Slightly stricter guidelines in California have helped egg producers avoid bacterial contamination in recent years, but in an industry where the bottom line reigns supreme, tighter rules have caught on in only nine of the 50 states.

Huffstutter cites an FDA report tracing the most recent salmonella outbreak to an in-house feed producer at Wright County Egg and Hillandale Farms in Iowa.  The feed, which was contaminated by the bacteria, was not subject to testing because the company fed it to its own birds and did not offer it for sale.

Fifteen federal agencies and more than two dozen congressional committees are in the business of tracking America’s food supply as it moves from farm to fork. There are scores of lobbyists, environmentalists and animal rights groups. But there was no single entity that made sure the Iowa eggs the public ate were, in fact, safe.

With higher costs for energy, land and feed in California, Midwestern producers can deliver eggs to market for 16 percent less. That may sound like a good cost savings in the marketplace. But factoring in the catastrophic costs of recalling 550 million eggs, 1,500 illnesses and a criminal probe into the fiasco, according to Katherine Hobson of The Wall Street Journal, cheaper eggs, in the long run, may turn out to be no bargain at all.

As the San Francisco Chronicle‘s Rachel Gordon reports, ICE is considering a request by the City and County of San Francisco to opt out of its Secure Communities program.

Secure Communities requires that the fingerprints of anyone booked, including those for minor offenses, are sent automatically to federal immigration authorities for review. If the fingerprints match those of someone already in a database maintained by the Department of Homeland Security on an immigration matter, ICE is alerted and deportation proceedings may be triggered.

County Sheriff Michael Hennessey penned a missive to ICE asserting that the program is in conflict with San Francisco’s sanctuary city policy, which places limits on the amount of cooperation allowed between local law enforcement and immigration officials, and that participation in the program is voluntary.

An ICE memo underscores the program’s voluntary nature.

Federal authorities say they will consider Hennessey’s letter and meet with state officials on the subject, including Jerry Brown, the state’s Attorney General and a gubernatorial candidate who supports the program. The apparent wavering has prompted officials in nearby Santa Clara County, home to Silicon Valley, to consider following San Francisco’s lead and perhaps opt out of the program as well, according to Tracy Seipel of the San Jose Mercury-News:

Backers call it a common-sense strategy that’s led to the deportation of tens of thousands of lawbreakers. Critics say it focuses too much on low-level criminals and does not protect against racial profiling, among other problems.

Looks like the different sides on the immigration issue are choosing new weapons for the fight.

What is interesting about these numbers is how little they have to do with deportation policy under the Bush and Obama administrations. In its first year, the Obama administration  deported a record 389,000 illegal immigrants — a five percent increase from a Bush administration that already required Immigrations and Customs Enforcement officials to meet deportation quotas. Since the Bush administration’s second term annual deportation numbers have significantly climbed, while the total number of illegal immigrants in the country has declined.

Yet the reality is that correlation does not equal causation. Illegal immigration is down because the awful economy has discouraged new immigrants from entering the country, not because the Department of Homeland Security is scaring off immigrants. In other words, while federal immigration raids and annual deportation numbers get major media coverage, they do little to alter the overall number of illegal immigrants. In that light, the new DHS plan to target illegal immigrants with criminal backgrounds who threaten public safety — as opposed to going for sheer numbers — seems like a wise policy.

EPA chose St. Josephat as one of dozens of schools nationally where it tested air quality. The usually astute Hawthorne seems a bit too focused on wind patterns and misses the main problem with EPA in this case:  A. Finkl & Sons steel mill is moving from Lincoln Park to Burnside, an economically depressed neighborhood on the city’s South Side. Burnside is a lower profile neighborhood than Lincoln Park, and it is unlikely that A. Finkl & Sons will be scrutinized as heavily by either the local media or an EPA that lacks resources or the determination to test aggressively.

