WTF! Obama is Considering Monsanto Shill Michael Taylor to Head New Food Safety Working Group

[Orwellian_Ghost]

Promoted to Primary Headline on 3/24/09:
Monsanto Planting Seeds in the White House?

by Asher Miller

Apparently, President Obama is considering appointing Michael Taylor to head the new Food Safety Working Group. Who's Michael Taylor? From Food Politics (care of Jill Richardson):

Mr. Taylor is a lawyer who began his revolving door adventures as counsel to FDA. He then moved to King & Spalding, a private-sector law firm representing Monsanto, a leading agricultural biotechnology company. In 1991 he returned to the FDA as Deputy Commissioner for Policy, where he was part of the team that issued the agency's decidedly industry-friendly policy on food biotechnology and that approved the use of Monsanto's genetically engineered growth hormone in dairy cows.

His questionable role in these decisions led to an investigation by the federal General Accounting Office, which eventually exonerated him of all conflict-of-interest charges. In 1994, Mr. Taylor moved to USDA to become administrator of its Food Safety and Inspection Service... After another stint in private legal practice with King & Spalding, Mr. Taylor again joined Monsanto as Vice President for Public Policy in 1998.

The man has moved in and out of roles at the federal government and Monsanto so many times he probably has whiplash

<snip>

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Monsanto-Planting-Seeds-In-by-Asher-Miller-090324-445.html

[Webster Green]

1. WTF?!

Monsanto is just fucking evil. This is a really bad choice for the job. :wtf:

[JohnyCanuck]

7. The World According to Monsanto (video)

On March 11 a new documentary was aired on French television (ARTE – French-German cultural tv channel) by French journalist and film maker Marie-Monique Robin, The World According to Monsanto - A documentary that you won’t see on American television. The gigantic biotech corporation Monsanto is threatening to destroy the agricultural biodiversity which has served mankind for thousands of years.

(embedded video at link below)
http://wideeyecinema.com/?p=105

[indimuse]

106. Thanks for the video link..

very informative!



K&R!!!!!

[JohnyCanuck]

29. Monsanto's track record of introducing environmentally harmful products

and engaging in questionable practices to get potentially harmful products approved (not to mention lies and coverups to escape legal penalties for pollution) described here:

Welcome to the Spin Machine
BY MICHAEL MANVILLE

SNIP

The oldest and most aggressive of the food biotech companies, Monsanto deserves a close look from anyone interested in genetic engineering. It was founded in 1901, as Monsanto Chemical, to make saccharin, a substance whose production was at that time monopolized by Germany. It began as a small concern--the initial investment was $5,000--but grew rapidly and diversified. In 1929 it began to produce polychlorinated biphenyls, or PCBs, and eventually became the world's largest supplier of them. PCBs had a variety of uses, but were used mostly to insulate electrical transformers. Evidence of their toxicity was first reported in the 1930s, and in the 1960s Swedish scientists documented high levels of them in dying wildlife. PCBs were finally banned in 1979, and the United States has classified them as a "probable human carcinogen." PCBs have left a broad legacy of environmental degradation; they are the major pollutant at a number of Superfund sites, and most notoriously in the Hudson River, where years of PCB discharge from General Electric has left 2.6 million cubic yards of contaminated sediment.

Like other chemical companies, Monsanto was also a producer of DDT, the pesticide famously indicted by Rachel Carson in Silent Spring. Monsanto had actually stopped making the pesticide by the time Carson's book was first serialized in the New Yorker, but the company, fearful that public attitudes would turn against pesticides in general, took action nevertheless. Rather than confront Carson's evidence, however, it hired a ghostwriter to pen The Desolate Year, a parody of Silent Spring that depicted a pesticide-free America being ravaged by insects. The Desolate Year was mailed free to over 5,000 media outlets, and applauded by Walter Sullivan in the New York Times.

SNIP

In 1985 Monsanto purchased G.D. Searle, the chemical company that held the patent to aspartame, the active ingredient in Nutra Sweet. Monsanto was apparently untroubled by aspartame's clouded past, including a 1980 FDA Board of Inquiry, comprised of three independent scientists, which confirmed that it "might induce brain tumors." The FDA had actually banned the drug based on this finding, only to have Searle Chairman Donald Rumsfeld (currently the Secretary of Defense) vow to "call in his markers," to get it approved. On January 21, 1981, the day after Ronald Reagan's inauguration, Searle re-applied to the FDA for approval to use aspartame in food sweetener, and Reagan's new FDA commissioner, Arthur Hayes Hull, Jr., appointed a 5-person Scientific Commission to review the board of inquiry's decision. It soon became clear that the panel would uphold the ban by a 3-2 decision, but Hull then installed a sixth member on the commission, and the vote became deadlocked. He then broke the tie in aspartame's favor. Hull later left the FDA under allegations of impropriety, served briefly as Provost at New York Medical College, and then took a position with Burston-Marsteller, the chief public relations firm for both Monsanto and GD Searle. Since that time he has never spoken publicly about aspartame.

In 1982 the town of Times Beach, Missouri, which ia located adjacent to a Monsanto plant, was found to be so contaminated with dioxins that it had to be evacuated. An investigation into Monsanto's culpability was stalled when the Reagan Administration, citing Executive Privilege, ordered EPA Administrator Anne Burford to withhold key documents from a House Committee that had subpoenaed them. Reagan, it should be noted, had long wanted to destroy the EPA, and absent his ability to so he appointed Burford to run it. She was cited for contempt of Congress for her refusal to cooperate in the investigation of Monsanto, and later forced to resign in 1984 amid charges of misusing Superfund money. Her top assistant, Rita Lavelle, spent four months in jail for perjury for the same reason. Lavelle had been suspected of destroying documents related to the Times Beach case, and she regularly attended luncheons with Monsanto executives.

In 1990 the EPA's regulatory division reported that Monsanto had "submitted false information to EPA," and "doctored" samples of herbicides given to the US Department of Agriculture. In urging a criminal investigation of the company, the division noted that:

Monsanto covered up the dioxin contamination of its products. Monsanto either failed to report contamination, substituted false information purporting to show no contamination or submitted samples to the government for analysis which had been specifically prepared so that dioxin contamination did not exist.

http://www.freezerbox.com/archive/article.php?id=234(page down a bit after clicking the link to get to the part about Monsanto)

[Two Americas]

59. bigger than Monsanto

The problems are the privatization of our food supply, the revolving door between government and industry, the corruption of science and research, and the use of the government to promote private interests.

Monsanto is but one player in this, perhaps the worst example, but not the cause of the problems.

The extreme right wing organizations influencing and steering many in the organic movement are more than happy to have us all obsess over Monsanto, because this distracts us from the real issues. Shame on the liberal organizations who gratuitously throw the word "Monsanto" in to all of their tracts and find-raising efforts, because they know that this is a reliable way to increase donations. Shame on those who fall for libertarian propaganda because the word "Monsanto" is included.

We are being led to see Monsanto as "one bad apple" so that we see the corporate domination of our food supply as OK providing that we have "good corporations" and get rid of "bad corporations" like Monsanto. Saying that "Monsanto is evil" strongly implies that the other private interests involved in gaining monopoly control over the food supply and corrupting the government are not so bad in comparison, or are not a problem.

No corporations should be controlling our food supply. That is not about "Monsanto." Eliminate Monsanto, and the same capitalists running Monsanto will form new corporations and do the exact same things. They don't care about the word "Monsanto." If that brand falls into public disfavor, they will simply re-organize and run their business under a different brand name. That amounts to little more than hanging new signs in the buildings and printing up new stationery. That is already happening as corporations re-brand their imported and un-inspected and unregulated produce as "Aunt Sue's Homegrown Organic Beans" or whatever. Then the activists will all pat themselves on the back because they "got rid of Monsanto" when nothing has changed at all.



...

[roody]

88. Don't worry, I hate them all.

[Two Americas]

132. a matter of tactics, and of clarity and courage

Using "Monsanto" is bad tactically. A surprisingly large percentage of the general population is aware of these campaigns - the campaigns against Monsanto have been about as effective as any propaganda campaign could be. But ask them what they heard - did they hear that we have a serious problem of privatization of our food supply, that speculators and investors are placing public health at risk? No, what they heard was "Monsanto is supposed to be this evil company, and aspartame causes brain tumors or something."

The campaigns against Monsanto do nothing to educate the public about the problem, do not threaten the corporations dominating our food supply in the least, and do not even hurt Monsanto. They accomplish four things: they distract people from the real problem, they are very effective for fund-raising for various liberal organizations, they are very useful for the extreme right wing anti-regulation agenda, and they get a certain number of people to "hate" Monsanto.

"Hating them all" is of no value. Were someone to rob you at gunpoint, break into your home, steal your car, or murder a loved one, would "hating" them be an appropriate response? Would you go to the police and tell them that you "hate them?" Would you tell your neighbors that? The police, and your neighbors, might well think that you had some sort of vendetta going against someone. "Oh he hates that person, so that is why he is claiming they stole his car." Your charges would have less credibility, not more. If you said "I hate them all" people might think you were some sort of nutcase.

