Free Republic

WASHINGTON -- Food safety legislation stalled by a constitutional snag could be revived as part of a giant year-end budget bill. The bill to increase the Food and Drug Administration's powers to keep food safe stalled after overwhelmingly passing the Senate last week. House Democrats said after it passed that the bill contains fees that are considered tax provisions, which under the Constitution must originate in the House.

Less than a month has passed since the mid-term elections and the early signs emanating from Washington don't bode well for the future of our freedom. The ruling class is still firmly entrenched and is seemingly oblivious to the message sent by the people on November 2. Corrupted by power, the two parties comprising the ruling class apparently still differ only in "the rates at which they are willing to usurp additional power." Yesterday, fifteen Republican senators joined every Democrat in voting for passage of S. 510, the "FDA Food Safety Modernization Act", described on these pages as a "power...

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) has presided over the Senate for the past four years and we’ve just learned today that his current Lame Duck session is “RIGGED.” Color me surprised! A hot mic picked up Senator Michael Bennet’s words… “It’s all rigged. The whole conversation is rigged. The fact that we don’t get to a discussion before the break about what we’re going to do in the lame duck. It’s just rigged.” Welcome to our world Senator Bennet. We’ve known for quite a while that our government apparatus is rigged. Take for example, the Food Safety Bill which...

Senate action on legislation revamping the nation's food safety laws will be delayed until Tuesday morning. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., announced Monday afternoon that two amendments (Coburn earmark ban, Coburn substitute that pays for food safety --- neither of which are expected to get the 67 votes needed for passage) and final passage of the food safety legislation will start at 9:00 am Tuesday. The final bill is expected to pass. The House still must vote on the bill as well but is expected to pass without much difficulty