‘Monsanto Protection Act’ defeated in Senate, despite the House trying to SNEAK it through…AGAIN!

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Agriculture Corporations, Bayer, Biotech Agriculture, Biotech Immunity, Dow, Farmer's Assurance Provision, Healthy Food, House of Representatives, Montsanto, Montsanto Protection Act, Organic Food, Section 735, Senate, Sygenta

by: Daisy Luther

Despite thousands from all over the United States participating in demonstrations against Monsanto, House Republicans passed an extension of the provision on Friday. TODAY, the Senate REMOVED the controversial rider from the Continuing Resolution.

Finally, as the result of an enormous outcry, the Senate voted down the rider that was recently approved by the House of Representatives. The rider would have continued Big Biotech’s immunity against prosecution resulting from their toxic farming practices and questionable crops.

As of September 30th, the so-called Monsanto Protection Act will be dead. This is a major victory for anti-GMO activists as it is the first time that Congress has decided in favor of the constituents as opposed to companies like Monsanto, Sygenta, Bayer, and Dow.

“That provision will be gone,” said Sen. Mark Pryor (D-Ark.), confirming the change to POLITICO. The Center for Food Safety, a Washington-based non-profit, welcomed the decision as “a major victory for the food movement” and “sea change in a political climate that all too often allows corporate earmarks to slide through must-pass legislation.”

“Short-term appropriations bills are not an excuse for Congress to grandfather in bad policy,” said Colin O’Neil, director of government affairs for the Center. (source)

The Monsanto Protection Act was passed last spring as a rider sneakily put into place by Senator Roy Blunt of Missouri (Monsanto’s home base, incidentally.) It was passed by both the House and the Senate (see which Senators voted for it HERE) , and then signed into law in a final act of betrayal by President Barack Obama, despite public outcry that the rider made the biotech industry untouchable and not subject to legal action regardless of the damage caused.

The biotech rider “could override any court-mandated caution and could instead allow continued planting. Further, it forces USDA to approve permits for such continued planting immediately, putting industry completely in charge by allowing for a ‘back door approval’ mechanism,” the Center for Food Safety said earlier this month upon news the House was reviving the measure. (source)

As the rider is due to expire at the end of this month, a renewal of the policy was written in and passed by the House last week, slipped into an important bill related to the federal budget, the FY14 Continuing Resolution (CR) spending bill.

Monsanto and its allies have argued that what the company sought was no more than what some federal courts have done themselves in the past: Allow farmers to continue to use GMO seed –under environmental guidelines—while the court review continues.

Monsanto successfully expanded support among farm groups also interested in some such stewardship program. But the language itself was unusually strong in that it directed Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack in no uncertain terms about how he should respond in future court cases impacting GMO seeds.

The secretary “shall, notwithstanding any other provision of law… immediately grant” temporary permits to continue using the seed at the request of a farmer or producer wanting such a stewardship program, the provision reads. And while Vilsack has been a big champion of the biotech industry, he was uncomfortable with what he saw as an effort to “pre-empt judicial review.”

“We have all known this rider’s days were numbered,” O’Neil told POLITICO. “But given the recent GMO contamination episodes of wheat and alfalfa in Oregon and Washington it is clear that our nation’s safeguards, in particular those of the federal courts, should not be under attack from policy riders like this.” (source)

This proves that by keeping a close watch on what our members of Congress are doing, and by holding them accountable in front of the public, we can affect changes. If we keep our momentum going, Big Biotech can be defeated.

Daisy Luther is a freelance writer and editor.  Her website, The Organic Prepper, offers information on healthy prepping, including premium nutritional choices, general wellness and non-tech solutions. You can follow Daisy on Facebook and Twitter, and you can email her at daisy@theorganicprepper.ca

What if the Government shuts down and nobody notices?

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2014 NOVEMBER VOTE COMING SOON, Barack Obama, Defund, Defund Obamacare, Democrat, Elected Lawmakers, Get RID OF Obamacare, Get rid of the AFA, Government Shutdown, Healthcare, House, Polls show majority does NOT WANT Obamacare, Posturing, POTUS, Repeal Obamacare, Republican, Senate, Shut Down the Government

“You’d be amazed how much government you never miss.” ~ Mitch Daniels

TO BOTH Republicans and Democrats, let me ask you this — exactly WHO GETS HURT IF THE GOVERNMENT IS SHUT DOWN?

What happens to the United States when the lights go out?