You may as well hate the rain when your roof leaks. Would you call the roofer and say "I hate rain?"

Yet this is what many people are doing - "I hate Republicans" for example. Hating the rain does not fix the roof - in fact, it let's the roofer who botched the job off the hook. Hating Republicans and corporations does not accomplish anything, either. We should be looking at us, and at those who claim to be our allies in the fight against the right wingers. Let's talk about the victims who sit around hating the criminals rather than doing anything, the police who do not respond to the crimes, the people sitting in wet houses and not fixing the roof, and not demanding that those they hire to fix the roof actually do the job they were hired to do. That would be us, the liberals and the Democrats.


When we go to the public and say "I hate Monsanto" they then think "well good for you. You hate Monsanto. I hate that I haven't had a raise in ten years, that I can't afford to go to the doctor, and that I can't pay my utility bills." Now, liberal activists flatter themselves that they are more sophisticated, more political, more aware, and more strongly in opposition to the right wing than the everyday person is with their supposedly mundane concerns. But that is not true. The opposite is true. That everyday person understands the problems better than the activists do, and is much closer to an analysis that would actually lead to fighting back against the right wing than the activists are. But the activists can't hear what the everyday person is saying, cannot translate it into a political context, because they are so busy cultivating their self-image as a political activist or politically aware person, with the proper feelings and attitudes and opinions.

What we hate and what we love has nothing to do with politics. The cultivation of personal stances and personal beliefs mitigates against, blocks and prevents powerful political education, organization and action. It is a self-indulgent replacement for political action, a self-serving illusion for the few, a safe place to hide, and a stalking horse for the promotion of reactionary and conservative politics.

We have people who "hate Monsanto," who "hated Chimpy," and who now "love Obama." Nothing could be weaker politically. Nothing could block progress more effectively. Nothing we could possibly do or say gives more aid and comfort to the extreme right wing and to those enjoying entrenched wealth and power. What the public hears is this - "oh those liberals hate Monsanto for some reason" followed by an eye-roll and then nothing else we might say will be heard. Nor should people listen to what we have to say. It is of no value.


...

[Djinn]

102. as is often the case these days

I find myself saying "what Two Americas said"

:toast:

[flyarm]

127. ABSOLUTELY Two Americas !! ABSOLUTELY!! AND YET PEOPLE HERE AT DU

will make excuse after excuse for this shit..

Wonder how they will feel when the vegetation along the Rio Grande border is sprayed..much like agent orange in Vietnam ..and it gets into their drinking water, and the air their kids breath..
Wonder where Monsanto is in that little excersize??

ahhh shucks ..they won't give a shit because Obama is doing it .not bush!
or they don't live there..so wtf..why should they give a fucking rats ass ..right??????

and When Obama hires Kissinger ..they don't give a shit because it is Obama doing it not bush!

gosh these people sound more and more like bush bots of 2000 each and every day!

and to think , i used to believe many here actually had values they believed in..wow was i sorely mistaken!

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

a little recap of Obama's appointments and who he has tapped to represent his administration..shall we??... who is who ..

Thank you Poster : German..i am reposting your post here at the top so it is not missed in context to all that is being done in our name!!


Remarks by National Security Adviser Jones at 45th Munich Conference on Security Policy

Published February 8, 2009
Speaker: James L. Jones


U.S. National Security Adviser Jones ( edit to add: new advisor hired by Obama!!!!) gave these remarks at the 45th Munich Conference on Security Policy at the Hotel Bayerischer Hof on February 8, 2009.

"Thank you for that wonderful tribute to Henry Kissinger yesterday. Congratulations. As the most recent National Security Advisor of the United States, I take my daily orders from Dr. Kissinger, filtered down through General Brent Scowcroft and Sandy Berger, who is also here. We have a chain of command in the National Security Council that exists today.


Source: http://www.cfr.org/publication/18515/remarks_by_nationa...


..............................................................


now add this ..to this>>>>>>>>>>>>
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...


Oh Goody- Obama attempts to appoint another Goldman Sachs exec who worked with Phil Gramm

I reported back in February on the case of Gary Gensler, the former Goldman Sachs employee and derivatives cheerleader who President Obama nominated to head the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Gensler’s nomination sailed through the Senate Agricultural Committee but Senator Bernie Sanders has placed a hold on the nomination (as has a second senator who is as yet unnamed). A statement from Sanders’s office said:

While Mr. Gensler is clearly an intelligent and knowledgeable person, I cannot support his nomination. Mr. Gensler worked with Sen. Phil Gramm and Alan Greenspan to exempt credit default swaps from regulation, which led to the collapse of A.I.G. and has resulted in the largest taxpayer bailout in U.S. history. He supported Gramm-Leach-Bliley, which allowed banks like Citigroup to become “too big to fail.” He worked to deregulate electronic energy trading, which led to the downfall of Enron and the spike in energy prices. At this moment in our history, we need an independent leader who will help create a new culture in the financial marketplace and move us away from the greed, recklessness and illegal behavior which has caused so much harm to our economy.
http://harpers.org/archive/2009/03/hbc-90004606

................................................................................

and add this to the equation!!>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Tim Geithner worked for 3 years at Kissingers firm..and then the CFR.........yes Kissinger!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don't believe me??..look it up!! If the transparent one hasn't scrubbed it yet!!

the Kissinger I have despised as a dem my entire life!!

This is the same Kissinger so many 9/11 families and families and employees of the airlines involved with 9/11 fought tooth and nail along with most dems to get him removed from the 9/11 commission because of his heavy ties with Saudi Arabia!! And because of his nafarious background.

Look into the back ground of Geithners dad , Peter Geithner and his ties to Obama's mom and step dad!!

Google is your friend!!


See Obama sent Kissinger To Russia shortly after becoming president to represent the Obama administration in Russia..
Kissinger who held positions with Nixon, Ford and Reagan !!!!!!!!!!!!

why did Obama send Kissinger to Russia , representing his administration and the USA..
lets see shall we??????

http://www.answers.com/topic/timothy-f-geithner

Timothy Geithner
Career

After completing his studies,Geithner worked for Kissinger and Associates in Washington, D.C., for three years and then joined the International Affairs division of the U.S. Treasury Department in 1988. He was deputy assistant secretary for international monetary and financial policy (1995–1996), senior deputy assistant secretary for international affairs (1996-1997), assistant secretary for international affairs (1997–1998).<

He was Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs (1998–2001) under Treasury Secretaries Robert Rubin and Lawrence Summers.<5> Summers was his mentor,<1> but other sources call him a Rubin protégé.<9><10><11>


In 2002 he left the Treasury to join the Council on Foreign Relations as a Senior Fellow in the International Economics department.<7> At the International Monetary Fund he was director of the Policy Development and Review Department (2001-2003).<5>

...........................................................

this kissinger:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GThfWVCfjVo&eurl=http ://...

"There is a need for a new world order," Kissinger told PBS interviewer Charlie Rose last year, "I think that at the end of this administration, with all its turmoil, and at the beginning of the next, we might actually witness the creation of a new order – because people looking in the abyss, even in the Islamic world, have to conclude that at some point, ordered expectations must return under a different system."

.................................................

This is the Kissinger Obama sent to Russia........representing his administration..

http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/82may/hershwh2.htm


Kissinger and Nixon in the White House
by Seymour M. Hersh


http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0611-03.htm


and that is just for starters!!


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph ...

Larry Summers and California Energy "crisis" / Enron

During the California energy crisis of 2000, then-Treasury Secretary Larry Summers teamed with Alan Greenspan and Enron executive Kenneth Lay to lecture California Governor Gray Davis on the causes of the crisis, explaining that the problem was excessive government regulation.<8> Under the advice of Kenneth Lay, Summers urged Davis to relax California's environmental standards in order to reassure the markets.

.......................................................................

WSJ: Citi's Chief Economist Leaves for Treasury Post


Source: The Wall Street Journal

Citigroup Inc.'s chief economist is leaving the New York company for a job at the U.S. Treasury Department, according to an internal Citigroup memo.

Lewis Alexander, who has been at Citigroup since 1999 and before that worked at the Federal Reserve, will head to Treasury "to work on domestic financial issues," said the Citigroup memo, which was sent Tuesday.

According to a government official, Mr. Alexander will be a counselor to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. Mr. Alexander and a Treasury spokesman weren't immediately available to comment Tuesday. A Citigroup spokesman declined to elaborate on the company's memo.
(...)
Mr. Alexander's role as Citigroup's chief economist didn't entail significant management responsibilities. But his optimistic economic forecasts colored executives' views that the U.S. was unlikely to face a prolonged slump.

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123732747181462245.html

anyone have warm fuzzies yet?????????

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

who can make this crap up???????????


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica /...

Despite his pariah status with many Left-wingers in Mr Obama's Democratic Party, the president forged relations with Mr Kissinger during his campaign.

The compliment was returned when the 85-year-old veteran of the Nixon and Ford administrations said last month that the young president was in a position to create a "new world order" by shifting US foreign policy away from the hostile stance of the Bush administration.

He publicly supported Mr Obama's notion of unconditional talks with Iran, though not at the presidential level.

