The Republican Party seeks to learn from its mistakes—and it wants your help

[Mr. Ambien]

"Devoid of intelligence"? So...is it intelligent to feed kids unsafe foods? Is it intelligent to ignore any and all alternative energy source suggestions? Is it intelligent or HUMANE to take away peoples' livelihoods? This is why people hate the GOP. They don't give fiddler's farts about the little guy on the farm growing organic produce...they support Monsanto and other harmful corporations and as long as they get paid by those lobbies they give a DAMN less about anyone else. Who cares about you as long as I get paid, right?

[inane]

The hate for Monsanto is an exaggerated and politically motivated, selective-outrage thing. There is an FDA in the US for a reason.

I've also been trying to avoid your posts in this topic because you're investing too much emotion (or capslock) into the debate and are using exaggerations quite often.

[Mr. Ambien]

You're actually saying this?

[Scott Hartnell's Mane]

The hate for Monsanto is an exaggerated and politically motivated, selective-outrage thing. There is an FDA in the US for a reason.

I've also been trying to avoid your posts in this topic because you're investing too much emotion (or capslock) into the debate and are using exaggerations quite often.

[inane]

Care to make a post of substance?

[Mr. Ambien]

Exaggerated and politically motivated? Have you never heard of the S510 Food Safety Act? This act gives Monsanto full control of food safety. Pay special attention to the asinine and uncalled for police raid on the organic market.

Under the guise of protecting Americans from food-borne illnesses, Congress has passed the S510 Food Safety Act, granting unlimited power to the FDA to oversee the processing of food from farm to table. The FDA has led the public to believe over a number of years that we desperately need government protection from food-borne illnesses. As a result of this manipulation, the S510 Food Safety has been passed without opposition. Ironically, the regulatory actions made possible by this bill will only promote the type of farming that produces food borne illnesses.

The S510 Food Safety Act will regulate the entire process of food production from every source in the United States. Farms must submit to government inspections and have safety documentation on record for 2 years. This documentation must be made promptly available upon oral or written request by an FDA agent. Farms are responsible for the fees associated with their own inspections. The FDA will also oversee food transportation within the United States; food imported from other countries will not be regulated but must simply carry a guarantee of safety by the exporting country. This imbalance in addition to the bill-related costs imposed on farmers will cause prices of locally produced food to increase exponentially.

Starting with the enactment of Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point (HACCP) measures by President Bill Clinton in the 90’s, the biotech/agribusiness industry has been making the necessary moves to arrive at this point; while HACCP is focused on prevention, the S510 Food Safety is focused on inspection. Combined, these laws will enable the FDA to completely control the process of food production. As if controlling our food weren’t enough, the agribusiness industry is voraciously seeking to have vitamins and supplements be redefined as drugs, so that the FDA can limit the amount that can be legally purchased. Once we can no longer take the proper amounts of nutrients for prevention of disease, we will be forced to turn to the pharmaceutical industry for medication.

As the bill is written, the FDA must consult with “farmer representatives” to publish guides for good practice. The farmer representatives will no doubt include Monsanto, the biotech company standing behind the bill that stands to benefit from it the most. The FDA is intimately linked with Monsanto – Michael Taylor, a lawyer who volleys between an appointed post at the FDA and employment by Monsanto, pushed through the concept of “substantial equivalence”, which opened the doors for Monsanto to flood the market with unlabeled Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO’s). In July 2009, the Obama Administration appointed Taylor “Food & Drug Czar” as head of the FDA. This move ensures Monsanto’s influence of its own regulation. The fox now has the keys to the hen house.

S510 grants the FDA and in turn, Monsanto, unbridled power to make all of their own rules for governing food going forward:

‘(d) No Limit on Secretarial Authority- Nothing in this section shall be construed to limit the ability of the Secretary to review and act upon information from food testing, including determining the sufficiency of such information and testing.’

The FDA will determine if, when, and what types of food safety testing are necessary. “In the interest of national security”, the FDA will decide what information will be made available to the public. In keeping with their trend of raiding farms and markets that sell raw milk, the bill also provides for the organizing, training and equipping of animal, plant, and food emergency response teams.

Police raid organic market with guns drawn.

The L.A. Times reported that in June of 2010, four officers raided Rawesome Foods, an organic food co-op in Venice California, with their guns drawn. The officers were in search of raw, unpasteurized milk. Cartons of raw goat’s and cow’s milk as well as blocks of unpasteurized goat cheese were among the groceries seized by federal, state and local authorities. If raw milk could produce such an excessive show of force when there were no laws being broken, what will happen now that there is a law in place?

Interestingly, the bill includes a provision requiring parents to provide documentation to their children’s school regarding any food allergies their children have. On the surface, giving the school administration advance notice of an allergy seems like a good thing; however, as Truth Squad has previously reported, Department of Homeland Security (DHS) “Fusion Centers” across the country are consolidating and standardizing the databases of local and federal agencies in an attempt to fight foreign and domestic terrorism. These “fusion centers” violate the 4^th & 5^th Constitutional Amendments and set up frightening Stasi-like government lists, with no judge, no jury, no due process. Do you want your child in the DHS database?

Since the bill was first introduced in March of 2009, articles written about it have done their best to squelch any fears consumers might have of losing their favorite local farmers’ markets by supposing they would not be included. This created false hope: Within the US, “very small businesses” are to be regulated, including farmers markets, farm stands and Community Supported Agriculture (CSA’s). In fact, the only exclusion is food grown for personal consumption. In other words, our only hope is to each learn how to grow our own food, because the day is coming when that will be the only food safe to eat.

[Scott Hartnell's Mane]

http://articles.lati...d-raid-20100725

If there's a reason you didn't cite your source, likely because it comes pretty much exclusively from conspiracy circles that believe Monsanto is in charge of authorities.

