Baby Formula Shortage – Is This a Manufactured Crisis?
I’m all for blaming the Biden Administration for all of its faults, lord knows they have many. But I know my own biases and try to overcome them when I am analyzing events and situations. I don’t always succeed.
I am a bit suspicious of the most recent crisis, the baby formula shortage.
We are finding that many grocery stores have run out of baby formula, and shortages have occurred over the last few weeks. No matter the providence of the issue, the empty shelves are real and alarming.
We are seeing the responses as politicians run around like chickens with their heads cut off (yes, chickens really do this…). According to CNN, the House Energy and Commerce Committee announced a hearing on baby formula for May 25 and told CNN they plan to call representatives from the Food and Drug Administration and Abbott, a major baby formula producer, to testify.
Others are calling for use of the Defense Production Act to solve the problem.
Republicans are lamenting that illegal immigrants have a huge store of baby formula while American mothers are short.
But how did this happen? Was there a shortage in the supply of baby formula that bloomed into a crisis? Or did someone claim there was a shortage, panicking some mothers into buying and stockpiling baby formula, causing the grocery store shelves to empty out? Hmmm. The classic self-fulflling prophecy?
And now, of course, the crisis is real, because the supply chain was not ready for the surge.
I seem to recall a pretty substantial shortage of toilet paper during the covid pandemic – right after the news media told us to expect a shortage. It was not that there was not enough toilet paper, it was that EVERYBODY thought we would run out and of course, we bought six times as much as we needed.
And of course, like toilet paper, we will have a glut of baby formula product once the shelves are resupplied and the hoarders are full up. But no one will complain about that.
I believe we will become more and more subject to this phenomenon, panicking and hoarding with the slightest whisper of a shortage. I have to admit if it is a shortage of Dr. Pepper, I will buy a six-month supply. Some things are important. Human nature is that once you react to a shortage by hoarding, it becomes your go-to strategy.
This will likely become an election issue, as it should be. After all, even if the baby formula shortage is merely a self-fulfilling prophecy, the empty shelves are real and the perception is real. Not Biden’s fault but it is Biden’s problem. The response by the Biden Administration has been as clueless as his response to Afghanistan, Ukraine, the border crises and rampant crime.
The big question remains. Who started this?
I think that all babies should be fed, but, American babies come first. Particularly when migrant babies wouldn’t be near the southern border if we didn’t have an open invitation to come on in. For that reason, I am blaming biden because without the one, the other might not be so bad.
Could this have something to do with their Abortion Hype? As in, you didn’t listen so now we are forced to make you think twice about maybe having another child…..I don’t “trust” them for as far as I can throw them, ALL of them, lets not forget they ARE “EVIL”……
Of course it does, everything runs together, this is how to get the votes for abortion thing, If they need our help they will vote for
our side. Yes we are very EVIL.
The Greatest Generation looks down and sighs.
So little time, so many to blame. It’s them. It’s Biden. It’s the liberals They’re lying. They are evil. Amerika first, the rest later. Trump can save us. He’s been robbed. The vote is a sham. Our institutions are a sham. MSM lies. Trump is truth.
Stiff upper lip spanky . You lost. You suck. Get on with it. In America, we have big business. When a plant goes down, it can be major. Been 1.5 years for the pool chlorine to come back after rhe factory burned. This one is a bacterial shutdown. To plan this would be one hell of a job.
Haters gotta hate. I think you should help instead
No America lost when the election was stolen.
It’s Biden’s fault. As well as his cult followers
The beaners are getting the formula while our kids do without.
You noticed all the problems that have developed since Biden became president. Our American people don’t count to the officers that are now in the White House and they don’t care as long as they’re fed and that The speaker of the house can have her ice cream so she doesn’t have to suffer or anyone has to suffer up there. Of course Biden doesn’t have to worry because he gets all this money and gets all his food and he’s taken care of giving no regard to the American people he enjoys only what is good for himself and his family he is one of the worst president we have ever had with no regards to the American people of this fine country the good USA
Hey just look and see how everything is going in the US, has it changed for the better in the last year, just look and make a unbiased comment. It is hard to know who to blame, one person sure couldn’t do all this crap, it’s not who that is important it’s what can we do to correct it. All you know it all’s should be able to come up with a solution, please let us know.
No joke on that one Old Ma; in what world does a w shut result in the cry to take formula outta the mouths of Latino babies that are here illegally. Suffer the infamts for the sins on the parents. How Christian.
The easiest solution would be to reassess the onerous and unnecessary, especially in emergency, FDA restrictions on foreign formulas often due to labeling issues, not product issues. And then to provide a greenlight for emergency access. We could be loading up the boats today.
It’s Biden’s fault. Why would he see that wet back kids got our formula? To make up dependent on our corrupt government
Let the wet backs feed their own kids
It’s almost as if capitalism isn’t an effective way to make sure our needs are met.
If only trump hadn’t signed the America first bill. We could easily import baby formula from Canada if it weren’t for trumps political stunt.
Yes, America First ACTIVELY went after Canadian formula makers. That’s on Trump’s watch.
But before and after Turnip, US FDA regulations make it hard for imports sometimes failing them on things like labeling, not product. Sometimes the failed EU product is even better than what the US produces. This all could be changed overnight but the big three US producers would object strongly.
Further, the US tax for these imports hits 17% at higher volumes so success actually brings profit loss.
The largest buyer of formula is the Fed for WIC. Because they issue a small number of contracts, large ones, the industry by definition is confined mostly to the winners of said contracts. Three companies to be sure. This is a general problem in American capitalism that rewards being big. The big companies may be cost effective, but their supply chains are not resilient. One hiccup and the whole thing crashes.
Short term —- open the borders under emergency access. After all the pandemic practice, this should have already been done. Longer term —– that’s an issue for all of America and goes well beyond formula. We’ve seen TP, masks, sanitizing wipes, anti-viral hand disinfectant, paper towels, pool chlorine, autos, you name it —- have big time production and distribution problems. We need better solutions for our economy on these whether hacking, distribution, recalls, or raw materials create the problem.
Holding formula back from illegal aliens ain’t going to do much except provide political PR. It’s a drop in the bucket and the problems go well beyond formula for the US economy.
Fuck Canada. The socialist dictator up there really screwed the truck drivers.
Yes, Fuck the Canadians , but their socialist country has baby formula. Seems like you are really just wanting to fuck our babies and their parents.
Oh well, as long as we don’t go all socialist… ammi right?
Hell yes!!!!
MAGAts voted against helping mothers get food for their babies.
So, maybe you’re right Joe, republicans manufactured this crisis. They’d rather see Americans suffer than fix the problems created by late stage capitalism
Right, we are all against mothers with babies. We hate them. Moron.
My daddy always said that calling people names indicates the lack of a Legitimate argument.
Desperately needed humanitarian aid just reached the USA!