GOP seeks to repeal food labeling law

[RamboLiberal]

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/6514174/

Telling consumers where their meat, fruit and vegetables came from seemed such a good idea to U.S. ranchers and farmers in competition with imports that Congress two years ago ordered the food industry to do it. But meatpackers and food processors fought the law from the start, and newly emboldened Republicans now plan to repeal it before Thanksgiving.

As part of the 2002 farm bill, country-of-origin labeling was supposed to have gone into effect this fall. Congress last year postponed it until 2006. Now, House Republicans are trying to wipe it off the books as part of a spending bill they plan to finish this month.

House Majority Whip Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said he expected the Senate to agree to repealing the measure, whose main champion two years ago was Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D.

"I can't find any real opposition to doing exactly what we want to do here," Blunt said.

[nadinbrzezinski]

1. ah yes MAD COW disease shall rule the roost

[natrat]

3. if its good for the consumer

you can be sure republicans will oppose it

[LisaM]

2. Right before Thanksgiving, nice timing

what is WRONG with them? I mean, it's totally mind-boggling. This is just a group of mean-spirited nasty people who care absolutely nothing about the average American.

Interestingly, this issue did not come up AT ALL in the debates.

[natrat]

7. whats wrong with them ?

could it be greed and kickbacks pure and simple ? somehow i don't think it was supposed to end up this way

[Straight Shooter]

4. I'm sick of hearing that word "emboldened"

They should be using the term "arrogant"

[kwolf68]

5. Next stop

Truth in Advertising Laws will be gone.

It may be time for me to go vegan.

[LifeDuringWartime]

17. or raise your own livestock.

however, if you live in a sub/urban setting, this may pose some difficulties

[KDLarsen]

30. Surprisingly enough - not really

I went by the home I grew up in the other day (enroute to my uncles birthday party), and was surprised to find flyers that invited to a meeting, where the idea of raising organic beef cattle on small patches of grass nearby was up for debate. Keeping in mind, this is a somewhat suburban area, I found the idea quite interesting, and thinking about it, it made some sense to me.

[Laelth]

18. Truth in advertising laws are already gone.

How else could Fox News call itself "fair and balanced"?

-Laelth

[kwolf68]

31. Good point.

[proud patriot]

6. oh friggin lovely

:mad:

[oneighty]

8. Those pigs

eat from the same slop we do. It will bite them in the butt one day.

180

[drscm]

19. I wonder if "those pigs" are afraid of being labelled themselves...eom

[colonel odis]

9. if i were in that business, i'd continue labeling.

perhaps consumers will reward them for it.

[Shoeempress]

10. No joke, they will probably make it illegal. Read an article sometime

summer about a slaughter house which tested all it's animal for Mad Cow and labeled their meat stating so. Either FDA or USDA made them stop. Looks like it's time to go to the local farmer who grain feeds the animals.

[kwolf68]

11. Maybe

or maybe not.

The only thing consumers care about is cheap shit. If it was labeled that rivers were polluted and children were exploited on the back of a can of ham, people would buy it if it saved them a nickle.

MORALS!!! I tell ya.

[colonel odis]

16. the only thing consumers care about is cheap shit?

is that why starbucks has us paying $2 for a cup of coffee?

[soothsayer]

12. a-hole crooks.

I can't stand them.

[laylah]

13. Is there anything

that is a good thing for WE, the people, that these asshats DON'T try to repeal????!!!!! :mad: How horrible, subhuman, unAmerican, TOTALLY unPatriotic these Conservatives are!

Jenn

[Brand New Tico]

14. This is BS - a total lie

Republicans want all food labeled with the following label:

"All praise our Dear Leader George W. Bush, who has led the willing victorious workers with grace and dignity. Dear Leader - We love you! The Dear Leader has brought peace and safety to the workers of the world and brings delight to all the masses! Praise Him! Dear Leader George W. Bush is our friend and our protector. Praise His Name and give him glory! George W. Bush protects Amerikka and confronts the evildoers. He is very great indeed! All have joined in hailing George W. Bush and his many trusted Republican advisors who make billions in wealth for us all!"

[LiberalPersona]

15. Doesn't surprise me

They don't want America to be healthy, they want to keep us sick so we're too weak to fight them. And these are some of the laws that stand in their way.

[ikojo]

20. This guy is the daddy of the next governor of MO

House Majority Whip Roy Blunt, R-Mo., said he expected the Senate to agree to repealing the measure, whose main champion two years ago was Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D.




Scary to think of what his son is going to do to the state of MO with a Republican senate and Republican house. Wow! What is wrong with the people in the hinterlands of Missouri?

[Cheney Killed Bambi]

21. this is why repubs suck

Republicans are the party of Vioxx (profitable drugs that cause heart attacks)

[uncertainty1999]

22. Is this so the US can import food from China?

We import everything else from China - why not outsource our food as well ??? Wal-Mart is now deeply into groceries - I just saw last night's FRONTLINE episode on wal-mart, so the wal-mart/China connection is fresh on my mind...

[killbotfactory]

23. Fucking jackasses

What the hell is so horrible about knowing where your fucking food comes from, assholes? If businesses are afraid consumers will find out where their food came from THEN THERE IS SOMETHING REALLY FUCKING WRONG WITH THOSE COMPANIES.

[sakabatou]

24. What the... ?!

What are these guys trying to do? Get us sick through food poisoning? Unwittingly making it so dictaor countries can sell food here w/o anything going wrong and we buy it, so they get good money. I'd like to know where my food comes from.

[daleo]

25. Consumer sovereignty is a basic principle of capitalist theory

So, they are even going against their own professed principles.

[LizW]

26. Don't forget the reason this law was passed

in the first place. If I recall correctly, over 1000 people were sickened by cyclospora contaminated raspberries imported from Central America. Cyclospora is caused by fecal contamination, possibly from watering or washing the fruit with tainted water.

The food importers and their Republican lap-dogs fought this law tooth and nail at the time, but it passed anyway because it was common sense that people didn't want food with feces on it and they wanted to know where their food was grown.

Ironically, this repeal may not matter so much because the Republicans will probably soon see to it that our water is as polluted as that in Central America.

[DuaneBidoux]

27. If it fucks the consumer over it's good!

[Only Me]

28. Mr. Blunt..Yes you can do what you want but that doesn't make it right.

I guess it doesn't matter if the PEOPLE disagree with you!!
I, for one,along with my family, want to know exactly where our food comes from.

[Zorra]

29. DU Economic Activism and Progressive Living Forum:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topics&forum=255

Find a place store that will tell you where your food comes from and boycott the fascist pigs at the same time.

Campaign To Starve The Beast:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=104&topic_id=2600099&mesg_id=2600099