Economist Christina Romer serves up dismal news at her farewell luncheon – Dana Milbank comments on unsettling remarks by retiring chairman of president’s Council of Economic Advisors that the administration underestimated how bad the recession would be, the fixes were “inadequate,” says she doesn’t know how to fix the economy going forward

Number of illegal immigrants in U.S. drops, report says – Tara Bahrampour reports that number of illegal immigrants entering the U.S. is down by almost two-thirds over a five-year period, according to a study by the Pew Hispanic Center based on data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Census Bureau; “dramatic shift” tied to downturn in U.S. economy and tighter immigration controls

Lehman ‘was forced into bankruptcy’ by regulators, former CEO testifies – Ariana Eunjung Cha reports that the Federal Reserve’s general counsel answered former Lehman chief’s charge that political considerations kept Fed from bailing out Lehman; at hearing looking into causes of financial crisis he contrasts Lehman with AIG, which had “sufficient resources” to back loans

Mixed reaction to new FEC rules on candidates, interest groups working together – Dan Eggen reports that the Federal Elections Commission voted to prohibit coordination between candidates and interest groups in ads for or against candidates, but does not define “coordination;” lone Democrat on FEC dissents; rules takes effect after current election cycle

Botox maker to pay $600M to resolve investigation – Matthew Perrone reports that Allergan, Inc., the maker of Botox wrinkle cream has settled a lawsuit by the Justice Dept. pleading guilty to “misbranding” or marketing the product for “unapproved” or “off-label” uses such as headaches, pain and cerebral palsy in children; whistleblower who sparked complaint will get $37.8 million of settlement

New York Times

F.C.C. seeks more input on wireless Internet rules – Edward Wyatt reports that the Federal Communications Commission is asking for more information before it decides extent of regulation of the Internet, including hotly debated “Internet neutrality,” pushes decision past the November election

Study sees heart risk in Meridia diet pill – Gardiner Harris reports on criticism of FDA for requiring warning label, but not taking drug off the market, like European agency; FDA official sees problem as same FDA officials who approved drug oversee its safety

Louisiana: Judge refuses to toss suit on drilling ban – AP reports that administration was rebuffed in its effort to get lawsuit opposing drilling moratorium thrown out

Wall Street Journal

Investigation broadens in egg recall – Alicia Mundy reports that the Justice Dept. has joined FDA’s investigation of egg farms where salmonella found; criminal violations possible

Gates to meet Karzai, Petraeus in Kabul – AP reports that while in the region to mark the end of U.S. combat operations in Iraq, Defense Secretary Gates will meet with Afghan president and commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan

(Reprinted by permission from The Washington Monthly)

The announcement that Old Second Bancorp will no longer make dividend payments comes after the lender “only” lost $34.5 million in the first half of 2010. This is just the 1st quarter of no dividend payments — after six quarters, Treasury gets to appoint two bank board members. Meanwhile, Old Second Bancorp partly plans to get out of its situation by bundling bad mortgage loans on to the secondary market. Such actions (admittedly on a much larger scale) are merely what caused the Great Recession.

A lot of the Chicago area/Obama administration banking beat tends to focus on the lenders the FDIC took over: Broadway, Park National, ShoreBank. The Old Second Bancorp situation, though, shows how far banks have to fall before the FDIC steps in.

Troops in the 656th learned in February they would be leading convoy missions to patrol Afghanistan, yet they hadn’t been trained to drive mine-resistant, top-heavy vehicles yet, said Villatoro, who joined the Reserve 10 years ago.

Funding was cut for their two-week training in June, Shinn confirmed. Instead of days full of activity, soldiers simulated online scenarios they might encounter overseas. They didn’t have training equipment such as blank bullets, pyrotechnics or soldiers from other units who would act as the enemy, Villatoro said.

They crammed in computer classes about what do to if they became prisoners of war and maneuvered vehicles around dummies strewn on the side of the road that acted as explosives. Soldiers were supposed to radio someone to disarm them, but the radios didn’t work, Villatoro said.

Shin, for his part, said that the reservists still had a few more weeks left of training and that they need to be twice certified as combat-ready. And military officials have promised to look into Vilatoro’s allegations.

