Something To Think About

Thursday, May 11. 2006

In an interview to Inside Washington Today, Rep. Collin Peterson (D-Minn.), the ranking member of the House Agriculture Committee, who will become the Chairman of the Committee if the Democrats recapture the House, had this to say about NAIS.

-- Animal identification (ID): "From the start we have worked for an exemption for farmers via the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act. I have sponsored two bills – one to set up a mandatory animal ID system based on the FAIR system that the [Ag] Department actually financed. In that, there was a FOI exemption. I introduced another bill with just the FOI exemption. And I got Rep. Tom Davis (R-Va.) to cosponsor it with me. But Davis was basically reigned in by the House leadership because this is a way to stop it. If they don't allow the FOI exemption to pass, then they can use this as an excuse not to do it (mandatory animal ID)."

-- Are you saying the House GOP leadership does not want mandatory animal ID? "The Republican leadership does not want it. USDA has been in our way the whole time on this deal. I could tell you stories….

"These guys don't want mandatory animal ID because the cattlemen don't want it and the cattlemen have inordinate power in this administration. And they have basically brought this thing to a standstill.

"We are not going to get the Japanese market back, largely because we don't have animal ID. We are kidding ourselves. I understand the people who don't want to do this, but my bill said that the government is going to pay for this – for the first round of tags, we will pay for the readers, we will pay for the whole system so all the farmer and rancher has to do is put the tag on the animal.

"The cost of this is like $20 million. Canada did it for $6 million, and Australia did it for $4 million. Of course they have fewer animals.

"So far the Department has spent $600 million and they have nothing to show for it."

-- You obviously are frustrated when it comes to the animal ID issue? "If they had followed my initial bill in 2004, animal ID would have been implemented by now or much further advanced.

"My judgment is they have their heads in the sand on this issue, especially when every other cattle producing country has a plan in place already. For us to sit there and not have a system is ludicrous.

"It is not a matter that they can't pass this (FOI exemption). It is my judgment that they don't want to pass it.

"And there is no leadership out of USDA on this. They have been all over the map on this topic. It is the biggest bunch of disinformation I have seen put out since the oil companies have been going after ethanol.

"USDA has people in their own Department who are frustrated. They are not providing the leadership. I have had these discussions with [USDA Secretary Mike] Johanns and he has kind of gone back and forth on it. In the end, the best thing I have been able to get out of him is that he admits that eventually this will become mandatory. But he won't say any timeframe. But the meat industry (AMI, packers, etc.,) is all for this mandatory animal ID system.

"Ironically what is likely going to make this happen is Wal-Mart and McDonald's because they are about to say 'Iif you don't have animal ID, we are not going to buy your meat.'"

Typical politics, he claims the Republicans don't want it and are blocking it. Most Republicans on the Committee are for it so I don't know what he is talking about. I love the part about how the Government is going to buy the first round of tags and all the readers. What good is that going to do me, I will need thousands of dollars of tags a year so the first round is not real helpful and money is not the reason i oppose this. the loss of personal freedom and liberty and the mandate that I have to do it are most of the reasons. The extra work to tag all my calves, which I don't do now, is the other part. The amount of work it will pile on me is tremendous.

The Last part of this though is what people need to think about.

-- If the Democrats regain control of the House, would that accelerate the timeline for mandatory animal ID? "Absolutely. That bill would be out of my committee in short effort. And I think I have support in the whole House, and I think in the Senate, to move this."

The NAIS bill would advance in short order should Democrats take the House. If that doesn't scare freedom minded Americans, I don't know what will.

An ear tag never stopped a disease, but it sure shows the true colors of freedom loving people.

Posted by Sarpy Sam in Politics at 02:17 | Comments (3) | Trackbacks (0)

