When Politicians Create Problems They Have to Keep Fixing
You know that friend who keeps making the same mistake over and over? They promise to change, then go right back to their old ways. That’s Nevada’s government with egg prices. They pass a law that hurts families, then temporarily fix it, then go right back to hurting families again.
It’s like watching someone touch a hot stove, pull their hand back, then immediately touch it again. Except in this case, Nevada families are the ones getting burned.
The Roller Coaster Ride
Here’s the timeline that should make every conservative’s head spin. Nevada had a cage-free egg mandate. Then bird flu hit and prices went crazy. So they suspended the rule. Prices dropped. Families could afford breakfast again.
But wait, there’s more. This year, the legislature passed an emergency bill giving officials power to suspend the cage-free rule during disasters. Governor Joe Lombardo signed it. Good news, right?
Not so fast. Lombardo made it clear he wants the legislature to send him another bill to make this flexibility permanent. But in the meantime, guess what’s happening on June 20th? The cage-free mandate comes right back. Again.
A Policy So Bad It Needed Rolling Back
Think about this for a minute. Nevada passed a law that was so problematic during emergencies that they had to create another law just to temporarily get rid of the first law. That’s government logic for you.
The cage-free mandate sounded great when politicians voted for it. Feel-good policy that makes everyone think they’re helping animals. But when reality hit and families couldn’t afford $10 eggs, suddenly that same policy became a disaster worth suspending.
If a policy is bad enough to need emergency rollback powers, maybe the policy itself is the problem. But instead of admitting the mistake and scrapping the whole thing, Nevada politicians are playing games with people’s grocery budgets.
Why This Drives Conservatives Crazy
This story perfectly captures what’s wrong with big government. Politicians pass laws without thinking through the consequences. When those laws blow up in their faces, they don’t fix the root problem. They create more laws to fix the problems caused by the first laws.
It’s like putting a Band-Aid on a broken leg. Then when that doesn’t work, adding another Band-Aid. Pretty soon you’ve got a mess of regulations, exceptions, emergency powers, and temporary fixes. Meanwhile, families just want to buy eggs without needing a law degree.
The cage-free mandate was feel-good legislation from day one. It made politicians look like they cared about animals. But they didn’t think about single moms stretching grocery budgets. They didn’t consider what happens when disasters strike. They just wanted to pat themselves on the back.
The Numbers Don’t Lie
When Nevada lifted the cage-free requirement earlier this year, egg prices dropped more than 30% in just two months. That’s proof the policy was artificially inflating costs. A family buying eggs every week saved over $150 per year. Real money for real families.
Now that relief is going away again. Starting June 20th, those same families will pay more for breakfast. Not because of market forces or supply problems, but because politicians can’t decide what they want their egg policy to be.
J.J. Goicoechea from the Nevada Department of Agriculture admitted the obvious:
“Eggs are typically the most cost-effective protein source for food-insecure populations,”
Translation: poor people need cheap eggs. But apparently, that’s not important enough to keep prices down permanently.
The Political Shell Game
Here’s what really happened behind the scenes. Politicians got embarrassed when their cage-free mandate caused a crisis. So they quietly suspended it until the heat died down. Now they’re bringing it back, hoping nobody notices.
The legislature had months to fix this properly. They could have scrapped the cage-free mandate entirely. They could have made the flexibility permanent right away. Instead, they’re playing political games while families watch their grocery bills go up and down like a yo-yo.
What Critics Will Say
Animal rights activists love the cage-free mandate. They’ll argue that a few months of higher prices is worth better treatment for chickens. Some will say the emergency flexibility is enough to handle real crises.
But here’s what they won’t admit. This whole mess proves their preferred policy doesn’t work in the real world. If cage-free requirements were truly reasonable, they wouldn’t need emergency escape hatches. Good policies don’t require constant government tinkering to avoid disasters.
The stop-and-go approach also hurts the very farmers activists claim to support. How are producers supposed to plan and invest when regulations change every few months? Uncertainty is the enemy of good business decisions.
Nevada turned egg policy into a carnival ride. Up, down, up, down. Families deserve better than government that can’t make up its mind.
When politicians can’t decide what they want, working people shouldn’t have to pay the price.
This article was written with the assistance of AI. Please verify information and consult additional sources as needed.
