Lame duck senate passes controversial new food safety bill: S 510
By an overwhellmingly bipartisan vote of 73-25 the Senate passed S 510–the Food Safety Modernization Act. I have already gone into detail about the controversy surrounding this bill–from the FDA being placed under the Department of Homeland Security, to the unfair regulations that will be suffered by small, local growers–here, so I am not going to go into the details again.
I will however quickly recap one point on this issue: this bill is being promoted in response to the recent food contamination outbreaks yet the large companies who are responsible for these outbreaks have been exempted, while the small growers who had nothing to do with the outbreaks are the ones who are going to suffer because of this bill.
This fight is still not over, while the House passed a version of this bill last year, the Senate bill and the House bill still need to be reconciled before this bill can be sent to the president for his signature, and there is the very real possibility that with all of the other pressing issues facing the lame duck session, this bill may fall by the wayside. But we cannot take that chance; we must call, write, and email our senators and representatives to voice our displeasure and concerns with this bill.
At the very least this bill must be delayed until the new Congress convenes; there are just too many questions surrounding this bill and the American people need to have the opportunity to see what is actually in this bill. The people did not have the chance to see what was in the healthcare reform bill before it passed–in fact Nancy Pelosi said that the Congress had to pass the bill in order to see what was in it–and we have seen some early returns on the healthcare bill and they are not encouraging.
The Congress has tried to slip this bill through before the American people could realize what was happening, and there must be a reason why they were being so secretive on this bill. We cannot afford to let the Congress make the same mistake with our food supply as they did with our healthcare coverage! Fool me once, shame on you; fool me twice, shame on me.
America's Watchtower 
Rather than giving the FDA more power, can’t we just give the USDA some power? Didn’t the last egg issue had something to do with USDA finding problems but they couldn’t do anything so they told the FDA who didn’t do anything until there was a massive recall?
LikeLike
I would prefer not to give any of them more power, they have too much as it is!
LikeLike
Despite MASSIVE Protests…………..
http://blacklistednews.com/Despite-massive-protests%2C-US-Senate-passes-S-510-Food-Safety-Bill/11699/0/6/6/Y/M.html
This will fill in the gaps.
LikeLike
Good to know there were protests, I hope that this bill can at least be stalled until the new COngress convenes. Maybe then we can stop it.
LikeLike
And this is where it is going………
http://blacklistednews.com/20-Statistics-That-Prove-That-Global-Wealth-Is-Being-Funneled-Into-The-Hands-Of-The-Elite-%E2%80%93-Leaving-Most-Of-The-Rest-Of-The-World-Wretchedly-Poor-/11696/0/10/10/Y/M.html
Insidious at best………….think very clearly what is being shown here and picture the USA down the road due to S510 etc.
LikeLike
I really don’t understand how so many Republicans could have voted for this legislation. It clearly does not address any real problems we may have in the food and agriculture industry. What it does do is make it harder for a small farmer to sell his produce, which has not been a problem, heretofore. What changed to make it dangerous enough to pass SB 510?
LikeLike
Eight Republicans voted in favor of this bill. I just wonder if they did so to make an effort to appear bipartisan. That is the only thing that I can think of because this bill does nothing to improve the safety of our food.
LikeLike
I think that if you look at Monsanto bribes to………..I meant “campaign contributions,” to those who voted in favor of, and look at the former Monsanto employees involved in the FDA, that should give you a clue.
LikeLike
Breaking news……………S510 may be dead……just off the wires……..
http://www.resistnet.com/forum/topic/show?id=2600775%3ATopic%3A2961432&xgs=1&xg_source=msg_share_topic
LikeLike
Just posted on this new development, all is not yet lost!
LikeLike
Here’s an update to your update………….lol.
http://www.rollcall.com/news/-201041-1.html?ET=rollcall:e9347:80109934a:&st=email&pos=epm
LikeLike
They are still going to try to push this through, we will be watching closely!
LikeLike