Defined tags for this entry: democrats, nais, rep. collin peterson

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I have been researching the whole ball of bologna since January. I have over 370 hours of research into this thing, as I stand to be one of the first to lose everything I've got because of NAIS. I have participated in 5 WA protests against NAIS. The scary thing about NAIS is that absolutely nobody in the general public has any clue whatsoever that NAIS is even coming down the pike! Nobody has even heard of NAIS. It has not ever been in the mass media other than being talked about as a great thing.
I'm in WA state now, but grew up in Montana. Lately I have been doing extensive research on candidates positions on NAIS. Every state official in my state of WA, except one Rep. is heavily PRO-NAIS. They are a fair mix of Republican and Democrat. What we have learned since January is that where we might have been party specific BEFORE NAIS, we are now united with ANY candidate who is anti-NAIS. Heck I don't even care if that anti-NAIS candidate is purple , with 4 eyes, 7 feet and big red nose!! I'm voting for him!
NAIS threatens every rural home/farm owner in the country! Our Democratic Governor, Christine Gregoire, just sold us all out in the end of May when she went to Australia and New Zealand, telling them all that our NAIS system is doing great and well underway. As the US told Australia several years ago, that if they participated in this whole RFID thing, then we would also so that we could increase trade. So Australia did it. They also took away everybody's guns, and those that refused had their bank accounts frozen until they complied. When Gregoire went there on her recent trip, she was going to also gather data on how there system of implementation is working and adopting their own input on how to get our program "up to snuff"-so to speak. On the other hand, we have our Republican Congresscritter, Cathy McMorris, who is pushing NAIS as fast as possible since our state was just awarded $325,000 to help implement the NAIS. She and her cohorts contacted every horse/goat, chicken/livestock organization and sold it as a lovely, fruity fluffy, great idea that would help us all prevent disease and that the bottom line was that it was a good thing, "so just go volunteer"! So that was the crazy garbage going on over here that we just can't believe. Its been like that in every state that has reported on it thus far.
So lets unite on the fact that we HAVE to have anybody who represents anti NAIS and somebody bold and brazen enough to stand up against a den a thieves that is currently pushing this through from both the Republican and Democratic sides. NAIS is non-party specific.
To fight this, we must take a stand and in a VERY big way. Why? Because I refuse to hand my property title over to the Feds when my $1,000 per day non-compliance fines start multiplying. I also refuse-flat out stinking REFUSE- to suddenly partake in the assumption of my property and livestock rights to what the USDA calls "The National Herd", in which I then have to go broke paying the vet to chip every animal of mine or receive further fines. Unchipped animals cannot go to the vet, by the way, once NAIS is in effect. There are also fines for hauling your chipped animals anywhere off your property without filing a report on each animal within 24 hours of moving them. To that I also gladly refuse to partake in their pathetic idea of a system.
So I refuse to chip my animals. I refuse to be treated like a criminal under house arrest by having all of my animals chipped and watched. I refuse to be fined for not chipping my animals. I refuse to partake in any way, shape or form to something as attrocious as anything associated with RFID chipping or tagging.
I worked too damn hard all my life to get to where I'm at right now to have some pack of thieves pass legislation saying they have rights over my livestock and my property. If NAIS does go through, I will be one of the first farms to lose it all-animals and property. Then where does my family go? We have kids!! What- we go live in an apartment somewhere and forever remember the "good old days on the farm" because some pile of jack_____es stole all our livestock and property through non-compliance fines?!How is something like that possibly helpful to the American economy when there are MILLIONS of rural families that would be in the same boat as me, with losing everything within a month because of non-compliance fines?? IS that American? I think not! That is Authoritarian and Facist in nature, and I just cannot say enough about how quickly the country will either turn into a revolution or the economy will do a complete bellyflop when millions of families across the country start losing everything they have worked so hard for.
THAT is what the NAIS is all about. Now is the time to contact all state reps and tell them we are no longer voting by party. WE are voting by "pro" or "anti" NAIS candidates, as our entire farms and current farm related lifestyles depend on it.
We might also join the fight against our current corrupt government by joining the "We the People Foundation" who are currently fighting to keep our constitutional rights in tact. Afterall, NAIS wipes out our constitutional rights. Plus, the info on their website is nothing short of astounding as well as helpful in our cause against the NAIS. Their site can be read at www.GiveMeLiberty.org
Teaming up with other groups wanting to preserve our constitutional rights will be extremely helpful, as it will come down to sheer numbers of people in opposition uniting against NAIS, as well as against all the other RFID garbage out there.
-"If there must be trouble, let it be in my day that my child may have freedom." -Thomas Paine

#1 R. Holaday on 2006-06-11 22:38 (Reply)

I could not have put it better. Thank you for continueing the fight against this insidious system. Perhaps, the government is thinking that if they ram this down the throats of farmers, traditionally on of the most independent groups of americans, they will have toehold for microchipping annd tracking all US citizens. Once they have that ability, our freedom will be gone forever.
Charlotte Juett
DownsizeDC.org
Farm and Ranch Freedom

#1.1 Charlotte A Juett on 2006-11-09 07:33 (Reply)

Bravo...

I urge EVERYONE who owns animals to stop spending your time and money on people/organizations/politicians who support NAIS.

I also urge you to tell as many people on the street about it as possible.

And, finally, I urge you to talk to everyone you know who EATS meat... they will surely have a much harder time putting food on the table if NAIS becomes mandatory.

#2 Sue Diederich on 2006-11-24 11:14 (Reply)

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