Further demonstrating his willingness to work with his opponents on foreign policy issues, Mr Obama turned to two veteran Republicans steeped in Cold War experience to press home his plans.

Shortly after Mr Kissinger's trip, Richard Lugar, a Republican senator from Indiana who has worked on nuclear disarmament issues for 30 years, also visited Moscow. George Schultz, another former secretary of state, has also played a vital role.


xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

thank you to the du poster who posted this..

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
Oh Goody- Obama attempts to appoint another Goldman Sachs exec who worked with Phil Gramm
I reported back in February on the case of Gary Gensler, the former Goldman Sachs employee and derivatives cheerleader who President Obama nominated to head the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Gensler’s nomination sailed through the Senate Agricultural Committee but Senator Bernie Sanders has placed a hold on the nomination (as has a second senator who is as yet unnamed). A statement from Sanders’s office said:

While Mr. Gensler is clearly an intelligent and knowledgeable person, I cannot support his nomination. Mr. Gensler worked with Sen. Phil Gramm and Alan Greenspan to exempt credit default swaps from regulation, which led to the collapse of A.I.G. and has resulted in the largest taxpayer bailout in U.S. history. He supported Gramm-Leach-Bliley, which allowed banks like Citigroup to become “too big to fail.” He worked to deregulate electronic energy trading, which led to the downfall of Enron and the spike in energy prices. At this moment in our history, we need an independent leader who will help create a new culture in the financial marketplace and move us away from the greed, recklessness and illegal behavior which has caused so much harm to our economy.
http://harpers.org/archive/2009/03/hbc-90004606

[silverojo]

91. Is Obama TRYING to get himself voted out of a second term?

I mean, seriously, he just keeps picking these horrible people, each one worse than the last. He's not a stupid person, and he's not too lazy to read up on these potential appointees.

Honestly, I seriously want to know what he's trying to perform. :(

[Enthusiast]

105. My question of President Obama

yesterday was, "Are you trying to destroy your presidency?" I was serious. Don't the corporations have enough of a leg up? Or, is this pay to play as usual?

[Thrill]

2. I keep hearing this boogie man stuff about this department. First it was Vilsack

Who has turned out so far to just the opposite of what people were claiming he was going to be. Then I see Obama nominate Kathleen Merrigan a progressive as his deputy.

Is this the latest overreaction?

[Jakes Progress]

114. It'll be okay

if we just keep our heads under the covers.

[BobRossi]

3. DLC baby!

Anyone care to buy a clue?

[blindpig]

4. Aw geez

Have we got a pattern here or what? What's it gonna take for the fan club to throw off the blinkers?

[Jakes Progress]

116. I hear they have a sale

on rose colored glasses with built in blinders. I think it's a Dow product.

[HughMoran]

5. You again

Same shit, different day.

[Hannah Bell]

6. is the information in the post incorrect?

[glitch]

8. That just makes it all the more necessary to kill the messager.

IOW, the message is indefensible, take the post as concession.

[Brucie Kibbutz]

76. That doesn't matter.

Blind devotion will see us through! :patriot:

[NashVegas]

14. Personal Attacks Are Lame

Care to rebut the OP?

[HughMoran]

15. same shit, different day

The O/P never offers solutions, only critical articles. They are a long time poster from an anti-DU board.

[Hannah Bell]

17. solution: don't hire someone who works for monsanto. seems to go without saying.

[HughMoran]

18. agreed

It may be a bad choice, I'm just tired of the negative approach to this administration this poster has taken from jump-street.

They are not a Democrat nor have never said a good thing about Obama.

[Hannah Bell]

19. that may be. doesn't mean he's wrong in this case. i don't think most americans want

a shill for the "privatized gene" industry directing food policy.

[HughMoran]

25. I am indeed picking on the messenger

I do have my limits and I am not fond of those who would exploit DU versus being a constructive poster.

[Lorien]

27. I prefer to have the information

I really don't care who the messenger is.

[Hannah Bell]

33. well, at least you're honest. :>) i've been guilty of same (in the form of posters who habitually

bait my threads)

[Orwellian_Ghost]

35. Meet Michael Taylor

Passing along information vital to understanding how government works and who operates the machinery of policy is one of the most constructive things one can do in a discussion. Simply trying to ignore the substance of the information by maligning those who pass along the information is at the core detrimental to healthy open discussion and democracy and is very destructive.

So meet Michael Taylor and if you defend this man cplease do so on the merits of his "qualifications."

__________________________

Meet Michael Taylor. Coming out of law school, he went to work for FDA, the Food & Drug Administration, for five years, gaining valuable expertise in food regulatory issues.

Then he slipped-out through that revolving door to a hot-shot Washington lobbying and lawyering outfit. There, Mr. Taylor specialized in -- Big Surprise -- food regulatory issues!

His client list included Monsanto -- a chemical giant trying to get FDA, Taylor's old agency, to approve a genetically-engineered growth hormone called BGH. This synthetic hormone would be injected into cows to force more milk out of them. Problem is, not every parent wants their kids drinking milk spiced with antibiotics and extra hormones. But Monsanto, with Taylor's help, got FDA to go along. Now that their drug was approved, there was the testy matter of keeping consumers from knowing which carton contains Monsanto's Mystery Milk, since most folks don't want to buy it.

So when FDA recently wrote guidelines to regulate the labeling of this milk -- guess who was in charge? Yes! Michael Taylor! He'd slipped through that revolving door back inside the FDA, just in time to write the guidelines.

Will it surprise you to learn that FDA's Taylor-written labeling guidelines are tailor-made for Monsanto -- and are designed to keep you in the dark about BGH?

<snip>

http://www.jimhightower.com/node/2140

[leftstreet]

52. Uh...this member is a very constructive poster

The type of poster who sparks interest and draws out discussion.

Who pissed in your wheaties?

:shrug:

[TBF]

81. Define "constructive". I'm still waiting to see substance in any of your posts. n/t

[tomp]

111. some of us are tired of your same lame, too.

you and the rest who oppose criticism of obama. i fully admit a negative approach to obama. i knew all i needed to know about obama when he was endorsed by and counter-endorsed colin powell. i haven't seen anything yet that disproves my conclusion that he is all charisma and no cattle, as it were, and not about change. i have not seen anything that tells me the sick fucking game of american imperialism has been (or will be) thwarted in any significant way by obama. i see signs of the same in trappings of change.

i've spent 40 years paying attention to politics and i'm entitled to my view. it is your responsibility to change my mind. knee-jerk obamaphillia is not going to do it. sometimes pessimism is necessary.

[Jakes Progress]

117. Let's see a constructive post from you

about this appointment.

[Name removed]

107. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Name removed]

108. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Orwellian_Ghost]

34. What are you talking about?

Stick to the article and the information. Are we suppose to put a "positive" spin on this?

If you aren't outrage by this I suspect you will support anything as long as done by this administration. This particular consideration is so over the top as to go off the meter of hubris.

For those of us who have been involved in issues around food systems Michael Taylor is not a new name and is the absolute dregs in a cesspool of corporate insider dealing. For his name to be even be considered here, and he is the top candidate at the moment, is a deep concern and incredible insult to all knowledgable people on thie matter of food security.

How can you not be appalled by this? Michael Taylor is the clearest example of running policy of, by and for the corporations that one could possibly come up with.

Now rather than just insult the messenger let me offer solutions for you though I would hope this is only a first step:

____________________

This is a very carefully and well planned attack on our food supply, using progressives to make it happen, and pulling along the progressive community with them.

Here are the list of sponsors. Let them know they are being used and the bills are being pushed by Monsanto (and the Dirt Pack of big meat packers) and point out that Monsanto's Michael Taylor, who gave us rBGH, is back and wants to run this centralized lie of "food safety" from the White House.



Rep. Shelley Berkley
Phone: [phone] Fax: [phone]

Phone: (202 ) 225-5965 Fax: [phone]

Rep. Sanford Bishop
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Rep. Timothy Bishop
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Rep. André Carson
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IN Phone: [phone]

Rep. Kathy Castor
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Rep. Peter DeFazio
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TollFree: 800-944-9603

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Rep. Diana DeGette
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Rep. Eliot Engel
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Rep. Anna Eshoo
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Rep. Sam Farr
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Rep. Bob Filner
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Rep. Gabrielle Giffords
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Rep. Raul Grijalva
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Rep. John Hall
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[phone] Fax: [phone]

Rep. Maurice Hinchey
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Rep. Mazie Hirono
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Rep. Eddie Johnson
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Rep. Marcy Kaptur
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Rep. Barbara Lee
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Rep. Nita Lowey
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Rep. Betty McCollum
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Rep. James McDermott
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Rep. James McGovern
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Phone: [phone] Fax: [phone]

Rep. Gwen Moore
Phone: [phone] Fax: [phone]

Phone: [phone] Fax: [phone]

Rep. Christopher Murphy
Phone: [phone]. Fax: [phone]

Rep. Jerrold Nadler
202-225-5635. Fax: [phone]

Rep. Eleanor Norton
Phone: [phone] Fax: [phone]

Rep. Chellie Pingree
Phone: [phone] Fax: [phone]

