Posted on 09/05/2009 3:47:23 PM PDT by Still Thinking
The number of animals and plants protected by the federal Endangered Species Act is about to increase dramatically. For Cass Sunstein, radical animal-rights activist and nominee for the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) Administrator job, that means he will be better positioned than ever to make livestock farming a thing of the past.
How are the two things connected? Our director of research appeared on the Fox News Channel yesterday to explain to Glenn Beck’s audience how much influence Sunstein may soon have over what we eat:
Cattlemen in this country own and manage most of the lands that are covered by the Endangered Species Act, that are subject to control. So you ask: Why is Cass Sunstein’s hatred and animus toward meat eating such a big deal? It’s because he’ll be in a position to be able to use the Endangered Species Act to put cattlemen out of business. And then the price of your steak goes up. And then the price of your cheeseburger goes up.
It’s not only cattlemen who could be at the business end of Sunstein’s ridiculous anti-meat philosophy. Environmental activists groups sued over the Endangered Species Act in 2006 to divert water to a habitat for a three-inch bait fish in California – taking the water away from drought-stricken farmers and costing the California economy more than 60,000 farming jobs. Imagine what would happen if activists didn’t have to sue to get what they wanted, but could just pick up the phone instead.
The future “regulatory czar” has made no secret of his coercive tactics to get Americans to eat less meat. His grand plan is to make meat more expensive to produce, which will in turn make it harder for American families to afford. Similarly unpopular tactics have been attempted in the drive to get people to drink less soda. While Sunstein couches his plans as a “nudge,” we’d say it’s more like a shove.
Hug your cheeseburgers tonight, because they too are about to become an endangered species.
Pacifist Northwest, across the Columbia River from Portland, Oregon. My friend fishes the Deschutes River and they have a World Class steelhead run there.
The same area is also a hotspot for Bighorn Sheep; but they only issue a couple of permits by lottery for them....
Amen, Brad. I’m with you.
My curiosity in all of this government driven behavior modification is how “cowed” the American people are ... this government owns our children in the classrooms, the essential mechanics of determining what we drive and how much, what financing and insurance we get to use, how much of our working time actually belongs to us versus them (we work close to 5 months of out the year now for the government,) and with cap and trade and government healthcare getting ramrodded on us, they will own our DNA from birth and the air we breath.
The price of a cheeseburger is the least of our problems.
Amen. It amazes me that some FReepers still support giving the government broad powers for such vague purposes as "preserving the social fabric" or "reinforcing the community's values".
Even as those very powers are being turned against them.
No kidding Timm, a bunch of pretty smart, conservative people on this board who accept premises of what “good government” is that just shock me.
Good government seems to be defined as a hyper aware, well funded, machine that will coerce behavior deemed to be good, and will suppress behavior that is bad, and do this while scrupulously collecting, collating, and using data. Good government means it knows where everybody is, how much they make, and what they are thinking and doing so that policies can be implemented to adjust what people are thinking and doing if necessary. That’s sounds just chummy as long as your neighbors are still aligned with your thinking on what is good and what is bad. As soon as that alignment ends, and as soon as enumerated Federal powers are just kind of a joke (commerce clause) then you are screwed and anything is possible in an Athens or French Revolution styled democracy. You know two wolves and a sheep voting on whats for supper.
A lot of federal lands are leased to cattle ranchers throughout the west. I don’t know about Texas in particular but this will have an effect on cattle on federal lands
House votes to save wild horses, burros
WASHINGTON (AP) — The House has voted to expand the range of the nation’s wild horses and burros by millions of acres and to block a plan to kill thousands of the animals to prevent overgrazing.
The bill passed 239-185 Friday.
Supporters say the additional land and other measurers are needed to free thousands of mustangs and burros from holding pens and to prevent their slaughter.
http://www.usatoday.com/news/washington/2009-07-17-house-burros_N.htm
Well, they won’t get away with that in Texas. About 95% of land here is privately owned. The only public lands are a few National Forests in East Texas, and Big Bend National Park.
Before I’ll give up meat, I’ll hunt the king...er...caliph’s game and take his deers for my own table.
Some of the Zoidbergs of old were notorious poachers if the family stories are accurate.
I’ll be damned if the lords of the land are going to sup on kobe beef and I’m going to gnaw on a carrot stick just so that c(b)ass(tard) can nudge me into one of his little corrals with the other sheep.
California is 45.3% federal. Your right about Texas only 1.9%. I was surprised.
http://strangemaps.files.wordpress.com/2008/06/map-owns_the_west.jpg
Hutz: Mrs. Simpson, what did you and your husband do after you were ejected from the restaurant?
Marge: We pretty much went straight home…
Hutz: Mrs. Simpson, you are under oath!
Marge: We drove around until 3AM looking for another all-you-an-eat fish restaurant.
Hutz: And when you couldn’t find one?
Marge: We went fishing…
Hutz: Do these sound like the actions of a man who had all he could eat?
:>)
Bambi jerky is delicious, so is bambisalami. Putting bambi through the grinder with 80/20 ground beef in equal proportions makes great grilled bambiburgers. Yeah, I hated that movie as much as I love venison.
Hmmmm, bambisalami. That sounds interesting. The jerky goes without saying, but I’m having a hard time imagining the salami. Have to try some if I get the chance someday.
For Cass Sunstein, radical animal-rights activist and nominee for the Office of Information and Regulatory Affairs (OIRA) Administrator job, that means he will be better positioned than ever to make livestock farming a thing of the past.
If we all turn into vegetarians there will be a huge increase in methane gas which leads to global warming. Has anyone thought about that? I understand that methane gas is 23 times worse than CO2.
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