New 'Monsanto Protection Act' Gives Monsanto Power Over US Government

After some digging and treading through the linked blogs I cannot fathom how people are up in arms because some "blog" told them to be. Has anyone read the bills? Seen what they say? Can point me to them so I can make a decision based on the language rather than what the "other" lobbyist want? By that I mean, they are battling for your attention just as much as Monsanto is battling for Congress'.

I keep reading "Senate continuing resolution" but refers to a house bill.

Searching for H.R. 5973, came up with nothing. There is S.10 for the Senate; which is an appropriations bill for the Department of Agriculture, but there is no "sec. 735"; unless of course we are talking about last year....which was a different Congress, which means....nothing at this point until it is reintroduced.

For a crowd that lives by the "deny ignorance" creed, it sure seems to seep in quite often when they hear something they agree with.

Here is Sec. 735, from H.R. 5973 (which went no where in Congress) -- Infowars link refers to it.....

Sec. 735. Of the unobligated balance of funds available to the Department of Agriculture for the cost of broadband loans under the heading ‘Rural Development Programs--Rural Utilities Service--Distance Learning, Telemedicine, and Broadband Program’ in prior appropriation Acts, $26,126,000 is rescinded.

Other sites linked actually got the section right and here it is in whole:

Sec. 733. In the event that a determination of non-regulated status made pursuant to section 411 of the Plant Protection Act is or has been invalidated or vacated, the Secretary of Agriculture shall, notwithstanding any other provision of law, upon request by a farmer, grower, farm operator, or producer, immediately grant temporary permit(s) or temporary deregulation in part, subject to necessary and appropriate conditions consistent with section 411(a) or 412(c) of the Plant Protection Act, which interim conditions shall authorize the movement, introduction, continued cultivation, commercialization and other specifically enumerated activities and requirements, including measures designed to mitigate or minimize potential adverse environmental effects, if any, relevant to the Secretary’s evaluation of the petition for non-regulated status, while ensuring that growers or other users are able to move, plant, cultivate, introduce into commerce and carry out other authorized activities in a timely manner: Provided, That all such conditions shall be applicable only for the interim period necessary for the Secretary to complete any required analyses or consultations related to the petition for non-regulated status: Provided further, That nothing in this section shall be construed as limiting the Secretary’s authority under section 411, 412 and 414 of the Plant Protection Act.

Please mods, leave the large quoted text in place because it is pertinent to this discussion.

This section also refers to Sec. 411 of the Plant Protection Act. SEC. 411. REGULATION OF MOVEMENT OF PLANT PESTS. (a) PROHIBITION OF UNAUTHORIZED MOVEMENT OF PLANT PESTS . (PDF File) The section is quite large. Here is the link to the Public Law and you will have to go to the section to see it and read it. In effect though, the above doesn't grant anything to Monsanto; note the "notwithstanding any other provision of law" bit.

I am not seeing anything adverse here as the blogs are claiming. Anyone care to point out what is or where is this law giving Monsanto power over the government?

Furthermore: You have all bought into that this bill is going to hand over some power to Monsanto, so answer the supposed powers it would have done:
If allowed to pass, the Monsanto Protection Act would:

How would this section "violate the constitutional precedent of separation of powers by interfering with the process of judicial review."

In what way would it "eliminate federal agency oversight to protect farmers, consumers and the environment from potential harms caused by unapproved biotech crops."

What language "allow(s) Monsanto and biotech seed and chemical companies to profit by overriding the rule of law and plant their untested GMO crops despite no proof of their safety for the public and environment."

All statements presented by one of the blogs posted here....

Originally posted by SlackOps
reply to post by Hijinx

 

Sadly, often they do not read and just sign the damn thing with zero-hour riders that have been tacked on while the ink still dries.

I seem to recall a US Senator recently stating; "I don't read everything I sign". As if it were simply a matter of being pressed for time. Which is why, presumably, each one of them has a small army of bureaucrats under the wing...

"Special Interest" pretty much means it's okay to bribe the officials thus overstepping the law.

(As noted by burntheships, honest folk refer to this as corruption.)

Do You read everything that is being handed to you for signing at your desk ? Or do you rely on the fact that about n persons (substitute n for number depending on work situation) have already checked and double checked what you are about to sign ?

What a lot of people do not seem to grasp is that being a senator/congressman/etc is a job. Yes it is very very high pay and high benefits job, but it is still a job like any other. Those guys and gals usually depend on their staff to check and double check and triple check all documentation before they sign it. So yea I guess like in every job, people start to be automated with some tasks, and some things slip between the cracks .

Or since this is ATS ( ) , its not hard to bribe a few people from different staffs to help the process along

Originally posted by Thill
Do You read everything that is being handed to you for signing at your desk ? Or do you rely on the fact that about n persons (substitute n for number depending on work situation) have already checked and double checked what you are about to sign ?

What a lot of people do not seem to grasp is that being a senator/congressman/etc is a job. Yes it is very very high pay and high benefits job, but it is still a job like any other. Those guys and gals usually depend on their staff to check and double check and triple check all documentation before they sign it. So yea I guess like in every job, people start to be automated with some tasks, and some things slip between the cracks .

