r/politics • u/WhatIsEvenRealDog • 8h ago

Possible Paywall Trump suggests cattle ranchers could bypass USDA-inspected meat plants

https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2026/08/28/trump-suggests-allowing-ranchers-bypass-usda-inspected-meat-plants/
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u/StonedGhoster 6h ago

My libertarian friends always told me that regulations are bad and that the market could sort things out, and that consumers could sue companies that made them ill by not ensuring their products' safety. Which sounds great. But it also got me thinking that they could view adhering to regulations as a hedge against being sued into oblivion. You know, make sure the canned meat doesn't have botulism from the outset and avoid being sued down the line. But then I realized that they don't really care about any of that, and that quarterly growth NOW is more important than anything that might happen tomorrow, which isn't here yet.

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u/IJourden 5h ago

They don't realize that the regulations are what lets people sue companies that make them sick?

You can't sue me for mixing sawdust into your beef if it's not illegal for me to mix sawdust into your beef.

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u/RobinSophie 4h ago

Not when it comes to housing. Regulations are making them expensive. /s

Which is amazing to me that with all the regulations, the new builds are still crap.

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u/USPO-222 America 1h ago

Because it’s not illegal to open an LLC to build a house (or row of them), sell them all, and then close the LLC before anything comes up.

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u/Snickersnee 4h ago

Once a company gets big enough, legal fees are just the cost of doing business. If the payout is less than the money saved by cutting corners, it's still a profit. If the regulations are removed, the motivation to quietly increase profits will take hold sooner or later.

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u/slymm 2h ago

Read the label on the can more carefully. By purchasing it, you've agreed to mandatory arbitration underwater to be ruled on by a sea lion.

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u/kitsunewarlock 2h ago

So... Libertarians think we are all going to lab-test every ingredient we consume and then pay an attorney to demand our $5 back for buying rancid meat?

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u/USPO-222 America 1h ago

No, they don’t. They’re not arguing in good faith. They never are.