SENATE VOTING TO CONTROL FOOD SUPPLY

[Teresa Heilevang]

SENATE VOTING TO CONTROL FOOD SUPPLY!

Harry Reid has forced a Vote on Senate Bill 510, the Food Safety Act.  The vote invoked cloture, which limited debate to 30 hours total.  Twenty four Republicans voted with Reid.  All Reid needed was three-fifths (60 votes), but 24 Republicans already forgot how Americans voted November 2nd and sided with liberal Reid.

S 510 is a step toward increasing the size and cost of government at the expense of Americas farmers-big and small.  The so-called Food Safety Act empowers the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to regulate every part of every farming operation in the nation.

The cost of compliance and record keeping to farmers cannot even be estimated.  Even the farm wife who sells jam, preserves and apple butter at a Christmas bizarre will have to be permitted by the FDA.  The cost to the government- all tax payers-will be $1.6 billion over the next five years, according to Senator Tom Coburn (R-OK).  It also requires that a minimum of 4000 staff members be added in 2011 and 5000 by 2015 to implement the Act.  So much for the call to reduce the federal government workforce.

Over the next 30 hours, everyone needs to contact their Senator, especially those up for reelection in 2012 who voted with Reid to withdraw the hold and limit on debate.  Let them know their vote did not represent your views and demand they now vote against the bill, but also let them know that this vote will be remembered in 2012, especially those up for re-election.

S 510 greatly expands federal government’s jurisdiction over intrastate commerce, meaning it threatens individual states rights to regulate food produced within their jurisdiction and gives the federal government total control.  It also imposes a one-size-fits-all regulation approach making it more difficult for small farms and food processors to remain in business.

S 510 was expanded by 77 pages when the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee released the Manager’s Package last August 12th.

REASONS to OPPOSE the Manager’s Package of S 510:
1. Gives dangerously broad regulatory and discretionary power to FDA over entire food supply without proper checks and balances to avoid abuse of power; 2. Will impose a one-size-fits-all regulation approach on thousands of farmers, producers, processors, and suppliers who sell fresh products to millions of Americans;
3. Limits our own U.S. domestic laws and ensures international agreements or treaties established by the World Trade Organizations will control;
4. Will preclude the public’s right to grow, own, trade, transport, share, feed and eat each and every food nature makes.





http://hosted.verticalresponse.com/212393/50c05b4257/59003347/1292883237/

[JC5123]

Isn't this the same sort of crap that started us down this whole road, with the crap about the interstate commerce clause? You know the one that Congress thinks gives them the authority to tax everything under the sun?

[Bill Stryker]

Theresa,
OK I contacted my senator. She is going to be the Chairperson of the Ag Committee. I do not expect anything good from her. But I will be watching. She might surprise us because she is up in 2012.

I hope this will keep you from sending me to the corner because I like beagles and setters much better than cockers. I got bit by cockers when I was a paperboy. I don't hate them, I just don't like to see my grandchildren around them or springers.

[tombogan03884]

There is a big difference between passing a bill / Making a law, and being able to enforce it.
It is the big lesson of the Prohibition and the "war on some drugs". I would have to obey such a law, I live in a second floor apt. that doesn't include any ground.
But that doesn't mean YOU have to obey it.
While they watch me because I rant F you and your stupid law, you folks can just "smile and wave,
sitting on that sack of seeds"

There's more than one way to fight a revolution  

PS
After rereading the OP I think this is the part that stands out :
"It also requires that a minimum of 4000 staff members be added in 2011 and 5000 by 2015 to implement the Act. "
Just like the War on some drugs was a jobs program for laid off prohibition agents, this is a program to get another 5000 "pigs" feeding at the tax trough"

[twyacht]

510, also will regulate food into the Healthcare Plan,....(remember, we have to pass it, to find out what's in it?)...like organic grocery stores, regulated, even seized, or have to authorized by a Dr.

really...Read this.

http://www.americanthinker.com/2010/11/first_healthcare_next_the_food.html

It is a dangerously broad regulatory bill giving extensive discretionary power to the FDA over the entire food supply chain without proper checks and balances to avoid abuse of power;

It would impose one-size-fits-all-regulations on thousands of small and mid-sized farmers, small-scale local farms and food producers,  and would drastically burden, to extinction,  basic natural and organic food suppliers, thus endangering the lives of Americans who depend on local wholesome foods;

Dr. Silva Chandra says,

    If accepted [S 510] would preclude the public's right to grow, own, trade, transport, share, feed and eat each and every food that nature makes.  It will become the most offensive authority against the cultivation, trade and consumption of food and agricultural products of one's choice. It will be unconstitutional and contrary to natural law or, if you like, the will of God.


What are Republican thinking? Seven out of twelve co-sponsors are Republicans.

