Sunday, June 24, 2007
BATTLE LINES DRAWN IN MISSOURI: THE PEOPLE VS. THE NAIS GANG
Bill to stop NAIS assassinated to prevent passage
From The Eco-logic Powerhouse
By C. Russell Wood
June 15, 2007
A bill that would have prevented the National Animal Identification System from being implemented by the state of Missouri was assassinated on its way to a final vote as the legislative session ended. Was it the victim of a lone madman, or was it shot down on orders from the NAIS Gang who had no other way of stopping its passage into law?
A close look into the matter reveals several truths:
The Missouri state legislature was strongly in favor of a bill to prevent NAIS from ever being mandated in the state. They had voted 137-to-10 in the House and 29-to-2 in the Senate on bills to prevent that very thing.
This was not a Republican/Democrat issue. Not even a city/country divide. There was broad support state-wide.
The opposition came from a group becoming known as the NAIS Gang, made up of Missouri Farm Bureau, Missouri Cattlemen's Association, MFA, Inc., and the Missouri Department of Agriculture. These groups can no longer hide in the shadows, as they are the ones who testified against the bills, urged legislators to vote against them and lobbied hard in the Capitol to allow NAIS in the state.
Those working hard along with key Senators and Representatives to stop NAIS were mainly property rights advocates, who are not professional lobbyists. They were there walking the halls of the Capitol because they strongly believed in what they were doing, not because they were on a payroll and it was their job. In a House committee hearing, Mike John, outgoing president of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association who is beef marketing manager and head of the MFA health track beef alliance for MFA Inc., said those wanting to stop NAIS were either animal rights activists, environmental extremists, or owners of sick cattle.
Regardless of Mike John's description of those wanting to stop NAIS, his side was far behind where it counted - in votes of both Houses. But the Gang had an ace in the hole. John Quinn is chairman of the House AG. Committee. All bills passing through the House dealing with NAIS had to go through his hands, and as committee chairman he had a stranglehold on them. A bill by Representative Mike Deathrow was granted a hearing in Quinn's committee and was passed through only after being amended by Quinn to change the wording from stopping NAIS, to essentially permitting NAIS. Bills offered by Representatives Van Kelly and Jim Whorton were never advanced in Quinn's domain.
But a bill sponsored by Senator Chuck Purgason sailed through the Senate, and was sent to the House where it, too, ended up in Quinn's grip. After a sham hearing before his committee (where Mike John made his remarks) Quinn striped Purgason's bill of its language, replaced it with his reworked substitute for Dethrow's bill and added 90 some pages, which included a bill Farm Bureau was having trouble getting through the Senate. Now Purgason's bill number was on matters totally opposite or unrelated to his intentions.
And, there is more. An amendment was attached to an omnibus agriculture bill which once again would stop NAIS in Missouri. This passed the House 137-to-10, but had to go to a joint House/Senate conference committee. At this point, those wanting to stop NAIS were asked to try to work out differences with the NAIS Gang. This seemed a little strange, seeing which side had 93 percent of the votes on the floor. But most differences were worked out to the point that everyone was assured that the final version would be brought forward for a final vote. That was midway of the final week.
But by the next day, it had all changed. To the dismay of all the legislators and volunteers who had worked long and hard on the issue, John Quinn shot it down to prevent it from ever coming to a vote. It was obvious the bill would pass if given a vote. The only way the NAIS Gang could stop it was to kill it by whatever means available.
Scruples bedamned. Ethics bedamned. Will of the people and the Missouri legislature bedamned. This Gang wants the National Animal Identification System put into effect, and they are willing to go to any lengths to get it done.
But, there is an equally determined group aiming to stop it. It's called the public. MFA Inc.'s and Missouri Cattlemen's Mike John is about to become better acquainted with the public - which he seems to have never met.
As property rights advocate Ray Cunio said,"They think they threw water on our fire. Instead they threw gasoline."
We have only just begun.
