At what point during the shrink does the packaging cost more than the single serving of potatoe chip fumes?
this post was submitted on 12 Feb 2024
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My opinion is regulate it so any shrinking has to be marked in large bold caps lettering NOW X% SMALLER for at least 1 year. Then people might actually stop buying shrunken goods and opt for a competitor.
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Article mentions nothing with regards to holding corporations accountable nor any plan or threat of action on the president’s part.
These kinds of comments frustrate me... They fundamentally conflate the presidency with a more king-like position.
The system is setup against him doing anything other than speaking out about the issue and trying to motivate others to do something about it. The president ultimately has little power ... it's more of a oversight/cheer leading position (with some extended powers over the years to deal with imminent issues -- e.g., authorize short term military operations, which is still scary in the wrong hands) while congress is the office workers that are supposed to actually get the law writing done.
Unfortunately, we've had roughly a decade of Republican lead stagnation due to slim majority Democrat representation or outright majority Republican representation -- the Republican platform is after all the "do nothing because more government is bad" platform.
He's doing exactly what he should be doing, using the office to call people out and bring attention to issues/start conversations. That can result in brands either going "... lets make a voluntary change to get the heat off" or the public going "yeah that's a good point calls congressional rep to complain."
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Of course it doesn't. They probably don't have any actual plan to enforce laws. 🤦
I can't wait until I become High Galactic Overlord of this planet so I can boot those motherfuckers off of a cliff.
What are you suggesting he do about it?
edit for the knee-jerk downvoters: Everything the government is authorized to do is codified in federal statute, including agency powers. If Congress doesn't give an agency the power to regulate the size and shape of a peanut butter cup, the agency cannot regulate the size and shape of a peanut butter cup, full stop. The reason the President isn't proposing a fix to this is that Congress hasn't given anyone the authority to fix this problem. The FDA can sorta kinda regulate slack fill (i.e. the empty space in your bag of chips) but only if it's non-functional or deceptive. Shrinkflation is quite legal, so long as the size/weight of the product is clearly labeled. If companies get away with it, that's because we're stupid, clueless consumers who never read labels. And they will continue to do it until a) we stop buying their product, or b) Congress passes a law to make it illegal. Unless that happens, we're stuck with it because the President is not an all powerful god who can will things into existence.
Once again, civic literacy in this county proves profoundly lacking.
What are you suggesting he do about it?
Oh don’t expect an answer from that OP. They’re here to blame Biden. It doesn’t matter if there’s anything he can actually do about the issue.
Make it expensive to change the weight of a product. Standardize the size and weight of a given type of product. Require the packaging to alert consumers that the weight have changed in the last year and how much it has changed. Tie the trademark of a given product to a certain weight.
Are these good ideas? I don't know, I literally made them up just now while shitting. I am sure the president of the United States could hire at least one dude to come up with better ones.
I hope your bowl movement went well
Make it expensive to change the weight of a product.
The President literally can't do that.
Standardize the size and weight of a given type of product.
The President can't do that. Not sure the FDA can even do that, as just about all they can weigh in on is product safety (i.e. "does not contain more than X of any harmful substance") and categorical definitions (i.e. "ice cream must meet this definition"). They can't say, "all M&Ms must be this big and weigh this much".
Require the packaging to alert consumers that the weight have changed in the last year and how much it has changed.
Neither the President nor the FDA can do that. The FDA doesn't have the regulatory power to do anything even close to that.
Tie the trademark of a given product to a certain weight.
That's....not how trademarks work, at all.
Look man, it's as frustrating to me as it is to anyone, but y'all can't just make up a bunch of fanciful, largely illegal remedies to the problem and then lay the blame for their impossibility on the President's desk. That's just ridiculous.
All great ideas if it weren't for the fact that we have a court system heavily weighted towards pro-corporate conservatism, so none of that would survive legal challenges and there would be a shit ton of corporate challenges.
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Law requiring all prices to be in a format of
$ per actual measurement unit and include all applicable taxes.
Law requiring
Congress.
We have that in the Netherlands; it’s very helpful. You usually see a price per kilo or a price per liter. Makes it really easy to just look at product X, Y and Z and see which one is actually more expensive, without having to do math in your head. That really should be the law everywhere.
