Monday, December 13, 2010

S 510 Food Safety bill now dead in the water due to blue slip mistake


by Mike Adams, the Health Ranger | Wednesday, December 01, 2010

(NaturalNews) It is now being revealed that US Senators slipped up in a big way when passing the Food Safety Modernization Act on Tuesday: They added what are effectively "new taxes" into the bill, and according to the U.S. Constitution, only the House of Representatives can initiate legislation requiring new taxes.
Oh, those pesky US Senators.  Somebody should make them READ the f#cking Constitution. Dumb shits, or just useful tools?
Thus, the House is now obliged to give this food safety legislation the so-called "blue slip," meaning that it rejects the law and sends it back to the Senate for yet another vote. This would take time and effort, of course, and the Democrats have very little of either remaining in their lame duck session.
WTF?  You mean the Repubics can veto the bill and BRAG about it.  Make 'em pay you quisling cowards, make 'em pay.
As explained on Wikipedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Blue_slip):
"This blue-slipping procedure, done by an order of the House, is routinely completed to enforce its interpretation that the House is the sole body to introduce revenue or appropriations legislation. The failure of the House to consider the legislation means it cannot become a law. This tactic has historically proven to be of great use to the House and, as a practical matter, the Senate does not introduce tax or revenue measures to avoid a blue slip."
OK. so WIKI gets it.
In other words, the House wants to remain the sole originator of all new taxes and will therefore need to "blue slip" S.510 in order to slap the hands of Senators who are trying to enact their own new taxes under the bill.

S.510 may be dead in the water


The upshot of this is that this fight is not yet over.
Unless the House makes an unprecedented exception to this blue slip rule, this legislation will apparently need to go back to the Senate floor for another vote.
Nope. Never go making unprecedented exceptions that strip you of your Constitutional Powers. NEVAH!
This story was first reported by RollCall.com (http://www.rollcall.com/news/-20101...) which says, "The debacle could prove to be a major embarrassment for Senate Democrats, who sought Tuesday to make the relatively unknown bill a major political issue by sending out numerous news releases trumpeting its passage." (http://www.rollcall.com/news/-20101...)
HOW does this embarrass the Dems?  They have been all talk and no action forevah. Just like the not-black President One-and-done Barack Obama.
According to Roll Call, "The blue slip could lead to one of two likely outcomes. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) could simply drop the issue and let the next session of Congress start from scratch..."
Typical. How 'bout it Scary Reid?  This how you want your legacy to read?
"Or he could try to force the issue in the Senate after the House passes a new version of the bill. But in order to do that and still tackle the other issues, he would need a unanimous consent agreement to limit debate."
Or do you want to go out balls out?
But unanimous consent is impossible thanks to the heroic efforts of Senator Tom Coburn (R-Okla) who has stood firm on his belief that this bill is too large, too expensive and puts too much of a burden on American farmers.
OK ... now THESE are excellent reasons for fighting the bill.  Are they valid reasons?  If fucking so, then shorten the bill, make it cheaper, and take much of the burden OFF American farmers.  Life is SO difficult.
If this assessment is correct, it looks like S.510 is now dead in the water and cannot be resurrected until the next session of Congress in which there will be far fewer Democrats (there was not a single Democrat in the US Senate who opposed the bill). (http://www.naturalnews.com/030577_S...)

About the author: Mike Adams is an award-winning journalist and holistic nutritionist with a mission to teach personal and planetary health to the public He has authored and published thousands of articles, interviews, consumers guides, and books on topics like health and the environment, impacting the lives of millions of readers around the world who are experiencing phenomenal health benefits from reading his articles. Adams is an independent journalist with strong ethics who does not get paid to write articles about any product or company. In 2010, Adams created NaturalNews.TV, a natural living video sharing site featuring thousands of user videos on foods, fitness, green living and more. He's also the CEO of a highly successful email newsletter software company that develops software used to send permission email campaigns to subscribers. Adams also serves as the executive director of the Consumer Wellness Center, a non-profit consumer protection group, and pursues hobbies such as martial arts, Capoeira, nature macrophotography and organic gardening. Known on the 'net as 'the Health Ranger,' Adams shares his ethics, mission statements and personal health statistics at www.HealthRanger.org