The Senate moved one step closer today to passing S. 510, the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act. The bill would expand the regulatory authority of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by giving the agency the power to order recalls of contaminated foods, among other powers.

On the heels of this summer’s massive egg recall, another recall was announced yesterday covering almost 300,000 eggs contaminated with salmonella. The eggs were recalled by Cal-Maine Foods Inc., a distributor, but were actually supplied by Ohio Fresh Eggs. No illnesses have been linked to the current recall.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has sent a warning letter to Wright County Egg, one of the facilities implicated in a recent salmonella outbreak that sickened more than 1,600 people and led to the recall of more than 500 million eggs.

As Yogi Berra's redundant saying goes, "It's déjà vu all over again." Back in 1994, congressional Republicans unveiled what they called the "Contract with America." The Contract was chock-full of policy proposals intended to shrink the size of government, kneecap agencies' ability to protect the public, and decrease the burden on taxpayers, especially the rich.