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Presidents can't pass laws and the House Republican majority is basically dedicated to going against whatever Biden proposes.
Presidents can't pass laws
Yeah, this thread is beyond frustrating. We need to prioritize teaching civics in high school because it could not be more obvious that a large number of people out there have no idea what they’re even talking about. It’s just ignorant rage.
The top comment in this comment section is so ignorant it should embarrass everyone using Lemmy.
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Right, but he could get the ball rolling by getting someone in congress he knows to start a bill for the idea.
If Repub's shoot it down, then he's got more ammo in his ads
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How do you know that hasn't already happened? Bob Casey's office released a report on shrinkflation, and sent a letter to the GAO to identify transparency measures that the federal government can implement to help consumers recognize shrinkflation. Sounds like there's a lot already moving.
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Why is him getting out in front of the issue in the media not considered "ammo for his ads"? If all he needs is something to virtue signal about, then isn't that exactly what he's doing right now?
Absolutely it's very frustrating watching them try to do so much only to have it curtailed by a Republican majority Congress.
People think the president can issue an executive order for anything they want. That being said I hope his cabinet does move on proposing this because it would be a huge win for pricing transparency.
Absolutely it’s very frustrating watching them try to do so much only to have it curtailed by a Republican majority Congress.
It was more frustrating two years ago when it was being curtailed by a Democratic majority congress.
There never was a Democratic majority congress. West Virginia and Arizona both sent senators who had a D next to their name, but were really Rs.
Not only that, but you need a super majority in the senate to get anything real through, which means you need 60+ Democrats who ALL need to be on board, along with a majority of Democrats in the House, AND a Democrat president.
That hasn't happened since early Obama, and he squandered it by trying to pass bipartisan legislation with the Republicans, instead of just railroading the right things through.
There never was a Democratic majority congress.
50 plus a tiebreaker is a majority. You lied.
West Virginia and Arizona both sent senators who had a D next to their name, but were really Rs.
West Virginia and Arizona sent senators who represent party leadership to absolute perfection. They define the party.
Not only that, but you need a super majority in the senate to get anything real through, which means you need 60+ Democrats who ALL need to be on board, along with a majority of Democrats in the House, AND a Democrat president.
The filibuster can be done away with forever with a simple majority. Manchin's party never will.
That hasn’t happened since early Obama, and he squandered it by trying to pass bipartisan legislation with the Republicans
He got the bailouts passed. Democrats could have destroyed the relic of Jim Crow that is the filibuster to pass the public option. But they didn't wanna.
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Yeah well Dems stopping tax cuts for the rich don't hurt us as much as Reps trying to shut down the government because we refuse tax cuts for the rich but by all means "both sides"
Yeah well Dems stopping tax cuts for the rich don’t hurt us as much
Who said anything about them stopping tax cuts for the rich? I was talking about stuff Democrats did 2 years ago, like stopping the minimum wage increase and BBB. You know, their accomplishments.
How in the world can you contribute that to the Dems when they were split and Republicans almost unanimously voted against it.
If you're issue is that they should have all voted to push it through then absolutely I wish they would too and you should vote in a way that reinforces what you'd like to see.
That being said of our two options Dems support it the most. If your argument is that we should have more options to vote for what we really want then we agree again, we need voter reform to make 3rd options viable via multi-choice voting
How in the world can you contribute that to the Dems when they were split and Republicans almost unanimously voted against it.
BBB never made it to the floor, thanks to the only Democrat whose voice matters, Joe Manchin.
If you’re issue is that they should have all voted to push it through then absolutely I wish they would too
My issue is that the party is useless on purpose. Your issue is that I don't worship them for it.
I wish they would too and you should vote in a way that reinforces what you’d like to see.
There is no available way to vote that will ever reinforce what I'd like to see. Democrats oppose me less than Republicans do and that's the best they'll ever be willing to do.
Based insane take divorced from reality.
What in my reply made it seem like I worship them, they're the best we have and I long for better way but the only way we're going to get better is voteing reform on many levels.
Voting in fascists out of spite does no good.
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