Regarding the Nov. 10 guest commentary, “Adversaries united on egg legislation”: The alliance between egg industry leader Gene Gregory and Humane Society of the U.S. CEO Wayne Pacelle isn’t a case of politics making strange bedfellows. It’s a case of mafia-like tactics forcing a hesitant party to partner.
HSUS has beaten up on egg farmers over the last few years and pushed state initiatives to force costly infrastructure changes on farms. The egg industry trade group only agreed to pursue federal legislation because HSUS held a figurative gun to its head. The bill will drive up egg costs and put farmers out of business who can’t afford to make expensive infrastructure changes. That’s just fine with HSUS, which is a vegan, PETA-like group that has no affiliation with local humane societies and whose food policy director has wildly compared animal-farming to the Nazi Holocaust.
Fortunately, HSUS’s hardball ploys haven’t gone unnoticed. HSUS and two of its lawyers are defendants in a federal RICO lawsuit alleging mail fraud, wire fraud, and racketeering, among other torts. With any luck, HSUS will have the same success in court as the Gambino Family, and egg farmers can go back to their business.
Rick Berman
Executive Director, Center for Consumer Freedom Washington, D.C.
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