Prop. 37 sets up ballot food fight
By Wayne Lusvardi
In 2004, California voters voted for Proposition 71, the Stem Cell Research and Cures Act. It has ended up doing nothing but help wealthy and connected elites grab $3 billion of taxpayer’s money with no promised cancer or paralysis cures on the near horizon.
According to opinion polls, California voters are again about to pass an initiative, Proposition 37. The Mandatory Labeling of Genetically Engineered Food Initiative promises much but is unlikely to deliver much — except to trial lawyers. Meanwhile, special interests would be exempted, much as Obamacare granted waivers to 1,200 companies.
Prop. 37 would require the labeling of “genetically engineered” (GE) foods in California. This voter initiative has been “engineered” to appeal to:
* Those who are fearful of big corporations re-engineering the genetics of food;
* Those of more libertarian persuasion who believe that government’s role is to limit fraud by full disclosure of ingredients in products;
* Those who believe in pure air, water, and organic foods.
However, there is no such thing as “pure” plant food because plants make their own pesticidesto protect from insect infestation. Such natural pesticides are what makes broccoli have anti-cancer and anti-oxidant properties.
Genetic changes have made such foods possible as Ruby Red grapefruit, tangerines, tangelos, clementines, Valencia oranges, boysenberries, strawberries, loganberries and wines such as Chardonnay, Cabernet Sauvignon, and Pinot Noir, all of which we consider natural. All foods, even genetically engineered foods, are already reviewed and regulated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
But genetically cultured cheeses, fermenting agents in beer and wine, and growth hormones in milk would all be exempted from Prop. 37. That is because these are foods that are popular and highly visible. But food additives such as corn oil or soybean oil derived from genetically changed strains of plants would be subject to regulatory capture.
Gregory Conko of the Competitive Enterprise Institute and Henry I. Miller, physician and molecular biologist at Stanford’s Hoover Institution, reveals the true purposes behind Prop. 37:
“Why then are Proposition 37 supporters so adamant about singling out genetic engineering? It’s simple: Labeling only GE foods would stigmatize those products, raise the costs of making them, discourage the use of the technology and encourage money-seeking lawsuits for inconsequential violations. In fact, the initiative seems to have been drafted with these very goals in mind. Ironically, Proposition 37 would also impose huge costs on producers who try to avoid GE. Those committed to using GE ingredients can slap a “Genetically Engineered” label on their products and be done. But producers who want to sell non-GE foods must bear the costs of tracing the source of every ingredient they use and getting sworn guarantees that they “are not knowingly or intentionally” engineered.”
Let’s Put a Label on the Faces of Prop. 37
The biggest donors to the Prop. 37 campaign are Jim Wheaton, a trial lawyer who wrote the wording of the proposition, and Joseph Mercola a doctor and alternative health supplement salesman. Their businesses would stand to profit if the law passed.
According to the California Attorney General’s Office Annual Summaries of Private Settlements (see summary at link), Wheaton assisted in writing previous ballot measures that have shaken down businesses for $500 million over the last 20 years.
One of the provisions of Prop. 37 would allow lawyers to sue small neighborhood grocers and family farmers if the wording used on food labels was not compliant. No harm would have to be proved.
The FDA already has powers to recall products, seize products, stopping manufacturing by court order, and impose criminal fines and jail time. What Prop. 37 does is let third-party lawyers in on the enforcement action to shake down businesses.
The No on Prop. 37 campaign reports Joseph Mercola is a health supplement and organic food businessman who has invested $1.1 million into supporting the ballot initiative. Mercola runs the “world’s No. 1 natural health website” and is opposed to vaccinations for children, according to the San Diego Union Tribune.
Opposition is coming from liberal newspapers, such as the Los Angeles Times, and conservative ones, such as the Victorville Press.
Are the polls correct that Prop. 37 is winning? It’s hard to say. The response rates to opinion polls has dropped from 36 percent in 1997 to 9 percent in 2012. So polls aren’t as accurate as they used to be.
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We must eat food given to us by our corp. masters. There is no reason to know what is in the foods. The private market will feed us what we need to nourish our worker bodies. USA USA USA.
When I read articles in say the Merc News, and I see a person who has contributed a ton of cash towards a cause they believe in, I would like the media to quit referring to people as “billionaires” as if it is a bad thing. What did they do to earn that level and use their correct title in their business please.
Also, when I see single individuals putting up the money to fight something, somehow, on the other side, are the unions.
Must be a good reason to fight it if you ask me. Whatever it is. =)
Teddy, must you pollute all of our threads with your blather ;(
“I would like the media to quit referring to people as “billionaires” as if it is a bad thing. What did they do to earn that level and use their correct title in their business please…”
Bill, the vast majority, as in nearly ALL, of billionaires in America have inherited that wealth from their families. The richest Americans, the Walton family, ALL inherited their money, so it’s not like they are self made.
