"Perhaps what Dean is referring to is that ruminant feeding should be strictly outlawed...and that the USDA has no teeth (and extremely soft gums) when it comes to contaminated meat. If I remember right, it only has the power to suggest that such meat is recalled. And I'm not even sure it has the legal authority to announce contaminations to the public.

This is stuff that could be rectified by a proactive administration."

Actually, due to the outbreak in England, in 1997 the FDA did outlaw the use of mammal-derived protein by-products in cattle feed.  That same year, the USDA banned imports of ruminants from Europe, though I'm not certain whether that included Canada or not, which was the apparent source for the animal in question.

So if I were Dean, I wouldn't be so quick to point fingers at the Bush administration, the USDA, the FDA or even the American cattle industry for that matter.  While the USDA's proposed tracking system is definately needed, I have to wonder how effective such a system would have been in this case without the participation of all countries that we import/export from/to. Remember that this animal origininally came from Canada, and while I don't profess to know all the details, my guess is that it would have entered a tracking system only upon it's arrival here. I'm actually impressed that they caught it as early as they did myself, given the circumstances.