Obama Can’t Fix Congress’ Monsanto Giveaway with an Executive Order

I have seen several Facebook posts about the so-called "Monsanto Protection Act" being signed into law by President Obama, excoriating President Obama and members of Congress who voted for it. This is deceitful, unfair language. (I'm not defending the provision itself.) When I tried to address this rationally, some commenters ranted that the President should have vetoed the whole bill in order to stop this one provision, shutting down the government, and hurting many of our poorest people. This kind of stuff from people who call themselves "liberals", being extremism mirror images of tea baggers, is why I stopped calling myself a Liberal and started calling myself a Progressive.

http://www.politicususa.com/congress-sequester-crisis-slip-corporate-give-monstanto.html

By: Sarah JonesMar. 27th, 2013

The “Monsanto Protection Act” (section 735) was attached (anonymously) as a rider to a short term spending bill (HR 933). President Obama signed it into law on March 26th.

Food activists (and generally sane people) are outraged, as they should be. 250,000 voters signed a petition opposing the act and others called for Obama to strike the Monsanto provision (aka, “biotech rider”) from the spending bill.

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The problem is that the President does not have line item veto power; it’s all or nothing. This is called a poison pill. As part of the short term spending bill, President Obama had to sign the resolution in order to prevent the federal government from shutting down today, March 27, when the current funding was set to expire. He doesn’t get to cherry pick what parts he signs into law. He either lets the goverment shut down or he signs the poison pill.

http://www.salon.com/2013/03/27/how_the_monsanto_protection_act_snuck_into_law/

Wednesday, Mar 27, 2013
By Natasha Lennard

Updated, March 28: A number of readers have requested to know exactly where in the HR 933 they might find the provision dubbed the “Monsanto Protection Act.” It is Section 735 in the bill, the full text of which can be read here.

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Original post: Slipped into the Agricultural Appropriations Bill, which passed through Congress last week, was a small provision that’s a big deal for Monsanto and its opponents. The provision protects genetically modified seeds from litigation in the face of health risks and has thus been dubbed the “Monsanto Protection Act” by activists who oppose the biotech giant. President Barack Obama signed the spending bill, including the provision, into law on Tuesday

The Food Democracy Now and the Center for Food are directing blame at the Senate Appropriations Committee and its chairman, Sen. Barbara Mikulski, D-Md. According to reports, many members of Congress were apparently unaware that the “Monsanto Protection Act” even existed within the spending bill, HR 933; they voted in order to avert a government shutdown.

“It sets a terrible precedent,” noted the International Business Times. “Though it will only remain in effect for six months until the government finds another way to fund its operations, the message it sends is that corporations can get around consumer safety protections if they get Congress on their side. Furthermore, it sets a precedent that suggests that court challenges are a privilege, not a right.”