Rep. Timothy Ryan
Phone: [phone] / Fax: [phone]

Phone: [phone] Fax: [phone]

Rep. Linda Sánchez
Phone: [phone] Fax: [phone]

Rep. Janice Schakowsky
Phone: [phone] Fax: [phone]

Rep. Mark Schauer
Phone: [phone] Fax: [phone]

Phone: [phone] Fax: [phone]

Rep. Louise Slaughter
[phone]. Fax: [phone]

Phone: [phone]. Fax: [phone]

Rep. Fortney Stark
[phone] Fax: [phone]

DC Phone: [phone]

Rep. Betty Sutton
Phone: [phone] Fax: [phone]

Rep. Debbie Wasserman Schultz
Phone: [phone] Fax: [phone]

Phone: [phone] Fax: [phone]


Call these offices even if you are not in their district to tell them they stepped in it and the whole organic community is now onto this game and rising up. This is the death of organic food and the criminalization of seed banking. It is a Monsanto take over and Taylor is here to run it.

http://www.opednews.com/articles/Monsanto-s-Michael-Taylor-by-Linn-Cohen-Cole-090308-575.html

[flyarm]

89. Thank you Orwellian_Ghost, I was in Europe when bush was trying to force Monsanto on the EU and the

EU was pissed big time and told Bush in (nicer words) to stuff Monsanto and their genetically modified seeds..they said outright in the papers and news media that the shit was dangerous and never tested properly, and that they in no uncertain terms would NOT allow that shit in their food supply..now we supposedly have A Democratic president putting the biggest rat in charge of the cheese supply????????

All I can say is ..thank you Orwellian_Ghost, there are many of us who have not sold out our values and I am one who value the truth no matter how it pisses off others. The truth is the most important value we have.
Truth is what keeps a democracy viable.

[condoleeza]

93. Calling DeFazio first thing in the morning n/t

[flyarm]

87. what are your solutions ..seems to me you only want to shoot the messenger..

instead of getting on your phones and going after the perpetrators!

What are you Hugh????????? Why try so hard to shut up truth??????????Did you not post here during the Bush years trying to expose the truth..now you hate truth?? what is it Hugh???????? Is truth only a part time thing with you????????

You want all those "goodies " in your food supply..have at it..but many of us don't..in fact many of us damn well don't want that shit in our food supply!

But more and more of the rats guarding the cheese!

Hope you are happy about all this shit..but many of us who fought this crap, some for a lifetime,..still have the same values we always did..too bad you sold out your so called values ./.whatever the hell they ever were!

Tell me about your warm fuzzies over this shit..will ya?? Come on tell me how this makes your leg tingle..personally as a democrat all my life..it makes me sick to my stomach!

Tim Geithner worked for 3 years at Kissingers firm..and then the CFR.........yes Kissinger!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don't believe me??..look it up!! If the transparent one hasn't scrubbed it yet!!

the Kissinger I have despised as a dem my entire life!!

This is the same Kissinger so many 9/11 families and families and employees of the airlines involved with 9/11 fought tooth and nail along with most dems to get him removed from the 9/11 commission because of his heavy ties with Saudi Arabia!! And because of his nafarious background.

Look into the back ground of Geithners dad , Peter Geithner and his ties to Obama's mom and step dad!!

Google is your friend!!


See Obama sent Kissinger To Russia shortly after becoming president to represent the Obama administration in Russia..
Kissinger who held positions with Nixon, Ford and Reagan !!!!!!!!!!!!

why did Obama send Kissinger to Russia a few weeks ago , representing his administration and the USA..
lets see shall we??????

http://www.answers.com/topic/timothy-f-geithner

Timothy Geithner
Career
After completing his studies,Geithner worked for Kissinger and Associates in Washington, D.C., for three years and then joined the International Affairs division of the U.S. Treasury Department in 1988. He was deputy assistant secretary for international monetary and financial policy (1995–1996), senior deputy assistant secretary for international affairs (1996-1997), assistant secretary for international affairs (1997–1998).<

He was Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs (1998–2001) under Treasury Secretaries Robert Rubin and Lawrence Summers.<5> Summers was his mentor,<1> but other sources call him a Rubin protégé.<9><10><11>


In 2002 he left the Treasury to join the Council on Foreign Relations as a Senior Fellow in the International Economics department.<7> At the International Monetary Fund he was director of the Policy Development and Review Department (2001-2003).<5>



this kissinger:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GThfWVCfjVo&eurl=http ://...

"There is a need for a new world order," Kissinger told PBS interviewer Charlie Rose last year, "I think that at the end of this administration, with all its turmoil, and at the beginning of the next, we might actually witness the creation of a new order – because people looking in the abyss, even in the Islamic world, have to conclude that at some point, ordered expectations must return under a different system."


This is the Kissinger Obama sent to Russia........representing his administration..

http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/82may/hershwh2.htm

Kissinger and Nixon in the White House
by Seymour M. Hersh


http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0611-03.htm


and that is just for starters!!


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph ...

Larry Summers and California Energy "crisis" / Enron

During the California energy crisis of 2000, then-Treasury Secretary Larry Summers teamed with Alan Greenspan and Enron executive Kenneth Lay to lecture California Governor Gray Davis on the causes of the crisis, explaining that the problem was excessive government regulation.<8> Under the advice of Kenneth Lay, Summers urged Davis to relax California's environmental standards in order to reassure the markets.

.......................................................................

WSJ: Citi's Chief Economist Leaves for Treasury Post


Source: The Wall Street Journal

Citigroup Inc.'s chief economist is leaving the New York company for a job at the U.S. Treasury Department, according to an internal Citigroup memo.

Lewis Alexander, who has been at Citigroup since 1999 and before that worked at the Federal Reserve, will head to Treasury "to work on domestic financial issues," said the Citigroup memo, which was sent Tuesday.

According to a government official, Mr. Alexander will be a counselor to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. Mr. Alexander and a Treasury spokesman weren't immediately available to comment Tuesday. A Citigroup spokesman declined to elaborate on the company's memo.
(...)
Mr. Alexander's role as Citigroup's chief economist didn't entail significant management responsibilities. But his optimistic economic forecasts colored executives' views that the U.S. was unlikely to face a prolonged slump.

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123732747181462245.html

anyone have warm fuzzies yet?????????

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

who can make this crap up???????????


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/...

Despite his pariah status with many Left-wingers in Mr Obama's Democratic Party, the president forged relations with Mr Kissinger during his campaign.

The compliment was returned when the 85-year-old veteran of the Nixon and Ford administrations said last month that the young president was in a position to create a "new world order" by shifting US foreign policy away from the hostile stance of the Bush administration.

He publicly supported Mr Obama's notion of unconditional talks with Iran, though not at the presidential level.

Further demonstrating his willingness to work with his opponents on foreign policy issues, Mr Obama turned to two veteran Republicans steeped in Cold War experience to press home his plans.

Shortly after Mr Kissinger's trip, Richard Lugar, a Republican senator from Indiana who has worked on nuclear disarmament issues for 30 years, also visited Moscow. George Schultz, another former secretary of state, has also played a vital role.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx



http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5322140
Oh Goody- Obama attempts to appoint another Goldman Sachs exec who worked with Phil Gramm
I reported back in February on the case of Gary Gensler, the former Goldman Sachs employee and derivatives cheerleader who President Obama nominated to head the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Gensler’s nomination sailed through the Senate Agricultural Committee but Senator Bernie Sanders has placed a hold on the nomination (as has a second senator who is as yet unnamed). A statement from Sanders’s office said:

While Mr. Gensler is clearly an intelligent and knowledgeable person, I cannot support his nomination. Mr. Gensler worked with Sen. Phil Gramm and Alan Greenspan to exempt credit default swaps from regulation, which led to the collapse of A.I.G. and has resulted in the largest taxpayer bailout in U.S. history. He supported Gramm-Leach-Bliley, which allowed banks like Citigroup to become “too big to fail.” He worked to deregulate electronic energy trading, which led to the downfall of Enron and the spike in energy prices. At this moment in our history, we need an independent leader who will help create a new culture in the financial marketplace and move us away from the greed, recklessness and illegal behavior which has caused so much harm to our economy.
http://harpers.org/archive/2009/03/hbc-90004606

[leftchick]

43. Same shit, different day.

that is the way I feel about obama's appointments

[Emit]

9. Say Yes to Food Safety - No to Taylor & Olsterholm

Mar 16th, 2009 | By Maria | Category: Food Justice Blog Posts

Currently America is in the middle of a record food safety crisis and it could get a whole lot worse. Former Monsanto executive Michael Taylor and irradiation proponent Dr. Michael Osterholm could be named to top food safety spots in the new Administration.

Ask Secretary Vilsack to say no to Taylor and Osterholm.

1. Michael Taylor, a former Monsanto executive, whose career literally fits the definition of the revolving door between government, lobbying and corporate interests. Before serving on the Obama ag transition team, Taylor made a name for himself rotating in and out of law firms, Monsanto, the USDA and FDA. While at the FDA he helped write the rules to allow rBGH into the American food system and our children’s milk. Now we’ve learned that Taylor may be in line to run an office in the White House on food safety!