I’ve lived through five government shutdowns. There were three shutdowns during Ronald Reagan’s presidency and two government shutdowns while Bill Clinton was president. And, if I hadn’t read about the events in the newspaper, I literally would have had no reason to be aware the shutdowns were going on.

My husband’s memory of the impact of those government shutdowns is the same as mine. He ‘heard that it was happening’, BUT, nothing in his life changed.

Just in case my husband and I are dunces who wouldn’t notice if an atomic bomb hit Goshen, so long as ‘our own house was left standing’, I decided to interview others.

SURELY, if government shutdowns were the huge catastrophes the media is leading us to believe they are — people would remember the horrors.

Here are the results of my survey…

“I remember something being said on the news about a shutdown,” said 80-year-old Ann, “but during that time my husband and I were looking for a vacation home in Arizona. We were pretty busy.”

“I heard about the government being shut down,” said 80-something-year-old Al, “but it didn’t change my life in any way.”

A family member that has lived in Washington D.C. for several years said, “Once or twice a year D.C. gets clobbered with a winter storm. When that happens, the government issues an order for all ‘non-essential’ people to go home and the city empties out. The government is shut down — sometimes for a week at a time. And no one notices. I have always marveled at that migration and wondered: If these are ‘non-essential people’, then what are we paying them for?”

Which brings me back to the crux of the problem. Which is what Mitch Daniels said, ““You’d be amazed how much government you never miss.”” This especially becomes evident when 50% of government workers (described by the Obama administration as ‘nonessential’) can be furloughed and NOTHING changes for the majority of the country.

Republicans: you’ve been given a ONCE-IN-A-LIFETIME chance to match policy with your BOLD RHETORIC. The House of Representatives is where spending originates. House Republicans HAVE BEEN HANDED control to delay, defund or repeal Obamacare in concert with SERIOUS SHRINKAGE of the size of the federal government. Assuming what’s likely true, that President Obama and the Senate won’t go along with GOP plans, a Republican House in control of spending will get to starve Obama’s signature legislation, and then with a government shutdown that decidedly does not mean a shutdown of the federal government (Social Security checks will go out, the military will be funded through IOUs, the IRS will for good or bad remain functional), a happy realization gets forced upon the citizenry, that life goes on RATHER SWIMMINGLY without the Leviathan running on all cylinders.

To quote Dale Carnegie: “The person who goes the farthest is the one who is WILLING TO DO AND DARE. The sure-thing boat never gets far from shore.”

I’m going to be blunt, if the Republicans aren’t willing to do everything in their power to defund, delay, or repeal Obamacare — INCLUDING SHUTTING DOWN THE GOVERNMENT — voting Republican means no more than being a Bears’ fan instead of a Colts’ fan. You are voting for a ‘team name’ not for differences in basic ideology.

The Polls:

USA Today/Pew Poll: More Americans than ever, don’t want Obamacare

Rasmussen Reports: The majority of Americans favor a government shutdown to funding Obamacare.

Rasmussen, ABC/Washington Post, CNN/Opinion Research, Fox News, NBC/WSJ, and USA Today/Pew Research Polls: ALL show the majority of Americans DO NOT WANT Obamacare.

OVERWHELMINGLY — Indiana’s voters willing to risk government shutdown to derail ‘Obamacare’

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Continuing Resolution, CR, Dan Coats, Defund, Defund Obamacare, Government Shutdown, House, Jackie Walorski, Joe Donnelly, Marlin Stutzman, OBAMACARE, Senate, September 30 Deadline

To understand why so many conservatives in Congress are willing to risk a government shutdown in their quest to cut spending and derail “Obamacare,” take a look at Indiana and the state’s crop of young Republicans in the U.S. House Representatives.

The voters in their home districts gave them a simple message at town hall meetings in August:“Stand up to President Barack Obama and block his health insurance reforms.”

Indiana constituents don’t support the health care law and are insisting their elected officials vote to defund it.

The efforts of Indiana’s House Republicans are certain to be rejected by Democrats. Obama has already issued a veto threat. So the ensuing fight will heighten the risk of a government shutdown or debt default which will unnerve financial markets.

That is a risk that many conservatives see as essential, with key parts of the law due to take effect in October.

