US Food Safety - Rest In Peace

Obama Plans Freeze On "Discretionary Spending"

Targets domestic programs, including Agriculture and Health & Human Services

According to the Wall Street Journal, President Obama is set to announce a three-year spending freeze for all discretionary spending in his State of the Union Address, scheduled for Wednesday, January 27th.

Military, Veterans, International Affairs, Homeland Security, Social Security and Medicare are all exempted from the freeze, which will focus on the remaining 17% of the federal budget. Program areas that likely will be frozen include: Housing and Urban Development, Justice, Energy, Transportation, Agriculture, and Health and Human Services.

So much for Obama's promise last year to increase funding for food safety programs – overseen by the Department of Agriculture and the Food and Drug Administration (part of Health and Human Services).