2. On Monday, Secretary Vilsack is set to announce the appointment of Dr. Michael Osterholm, a food safety expert, to lead the Food Safety agency at the USDA. According to Food & Water Watch, Osterholm has been “a zealot in promoting the controversial technology (of irradiation) as the panacea to contaminated food. Irradiation allows food processors to nuke disease from contaminated food at the end of the production line, while ignoring the root problems that create unsafe food.

For Osterholm, the recent peanut butter fiasco apparently was just another example of how irradiation could save the day. “Clearly it’s a problem where the raw peanut butter or paste is consumed and not cooked,” Osterholm said. About the magnitude of America’s most recent food safety crisis, Osterholm said, “The recall has reached a level that is far beyond what’s necessary.” Try telling that to the relatives of the nine people who died and to the over 600 sick individuals across the country. The problem, Osterholm doesn’t take constructive criticism of his favorite technology lightly. In 1999 he wrote an editorial calling food safety advocates who questioned the safety of irradiation terrorists. We need a food safety system with some teeth - one that is independent of corporate interests.

Please cut and paste the below email and send it to Secretary Vilsack at the following address.

[e-mail]

Dear Secretary Vilsack,

I ask that you take the lead in helping America protect the safety of its food supply by appointing a real reformer at the USDA Food Safety and Inspection Service (FSIS) position and advising President Obama not to name Michael Taylor to any position in the administration.

Please appoint someone other than Michael Osterholm, who has proven to be too biased in favor of a single technology that has been ineffective in stopping food safety outbreaks and is something that most American consumers don’t want.

I took the President at his word when he said he would close the revolving door in this new administration and I know that you want to lead a new era at the USDA.

Please appoint true reformers to positions within the USDA to help you transform America’s food and farm system for the 21st century.

Thanks for your consideration.

Sincerely,

LINK:
http://www.seattleglobaljustice.org/2009/03/say-yes-to-food-safety-no-to-taylor-olsterholm/

[JohnyCanuck]

16. "While at the FDA he helped write the rules to allow rBGH into the American food system "

And see how Monsanto pressured Fox News into pulling a story on the potential harmful human and animal side effects of their rBGH product, leading to the firing of two Florida based reporters when they refused to modify (and they claim, falsify) their story to make it appear less damaging to Monsanto. As a result of the wrongful dismissal case filed by the reporters (who eventually lost on appeal) it was determined by an appeals court that public broadcasters are not legally constrained by law from falsifying the news, hence the two reporters could not be awarded damages for unfair dismissal under Florida's whistleblower protection act.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eZkDikRLQrw

[Phoebe Loosinhouse]

20. Moral of that story

is that public broadcasters SHOULD be legally constrained by law from falsifying the news. Shocking that they are not. Although I guess I should have known that fact just from the fact that certain tabloids exist.

I wish the 2 reporters would write a book, but I'm sure Monsanto's legal department would keep them occupied and in court for the rest of their lives.

You packed a lot of really good information in just 2 sentences. I bow in admiration.

[Fireweed247]

31. "public broadcasters are not legally constrained by law from falsifying the news"

Why? These are our public airwaves, and people believe what they watch on TV because they feel that there must be a law stopping people from blatantly lying.

[Laelth]

38. 1st Amendment.

Not saying there should not be a law requiring public broadcasters to tell the truth, but if there isn't such a law, the 1st Amendment is probably the reason.

:dem:

-Laelth

[tekisui]

10. Make some noise. It doesn't appear to be a done deal yet.

[burythehatchet]

54. EXACTLY. My guess is that Rahm Emanuel, Inc. brings in these corporate tools.

We have to make noise and we have to do it non-stop.

[Jakes Progress]

118. Is Rahm the new Darth Dick?

[MadHound]

11. And the change here is?

Really now, this is shaping up to be another of the revolving good cop/bad cop administrations, much like Clinton's. Sure, we'll feel good, some minor feel good agenda items will go through, but in the end it is the same ol' corporate masters who will be calling the shots.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

12. Based On His Resume, He Seems Like He's More Than Qualified. Nothing More Than Feigned Outrage.

Looks like a good pick to me. GOBAMA!

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

30. Monsanto shill = not qualified

No matter what his "resume" is.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

32. He's More Than Qualified.

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

36. I honestly expect Obama to appoint somebody who doesn't have the resume of a Bush appointee

You may feel differently, however.

[acmavm]

44. Oh right, you decide these things? What are YOUR qualifications?

[tkmorris]

47. Why, he's the infamous OMC

Don't question him too loudly, lest he turn his fearsome gaze your way.

Or, you could just laugh at him.

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

63. The Hypocrisy Is Astounding!

Do you have any idea how silly it looks that you declare that your opinion is valid, but that I do not have the right to express my own? What ludicrousness.

[Name removed]

72. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[acmavm]

80. My last response to your bad manners and ignorant obnoxious behavior

got deleted. So I'll do this again.

I'll start off the same, put up or shut up. Give some facts or a link to prove your contention. You spend a lot of time pretending to be the resident expert on EVERYTHING, no for once prove you know what you're talking about.

And as for hypocrisy and other laughable claims coming from you, well like I said, that's laughable.

[Orwellian_Ghost]

120. Backing it up with factual evidence

is what makes an "opinion" valid. Not all opinions are equal and at this point your opinion on this matter can't be taken seriously as you haven't even attempted to back up your assertion that Taylor is "qualified."

As to how "qualified" he is may also depend on were your allegiances lie. And what exactly is he qualified to do?

If you support Agribusiness and secrecy in government then indeed Taylor is qualified. If you support small farmers, real food policy that serves the people and transparency in government then Taylor is about the worst choice one could dream up.

So it might be useful if you would first clarify where your interests lie and then assert why you think Taylor is qualified.

[Two Americas]

134. I am qualified

I am qualified, and agree with the other poster.

In any case, the only "qualifications" required for speaking out critically about the rulers is citizenship. Refute the message, if you can, rather than attacking the messengers.


...

[Two Americas]

138. can't edit previous post

I am not sure who is responding to whom on the subthread, nor if I responded in the right place.

[Webster Green]

57. Monsanto shill not good..

Mmm-kay? :wtf:

[Two Americas]

61. at what?

He is skilled at how the revolving door works, skilled at using the government to promote private interests, skilled at cashing in on his work in government and being rewarded by the industry he helped in his "oversight" position of public trust, skilled in being a public relations hack for industry infiltrated and insinuated into public office, skilled at selling the idea that what is good for industry is good for the people.

Those "skills" are inappropriate for any public official - ever.


...

[kenfrequed]

122. Whatever his resume

He takes stands on issues that are not in the interest of the American consumers, small farmers, good progressive economics, good environmental policy, or the American people as a whole.

A bad choice president Obama. Please stop appointing industry hacks to potential regulation affecting positions.

[Two Americas]

58. flip flop

You aggressively defended the House bill to regulate the food industry, and are now defending this. The two positions are contradictory to one another. In the first case, you were arguing for the regulation of the food industry. Now you are defending the use of the government to promote industry.

It seems that you will defend anything that those in power do - provided you identify them as being "on your team" - and that this is the only basis for your political opinions. That is unprincipled and hypocritical.


...

[OPERATIONMINDCRIME]

64. LOL Get A Grip.

Your equating the two is ridiculous and illogical.

[Two Americas]

65. I am not

I am not "equating the two." I am contrasting your contradictory positions on this exact issue over the last week.

[kenfrequed]

123. Actually he is right.

The Food bill was attacked by a stealth Monsanto/big agri/big food industry campaign that masqueraded as being part of the organic movement. Despite the hype, and although it wasn't a perfect bill, it was a good bill that deserved support.

The appointment of this tool is sort of leaping immediately to the opposite side of that bill in favor of anti-consumer/anti-environment/big agri crowd. It pays to do actual research beyond merely an overview of the mans resume.

Or how about we do something really radical and put someone that was been on the opposite side of the industry. Maybe someone that could...I don't know... keep them in line?

[Two Americas]

135. thanks

You understand this well. Good post.

[freddie mertz]

137. But this is not something to be questioned!!

The Great and Powerful Oz has spoken!!!!

Silence!!!! Whippersnapper!


:patriot: :spray: :sarcasm: :banghead: :hi: :scared: :nuke: :evilgrin: O8)

[Bill McBlueState]

70. The outrage does not appear to be feigned. n/t

[Two Americas]

139. right

Isn't that a bizarre charge - that people are "feigning outrage?"

[Bill McBlueState]

140. sort of makes me wonder

whether the person levying the charge knows what "feign" means.

[Two Americas]

143. well...

He is feigning knowing what it means.

[TBF]

83. Donald Rumsfeld and Dick Cheney had some of the best resumes in Washington. Were they any good? n/t

[Jim Sagle]

96. Corporatist hogwash!

[Marrah_G]

13. sigh

[earth mom]

21. Ah yes, "Hope and Change" we can count on.

:puke:

[Name removed]

39. Deleted sub-thread

Sub-thread removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

45. Well, "A chicken in every pot" was already used.

“Now, the man on the stand he wants my vote,
He's a-runnin' for office on the ballot note.
He's out there preachin' in front of the steeple,
Tellin' me he loves all kinds-a people.
(He's eatin' bagels
He's eatin' pizza
He's eatin' chitlins
He's eatin' bullshit!)”

