Lame-duck session alert: Food police, feminism run amok & enviro-handouts on Senate floor today
Michelle Malkin
11/17/2010
Melt those phones!
Two Senate floor votes for you to track and act on today (Senate switchboard: 202-224-3121):
1) The “FDA Modernization Act” (aka The Food Police Bill) – Big Nanny/Big Gov/Big Chef is back with legislation to expand the FDA’s powers. Funny, I can’t recall this being at the top of anyone’s priority list during the midterms or during the past two years of burgeoning citizen activism. Remember: The Dems still don’t get it — because they refuse to get it, not because of a failure to “reflect.”
Grass-roots opponents from a diverse political spectrum oppose the bill. A cloture vote is scheduled today, with Sen. Coburn forcing a full Senate vote on the earmark ban:
A far-reaching food safety bill that could give the government more power to prevent foodborne illnesses has become a target of advocates for buying food produced locally. They worry the legislation’s safety requirements could force small farms out of business. The opposition of these “locavores” – advocates for buying food directly from the farm or closer to home – and owners of small farms has become a sticking point in the Senate, which was to vote Wednesday on whether to consider the bill. Supporters will need 60 votes to proceed on the bill because Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., has objected, saying the legislation’s $1.4 billion cost isn’t paid for.
While the bill is designed to give the Food and Drug Administration greater authority over the nation’s food supply, opponents say it could bankrupt some small farms that don’t have the means to comply with new standards the bill would impose. Those standards could include registering food safety plans with the FDA and documenting efforts to show food is not contaminated as it is produced. “It’s going to put a nail in the coffin of our family food producers,” said Sen. Jon Tester, D-Mont., who is planning an amendment to exempt some small farms who market food close to their operations. He says many small farms already comply with state and local regulations to keep food safe.
Read the rest of this article at MichelleMalkin.com
And the DREAM Act is the monster that will not die. It, too, will be shoved through Congress if the trio of Obama/Pelosi/Reid have their way. Malkin has information on this, too:
As I told you yesterday and as I’ve been telling you for, oh, years, the shamnesty crowd is counting on open-borders Republicans to drag the DREAM Act illegal alien student bailout across the legislative finish line...
…Stalwart immigration enforcement supporter Sen. Jeff Sessions (R-Ala.) will be circulating an alert about the Dems’ DREAM Act nightmare emphasizing some of the following critical points:
1) The illegal alien student bailout will NOT be limited to “children” — but, in fact, would put illegal aliens in their 30s and 40s on a “path to citizenship.” Taxpayers “would also be on the hook for all federal benefits the DREAM Act seeks to offer illegal aliens, including student loans and grants.
2) The DREAM Act provides safe harbor for any alien, including criminals, from being removed or deported if they simply submit an application.
3) Certain criminal aliens, including gang members, deportation fugitives, and those who have committed voter fraud or marriage fraud, would be eligible for DREAM Act amnesty…
Read the whole thing at MichelleMalkin.com
Read also “Obama, Hispanic caucus push for DREAM Act passage before year’s end”
At American Thinker, “First Health Care, Next the Food Supply”
Just because the duck is lame doesn’t mean it can’t still do terrible damage to American freedom. Our new Congress, especially the new House, isn’t yet seated, and this current Congress can still wreak terrible havoc on our rights if not stopped.
Case in point: Senate Bill 510, believed to be coming to the floor Wednesday, November 17 (pending). This is the food safety version of ObamaCare. Reading the thing will make your head hurt for all its cognitive dissonance. Trying to winnow out its complexity and hidden empowerments is stultifying.
Introduced by Dick Durbin of Illinois, the bill has moved through the usual phases of amalgamation and deal-making. The monstrosity advancing to the floor on Wednesday is not so much “food safety” as it is the decadence of the rights of small farmers, hobbyist food producers, garden-variety farmers markets, and your average small producer of foodstuffs. Under the rubric of safety, this Senate proposes a bill that establishes such new and sweeping powers over how you and I produce and consume foodstuffs that even the Pew Charitable Trusts are calling S510 a clear and present danger…
