As you've no doubt heard, a recent salmonella outbreak in eggs sickened more than 1,300 people and led to a recall of half a billion eggs. Why wasn't the government doing more to prevent this kind of thing?

Well, here's a clue, in an article from 2007:

The federal agency that's been front and center in warning the public about tainted spinach and contaminated peanut butter is conducting just half the food safety inspections it did three years ago.

The cuts by the Food and Drug Administration come despite a barrage of high-profile food recalls.