{"id":1494311,"date":"2022-05-27T08:44:39","date_gmt":"2022-05-27T12:44:39","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1494311"},"modified":"2022-05-27T08:44:44","modified_gmt":"2022-05-27T12:44:44","slug":"mary-vought-our-baby-formula-crisis-has-roots-in-the-wic-program-that-cannot-be-ignored","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/mary-vought-our-baby-formula-crisis-has-roots-in-the-wic-program-that-cannot-be-ignored\/","title":{"rendered":"Mary Vought: Our Baby Formula Crisis Has Roots in the WIC Program That Cannot Be Ignored"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"float:left\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">32<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fmary-vought-our-baby-formula-crisis-has-roots-in-the-wic-program-that-cannot-be-ignored%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=1494311&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><div id=\"speechkit-wrapper\" class=\"speechkit-wrapper\">\n<p><span class=\"label-bg\">NEW<\/span>You can now listen to Fox News articles!\n  <\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"speakable\">As a mother, my heart goes out to the millions of families affected by the current shortage of baby formula. I can only imagine what would have gone through my mind had I not been able to obtain the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/category\/health\/reproductive-health\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">proper nutrition for my two daughters <\/a>in their infancy.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p class=\"speakable\">Hard-working American families deserve better than this.<\/p>\n<p>The formula shortage brings to mind the famous quote from Ronald Reagan\u2019s first inaugural address: &#8220;In this present crisis, government is not the solution to our problem\u2014government is the problem.&#8221;\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/wh-karine-jean-pierre-timeline-baby-formula-shelves\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>WH PRESS SECRETARY KARINE JEAN-PIERRE: \u2018I DON\u2019T HAVE A TIMELINE\u2019 ON WHEN BABY FORMULA WILL RETURN TO SHELVES<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>A <a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/politics\/wh-karine-jean-pierre-timeline-baby-formula-shelves\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">series of poor decisions by federal policy-makers<\/a> helped to create the shortages plaguing supermarket shelves, and some of the proposed &#8220;solutions&#8221; could end up making the problem worse.<\/p>\n<div class=\"image-ct inline\">\n<div class=\"m\"><source media=\"(max-width: 767px)\" \/><source media=\"(min-width: 767px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/640\/320\/maureen-formula-1-copy.jpg?ve=1&#038;tl=1\" alt=\"Store shelves are empty after a baby formula shortage.\u00a0\" \/><\/div>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>\n      Store shelves are empty after a baby formula shortage.\u00a0<br \/>\n      <span class=\"copyright\">(Fox News Digital)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Much of the problem began with the federal Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program, which funds over half of the baby formula purchased nationwide. States competitively bid out their WIC contracts for formula, but those bids rely upon sole-source contracts. As a result, families receiving WIC assistance can only purchase one brand of formula, from their state\u2019s &#8220;approved&#8221; provider.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/us\/baby-formula-shortage-biden-flown-us-europe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>BABY FORMULA SHORTAGE: BIDEN CELEBRATES AS 78,000 POUNDS OF BABY FORMULA FLOWN TO US<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>The contracting process means that, in many states, the &#8220;approved&#8221; provider ends up with a\u00a0near-monopoly\u00a0on the formula market\u2014not only do WIC families purchase from their state\u2019s contracted brand, but retailers give this brand greater prominence and preference, meaning most non-WIC families buy that brand too. Ironically, a Biden administration that has spent much time talking about the\u00a0need to promote competition\u00a0has said precious little about how this government program actually stifles a robust marketplace for formula.<\/p>\n<p>Washington also harms competition by impeding the<a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxbusiness.com\/category\/fox-news-trade\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"> import of safe infant formula produced overseas<\/a>. The combination of tariffs, which raise the price of imported formula, and regulatory prohibitions on trade have kept the American market largely closed to foreign manufacturers.<\/p>\n<p>Policies like trade quotas and unnecessary labeling requirements imposed by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have only increased the power of the\u00a0<i>de facto<\/i>\u00a0cartel that controls the American baby formula market.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/newsletters\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>CLICK HERE TO GET THE OPINION NEWSLETTER<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Much of the &#8220;solution&#8221; to this problem relies less on Washington micro-management than on sheer common sense. It shouldn\u2019t require the federal government\u00a0commandeering Pentagon aircraft\u00a0to fly baby formula from Europe to the United States\u2014formula manufacturers and retailers should have the power to do that on their own.<\/p>\n<div class=\"image-ct inline\">\n<div class=\"m\"><source media=\"(max-width: 767px)\" \/><source media=\"(min-width: 767px)\" \/><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/a57.foxnews.com\/static.foxnews.com\/foxnews.com\/content\/uploads\/2022\/05\/640\/320\/Image-from-iOS-23.jpg?ve=1&#038;tl=1\" alt=\"Signs at a local Target inform shoppers that they are limited to 4 containers each due to the shortage in baby formula.\" \/><\/div>\n<div class=\"caption\">\n<p>\n      Signs at a local Target inform shoppers that they are limited to 4 containers each due to the shortage in baby formula.<br \/>\n      <span class=\"copyright\">(Fox News Digital)<\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Meanwhile, a group of senators\u00a0proposed legislation\u00a0that would require formula suppliers to notify the FDA of potential shortages. The bill pre-supposes that, in the event of another possible shortage, federal bureaucrats can engineer another big-government &#8220;plan&#8221; to prevent a formula shortfall.<\/p>\n<p>But this &#8220;solution&#8221; wouldn\u2019t do anything but strangle manufacturers in additional red tape.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/apps-products\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Think about it: If enough formula exists overseas to ease the current shortage, why not alleviate the problem for good by permanently opening the United States to imports of safe formula? Moreover, why should the American people entrust the FDA\u2014which\u00a0apparently ignored problems\u00a0at a formula manufacturing plant for months, leading to the present crisis\u2014with even more authority, when it failed to do its job right this time?<\/p>\n<p>Thankfully, Congress has\u00a0passed legislation\u00a0giving WIC recipients the flexibility to buy whatever brand of formula they can find until the current shortages ease. But after the immediate crisis passes, rather than finding reasons to engineer another Washington power grab, lawmakers should look in the mirror and examine the ways in which the government helped create this mess in the first place.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.foxnews.com\/person\/v\/mary-vought\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><strong>CLICK HERE TO READ MORE FROM MARY VOUGHT<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles! As a mother, my heart goes out to the millions of families affected by the current shortage of baby formula. I can<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":498,"featured_media":2315279,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1494311","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1494311","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/498"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1494311"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1494311\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2315279"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1494311"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1494311"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1494311"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}