Bob Dylan

[TBF]

84. To be fair they are changes. It's the hope part that needs some work ... n/t

[WI_DEM]

22. OMG!

[Fireweed247]

23. WTF indeed!

Thanks for posting this!

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

24. Another industry stooge. Lawyers are ever so knowledgeable about food safety.

[Lorien]

26. No good.Not good at all

I would have expected it from BushCo. What gives?

[Individualist]

28. I'm disgusted but not surprised.

[librechik]

37. Let the president know. He may not have the info to spot these guys.

Lots and lots of letters and emails, please!

[blindpig]

40. If that's the case then he's totally incompetent.

I do not believe that to be the case. I believe he knows exactly what he's doing. And it ain't good for the vast majority of Americans nor the vast majority of the world's people.

[Karenina]

41. BINGO!

Make sure he gets it. He clearly doesn't yet.

[TBF]

115. We're assuming he has a choice. n/t

[chatnoir]

42. Oh HELL no... not another one!

WTF is going on here??

[Marie26]

46. Why not? Vilsack was just appointed head of the USDA.

* Vilsack has a glowing reputation as being a shill for agribusiness biotech giants like Monsanto. Sustainable ag advocated across the country were spreading the word of Vilsack's history as he was attempting to appeal to voters in his presidential bid. An activist from the west coast even made this youtube animation about Vilsack
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hmoc4Qgcm4s
The airplane in this animation is a referral to the controversy that Vilsack often traveled in Monsanto's jet.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_15573.cfm

[empyreanisles]

48. (removed)

[empyreanisles]

49. You guys get outraged over the most flimsy BS

Obama's #1 criteria seems to be COMPETENCE and EXPERIENCE. He wants people that can move quickly and resolve things should crises occur.

Yeah, Obama is PURPOSELY trying to create food safety issues. He is also getting big backroom checks from this MOSANTO entity. His only agenda for being President was to get PAID big time.

:eyes:

[HarukaTheTrophyWife]

50. Food safety is not the job you give to the guy shilling for one of the biggest food conglomerates

Monsanto is evil.

[EFerrari]

60. You're right. It's only the food chain.

[Two Americas]

67. competence and experience

Competence and experience mean nothing. The Bush administration was packed with people with competence and experience at dismantling the public infrastructure, corrupting government, and giving the country away to private interests.

The revolving door between industry and government, the use of the federal watchdog agencies to promote the industries they are supposedly regulating, the circumvention of testing and regulation, and endangering public health are hardly things that could be called "the most flimsy BS."

I do not understand how Democrats can take right wing positions - defend and promote them - merely because they are associated with politicians who have a "D" after their name. That is not only a threat to the success of the administration and the party, but sabotages representative democracy. It also fosters the MSM theme of politics as a sports contest, as an ongoing spectator event, as an entertaining partisan circus - shallow and simple-minded.


...

[Mithreal]

94. And who better than those that caused the crises, right? nt

[Vidar]

51. Horrible choice.

[Sebastian Doyle]

53. Putting a Monsanto shill in charge of food safety

is like putting David Duke in charge of the NAACP.

[NightWatcher]

55. Putting a Monsanto at FDA is like putting a Goldman-Sachs at Treasury

whoops

[flyarm]

92. yep and that 's been done too!!

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5322140
Oh Goody- Obama attempts to appoint another Goldman Sachs exec who worked with Phil Gramm
I reported back in February on the case of Gary Gensler, the former Goldman Sachs employee and derivatives cheerleader who President Obama nominated to head the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Gensler’s nomination sailed through the Senate Agricultural Committee but Senator Bernie Sanders has placed a hold on the nomination (as has a second senator who is as yet unnamed). A statement from Sanders’s office said:

While Mr. Gensler is clearly an intelligent and knowledgeable person, I cannot support his nomination. Mr. Gensler worked with Sen. Phil Gramm and Alan Greenspan to exempt credit default swaps from regulation, which led to the collapse of A.I.G. and has resulted in the largest taxpayer bailout in U.S. history. He supported Gramm-Leach-Bliley, which allowed banks like Citigroup to become “too big to fail.” He worked to deregulate electronic energy trading, which led to the downfall of Enron and the spike in energy prices. At this moment in our history, we need an independent leader who will help create a new culture in the financial marketplace and move us away from the greed, recklessness and illegal behavior which has caused so much harm to our economy.
http://harpers.org/archive/2009/03/hbc-90004606

[Two Americas]

56. Genetically Engineered Foods

Perhaps more than any other public figure, Michael Taylor is responsible for the ongoing government policy of fostering and promoting the biotech industry, rather than regulating it. His career is also an egregious example of the "revolving door" - people moved from industry to the think tanks to the federal agencies for the purpose of promoting the interests of industry at the expense of public health and welfare.

I now strongly suspect that the Obama administration actually intends to continue the policy of using the federal government for the promotion of the biotech industry, and that they are trying to slip this under the radar. This would be consistent with the administration's approach to the financial crisis, and to health care - using government to promote private interests, under the ruse that this will help all of us. That is a variation on the "trickle down" approach of the Reagan administration.

Fostering and promoting private interests, because otherwise we will supposedly all be hurt - we have people here defending the administration by saying "capital creates jobs" which is of course the foundation of right wing political thinking, and we have people saying that people need "choice" on health care and who are calling single payer "mandatory" and therefore oppressive or tyrannical - and saying that by helping industry the "problems will be solved" and life will be improved for all of us, is a cleverly disguised "progressive" variation on Reaganomics.

The FDA acknowledges it has been operating under a government policy "to foster" the U.S. biotechnology industry. ("Genetically Engineered Foods," FDA Consumer, Jan.-Feb. 1993, p.14) This policy was initiated by the Reagan/Bush administration and has continued through Clinton/Gore. Further, when in 1991 the FDA created a new position of Deputy Commissioner for Policy to supervise the formulation of its policy on GE foods, it appointed Michael Taylor, a Washington, D.C. lawyer who had been representing Monsanto and other members of the biotech industry on regulatory issues. During Mr. Taylor's tenure as Deputy Commissioner, warnings from FDA scientists were persistently overridden and drafts of the policy statement increasingly contradicted their assertions about the hazards of bioengineering. (Subsequently, Mr. Taylor was hired by Monsanto as Vice-President for Public Policy.) Moreover, when Vice-President Dan Quayle introduced FDA's final policy in 1992, he referred to it as "regulatory relief" for the industry.

http://www.biointegrity.org/FDADeception.html

The idea that the administration is merely bringing in "expertise" is absurd. The expertise that many of the appointees have is this - they are experts at using government to promote big money private interests, experts at pro-industry public relations, experts in circumventing and sabotaging regulation and inspection and testing, experts at subverting the interests of the public for the benefit of the wealthy few.

Now, as a person who works in agriculture, I have been accused many times here of "shilling for Monsanto" and the like, when I have criticized some of the campaigns being spread by organic and other liberal organizations, such as the fear-mongering campaign against the bill being considered by the House for increased regulation and safety inspection of the food industry. I have explained the ongoing effort by extreme right wing groups to hijack the organic movement. I have also complained about demonizing Monsanto, because that corporation is but one example from industry of a company involved in corrupting the public agencies, and we could eliminate Monsanto tomorrow and the same problems would still all be there. Monsanto is not a "bad apple" - an unusual or atypical example - but rather the problems with Monsanto are a symptom of a much larger problem, and that problem can only be attacked with an informed and intelligent political movement, not a person choice or lifestyle movement, not a spiritualized feel good movement, and not by fear campaigns and misinformation. Those approaches are easily hijacked by the right wing, and that is exactly what is happening.

Always, I have argued for better tactics, for a better informed and better targeted effort against private industry seizing control over our food supply and dictating public health policy. For some reason - although it is no accident, I think when we are aware of the anti-regulation, anti-government right wingers who are steering the liberal and organic organizations too often - my left wing views on food and farming are "heard" by some as "shilling for the corporations" when I resist the libertarian "the big bad government is going to take away your organic tomatoes" agenda, and when I have advocated a tighter and better informed approach to the issues involved in farming and food safety for the sake of presenting a stronger and more effective front against the increasing domination of our food supply by a handful of private companies.

This appointment gets to the heart of the problem, and I hope it can lead to more intelligent discussions about food and farming. Maybe it will also be the end of the accusations against me, and against other left wing voices from agriculture who have been critical of the organic movement.



k and r

...

[Hannah Bell]

110. I'll add this to your suspicion: Bill Gates & Warren Buffett, the two richest men

in the world, supported Obama big-time.

Gates Foundation, using the combined Gates/Buffett wealth, is probably *the* single biggest funder of GMO initiatives in ag & pharma. They do partnerships with Monsanto (among others) & have Monsanto people on their top staff & in the field.


off topic, but BTW: Monsanto involved in developing the atomic bomb:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dayton_Project

[pinto]

62. Background on H.R. 875 - What it does, what it doesn't do (Food & Water Watch)

A lot of attention has been focused on a bill introduced by Rep. Rosa DeLauro (H.R. 875), the Food Safety Modernization Act. And a lot of what is being said about the bill is misleading.

