Rep. Pompeo (R-KS) has introduced H.R. 4432, the Safe and Accurate Food Labeling Act. Which it's not: H.R. 4432 would prohibit states, counties, or municipalities from enacting mandatory labeling laws -- now there is some small-government, states' rights conservatism for you! -- and would allow big food corporations to slap "natural" labels on their GMO food products, since the definition of the word "natural" is a matter of such intense debate. The bill would "permit" corporations to label their Frankenfoods voluntarily, but as we know, standards for voluntary labeling of GMO foods already exist, and no food producers are using them. And, as Steve Benen instructs us, Mr. Pompeo has also tried to scuttle a household product safety database and an EPA greenhouse-gas polluter database, all apparently at the behest of Koch Industries, which just so happens to be headquartered in his district. There's serving your constituents, and then there's serving your constituents up to your big donors. The Organic Consumers Association helps you tell your Congressfolk to reject H.R. 4432.
Meanwhile, Robert Shipp is serving a life sentence for selling cocaine. No one argues that Mr. Shipp shouldn't pay for his crime (which should go without saying, but seriously, some people can't read), but even the judge forced by law to hand down the sentence objected, after noting that Mr. Shipp's suppliers got comparatively light sentences. Mr. Shipp was, according to his sister, an honors student walking the straight-and-narrow until his brother's murder, which sent Mr. Shipp into a tailspin as it might do you or I; his brother's murderer, incredibly, got a mere 20 year sentence, then got out in 10. Drug addiction keeps you from exercising your rights and reaching your potential as an American, so I don't support legalization generally (though marijuana shouldn't be a Schedule I drug), but certainly we should punish murderers more than we punish nonviolent drug offenders. So change.org helps you petition President Obama and Attorney General Holder for clemency. Mr. Obama has shown some capacity for mercy in this regard, and, lately, so has society.
Finally, H.R. 4361, the Sunshine in Litigation Act, would make it a lot harder for corporations to hide damaging information in legal cases if that information is in the public interest. This bill comes attached to a news hook, as we're only just now finding out (thanks to confidentiality agreements in settlements) that General Motors's bad ignition switches may have killed as many as 13 good folks since 2005; if you've contemplated buying a GM car since then, you might have wanted to know that -- and if you've lost a family member to a bad GM ignition switch, you might have wanted to exact justice. H.R. 4361 would restrict confidentiality agreements in court cases if said agreements obscure "facts relevant to the protection of public health or safety." And before right-wingers squeal about TEH END UV TEH PRIVACYZ!!!!, note that judges can still enforce orders that preserve privacy if public safety isn't at risk, or even if a judge can justify letting "a specific and substantial interest in maintaining...confidentiality" prevail. So Public Citizen helps you tell your Congressfolk to support H.R. 4361.
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