I get what you are saying but many of those people are held accountable. Simply put, "you delegate authority, not responsibility" and the day I learned that in my leadership school in the military was the day that I made that an axiom to my life as a leader. The same should be held to our representatives.

They can delegate, as they should, as any other person of power or position, but the responsibility still should be squarely upon their shoulders. If the President makes a bad-call (as did say President Bush in the Iraq war) that responsibility, regardless of the army of advisers, falls upon him.

When President Obama increases the drone program, it is upon him. The same here for our representatives. I don't fault them for having a cadre of advisers who scour bills and legal opinions to help them make a vote. I fault them when they have the same thinking as you presented. That it is a "oh well, we can't catch them all" mentality. That is a sell-out.

It is this widespread mentality that has allowed the masses in Washington to siphon the power that they have, levying the blame upon faceless and nameless advisers and staffers for their poor decisions. It isn't the representatives in Washington who have relinquished responsibility; it is the People who have allowed it to happen.

At this rate, looks to me like all Monsanto workers will eventually have to eat their own crap food, everywhere in the US will be contaminated with GMO genes, unless 'they'import from such places are Bulgaria.

We don't need their GM food. We should force all their scientists to eat nothing but the GM foods they create for three years. I doubt if they eat their own creations. They are smarter than that. With all the scientists gone, there would be no Monsanto. Add to that all the major stockholders in the corporation and the CEO and upper management of the corporation.

Originally posted by pikestaff
At this rate, looks to me like all Monsanto workers will eventually have to eat their own crap food, everywhere in the US will be contaminated with GMO genes, unless 'they'import from such places are Bulgaria.

Hypothetically of course - if there existed mind-bogglingly vast underground chambers built and operated by the various military powers of the world for all manner of beyond-black operations, and if various corporations were either "in the know", and/or contracted for specific purposes relating to one of those operations, then the behavior of those corporations might seem (to the eyes of the public, anyways) to be very inexplicable indeed. Just saying.

I'm starting to wonder if they haven't created the seed bank, not for protection from natural disaster, but from Monsanto. Pretty soon there will be a black market for "Organic" seeds.

Originally posted by Ironclad
Step 3 is to ban all non-GMO (including your own backyard garden), with hefty fines/jail time for anyone found consuming natural products.

Enough people are now waking up that Step 3 may not something the criminals in Washington have in mind.

Anyone up for an old-fashioned, mass burning-at-the-stake? :-)

If you know who you are, they may hit you hard but they will pay enormously for the injuries until you are commercially whole.

That will cost them so they won't mess with you again or, you may meet the end for some reason.

This company is the real problem in the world. Right out of Orwellian control agenda. I hate what it has done to farmers in the US and abroad. The FDA needs to ban them from the US and any of their Genetically abhorrant products.

That section is interesting for another reason. the prohibition on pest plants.

There are currently many very important plants that are designated pests because they interfere with large scale monoculture operations.

This aside, I can conceive an argument where non GMO strains are designated pest plants because they interfere with the same monoculture systems, and also represent a threat to the patent holders intellectual property via cross pollination.

What you are seeing here is the early stage of making it unlawful to posses, grow, or distribute open pollinated and heritage variety seeds.

Another reason more people should have voted for the other guy for president and tea party candidates for congress and the house.

Monsanto has had both the Rep and Dems in their pockets for so long that they can pass what ever they want through their senatorial and congressional puppets.

Honestly, I hope Monsanto is the second group of people up against the wall after the revolution comes. Right after we get rid of everyone in Washington. They should be number 2.

As long as there is a Constitution Monsanto will have no power in this country as ALL legal power is derived from the Constitution. Any law that is against the Constitution is automatically null and void and can be disregarded. The people heading this company will likely find themselves in prison or worse somewhere down the road.

reply to post by Hijinx

I know most of your questions were rhetorical, but the answers are obvious.

Most Americans either don't have the time or don't want to sacrifice what little time they can spare on issues they see as "unwinnable" anyways.

Fighting against behemoths like Monsanto requires time and effort. Time that could be spent with the kids, or getting that "honey-do" list that never seems to end knocked out. Time to decompress from all the BS and meditate in front of a widescreen with a brew in one hand and some wings in another. There's only so much of it to go around, and it is getting eaten up more and more by what it takes just to keep from ending up living in a cardboard box somewhere.

Then, of course, the defeatist attitude can be lumped on top of that. What, with the big bank bailouts, the institutionalized fraud, the "Patriot" Act and efforts being done to expand it and take away our freedoms... when's the last time you ever heard a story where the "little guy" truly won, and I don't mean bought out in some settlement like a whore, I mean REALLY won where the accused had to own up to their mistakes? If you ask me, David and Goliath is a #ing myth - the only way that guy gets taken down is if he steps on his own phallus.

And it seems that's in essence what people are doing. They don't have the time, the energy, or the means to do anything about it, so they're waiting for the beast to collapse under its own weight. From what I've read tons of people would rather prepare and take their chances against their neighbor than take their chances against the machine.

