the text of the bill itself
GovTrack: H.R. 875: Text of Legislation, Introduced in House (https://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h111-875)
if Monsanto - i mean Obama - signs this, that plus his continuation of military support for Israel, the continuation of the wars in Iraq & Afghanistan in 2009, are indicators that he is not the progressive person that so many of us hoped.
(although obviously still a huge improvement over Mr. Bush.)
i have a lot more faith in age-old food practices such as Kosher food science than i do in HR875.
Valley Oak
03-16-2009, 02:11 PM
Obama can never be the kind of president you want him to be unless you pressure him to do so. This is for two simple, basic reasons:
1. Obama does not want to execute all of the same kinds of policies that you want him to (he never did).
2. Even if Obama was your clone, he could not carry out all of those policies because of the institutional inertia and resistance from other powerful groups, within and without the system, that are, in part, designed to be there in the Constitution. Reason number two is exemplified by the famous British TV series, "Yes, Minister."
When people all during last year got excited about the very real possibilities of Obama becoming president, they were carried away with the strong emotions involved with being part of electing the first African-American president in history. This doesn't mean he's your clone regarding domestic and foreign policies.
If Obama were to seriously attempt everything you want him to then he never would have gotten elected in the first place. He would have been considered a dangerous crackpot by too many voters, making McCain president.
Don't get me wrong, I'm probably a heck of a lot more progressive/liberal/etc than you are but you have to remember where you live: the United States of America. This means that we live in a very conservative nation, both culturally and politically.
If you want major changes to take place then we have to reform the electoral system so that we can have proportional representation. Because right now, when American voters go the supermarket of American Democracy, there only two boxes of cereal to choose from: Republican and Democrat. And until that changes, nothing else really will; it can't.
We need full representation and we cannot get that with a two-party system. The debate is closed between these two parties that are forced to imitate each other for their political survival. If either drifts too far away from the other then voters will abandon them and they will lose power and significance (Duverger's Law, Duverger's law - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Duverger's_law)).
This has always been this way, especially in the U.S. So, it doesn't matter if a future POTUS were a radical, Communist, African-American Lesbian. She won't be able to do diddli squat because of the resistance in our deeply flawed system. The first change we need must be systemic.
Edward
HR875, the "food safety" bill, is promoted by Monsanto lobbyists as something we need to do to ensure food safety.
how did we ever survive without such things ? (sarcasm acknowledged)
the text of the bill itself
GovTrack: H.R. 875: Text of Legislation, Introduced in House (https://www.govtrack.us/congress/billtext.xpd?bill=h111-875)
if Monsanto - i mean Obama - signs this, that plus his continuation of military support for Israel, the continuation of the wars in Iraq & Afghanistan in 2009, are indicators that he is not the progressive person that so many of us hoped.
(although obviously still a huge improvement over Mr. Bush.)
i have a lot more faith in age-old food practices such as Kosher food science than i do in HR875.
Karl Frederick
03-16-2009, 06:02 PM
This bill, introduced by the spouse of a Monsanto employee, is currently in two House committees, and deserves swift dismissal. If you value sustainable farming, or if you just value raising your own food the way you think best, try exercising your part of the public opinion lever. It's just a click away, at Congreesswoman Lynn Woolsey's website:
Contact Email Form (https://www.woolsey.house.gov/contactemailform.asp)
Karl
HR875, the "food safety" bill, is promoted by Monsanto lobbyists as something we need to do to ensure food safety.
MsTerry
03-16-2009, 09:30 PM
Anything Monsanto and his goon lawyers touch is tainted.
This bill, introduced by the spouse of a Monsanto employee, is currently in two House committees, and deserves swift dismissal. If you value sustainable farming, or if you just value raising your own food the way you think best, try exercising your part of the public opinion lever. It's just a click away, at Congreesswoman Lynn Woolsey's website:
Contact Email Form (https://www.woolsey.house.gov/contactemailform.asp)
Karl
Hot Compost
03-18-2009, 06:04 AM
This bill, introduced by the spouse of a Monsanto employee, is currently in two House committees, and deserves swift dismissal. If you value sustainable farming, or if you just value raising your own food the way you think best, try exercising your part of the public opinion lever. It's just a click away, at Congreesswoman Lynn Woolsey's website:
Contact Email Form (https://www.woolsey.house.gov/contactemailform.asp)
Karl
during Clinton's drive-by shooting on Yugoslavia, when after 3 weeks it was quite obvious that the local population was subdued/on the ropes/ deceased, i emailed every senator
U.S. Senate (https://www.senate.gov/)
& every rep
United States House of Representatives, 111th Congress, 1st Session (https://www.house.gov/)
saying, essentially, "you can stop now".
i did get form letters back from Feinstein & Boxer.
i would say there was a disconnect between the population & our elected reps - even before Bush made his was to 1600 Pennsylvania Ave.
i agree, the US would benefit from proportional representation.
interesting, the Missouri State Police have identified "third-party support" as a sign of a potential terrorist.