Here are a few things that H.R. 875 DOES do:

- It addresses the most critical flaw in the structure of FDA by splitting it into 2 new agencies –one devoted to food safety and the other devoted to drugs and medical devices.
- It increases inspection of food processing plants, basing the frequency of inspection on the risk of the product being produced – but it does NOT make plants pay any registration fees or user fees.
- It does extend food safety agency authority to food production on farms, requiring farms to write a food safety plan and consider the critical points on that farm where food safety problems are likely to occur.
- It requires imported food to meet the same standards as food produced in the U.S.

And just as importantly, here are a few things that H.R. 875 does NOT do:

- It does not cover foods regulated by the USDA (beef, pork, poultry, lamb, catfish.)
- It does not establish a mandatory animal identification system.
- It does not regulate backyard gardens.
- It does not regulate seed.
- It does not call for new regulations for farmers markets or direct marketing arrangements.
- It does not apply to food that does not enter interstate commerce (food that is sold across state lines).
- It does not mandate any specific type of traceability for FDA-regulated foods (the bill does instruct a new food safety agency to improve traceability of foods, but specifically says that recordkeeping can be done electronically or on paper.)

(snip)

There is plenty of evidence that one-size-fits-all regulation only tends to work for one size of agriculture – the largest industrialized operations. That’s why it is important to let members of Congress know how food safety proposals will impact the conservation, organic, and sustainable practices that make diversified, organic, and direct market producers different from agribusiness. And the work doesn’t stop there – if Congress passes any of these bills, the FDA will have to develop rules and regulations to implement the law, a process that we can’t afford to ignore.

But simply shooting down any attempt to fix our broken food safety system is not an approach that works for consumers, who are faced with a food supply that is putting them at risk and regulators who lack the authority to do much about it.


(more at)

http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/food/foodsafety/background-on-h-r-875

(about Food and Water Watch)

http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/about

[Two Americas]

69. different subject

We covered this pretty well on a couple of threads recently.

This bill calls for regulation of the food industry.

Taylor has built his career on the use of the government to promote private interests and circumvent regulation.

It is contradictory to support - or oppose - both.


...

[pinto]

73. The OpEdNews piece conflates the two issues. Hence the list of sponsors (for HR 875) mentioned.

I wanted to clarify that bill's intent somewhat more objectively, as a side note. Food & Water Watch are firmly behind food safety, viability of small farms, farmers' markets etc.

[Two Americas]

78. oh crap, it does, you are right

So it does. Thanks. I missed that. It looked like part of the ad on that page and I skipped right past it. Bizarre comment from him. Still. he is not praising HR 875, he is saying that "we need to complete the transformation of FSIS as a food safety agency, away from inspection to a science-based public health agency."

Another good reason to oppose him, but not a reason to oppose that bill.

What a mess.



...

[Coffee and Cake]

66. Why are people surprised over this?

Tom Vilsack is the Secretary of Agriculture....can you say moar corporate welfare plz!

[Tim01]

68. Making money is more important than peoples safety=Monsanto

This is unbelievable. Environmentally, Monsanto is pretty much the anit-christ. Last I heard they were dragging a farmer in to court because he advertised his crops to be orgnaic. Monsanto said that by doing that the farmer was suggesting that non-organic food wasn't safe and so they were suing him.
Monsanto is evil. You can't be for the environment and be for Monsanto, not possible. It's like saying you are for the chickens but you happen to be a lawyer for the fox.

[Two Americas]

71. Making money is more important than peoples safety = capitalism

That is why we must not allow the food supply to be privatized and the watchdog agencies to be used to promote private interests.

It is not merely a matter of "Monsanto."

Had Taylor done the exact same things, but been associated with ADM or Cargil, the problems with him would still be exactly the same.

The right wingers are more than happy to throw the Monsanto brand name to the wolves - and it is merely a brand name that people are attacking - in exchange for distracting people from the real problem and protecting the corporate interests. That is why all of the propaganda that is being inserted into the liberal and organic organizations - and eagerly embraced and passed along by naive and ill-informed people - by the right wingers prominently features the word "Monsanto" in every other sentence.


...

[tkmorris]

74. Michael Taylor. Yippee!

First he worked for the FDA, then leaves to take a job with a lobbying firm whose client list includes Monsanto. While there, he helps get his old agency, the FDA, to legalize Bovine Growth Hormone. YAY! BGH!

Shortly thereafter the intrepid Mr. Taylor returns to the FDA, who is now considering milk labeling guidelines. Monsanto would like the FDA to pretty please not tell anyone which milk jugs contain BGH tainted milk, and of course, with Taylor now in charge of writing the labeling guidelines, they get their wish. HOORAY! FRANKENMILK!

Never one to settle in one place for long, Mikey leaves the FDA again in 1994, only to reappear at... you guessed it! Monsanto! He became their Vice-President in charge of lobbying. Lobbying. In Washington.

This is the guy we want in charge of food safety?

WTF?

[western mass]

75. How many times does he have to quack...

before you call him a duck?

And by duck, I mean "corporate tool".

[Tashca]

77. Apparently, President Obama is considering ???

I wonder if anyone can verify this??

I have a hard time believing this unless it comes from a second or third source. It almost appears to be to be more right wing propaganda to undermine President Obama.

To much similar writing and wording to other BS articles I've read.

If I'm wrong I'll take it all back......but at this point I'm calling BS.

[marshall]

79. Ever notice that it's never a "man off the street" who gets appointed to these positions

Regardless of which party is in power, it's always going to be big wigs, big shots, and high rollers who get appointed to these positions.

[Two Americas]

136. more than that

There is no shortage of brilliant and competent and qualified people who could fill these positions, particularly in agriculture. But instead we get people who have made careers in public relations and lobbying and shilling for big business.

Then we are told that "we need the most competent people to get things done!" Get what things done? Get things done for whom? The people being appointed are experts at getting things done for industry, at the expense of public welfare.


...

[and-justice-for-all]

82. Not good...Monsanto is fucking vile..nt

[TBF]

85. K & R, n/t

[femrap]

86. k and r

Monsanto is in my top three of most hated Corporations.

Actions speak louder than words....Watch what the Administration is doing. Stop listening.

[amborin]

90. K&R

[defendandprotect]

95. Doesn't look like "change" --- again!!!

They already call the FDA . . . "Monsanto's FDA" . . .

[Jim Sagle]

97. No prob..what's good for GM foods is good for America.

Shut up and have another cloneburger.

[flyarm]

98. or corn with the little "pointy" thingy at the top..yes get a good load of it

next time you buy an ear of corn..makes one's mouth water ..wouldn't you say???????

mouth watering genetically engineered corn on the cob for your children..yummy.......

don't forget the butter..

Wonder how many children will get cancers over those veggies?????????

oh and don't forget dessert for that backyard Barbeque..

genetically modified.......

Watermelon anyone?????

[winyanstaz]

99. I hope this is not true

This company and those like it are evil and are attacking the world's food supply and wiping out small farmers.
I don't think President Obama is stupid enough to appoint this shill anyway. It would shatter my faith in him if he does. This man obviously has too deep connections to companies that genetically modify food to head the FDA.

[No.23]

100. Note to President Obama: Gutterballs belong in bowling.

http://info.specialolympics.org/NR/rdonlyres/etkcl3ot66rkpflirwwvdri2pjshwa3fwnlrs2kbkcgf7nfgipqtszchhpk6iz75bryozfgwd4diw5syo2gsihm53ma/Channel_Gutter+Ball_small.jpg

Not political appointments.

[BigBearJohn]

101. Ok. That does it for me. I have officially lost hope.

[Djinn]

103. I lived through the supposedly

"Labor" government of Hawke/Keating and the supposedly "Labour" government of Tory Blair - had way too much nasty experience with "third way" progressives to have ever had any hope in Obama.

This gets me called a cynic - I call it being able to see, hear, read and reason.

[Hubert Flottz]

104. Agent Orange in every pot...

And a toxic waste dump under every lot...NITRO WV, cancer capitol of the world...

Edit...to add.

Agent Orange in our Backyards

http://www.ffrd.org/USSites.htm

http://www.organicconsumers.org/dioxcov.html

[tomp]

109. still waiting for change. nt

[German]

112. I think this shows the change you have choosen

Remarks by National Security Adviser Jones at 45th Munich Conference on Security Policy

Published February 8, 2009
Speaker: James L. Jones




U.S. National Security Adviser Jones gave these remarks at the 45th Munich Conference on Security Policy at the Hotel Bayerischer Hof on February 8, 2009.

"Thank you for that wonderful tribute to Henry Kissinger yesterday. Congratulations. As the most recent National Security Advisor of the United States, I take my daily orders from Dr. Kissinger, filtered down through Generaal Brent Scowcroft and Sandy Berger, who is also here. We have a chain of command in the National Security Council that exists today.