______________________________________________________________________

“The American people want this law stopped one way or another,” Representative Marlin Stutzman of northeast Indiana told Reuters. “We are willing to hold out on this one.”  _______________________________________________________________

Republicans argue that the Affordable Care Act will cost jobs, reduce employee working hours and increase health premiums and are focused on the projected spending increase which would nudge the sprawling U.S. healthcare system to over $3 trillion in total spending for 2014, representing a cost of $9,697 for every man, woman and child, or 18.3 percent of the U.S. economy! (Source of information is Reuters. Click HERE to reference.)

Over the longer term, healthcare spending growth would accelerate to 6.5 percent by 2022, when the industry would hit the $5 trillion mark and represent 19.9 percent of gross domestic product.

Indiana’s Republicans are willing to make tough choices and to accept the accompanying risks.

These Republicans do not fit the Democratic caricature of conservative Tea Party novices who are holding the House hostage. Several have experience in Indiana state government, making tough budget choices under former Republican Governor Mitch Daniels.

Daniel’s success in turning around the state’s finances prompted speculation that Daniels might make a presidential bid in 2012, but he opted against running.

Under Mitch Daniels’ leadership, Indiana cut taxes and built up a surplus. Now it consistently ranks highest in the Midwest in business climate surveys, while neighbors Illinois and Michigan struggle financially. But Indiana’s unemployment rate, at 8.3 percent, is a full percentage point above the national average as its manufacturing base struggles to recover from the recession.

The experience at the state level has driven the Indiana Republicans in Congress to try to replicate the same formula in Washington.

Three members – Todd Rokita, Messer and Jackie Walorski – now serve on the House Budget Committee, a big presence for a state with only 6.5 million residents. Todd Young switched from that panel to the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee. And Stutzman, another Budget Committee alumnus, saw his standing in the caucus rise after the House passed his plan to separate the $74 billion food stamp program from a long-stalled farm bill, a move aimed at shrinking the nutrition subsidies.

“I think we’ve been able to prove in this state, statistically, that balanced budgets create stable economies, create jobs, and there is a way out of the mess we’re in at the federal level,” said Walorski, who once described herself as a “pit bull” in the state capitol.

Freshman Representative Susan Brooks, a former U.S. attorney in Indiana, has local, state and federal government experience, most recently as general counsel for the state’s network of community colleges.

The group often repeats a Daniels mantra: “You’d be amazed at how much government you won’t miss.”

Three years after President Obama signed his signature health care overhaul, Americans are MORE negative toward it than they have ever been. Disapproval of the president on the issue has reached a new high. Here are findings from a USA TODAY/Pew Research Center Poll.

INDIANA VOTERS ARE WATCHING

The seven Indiana Republicans face little threat of losing their seats to Democrats in 2014 if they dig in on the budget and Obamacare. The congressional boundaries some of them helped redraw in 2011 concentrated the state’s two Democrats into central Indianapolis and the industrial northwest corner. The Republican districts are now largely carpeted in corn and soybeans, giving them a naturally conservative rural base.

“Indiana is an agrarian state. A bumper crop one year could be met with drought the next, so you better focus on long-term goals,” said Wendy Dant Chesser, president of One Southern Indiana, the Chamber of Commerce in New Albany, Indiana.

Instead, any threat is more likely to come from the right if they are too soft on spending. The influential conservative group Club for Growth, headed by former Indiana Republican congressman Chris Chocola, is watching their every vote.

Similar sentiments expressed in conservative Republican districts across the country have put members in no mood to compromise on the fiscal deadlines.

Rokita, a second-term congressman who boasts that his 2010 budget as Indiana secretary of state was at 1987 levels, said the Obamacare defunding vote was “a reasonable reflection of what my constituents wanted of me. I think we’re best when we’re bold,” he said. “I keep trying to preach that to our leadership.”

Opposition to ObamaCare — already wildly unpopular when it was passed — is becoming increasingly strong and widespread. In my opinion, it’s about time MORE politicians follow Indiana’s elected representative’s example and deeply consider WHO they SHOULD BE fighting for. (HINT TO LAWMAKERS: The WHO should NOT be your pharmaceutical and insurance political donors.)

Sources:
Red State
The Indiana Gazette
Rasmussen Reports
Reuters
Political Outcast

Did YOUR members of Congress sign the “Defund ObamaCare” letter? Find out here…

Tags

Affordable Care Act, Dan Coats, Defund Obamacare, Jackie Walorski, Joe Donnelly, Marlin Stutzman, OBAMACARE, Senate, U.S. House of Representatives

The Continuing Resolution (CR) that allows funding for the federal government expires on September 30th. It must be renewed in order for the doors to stay open in Washington. The CR is the best chance we will get to withdraw funds from ObamaCare. This can be done by attaching bills by Senator Ted Cruz (R-TX) or Congressman Tom Graves (R-GA) to the CR, which will totally defund ObamaCare.

