Two new bills that need to be stopped

I know I don't normally post in the afternoon, but this is sort of important. 202-224-3121 That's the phone number for the Congressional switchboard, and you all ought to start calling. Why? Because of House bill 875 and Senate bill 425. I have just started reading both of these bills, and I'm rather alarmed at both of them. The Senate bill is still in committee, but the House bill was introduced today.

The name of the House bill sounds rather innocuous. It's called the "Food Safety Modernization Act of 2009" and while it sounds like it is some sort of FDA oversight overhaul, it has nothing to do with that. In fact, it is yet another expanse of the federal government that most Representatives haven't read, just like the stimulus. Lydia Scott at the Campaign for Liberty blog has read quite a bit of this bill (more than I have) and her observations on what's in it are astonishing:

--Legally binds state agriculture depts to enforcing federal guidelines effectively taking away the states power to do anything other than being food police for the federal dept.

-- Effectively criminalizes organic farming but doesn't actually use the word organic.

-- Effects anyone growing food even if they are not selling it but consuming it.

-- Effects anyone producing meat of any kind including wild game.

-- Legislation is so broad based that every aspect of growing or producing food can be made illegal. There are no specifics which is bizarre considering how long the legislation is.

-- Section 103 is almost entirely about the administrative aspect of the legislation. It will allow the appointing of officials from the factory farming corporations and lobbyists and classify them as experts and allow them to determine and interpret the legislation. Who do you think they are going to side with?

-- Section 206 defines what will be considered a food production facility and what will be enforced up all food production facilities. The wording is so broad based that a backyard gardener could be fined and more.

-- Section 207 requires that the state's agriculture dept act as the food police and enforce the federal requirements. This takes away the states power and is in violation of the 10th amendment.

-- There are many more but by the time I got this far in the legislation I was so alarmed that I wanted to bring someone's attention to it. (to the one person who reads my blog)

Like Lydia, I am working my way through this monstrosity, but just from what I see this bill will do two things that should have people worried.

-- It's a gross violation of our privacy rights.

-- It's a violation of the Tenth Amendment. (I might add that a dozen states have already conveyed to the federal government their acts to reassert their Tenth Amendment rights, and at least eight more are doing the same to stop the federal incursion against state's rights.)

This will affect anyone who has a little garden in their backyard, or any organic food grower. Likewise, for those people out there that breed livestock for food, this affects them too. And this is targeting people who grow their own food, breed their own livestock to avoid the food prices that are going up as I type this. The government wants these people regulated to the point where they give up on this idea, and rely on grocery stores which are beholden to the federal government through taxation and FDA regulations.

Call your representatives, and tell them to vote against this bill. Call your senators and keep this bloody thing bottled up in committee.

We don't need the federal government in our lives anymore than they already are.

Publius II