I haven’t been following the debate over the FDA Food Safety Modernization Act which is now being debated in the Senate. But it seems like a set of reforms that are long overdue:
The FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, a prevention-focused bill that would boost the FDA’s inspection mandate, give it mandatory recall authority, and require food facilities to put food safety plans in place, is the first overhaul of the federal food safety regulatory system in over seven decades. It has maintained wide bipartisan support in the Senate and the House, where a version of the bill approved in July 2009.
Naturally, the corporate whores are active in opposition, placing opinion pieces in the newspapers. But, really, this is a bill with fairly broad bipartisan support. It has already survived a cloture vote and succeeded in a motion to proceed. This is a bill about food safety, after all. But that doesn’t mean that the Republicans are abandoning their Party of No Strategy.
Opponents of the legislation, however, have so far declined to expedite the process for bringing the legislation to the floor, threatening to push it until the week after Thanksgiving. Senate rules require 30 hours to elapse after a vote to end a filibuster, but the Senate can agree to bypass that requirement.
“If we have to use up all the time, waste all the time with these 30-hour provisions that are allowed under the Senate procedures, we’re going to have to be here during the weekend,” Reid told colleagues Thursday morning. “This is something we need to get done.”
Republicans, however, dismissed the threat, noting it’s the 19th time Reid has threatened a working weekend during the 111th Congress and that he rarely brings those threats to pass.
I think Reid might follow through this time, but that is not why I am writing about this bill. Now, I know that the Republicans wouldn’t have written this bill in this way, but it is a bill that has broad support within their caucus, and they have had plenty of input in the authorship of this legislation. I know why they are delaying, but why did more than half their caucus vote against cloture and the motion to proceed? Are they really opposed to the first comprehensive updating of our food safety laws in seventy years? Don’t they eat like all the rest of us? Maybe they don’t like some provisions of the bill, but it is the product of a bipartisan effort and there are no alternative bills. The choice is between increasing food safety or not increasing food safety. And, yet, most Republicans in the Senate still oppose this bill.
name me one thing.
not 10, not 5, not even 3 things…
but, one thing…
where the GOP has come down on the side of the average, everyday American. squarely on their side.
why would food safety be any different?
Isn’t it amazing that anyone supports this party?
If Harry wants it, then it’s big government and we must destroy that and him.
Some people live in a world of their own creation, and sharing is just too hard.
Why should gov be involved with food safety? shouldn’t it be up to the individual food producer, who also eats food and may have children who eat food, to make sure food is safe? – just kidding guys!!!!
They are holding the entire government hostage until they get what they want. McConnel has hacked our political institutions. He’s figured out that nothing can get done unless there’s consensus. If one party stops participating, the whole house of cards falls apart. Normally there’s a price to be paid for this, but since the Party of No strategy is being implemented at a time when government intervention is more necessary than it has been in a generation, then the GOP pays no political cost. The Villagers and corporate america are largely OK with this because (1) it serves the interests and (2) because its working and everyone loves a winner, especially when they are punching hippies.
And Obama’s ideology makes him powerless to do anything because one must always deal with the world as they find it, never try to change the dynamic or lead.
As I have asked also maybe you could shed light on this bill, sponsored by a majority of republicans…it leads to taxation, regulation and higher food costs. could somebody please explain…I personally do not see this bill as helpful.
I’m going to play ‘Devil’s Advocate’ here for a minute – sparked by thoughts from a raw milk advocate and a retired Ohio farmer : one thinking of the use of legislation to give big business monopoly powers by harassing small companies with untenable rules which improve nothing but give the appearance of doing so ; and the other aware of the inherent instability, filth and disease associated with factory pharming.
The wrong end of the problem is being addressed. If people have nutritious food from local sources that they know and trust because of personal observation or recommendation from trusted sources…it beats government interference hollow. That’s such an organized Klutz that the Amish are being raided for following sustainable practices that have worked for generations.
To get into the Whys and Wherefores of this one has to delve into the origins of Codex Alimentarius – which was made effective by Presidential Order last June while everyone was distracted by the wrecking of the Gulf of Mexico ecosystem. ( For particulars on that I suggest Florida Oil Spill Law )
August 13 2009 I posted 2 pieces which I think should be easily recognizable about unreported dangers associated with Corporate Farming – which is a separate category in my files in the Topical Index – along with the related topic of Water : another underreported necessity affecting health.
Those aren’t my opinions – but they have shaped my thoughts somewhat for certain.
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Sorry, that is simply an cult wack thing. A LOT of people are killed by raw milk, and there is no evidence that it has any value whatsoever.
That is just silly! I grew up milking a cow AND drinking the milk, sometimes still warm… not even chilled. None of us ever got sick let alone died! Have you ever even been to a farm?
The cats would sit by the barn door and I got pretty good at squirting milk directly into their open mouths. Sometimes that meant that the milking took a little extra time.
When our cow wasn’t producing an adequate amount, we got our milk from a ‘producer’ about a quarter mile down the road. They produced only raw milk. You could get it whole or the cream separated from the milk. They sold milk to half of our small town. Noone got sick OR died.
Small farmers are good at this kind of food production. They not only produce it but also eat/drink what they produce so you can usually be confident of the safety of what they produce.
The mega farms are the ones who cause health problems.
when? which one? (re: Codex)
We need ads showing dead kids killed by food-born pathogens, and we need to put that next to pictures of REpukeliscum telling us that regulation is bad.
If this were a Democratic thing opposing food laws, you can imagine what the Repukeliscum would do. Why don’t we play hardball?
Food safety is just more overreaching by big government. /snark
I am not sure what the point of the article is supposed to mean? This bill is spomsored by a majority of Republicans…apparently they are not opposed to this bill which seems to only regulate, tax, and lead to higher food costs…could some one please explain? I personally am not for this Bill.