The only thing we can truly say is that it could have been worse. We could have two conservative Supreme Court Justices who are white males.
REH From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of de Bivort Lawrence Sent: Sunday, March 31, 2013 1:49 PM To: RE-DESIGNING WORK, INCOME DISTRIBUTION, EDUCATION Subject: Re: [Futurework] Monsanto protection passed with CR--continuing gov't funding resolutiion Much as it pains me to do so, I must agree with you. Your list of President Obama's profound mistakes and betrayals of those who campaigned for him could easily be three times as long, as your examples suggest. I hope that in the future I can see it it as mere politics, but it now seems more morally bankrupt than that. I don't know if the term "fascist" is broad enough to encompass all those who now seem to have achieved greedy power over the instruments of governance. On Mar 31, 2013, at 11:22 AM, [email protected] wrote: Protection for big business - in this case, agribusiness, but this is just one instance in a series. Willingness to cut future social security payments. Drone warfare. CIA appointees. The list goes on. Bottom line is that Obama is a politician. Currently, there are no populist politicians of merit in the Federal government, as best I can tell. Currently, there are no truly progressive members of the Obama administration. I don't foresee a change in the near future. It seems that in the US at least, the Fascists have won via other means. On Mar 31, 2013, at 11:35 AM, D & N wrote: Further evidence of reversal of progress. Natalia http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57576835/critics-slam-obama-for-protecti ng-monsanto/ By Lindsey Boerma / CBS News/ March 28, 2013, 2:13 PM Critics slam Obama for "protecting" Monsanto There's no love lost between Washington and the American public, it seems, five days after Congress for the first time in years managed to handle a budget-related issue without reaching the brink of crisis. Protesters have descended on Pennsylvania Avenue outside the White House this week, enraged at a potentially health-hazardous provision they allege lawmakers inserted surreptitiously into a continuing resolution (CR) that will fund the government through the remainder of the fiscal year. The bill sailed through the Capitol on Friday; President Obama signed it into law on Tuesday. Opponents have termed the language in question the "Monsanto Protection Act," a nod to the major agricultural biotech corporation and other like firms geared at producing genetically modified organisms (GMO) and genetically engineered (GE) seeds and crops. The provision protects genetically modified seeds from litigation suits over health risks posed by the crops' consumption. Food safety advocacy groups like Food Democracy Now, which collected more than 250,000 signatures on a petition calling for the president to veto the CR, argue not enough studies have been conducted into the possible health risks of GMO and GE seeds. Eliminating judicial power to halt the selling or planting of them essentially cuts off their course to ensuring consumer safety should health risks emerge. * Stopgap spending bill passes in the Senate <http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57575455/stopgap-spending-bill-passes-i n-the-senate/> * House passes stopgap funding bill, fate in Senate uncertain <http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57572797/house-passes-stopgap-funding-b ill-fate-in-senate-uncertain/> Seeking a "balance" to the newly minted law, Food Democracy Now has shifted its tactics to encouraging supporters to sign and send letters to Mr. Obama, chiding him for signing the legislation despite that refusal to do so would have expired the federal budget and triggered a government-wide shutdown this week. Part of the template for the letter reads: "In an effort to balance this violation of our basic rights, I am urging you as President to issue an Executive Order to require the mandatory labeling of genetically engineered foods, something that you promised farmers while on the campaign trail in 2007. It is urgent that the U.S. government rectify the 20 year old politically engineered loophole and allow for open and transparent labeling of genetically engineered foods," the letter continues, "a basic right that citizens in 62 others countries already enjoy." Other groups have aimed their ire toward the more worthy target, criticizing Congress for slipping the language into a must-pass bill without review by the Agricultural or Judiciary Committees. The International Business Times <http://www.ibtimes.com/furor-growing-against-obama-over-monsanto-protection -act-1156459> reports that the Center for Food Safety is putting in the hot seat Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md., chairwoman for the Senate Appropriations Committee, for not giving the amendment a proper hearing. According to Salon <http://www.salon.com/2013/03/27/how_the_monsanto_protection_act_snuck_into_ law/> , many members of Congress who voted to approve the bill were unaware the language existed. "In this hidden backroom deal, Sen. Mikulski turned her back on consumer, environmental and farmer protection in favor of corporate welfare for biotech companies such as Monsanto," Andrew Kimbrell, executive director of the Center for Food Safety, said in a statement, according to IBT. "This abuse of power is not the kind of leadership the public has come to expect from Sen. Mikulski or the Democrat Majority in the Senate." C 2013 CBS Interactive Inc. 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