But for the Cruz/Graves effort to have teeth, Republicans in both chambers of Congress must all be committed to absolutely refusing to vote for any spending bill that contains funding for ObamaCare.  Senator Mike Lee (R-UT) and Congressman Mark Meadows (R-NC) are leading the charge to get their colleagues to commit to this approach, by putting their signatures to a letter affirming that they will refuse to vote for a CR that contains ObamaCare funding.

Support for the Cruz/Graves bills is absolutely meaningless without ALSO SIGNING THE LEE/MEADOWS LETTER. Harry Reid and his Democrats will have no incentive to compromise unless they know the Republicans are willing to take a hard stance – even allowing the government to be shut down, if necessary – in order to stop the catastrophically unworkable and unaffordable health care law from taking effect this January.

Unless you want Obamacare, it is ESSENTIAL that you call Congress Members that are posturing a  lot, but actually doing NOTHING to PREVENT Obamacare from going into effect. TIME IS RUNNING OUT!

Don’t put off calling your elected representative because you think your voice doesn’t matter. The onslaught of calls over Syria, probably more than ANYTHING ELSE, stopped Obama from taking us into a war that could have led us into another Middle East quagmire or worse.

Click HERE to READ MORE and to see where your Congress members REALLY stand on Obamacare. (SPOILER: BOTH Jackie Walorski AND Marlin Stutzman not only signed Meadows’ letter, they co-sponsored Graves’ bill — kudos to Jackie and Marlin. As for our Senators, ahem!)

If you want Obamacare gone or at least delayed…

Contact Senator Dan Coats: (202) 224-5623
Contact Senator Joe Donnelly: (202) 224-4814

House passes ‘Audit the Fed’ bill

Tags

Activism, Audit the Fed, Ben Bernanke, Federal Reserve System, Federal Reserve Transparency Act, Harry Reid, Nevada, Ron Paul, Senate, Transparency, Washington D.C.

Audit the Fed passes House 327-98. The only NAY from Indiana was Congressman, Andre Carson. Here’s the ROLL CALL.

Harry Reid has vowed not to let the bill come to a vote in the Senate. Take a stand and let Harry Reid know it is the will of the people to audit the fed! Here is Senator Reid’s contact info. Please share it everywhere!

Email:

http://www.reid.senate.gov/contact/index.cfm

Carson City
600 East William Street, #304
Carson City, NV 89701
Phone: 775-882-7343 / Fax: 775-883-1980

Las Vegas
Lloyd D. George Building
333 Las Vegas Boulevard South, Suite 8016
Las Vegas, NV 89101
Phone: 702-388-5020 / Fax: 702-388-5030

Reno
Bruce R. Thompson Courthouse and Federal Building
400 South Virginia Street, Suite 902
Reno, NV 89501
Phone: 775-686-5750 / Fax: 775-686-5757

Rural Nevada
If you live in Esmeralda, Lincoln, or Nye Counties:
Phone: 702-388-5020 / Fax: 702-388-5030
If you live in Churchill, Douglas, Elko, Eureka, Humboldt, Lander, Lyon, Mineral, Pershing, Storey or White Pine County:
Phone: 775-686-5750 / Fax: 775-686-5757

Washington
522 Hart Senate Office Building
Washington, DC 20510
Phone: 202-224-3542 / Fax: 202-224-7327
Toll Free for Nevadans: 1-866-SEN-REID (736-7343) – Restricted to calls originating from area codes 775 and 702

Reid Newsroom
Sen. Reid’s Nevada Press Office 202-224-9521 (for inquiries from Nevada media)
Senate Democratic Policy and Communications Center 202-224-2939

Related articles

• Politics & NWO – Re: Audit the Fed Passes! (disclose.tv)
• House passes Ron Paul’s ‘audit the Fed’ bill (washingtontimes.com)
• Audit the Fed Passes! (txwclp.org)
• Minutes ago, the U.S. House voted to pass our Audit the Fed bill! (jhaines6.wordpress.com)
• Breaking News:House Votes Overwhelmingly to Audit the Fed! (thelonestarwatchdog.com)
• NY Rep. Bob Turner Lone Republican to Vote Against ‘Audit the Fed’ (wnyc.org)

Open letter to Obama from “We the People” and what you can do TODAY for freedom

Tags

Activism, Constitution, Freedom, Hillary Clinton, Land of the Sea Treaty, Liberty, LOST, NRA, Obama, Politics, Senate, We the People

You can participate in the grassroot’s movement to get our liberties back by calling YOUR SENATORS today:

Upon the advice of Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, President Obama has confirmed his intention to sign two controversial U.N. treaties — the Law of the Sea Treaty (LOST) and the so called Small Arms Treaty.