[Mr. Ambien]

"conspiracy circles" my **** that's a good one! Yeah so I guess that every subsistence farmer and organic grower in the ENTIRE COUNTRY is a part of this "conspiracy circle". Unbelievable.

[Zamboni_14]

[Zamboni_14]

Cute that you're using POL 100 logic. Yes, competition is always preferred, although I don't necessarily think it will come from the republican party - possibly with Gary Johnson the independents get a real look. It's hard to pity the republican party when they have so elegantly made their own bed.

Much of my post was constructed from a book by the aforementioned Margaret Hoover, American Individualism (sometimes I like to read 'the other side'). Anyway her book is largely devoted to how the Republican party should better reform itself to appeal to 'new voters', that being minorities, youth, LGBT and women. So yes, the republican party can reconstruct itself, although I'm of the opinion that I would rather see the party that enables such batsh*ts as the Tea Party in their caucus, die a horrible, miserable death.

So aside from using the stereotypical Picard emoticon do you have anything to contribute that might resemble a rational thought?

[Tearloch7]

Why did you stop at country? If I was going to reach that far, I'd probably just go all the way and say entire universe.

[avelanch]

step 1, don't be so damn repubican.

[ronthecivil]

You answered your own question? It's why I hate stores like Wal-Mart too...they destroy small businesses by undercutting them.

[Ossi Vaananen]

Uninformed? Anyone that suggests the US increase funding for just about anything is uninformed. You're country is going BANKRUPT and in a hurry.

There's nothing wrong with a private company like Apple inventing something that drives the economy. But I seriously doubt they got a government grant to do so.

That there's existing companies getting unequal treatment isn't a case for making more unequal treatment. It's a case for moving in the right direction, simplifying the tax code, and making the business environment the same for everyone.

Do a case study on America's economy. The one where the private sector led the way.

As it turns out the American people and the American economy have nicely restructured themselves since the financial crisis. The only thing really holding them back in the government and it's massive debt problem.

Fix than and all kinds of business will flourish in the states, including all kinds of green technologies, all on their own. They will do well because people want them, and the good ones will make compelling economic cases for people to adopt them. All on their own. No need for nanny government to lead the way.....

[ronthecivil]

Screw the Dems, put Jill Stein in and let the Green Party fix this cluster**** that's been piling up over the last 20 years.

[ronthecivil]

Once again, good for you and your POL 100 class, young republican. Your understanding of innovation poilcy to the business cycle is non-existent. I was trying to be kind in my last response, I'm sorry that you do not understand how any private business in the technology sector is largely dependent upon the workers and innovators it receives from specialized universities.

Continue to argue yourself, or re-read my last post, search tiger economies, political economy, or innovation policy as it seems I can't paste scholarly articles here.

[Ossi Vaananen]

I imagine you are incorrect, and in your imagination you've completely made stuff up to argue against. That's the problem with imagining things, which verifies the utopian aspect of the green movement.

Efficiency is a business motto, which is why I own hybrids myself, but also partly because I live in the city. What does this have to do with the green movement? Nothing.

There is no way for the US to be energy independent. The rare earth elements that come from Mongolia and Bolivia that make up electric devices still means a high amount of independence even with an electric car. And while the US should keep exploring more oil to drill within their own country to get somewhat more independent, it certainly won't be nearly enough, and moreover this is opposed by the oh so awesome green movement to the point of attempting to stifle it. Uranium used in US nuclear reactors almost exclusively comes from Russia or Canada. Energy independence for the US in the real world means extensive reliance upon coal, which should make green nuts happy as hell. Like I said, utopian wishes, and given the response to run that more funds (how much? obviously too much), looks like the "green movement has no concept of an economy" was verified there too.

[ronthecivil]

I guess I got a bit creative of how I imagine you.

It's not something I need to argue, as it is simple fact that green tech is the future. Call it utopian all you want, or just do a search of Tesla. Comparatively you could look at Spain or Germany, and their manufacturing sector when it comes to wind turbines and hydrogen fuel cells. Instead you sir are the one building the stickman and using gross generalizations.

I was never suggesting the US would be energy independent, though it is of course possible. Mentioning precious metals does not help your point, as you seem to be implying US completely void from trade which was never my assertion. I was just implying a movement away from oil, and since you own a hybrid I really doubt you require more convincing on that point.

Don't get me started on the myth that is 'clean coal', I'm not even sure which party started those ads, but the message is completely retarded. It seems they want to move back to the industrial age, and ignore recent advances in wind, solar and fuel cell technology towards using coal as a method to create electricity. The c02 composition is criminial.

One thing most green freaks do agree on is natural gas as a form of energy, to which the US has the highest deposit world wide. There are cars that can be powered by natural gas, likewise it can be used to heat your house.

Needless to say green technology has been a sector of growth despite the economy. My whole argument is not to go back to the Bush years, but rather continue funding green initiatives. I provided examples of countries who are relatively small but are seeing steady growth from green technology.

In all honest you get muddled and seem a little bit like your wearing a foil hat when you mention GMOs vs. organics. It's not my fight, though it's a safe assumption that organic farmers are not being duped into poisoning their own foods.

[aGENT]

It's called the free market. Deal with it.

If organic farmers have a superior product consumers will accept the higher prices.

If even the democrats rallied to your anti market behaviors it would just open up room in the center for the reps to claim.

[ronthecivil]

That would be true if "modern" farming methods/products weren't so heavily subsidized. Remove their subsidies and "organic" food becomes a lot more cost competitive. Corn is likely the biggest culprit there in the US.

Also organic is a different (though related) fight than the GMO issue.