Even Donald Trump started out with millions, as his father Fred Trump was a multi millionaire in the 1950’s…..
Teddy, must you pollute all of our threads with your blather ;(
—————–
Rex..that was my EXACT SAME FIRST THOUGHT when I got to the end of Wayne’s piece.
To CWD Editors: I’m sure this is not news to you, but Teddy and his sock puppets are really getting annoying. Most of us are small/good government types of one stripe or another, but we certainly welcome dissenting opinions.
Teddy is a monster in the most literal sense, a lab experiment gone awry: A sinister mix of what appears to be a retired person with plenty of time on his hands with the world-view of smart-alecky 16 year old.
The liberals keep bad mouthing our food producers with their mouth’s full. And they trash the corp. masters on their i-mac or I-pads, or their I-phones which are made by Apple corp. with chinese slave labor who, last I heard, were rioting.
A solution in search of a problem. We have the most and the safest food in the history of the planet earth. We have thousands of food inspectors all over this country who are doing a fine job. No one is saying to cut that govt. If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.
Hondo…..
Teddy can’t help it….. he IS the trouble maker here 🙁
Hey-MORE great news from our state controller Chiang!
And the hits just keep on coming!
Controller Chiang: CA cash deficit is $22.3 billion for 3 months. Total deficit is over $66 billion
Bring the BK on! Cut those pensions! Cut those salaires! Cut Teddy Steals pathetic comments and internet access!
http://capoliticalnews.com/
State Controller John Chiang: cash deficit for the first THREE months of this fiscal year:
$22.3 billion.
Does not include:
– $12 billion owed schools,
– $10 billion owed the Feds for loaning us money to be able to bail out our unemployment insurance fund,
– $12.3 billion STOLEN from Trust Funds to cover the deficit,or
– $10 billion BORROWED to cover the deficit.
The real budget, per Assemblyman Nestande is $225 billion.
The real deficit is north of $66 BILLION
… just for the first three months of the fiscal year.
You just cannot make this up…..we are so far behind the 8-ball we won’t see daylight unbtil 3012……
Hey TEDDY, looks like the SKY JUST FELL ……you progressive commie surrender monkey!
Yawn
LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
The SKY JUST FELL on Teddys dream pension!!!!
$23 BILLION deficit for first 3 months!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hey Teddy, how unfunded is CalTURDS now lil one 😉
LOL— calpers is 243.2 bil today little buddy! Sorry!
LOL
0 for 13 ™ !
Teddy also said ENRON was a healthy company….yikes!
CalTURDS is the CA version of ENRON 🙂
The Poodle hates these numbers like the devil hates holy water! I LMAO and make him dance like a puppet– yet again!
0 for 13 ™
It just gets easier…
$500BILION is a number you hate lil one….b/c it destroys your whopper that CalTURDS is solvent, it aint lil one.
243 bil— lol—– he wants it to sink! LOL
$500 billion, you have beed destroyed 🙂
143-0
zzzzzzzz Poodle—– you probably rent the trailer space but– hey— if you owned a house your mortgage is due in full today– there’s your unfunded liability nonsense. We’ve all heard it and no one buys in—- pension reform is done in Cali baby! Wake up sleepy! Waaaaaaaa waaaaaaaaaa waaaaaaaaaa
Calpers just goes up baby—–7.7% for 20 years…. Over 8% for 30 !!! Facts is facts little man!
0 for 13 ™
Oh my-Teddy has been destroyed so many times he has lost his mind! I owe you rent for this month, where can I send the check, Folsom????
BTW there are NO “mortgages” in CA fool, they are “trust deeds”, you need to go back to that GED cop academy and take “Property I” all over again……..
Oh, and a trust deed is a sales isntallment contract, where PRINCIPLE and interest is paid off and you OWN the property, CalTURDS is a PONZI scheme not even remotely similar in legal structure or construction.
Oh my, that was too easy, send me yoru tuition check to 1600 pennsylvania ave washington dc, I am meeting my buddy Rosanne Barr there January 3.
LOL—- no mortgages……..
Although I have schooled you on this before, for the benefit of the adults out here I’ll let you have a bit more education. Ponzi’s like all frauds require a specific intent to defraud. Of course you don’t have it here or some civil lawyer of the tea baggy ilk would bring a civil complaint assuming no self respecting criminal prosecutor would not on the crim side. So, little buddy— please feel free to melt down more.
I have lived in you head so long I owe you rent money and I need a new tent! Oh my.
Hey Poody—– Don’t you ever think that we should let these nice normal people have their blog back instead of posting this load of contentless back and forth drivel you and I post?
oh….and
0 for 13 ™ !
Teddy…..the posting hoggie’s whole life is CWD….he has nothing but his Big Lots robe, Commodore computer, sometimes Big Betty, his truck stop swing shift counter job, single trailer and his pet rock…
He is lonely….he is looking for love…..but with us….he is looking in the wrong wrong places….