What's that bleeting I hear? Some cries that the FDA is underfunded.

Really?  They're under funded?!?  I suppose they could be, along with the NIH (National Institutes of Health), along with NASA (National Aeronautics and Space Administration), the FCC (cops of the radio and TV airwaves, overlords of cable and satellite TV, etc.), the Veterans Administration, and a host of other agencies including the Departments of Agriculture, Defense, and more.

None of these places are getting enough money.  But why not?

Because there is only but so much money to be had in the federal coffers.  Or at least only but so much money to be had if you don't want to tax the hell out of every citizen in this country.  You can scream about taxing the wealthy all you want, but it's been shown more than enough that you aren't getting more money out of the top and that the more you RAISE taxes the less you see in returns.  The more you cut taxes, the more money flows through the economy and the more revenue the government takes in (proven fact).

So what do you cut to fund the FDA?  Take money from SCHIP?  From the FCC?  From Department of Defense?

Oh, yeah, take it from Iraq and Afghanistan by just up and leaving and leaving a mess behind us.

Yeah, the FDA is underfunded, but so is the rest of the federal government and in the end it has more to do with not wanting to make do with less, rather than living within the budget that these agencies have to live with.  It has to do with always wanting more so you can meet the perceived demands of the public.

I will say that from where I sit the FDA has enough money.  They may need to do a better job of putting the money where it is needed, but it is not a case of not enough money.