Don’t Flip My Burger, John Boehner!

By Alicia. Monday, March 28 2011

Barack Obama | John Boehner | Radical Right | Republicans | Shocking | Text

Yikes! Why is Republican Speaker of the House John Boehner serving President Barack Obama a burger made of rotten meat? To find out, watch this cute yet disturbing video:

While this is merely a one-minute cartoon, the facts behind the matter are indeed quiet serious. Why? Because the recently passed House GOP budget bill calls for $61 billion in spending cuts for agricultural inspections. These cuts could increase outbreaks of food-borne illnesses, which are already prevalent. Here are the facts, via MotherJones.com:

• $88 million slashed from meat and poultry inspection

• 18% decrease in operations for the agency that inspects meat and poultry

• These cuts would cost the industry $11 billion in revenue

• $241 million cut from the food-safety budget of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration

• 10,000 fewer inspections of imported food (less than 1% of which is checked in the first place)

• One out of every six Americans gets sick each year from food-borne illnesses

• 28,000 people hospitalized and 3,000 die every year from food-borne illnesses

Despite these facts, Republicans insist on cutting federal inspectors. Rep. Jack Kingston (R-GA), the leader behind the defunding for federal food-safety efforts, claims that America’s food is “99.99 percent safe.”

Originally submitted by volunteer editor Brandon W. Found on Food and Water Watch’s YouTube Channel.