Joe Biden’s formula crisis

When Biden was having a press conference to discuss the baby formula crisis, he said his administration was going to take various steps to help families struggling to find baby formula including reducing the restrictions on imports, enacting the defense production act.

Like a temper tantrum the melt down in the infant formula market has been building for some time. Only four plants manufacture formula in the United States. Whatever plant gets the state WIC contract gets the most shelf space in all the stores. Whatever plant gets the WIC contract over fifty percent of their formula is purchased by that state, other producers shy away from that state. Doctors are more apt to recommend the formula that WIC uses for new parents. Supply and demand then kicks in. When everyone gets their WIC on the first of the month, they will stock up with the maximum they are allowed to have for the month, leaving even less on the shelves for new mothers. That leaves families scrambling to find formula.

There are no imports of formula to the United States. The tariffs on baby formula is 17.5%.

The president was asked by a reporter if he should have taken these steps above earlier, he became indignant and said “ if we had better mind readers, I guess we could have.” “ But we moved as the problem became apparent to us, and we have to move with caution as well as with speed.” The excuse that he couldn’t have anticipated a certain crisis is one him and his supporters reach for often, according to MSNBC and it’s getting old.