The allegations seem to suggest that either this particular unit will be overwhelmed by Afghanistan counterinsurgency fighting or that the Army Reserve is providing insufficient training. One would hope that after nine years in Afghanistan and a seven years in Iraq, the Army would have devised an efficient reservist training system. But that may not be the case.

No, the state is not going soft on crime, nor is this about compassion or rehabilitation. It’s about money.

Now 62 days into the fiscal year without a budget and a $19 billion hole still unfilled, California’s state legislature are back to tackling the same old problem, in the same old way: scanning the garden in search of new fruit budding on the creative accounting tree.

By releasing some seriously ill inmates, the state’s prisons, and by extension, the state budget, would be freed from $42 million a year in spending. Once beyond the prison walls, treatment and all the bills become Medicare’s problem. And to legislators in Sacramento, that’s no problem at all.

Annual Rankings of Federal Workplaces Puts Nuclear Regulatory Commission at Top – Ed O’Keefe and Lisa Rein report that the Partnership for Public Service found that 65 percent of federal workers were satisfied with their jobs; among large agencies, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, the Government Accountability Office, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp and the Smithsonian Institution topped the list of agencies with the most-satisfied workers

Hurricane Earl Could Force U.S. Evacuations Before Labor Day – News services and staff report that the Federal Emergency Management Agency warned people along the East Coast to prepare for possible evacuations; the first evacuations in coastal North Carolina have already been ordered — tourists on Ocracoke Island were ordered to evacuate, while year-round residents have the option to stay

Muslims Debate FBI Presence at Mosques – Jerry Markon reports that two FBI agents were present during worship at a Nashville-area mosque, mostly to discuss intentions to investigate a fire at the proposed Murfreesboro, Tenn. mosque; the FBI presence is being debated by Muslims, who themselves are facing great scrutiny and disapproval in much of the U.S.

Obama Declares that Combat in Iraq Is Over – Anne E. Kornblut reports that during his second Oval Office prime-time address, President Obama declared the war in Iraq to be over, saying that it was “time to turn the page” on one of the most divisive issues in U.S. history

New York Times

President’s Office Takes On New Neutral Tones, but Keeps Its Familiar Shape – Sheryl Gay Stolberg reports that President Obama has done away with the gold and yellow tones of the George W. Bush-era Oval Office, and has redecorated with neutral tones of brown and taupe — evoking the feel of a den

Terrorist Ties Doubted in Amsterdam Arrests – Scott Shane reports that while two Yemeni men — U.S. residents Ahmad Mohamed Nasser al-Soofi and Hezem al-Murisi — caught the eye of airport security with their luggage containing taped-together items, law-enforcement officials have ruled out terrorist suspicions

Appeals Court Backs Away From War Powers Ruling – Charlie Savage reports that a federal appeals court unanimously upheld the detention of a Guantanamo prisoner from Yemen, while disagreeing about the scope and limits of presidential power — namely, whether international laws of armed conflict can restrict the wartime power of a president

Wall Street Journal

Tax Cuts Weighed to Spur Economy – Deborah Solomon and Jonathan Weisman report that the Obama administration is considering a number of new measures to help boost economic growth — possibilities include additional tax cuts for small business, payroll tax cuts for business and individuals and renewing a mix of tax credits for businesses

Judge Is Asked to Lift Stem-Cell Funds Ban – Laura Meckler reports that the Obama administration asked judge Royce Lamberth to allow the government to continue funding embryonic stem-cell research, citing the possibility of losing 24 projects scheduled to receive $54 million, and “years of scientific progress” if funding continues to be denied

Strict Rules for Regulators on Ties to the Oil Industry – Stephen Power reports that new rules for federal off-shore drilling regulators bar employees from working on official actions involving companies that employ their family members or close friends; employees must also report incidents of potential coercion attempts

USDA Sees Rise in Farm Exports – Scott Kilman reports that the USDA is anticipating increased exports of U.S. wheat, corn and cotton in the fiscal 2011 year; growth is in part thanks to U.S. deals with growing Asian markets and the drought that knocked Russian wheat farmers out of the export market