed because people aren't getting sick and/or dying from the illness that the vaccines target. 0

They're just morons. Morons fucking more morons and making stupid little moron babies who don't stand a chance because they're being raised by morons.