It's a false choice, since the fiddling will be the loudest yet since the last burning of Rome, yet I certainly do understand their reasoning, it sure comes across as being practical, so me shaking my fist and acting like it is incredulous does nothing to help, especially if I know all this and still do nothing myself. I've heard so many people say, "Well, I'd do it, if everyone else started doing it..." and here we sit.

Originally posted by tmeister182
As long as there is a Constitution Monsanto will have no power in this country as ALL legal power is derived from the Constitution. Any law that is against the Constitution is automatically null and void and can be disregarded. The people heading this company will likely find themselves in prison or worse somewhere down the road.

Do you know how many unconstitutional things happen today on a daily basis with zero accountability?

reply to post by ownbestenemy

Originally posted by ownbestenemy
After some digging and treading through the linked blogs I cannot fathom how people are up in arms because some "blog" told them to be. Has anyone read the bills? Seen what they say? Can point me to them so I can make a decision based on the language rather than what the "other" lobbyist want? By that I mean, they are battling for your attention just as much as Monsanto is battling for Congress'.

Yes, please do read the bill, its here in black and white.

HR5973 - Entire bill is here: www.gpo.gov...
Section 733 ( Monsanto rider) would require the Secretary of Agriculture to grant a temporary
permit for planting or cultivating a genetically engineered crop, even if a federal court has ordered
the planting be halted until an Environmental Impact Statement is completed.

Scroll to section 733, there you will find the language:

SEC. 733. In the event that a determination of non22
regulated status made pursuant to section 411 of the
23 Plant Protection Act is or has been invalidated or vacated,
24 the Secretary of Agriculture shall, notwithstanding any
25 other provision of law, upon request by a farmer, grower

1 farm operator, or producer, immediately grant temporary
2 permit(s) or temporary deregulation in part, subject to
3 necessary and appropriate conditions consistent with sec
tion 411(a) or 412(c) of the Plant Protection Act, which
5 interim conditions shall authorize the movement, introduc
tion, continued cultivation, commercialization and other
7 specifically enumerated activities and requirements,
8 including measures designed to mitigate or minimize poten9
tial adverse environmental effects, if any, relevant to the
10 Secretary’s evaluation of the petition for non-regulated
11 status, while ensuring that growers or other users are able
12 to move, plant, cultivate, introduce into commerce and
13 carry out other authorized activities in a timely manner:
14 Provided, That all such conditions shall be applicable only
15 for the interim period necessary for the Secretary to com16
plete any required analyses or consultations related to the
17 petition for non-regulated status: Provided further, That
18 nothing in this section shall be construed as limiting the
19 Secretary’s authority under section 411, 412 and 414 of
20 the Plant Protection Act.

Originally posted by Thill

Originally posted by SlackOps
reply to post by Hijinx

 

Sadly, often they do not read and just sign the damn thing with zero-hour riders that have been tacked on while the ink still dries.

I seem to recall a US Senator recently stating; "I don't read everything I sign". As if it were simply a matter of being pressed for time. Which is why, presumably, each one of them has a small army of bureaucrats under the wing...

"Special Interest" pretty much means it's okay to bribe the officials thus overstepping the law.

(As noted by burntheships, honest folk refer to this as corruption.)

Do You read everything that is being handed to you for signing at your desk ? Or do you rely on the fact that about n persons (substitute n for number depending on work situation) have already checked and double checked what you are about to sign ?

What a lot of people do not seem to grasp is that being a senator/congressman/etc is a job. Yes it is very very high pay and high benefits job, but it is still a job like any other. Those guys and gals usually depend on their staff to check and double check and triple check all documentation before they sign it. So yea I guess like in every job, people start to be automated with some tasks, and some things slip between the cracks .

Or since this is ATS (

) , its not hard to bribe a few people from different staffs to help the process along

At my job, I read everything and anything I'm handed to do with my job, because THAT'S MY JOB!

It's the senators job to read and understand everything he is handed, just because a bunch of idiots out there sign # with out reading it doesn't make it okay. I understand what you are saying, but It's part of the SOP's at my job to read everything we are handed and I do it.

The California vote for no labeling of GMO Foods is mind boggling - so much so that I absolutely wonder if voting for anything even vaguely important these days is something that needs a double verification system - one not involving any electronic ballots or parties involved with any direct interests (obviously we all have interests where our health and future food supply is concerned but I mean no corporate or government shills etc) that do a double count so we get an idea of how people actually vote versus TPTB simply using votes as a gauge for how big to make the FEMA Camps and declaring their own goals victorious no matter how contrary to what the awake and halfway sane populace want.

This been in the workings for a while already, sadly the whores in congress that are in bed with the pimps in mospanto will do as their contributors ask them to do as our for the people politicians are for the big corporation mobsters.

We have one of the most corrupted governments in the world and people still believe that America is the greatess.

See while we the common citizens are poisoned by the crap that is allowed in our food supplies the Richistanis in congress and monspanto dirt have the money and resources to eat in splendor and health

This the America we the people have allowed to take hold, the one that reap profits in the death and poisoning of humanity, while they protect themselves.