Although many citizens and elected representatives are sounding the alarm about the small arms treaty, twenty Republican senators are set to join with Democrats in upholding LOST and the Senate will have more than the required 67 votes to pass.

The 20 Republicans who are apparently set to uphold the treaty are Enzi, McConnell, Hutchison, Toomey, Johanns, Ayotte, Graham, McCain, Lugar, Kirk, Snowe, Collins, Murkowski, Isakson, Grassley, Portman, Corker, Cochran, Brown, and Alexander. Find their phone numbers and contact information HERE.

In a breaking update, 2 of the 20 Republican senators,  McConnell and Toomey, have now indicated they will oppose the Law of the Sea Treaty. One political activist stated that it is important for citizens to call the offices of all 20 to make sure those Senators are on the record with their intent to vote against the treaty.

The small arms treaty, on the other hand, is facing a much more difficult task in gaining the approval of the Senate. Although it is possible to muster 67 votes to approve,  many Democrats are facing reelection in states where gun rights are important. Although Democrats now have a 53 seat majority. Wayne LaPierre, the CEO of the National Rifle Association’s powerful lobby group, said 58 senators have pledged to oppose the treaty if it covers civilian weapons, fearing an infringement of America’s gun rights.

“I am here to announce NRA’s strong opposition to anti-freedom policies that disregard American citizens’ right to self-defense. No foreign influence has jurisdiction over the freedoms our Founding Fathers guaranteed to us,” LaPierre said at the UN Arms Trade Treaty Conference in New York.

“The only way to address NRA’s objections is to simply and completely remove civilian firearms from the scope of the treaty. That is the only solution. On that, there will be no compromise.”

The UN will be negotiating the Small Arms Treaty throughout the month of July.

Related articles

• Obama Rushing Passage of the Law of the Sea Treaty & the Small Arms Treaty (independentsentinel.com)
• Could UN Treaty Put World (and Iran) In Charge of America’s Gun Owners? (foxnews.com)
• NRA draws red line on UN arms treaty (thehill.com)
• 20 Republicans set to uphold controversial UN treaty (updated) (askmarion.wordpress.com)

AFP-Indiana Launches Effort to Put Grassroots Pressure on Joe Donnelly

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2012 Election, Elkhart County, Joe Donnelly, November, Richard Mourdock, Senate

Americans for Prosperity – Indiana (AFP-IN) is launching a statewide effort to put grassroots pressure on Joe Donnelly. Donnelly’s votes for increased government spending and higher taxes will be the focus of the effort. The grassroots project is channeled through the website www.HowsThatCupofJoe.com. The website educates Hoosiers on the failed economic policies supported by Congressman Donnelly, and a petition so Hoosiers can contact Donnelly directly.

In addition, AFP-Indiana’s field coordinators will be organizing AFP-Indiana’s 25,000 grassroots activists to make phone calls and knock on doors in order to share this information with their fellow Hoosiers and get them to contact Donnelly in the weeks and months ahead.

“Joe Donnelly’s votes for government-run health care, increased spending and higher taxes is something that every Hoosier should be aware of,” stated Chase Downham, Indiana State Director of Americans for Prosperity.

“We are going to work hand-in-hand with grassroots activists across our state to put pressure on Joe Donnelly, and remind him that Hoosiers oppose the runaway spending and increased debt that is all too common in Washington, D.C.”

Joe Donnelly voted for the $2 trillion government takeover of health care, $1 trillion failed stimulus efforts and voted against a permanent repeal of the death tax at the federal level.

Americans for Prosperity (AFP) is a nationwide organization of citizen-leaders committed to advancing every individual’s right to economic freedom and opportunity. AFP believes reducing the size and intrusiveness of government is the best way to promote individual productivity and prosperity for all Americans. Americans for Prosperity does not support or oppose candidates for public office. For more information, visit www.americansforprosperity.org