Source: http://www.cfr.org/publication/18515/remarks_by_national_security_adviser_jones_at_45th_munich_conference_on_security_policy.html

I think the "source of command" exists not only in the National Security Council

[flyarm]

125. thank you for reposting that German, i have seen it at many blogs.. but barely makes a sound at DU

and every time i see it ..i seethe!

let me add to that...

Tim Geithner worked for 3 years at Kissingers firm..and then the CFR.........yes Kissinger!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Don't believe me??..look it up!! If the transparent one hasn't scrubbed it yet!!

the Kissinger I have despised as a dem my entire life!!

This is the same Kissinger so many 9/11 families and families and employees of the airlines involved with 9/11 fought tooth and nail along with most dems to get him removed from the 9/11 commission because of his heavy ties with Saudi Arabia!! And because of his nafarious background.

Look into the back ground of Geithners dad , Peter Geithner and his ties to Obama's mom and step dad!!

Google is your friend!!


See Obama sent Kissinger To Russia shortly after becoming president to represent the Obama administration in Russia..
Kissinger who held positions with Nixon, Ford and Reagan !!!!!!!!!!!!

why did Obama send Kissinger to Russia a few weeks ago , representing his administration and the USA..
lets see shall we??????

http://www.answers.com/topic/timothy-f-geithner

Timothy Geithner
Career
After completing his studies,Geithner worked for Kissinger and Associates in Washington, D.C., for three years and then joined the International Affairs division of the U.S. Treasury Department in 1988. He was deputy assistant secretary for international monetary and financial policy (1995–1996), senior deputy assistant secretary for international affairs (1996-1997), assistant secretary for international affairs (1997–1998).<

He was Under Secretary of the Treasury for International Affairs (1998–2001) under Treasury Secretaries Robert Rubin and Lawrence Summers.<5> Summers was his mentor,<1> but other sources call him a Rubin protégé.<9><10><11>


In 2002 he left the Treasury to join the Council on Foreign Relations as a Senior Fellow in the International Economics department.<7> At the International Monetary Fund he was director of the Policy Development and Review Department (2001-2003).<5>



this kissinger:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GThfWVCfjVo&eurl=http ://...

"There is a need for a new world order," Kissinger told PBS interviewer Charlie Rose last year, "I think that at the end of this administration, with all its turmoil, and at the beginning of the next, we might actually witness the creation of a new order – because people looking in the abyss, even in the Islamic world, have to conclude that at some point, ordered expectations must return under a different system."


This is the Kissinger Obama sent to Russia........representing his administration..

http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/82may/hershwh2.htm

Kissinger and Nixon in the White House
by Seymour M. Hersh


http://www.commondreams.org/views02/0611-03.htm


and that is just for starters!!


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph ...

Larry Summers and California Energy "crisis" / Enron

During the California energy crisis of 2000, then-Treasury Secretary Larry Summers teamed with Alan Greenspan and Enron executive Kenneth Lay to lecture California Governor Gray Davis on the causes of the crisis, explaining that the problem was excessive government regulation.<8> Under the advice of Kenneth Lay, Summers urged Davis to relax California's environmental standards in order to reassure the markets.

.......................................................................

WSJ: Citi's Chief Economist Leaves for Treasury Post


Source: The Wall Street Journal

Citigroup Inc.'s chief economist is leaving the New York company for a job at the U.S. Treasury Department, according to an internal Citigroup memo.

Lewis Alexander, who has been at Citigroup since 1999 and before that worked at the Federal Reserve, will head to Treasury "to work on domestic financial issues," said the Citigroup memo, which was sent Tuesday.

According to a government official, Mr. Alexander will be a counselor to Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner. Mr. Alexander and a Treasury spokesman weren't immediately available to comment Tuesday. A Citigroup spokesman declined to elaborate on the company's memo.
(...)
Mr. Alexander's role as Citigroup's chief economist didn't entail significant management responsibilities. But his optimistic economic forecasts colored executives' views that the U.S. was unlikely to face a prolonged slump.

Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB123732747181462245.html

anyone have warm fuzzies yet?????????

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

who can make this crap up???????????


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica /...

Despite his pariah status with many Left-wingers in Mr Obama's Democratic Party, the president forged relations with Mr Kissinger during his campaign.

The compliment was returned when the 85-year-old veteran of the Nixon and Ford administrations said last month that the young president was in a position to create a "new world order" by shifting US foreign policy away from the hostile stance of the Bush administration.

He publicly supported Mr Obama's notion of unconditional talks with Iran, though not at the presidential level.

Further demonstrating his willingness to work with his opponents on foreign policy issues, Mr Obama turned to two veteran Republicans steeped in Cold War experience to press home his plans.

Shortly after Mr Kissinger's trip, Richard Lugar, a Republican senator from Indiana who has worked on nuclear disarmament issues for 30 years, also visited Moscow. George Schultz, another former secretary of state, has also played a vital role.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Thank you to the DU poster who posted the following thread..

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.ph...
Oh Goody- Obama attempts to appoint another Goldman Sachs exec who worked with Phil Gramm
I reported back in February on the case of Gary Gensler, the former Goldman Sachs employee and derivatives cheerleader who President Obama nominated to head the Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC). Gensler’s nomination sailed through the Senate Agricultural Committee but Senator Bernie Sanders has placed a hold on the nomination (as has a second senator who is as yet unnamed). A statement from Sanders’s office said:

While Mr. Gensler is clearly an intelligent and knowledgeable person, I cannot support his nomination. Mr. Gensler worked with Sen. Phil Gramm and Alan Greenspan to exempt credit default swaps from regulation, which led to the collapse of A.I.G. and has resulted in the largest taxpayer bailout in U.S. history. He supported Gramm-Leach-Bliley, which allowed banks like Citigroup to become “too big to fail.” He worked to deregulate electronic energy trading, which led to the downfall of Enron and the spike in energy prices. At this moment in our history, we need an independent leader who will help create a new culture in the financial marketplace and move us away from the greed, recklessness and illegal behavior which has caused so much harm to our economy.
http://harpers.org/archive/2009/03/hbc-90004606

[tomp]

128. thank you.

see what a pithy slogan like "still waiting for change" can engender.

lots of great info in your post. do the obamaphiliacs care?

[Sebastian Doyle]

130. Why isn't Kissinger burning in Hell yet?

That war criminal bastard piece of shit has to be at least 120 by now.

[flyarm]

131. because he is not finished doing his work for the shadow government!!

In Bob Woodward’s book “State Of Denial” Henry Kissinger had been advising Bush and Cheney about Iraq, telling them that “victory is the only meaningful exit strategy,”

Kissinger still continues to serve as a trustee of the powerful Rockefeller Brothers Fund, as a counselor to Rockefellers’ Chase Manhattan Bank, and as a member of Chase’s International Advisory Committee. Kissinger’s media influence is evident from his having served on the board of CBS, Inc., and having been a paid consultant to both NBC News and ABC News. Wel that about says it all doesn't it?? but there is more..


Kissinger was nearly the head of the CFR Whitewash 911 commission before Zelikow was installed to guard the evidence, and protect the guilty.

The Rockefellers run our political system, as well as our banking system (the Fed) our oil companies (Exxon Mobil) the Big Pharma companies, and most of the Airline industry… The list goes on. The Trilateral Commission (AKA the new Council on Foreign relations – founded by David Rockefeller who is still the honorary chairman) The Trilateral Commission was “founded by Zbigniew Brzezinski (CFR member and founding member of the Trilateral Commission, and National Security Advisor to five presidents….) who called for a Pearl Harbor style event to secure the Globalist agenda in his book “The Grand Chessboard” showed up again with the Project for a New American Century (PNAC) many years later.

So why is Obama in the grips of Kissinger now?? Why would any democrat be???

Ask yourself that honestly..and you will find your own answers!

[amyrose2712]

113. It's not about Dem or Repuke, it is about $ and Corporatism...

I will also have to say "Like 'Two Americas' said."

[Echo In Light]

141. It's about fascism

[Jakes Progress]

119. There's a war a-ragin

And we are losing.

[unapatriciated]

121. too late to rec .....

:kick:
Monsanto is as evil as they come, We have had over 30 years of corporations slowly gaining control over ever aspect of our lives.
Time to throw the bums out not invite them to continue playing.

[sallylou666]

124. Lobbyists?

The government wants to spray foliage along the Rio Grande like in Vietnam, supposedly to help catch the drug cartels. It would be an environmental disaster. Maybe Monsanto is behind this suggestion?

In one of his speeches this week, Obama said something to the effect that lobbyists' influence had been eliminated. (Sorry, I can't find the text.) I really wonder what he meant by that. Lately, it looks like business as usual.

[TBF]

126. So far they're not doing the spraying. It's been local news down here every day

in Houston. Here is the updated news story as of this morning: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/front/6340549.html

[sallylou666]

129. Thanks

That's good news, TBF. I hope that they don't change their minds.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

133. Oh no. This is horrible.

What's next? Some shill for the FAA who thinks planes ran into the WTC?

[ColbertWatcher]

142. Fuck these people.

Is this Michael Taylor the same Michael Taylor as the Michael Taylor in this DU thread??????