It does not reflect a well-thought-out solution, or address the real causes of food safety issues stemming from the industrialized food supply chain; and

 It attempts to limit the authority of our own domestic U.S. laws when it includes language ensuring that our US law will not disturb other international agreements that we have made.

Further, how about this for a TSA-brand of intrusion into your affairs? Pg. 3 of the Manager's Amendments to S510 -

    (2) USE OF OR EXPOSURE TO FOODS OF CONCERN.-If the Secretary believes that there is a reasonable probability that the use of or exposure to an article of food, and any article of a food, that the Secretary reasonably believes is likely to be affected in a similar manner, will cause serious adverse health consequences or death to humans or animals, each person (excluding farms and restaurants) who  manufactures, processes, packs, distributes, receives, holds, or imports such article can be acted upon by the FDA.


That would be you and me, if we're hobby farmers at the local farmer's market.

Cosponsors:
Lamar Alexander [R-TN]
Jeff Bingaman [D-NM]
Richard Burr [R-NC]
Roland Burris [D-IL]
Saxby Chambliss [R-GA]
Christopher Dodd [D-CT]
Michael Enzi [R-WY]
Kirsten Gillibrand [D-NY]
Judd Gregg [R-NH]
Thomas Harkin [D-IA]
Orrin Hatch [R-UT]
John Isakson [R-GA]

S510 puts all U.S. food production under the control of the Department of Homeland Security. And the Department of Defense. We lose not only private-citizen control of our food supply, but sovereignty as well. The bill sets in motion standardization of the food animal supply chain, focusing on eliminating biodiversity in food animal genetic stocks. It further mandates that the federal government control and empower hormonal, genetic, and antibiotic additions to our food supply while postponing most definitions
of what will constitute "food crimes" under the bill's sweeping and generalized powers.

***

More at link... Scary,..... stock up.  

[Sponsor]

[r_w]

This thing is UGLY.  And cosponsored by many farm-state senators.

[runstowin]

Can you say mass non-compliance? Sure you can.

[fightingquaker13]

Question is, who's pushing it? My bet, corporate farms and folks like Monsanto and other big chains. Here's the ugly secret of regulation. Big companies like it. They can pay the regulatory overhead and pay folks to fill out the paper work. Small business' can't, so they fold. Competetion is reduced, and the exra profits more than pay for the increased overhead. Think of pool guys. Start imposing huge and costly environmental regulations on chlorine and the like, and the little guy can't comply. Pools-R-Us can. When Bobs Pools goes under who are his clients going to call? Pools-Are-Us, who might have been kind enough to hire Bob at $10 an hour in return for his client list.
Want to know why Republicans from agricultural states voted for this? Look at who gives them their campaign money. I'm betting more of it came from corporate farms than Ma and Pa Kettle. Its not about party, its about money. Its what the Tea Party is about. I hope they (we) flex our muscle on this and say hell no! I also like the fact that we will be backed by the organic farming, goat milking hippies here. It just goes to show that money talks. BUT the people can talk louder if we want to.
FQ13 who will be phoning his Senators on Monday. I'l send a letter as well. This annoys the hell out of me.

[tombogan03884]

Can you say mass non-compliance? Sure you can.

There are a lot of times I disagree with Runstowin, This IS NOT one of them .
Nancy Reagan gave us the answer "Just say NO Fing way" .

Have to say, I think FQ has it right on this one, But I will point out something here
Cosponsors:
Lamar Alexander [R-TN]
Jeff Bingaman [D-NM]
Richard Burr [R-NC]
Roland Burris [D-IL]
Saxby Chambliss [R-GA]
Christopher Dodd [D-CT]
Michael Enzi [R-WY]
Kirsten Gillibrand [D-NY]
Judd Gregg [R-NH]
Thomas Harkin [D-IA]
Orrin Hatch [R-UT]
John Isakson [R-GA]

While the CoSponsors are more or less evenly divided between party's, many of them are long serving Party Hacks
Harkin Hatch and Dodd have been in office for Decades, another thing Judd Gregg is one of My Senators , he is the one that Obummer tried to buy off after the 08 election , in order to get their Super Majority the Socialists needed either 1 more Dem to replace Teddy K. or 1 less Rep, so he offered Judd Gregg Secretary of Commerce to get him out, originaly he accepted but got such a shitstorm dumped on him that he changed his mind and stayed in the Senate.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/13/us/politics/13gregg.html

He is gone, replaced by a Tea Party Candidate former State Attorney General Kelly Ayotte who has been one of the good folks.
But then so was David Souter till he went to Washington. We'll see how that goes.
But I wonder how many of the others are goners ?

[TAB]

Didn't the FDA just say they could not handle thier current work load?