A
Anonymous
Guest
From the CommStock report- David Kruse. I'm glad he reminded us that the M-COOL was part of a compromise- that the administration and the Republican controlled House did not keep their word on...
But with the arrogant attitude they were running with- its not surprising...
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U.S. consumers want to know the origin of the products and goods they buy. That includes red meat. Even South Korea has demanded U.S. origin beef, not beef shipped into the U.S. and out again like a clearing house for foreign product. Importing red meat and marketing it without identifying Country of Origin is deception. Those that do it know full well most consumers think USDA stamps mean that its’ U.S. origin. This deception is worth billions of dollars to meat processors. Seafood COOL was implemented and Wal-Mart stopped stocking foreign shrimp in many stores, when they found consumers would not buy it, demanding U.S. origin shrimp, said to be a quality issue. What happened to red meat COOL included in the 2002 farm bill?
Republicans screwed cattle producers by undermining implementation of Country of Origin labeling. The story of COOL is a story of what's wrong with Washington, a case in point. . . Deals made, not kept; laws passed, not implemented, special interests overriding the public good.
COOL was passed as a provision of the 2002 farm bill. It was a compromise. The Senate had passed a ban on packer's owning livestock, which the house opposed. They agreed to COOL in conference committee as a concession for eliminating the packer ban from the bill. Special interests opposed to COOL than attacked implementation from two directions. Henry Bonilla chairs the House subcommittee funding COOL, and he tied the purse strings so that no money could be spent on implementation. Bonilla is a packer lackey with campaigns funded by AMI PACs. Interestingly enough, Bonilla has to run in a runoff election, not getting the majority needed in the general election to retain his seat.
Packers will have to send even more campaign cash to Texas to keep their boy in Congress. Goodlatte, former chairman of the House ag committee, is also a packer lackey. The House didn't support COOL, and while they shook hands with the Senate, including COOL in the farm bill, they had their fingers crossed behind their back, never intending to keep the bargain. The U.S. House lied to the U.S. Senate, accepting COOL but never intending to follow through. GOP representatives, including NW Iowa Congressman Steve King, voted against COOL in committee, canceling out NE moderate Tom Osbourne's vote. House leadership opposed COOL.
The other direction COOL was attacked was through the rule writing process in USDA. The Bush administration is a packer lackey also in league with COOL opposition. Congress passes laws, but the administration implements them. The USDA worked hard to come up with the most draconian, odorous ways to implement COOL they could dream up. They intended to make COOL so ugly, even passive supporters could not stomach how it would be implemented. It was a great political strategy, a Republican House and administration's strategy to kill COOL. Special interests and partisan control won out. The fall election should have major implications for the future of COOL. The U.S. Senate already had bi-partisan support for COOL, but new Senators like Jon Tester, MT, are strong COOL backers. Tom Harkin, who will chair the Senate ag committee, strongly backs COOL. So does Chuck Grassley, from whom I borrowed the label packer lackeys to describe those opposing COOL. Other new Senators, Bob Casey of PA, Amy Klobouchar of MN, and Claire McCaskill of MO all favor implementing COOL on red meats. Congressional leadership undermined COOL implementation, and with Democrats replacing Republicans, COOL interests should get a boost. U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson will chair the House ag Committee. 3 Republicans serving on the House ag committee lost.
House support for COOL should have shifted with the balance of power. Packers don't own new house members elected. If it comes to it, Congress is likely to again include COOL in the next farm bill, this time spelling out implementation so that the USDA doesn’t have the latitude to undermine it with such ugly rules. What the Republicans did to COOL was underhanded. The entire Congress passed a law that the GOP leadership and administration then did everything in their power to circumvent. That wasn't right and what goes around comes around. The election was simple justice
But with the arrogant attitude they were running with- its not surprising...
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U.S. consumers want to know the origin of the products and goods they buy. That includes red meat. Even South Korea has demanded U.S. origin beef, not beef shipped into the U.S. and out again like a clearing house for foreign product. Importing red meat and marketing it without identifying Country of Origin is deception. Those that do it know full well most consumers think USDA stamps mean that its’ U.S. origin. This deception is worth billions of dollars to meat processors. Seafood COOL was implemented and Wal-Mart stopped stocking foreign shrimp in many stores, when they found consumers would not buy it, demanding U.S. origin shrimp, said to be a quality issue. What happened to red meat COOL included in the 2002 farm bill?
Republicans screwed cattle producers by undermining implementation of Country of Origin labeling. The story of COOL is a story of what's wrong with Washington, a case in point. . . Deals made, not kept; laws passed, not implemented, special interests overriding the public good.
COOL was passed as a provision of the 2002 farm bill. It was a compromise. The Senate had passed a ban on packer's owning livestock, which the house opposed. They agreed to COOL in conference committee as a concession for eliminating the packer ban from the bill. Special interests opposed to COOL than attacked implementation from two directions. Henry Bonilla chairs the House subcommittee funding COOL, and he tied the purse strings so that no money could be spent on implementation. Bonilla is a packer lackey with campaigns funded by AMI PACs. Interestingly enough, Bonilla has to run in a runoff election, not getting the majority needed in the general election to retain his seat.
Packers will have to send even more campaign cash to Texas to keep their boy in Congress. Goodlatte, former chairman of the House ag committee, is also a packer lackey. The House didn't support COOL, and while they shook hands with the Senate, including COOL in the farm bill, they had their fingers crossed behind their back, never intending to keep the bargain. The U.S. House lied to the U.S. Senate, accepting COOL but never intending to follow through. GOP representatives, including NW Iowa Congressman Steve King, voted against COOL in committee, canceling out NE moderate Tom Osbourne's vote. House leadership opposed COOL.
The other direction COOL was attacked was through the rule writing process in USDA. The Bush administration is a packer lackey also in league with COOL opposition. Congress passes laws, but the administration implements them. The USDA worked hard to come up with the most draconian, odorous ways to implement COOL they could dream up. They intended to make COOL so ugly, even passive supporters could not stomach how it would be implemented. It was a great political strategy, a Republican House and administration's strategy to kill COOL. Special interests and partisan control won out. The fall election should have major implications for the future of COOL. The U.S. Senate already had bi-partisan support for COOL, but new Senators like Jon Tester, MT, are strong COOL backers. Tom Harkin, who will chair the Senate ag committee, strongly backs COOL. So does Chuck Grassley, from whom I borrowed the label packer lackeys to describe those opposing COOL. Other new Senators, Bob Casey of PA, Amy Klobouchar of MN, and Claire McCaskill of MO all favor implementing COOL on red meats. Congressional leadership undermined COOL implementation, and with Democrats replacing Republicans, COOL interests should get a boost. U.S. Rep. Collin Peterson will chair the House ag Committee. 3 Republicans serving on the House ag committee lost.
House support for COOL should have shifted with the balance of power. Packers don't own new house members elected. If it comes to it, Congress is likely to again include COOL in the next farm bill, this time spelling out implementation so that the USDA doesn’t have the latitude to undermine it with such ugly rules. What the Republicans did to COOL was underhanded. The entire Congress passed a law that the GOP leadership and administration then did everything in their power to circumvent. That wasn't right and what goes around comes around. The election was simple justice