BATTLE LINES DRAWN IN MISSOURI: THE PEOPLE VS. THE NAIS GANG
Bill to stop NAIS assassinated to prevent passage
From The Eco-logic Powerhouse
By C. Russell Wood
June 15, 2007
A bill that would have prevented the National Animal Identification System from being implemented by the state of Missouri was assassinated on its way to a final vote as the legislative session ended. Was it the victim of a lone madman, or was it shot down on orders from the NAIS Gang who had no other way of stopping its passage into law?
A close look into the matter reveals several truths:
The Missouri state legislature was strongly in favor of a bill to prevent NAIS from ever being mandated in the state. They had voted 137-to-10 in the House and 29-to-2 in the Senate on bills to prevent that very thing.
This was not a Republican/Democrat issue. Not even a city/country divide. There was broad support state-wide.
The opposition came from a group becoming known as the NAIS Gang, made up of Missouri Farm Bureau, Missouri Cattlemen's Association, MFA, Inc., and the Missouri Department of Agriculture. These groups can no longer hide in the shadows, as they are the ones who testified against the bills, urged legislators to vote against them and lobbied hard in the Capitol to allow NAIS in the state.
Those working hard along with key Senators and Representatives to stop NAIS were mainly property rights advocates, who are not professional lobbyists. They were there walking the halls of the Capitol because they strongly believed in what they were doing, not because they were on a payroll and it was their job. In a House committee hearing, Mike John, outgoing president of the National Cattlemen's Beef Association who is beef marketing manager and head of the MFA health track beef alliance for MFA Inc., said those wanting to stop NAIS were either animal rights activists, environmental extremists, or owners of sick cattle.
Regardless of Mike John's description of those wanting to stop NAIS, his side was far behind where it counted - in votes of both Houses. But the Gang had an ace in the hole. John Quinn is chairman of the House AG. Committee. All bills passing through the House dealing with NAIS had to go through his hands, and as committee chairman he had a stranglehold on them. A bill by Representative Mike Deathrow was granted a hearing in Quinn's committee and was passed through only after being amended by Quinn to change the wording from stopping NAIS, to essentially permitting NAIS. Bills offered by Representatives Van Kelly and Jim Whorton were never advanced in Quinn's domain.
But a bill sponsored by Senator Chuck Purgason sailed through the Senate, and was sent to the House where it, too, ended up in Quinn's grip. After a sham hearing before his committee (where Mike John made his remarks) Quinn striped Purgason's bill of its language, replaced it with his reworked substitute for Dethrow's bill and added 90 some pages, which included a bill Farm Bureau was having trouble getting through the Senate. Now Purgason's bill number was on matters totally opposite or unrelated to his intentions.
And, there is more. An amendment was attached to an omnibus agriculture bill which once again would stop NAIS in Missouri. This passed the House 137-to-10, but had to go to a joint House/Senate conference committee. At this point, those wanting to stop NAIS were asked to try to work out differences with the NAIS Gang. This seemed a little strange, seeing which side had 93 percent of the votes on the floor. But most differences were worked out to the point that everyone was assured that the final version would be brought forward for a final vote. That was midway of the final week.
But by the next day, it had all changed. To the dismay of all the legislators and volunteers who had worked long and hard on the issue, John Quinn shot it down to prevent it from ever coming to a vote. It was obvious the bill would pass if given a vote. The only way the NAIS Gang could stop it was to kill it by whatever means available.
Scruples bedamned. Ethics bedamned. Will of the people and the Missouri legislature bedamned. This Gang wants the National Animal Identification System put into effect, and they are willing to go to any lengths to get it done.
But, there is an equally determined group aiming to stop it. It's called the public. MFA Inc.'s and Missouri Cattlemen's Mike John is about to become better acquainted with the public - which he seems to have never met.
As property rights advocate Ray Cunio said,"They think they threw water on our fire. Instead they threw gasoline."
We have only just begun.