A Republic, if you can keep it

[PanicButton]

FDA pours salt in the Constitution's wounds

http://www.downsizedc.org/blog/fda-pours-salt-in-the-constitution-s-wounds

It's bad enough when Congress exercises unconstitutional powers. It's even worse when unelected bureaucrats do it. The FDA has decided, all on its own, that it has the power to reduce the amount of salt in your diet.

Depending on your genetic predisposition and health history, this move could be life threatening to YOU.

The FDA wants you to forget that . . .

* the Constitution gives the federal government no jurisdiction over your nutritional choices
* every person is unique -- many people might benefit from less sodium, while others could be harmed by it (see the sample letter below for examples)

DownsizeDC.org's Write the Laws Act (WTLA) would prevent bureaucratic schemes like this. It would . . .

* Restore the Constitution's separation of powers by requiring Congress to approve all regulation
* Restrict executive branch agencies like the FDA to implementation and enforcement
* Prohibit unaccountable bureaucrats from imposing their social engineering projects on your life

Please send a letter telling your Representative and your Senators to introduce and pass the WTLA.

You may borrow from, modify, or copy this letter . . . .

You should be as angry as I am that the FDA is bypassing Congress and imposing a costly salt-reduction program on its own supposed authority. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/04/19/AR2010041905049.html

As a policy, the proposal is dubious at best. Morton Satin of the Salt Institute raised the following issues in USA Today:
http://www.usatoday.com/news/opinion/editorials/2010-04-27-editorial27_ST1_N.htm

* Salt is an essential nutrient.
* When salt is significantly reduced the results are mixed: 30% experience a minor drop in blood pressure, about 20% experience a slight increase, and the rest experience no change at all.
* Women consume much less sodium per day than men do. Mandatory reductions may put women at greater risk of hyponatremia.
* Pregnant women on low-salt diets give birth to low weight babies, who then have a lifelong increased salt appetite.
* Several peer-reviewed publications indicate that congestive heart failure patients placed on low-salt diets die, or are readmitted to hospitals, far more frequently than those not placed on low-salt diets.
* Italians eat much more salt than we do, yet their cardiovascular numbers are nearly the best in the world.
* There is no one-size-fits-all prescription for salt consumption, because all of us are unique.

But the fundamental issue is this:

The FDA has no Constitutional authority to create new laws. Only you people in Congress have this power. As this ridiculous salt-reduction plan proves, transferring lawmaking power to unelected bureaucrats is even more dangerous than giving politicians that power.

Congress should . . .

* stop the FDA from implementing this program
* and prevent unelected bureaucracies from imposing rules on me and my neighbors

The best way to accomplish this is to pass the Write the Laws Act. Please introduce this bill.

END LETTER

You may send your letter using DownsizeDC.org's Educate the Powerful System.

James Wilson
Assistant Communications Director
DownsizeDC.org