Rand voted no on GMO labeling (a year ago)

Why should businesses be forced to label these things? Also, this vote was taken a year ago. How is this news?
 
"The federal government lacks constitutional authority to mandate labeling of products containing genetically-modified food. Furthermore, those who do not wish to consume genetically-modified products should be leery of federally-mandated labeling because history shows that federal regulatory agencies are susceptible to ‘capture,’ where the regulators end up serving the interest of the business they are supposed to control. In the case of labeling, federal agencies could redefine the meaning of ‘modified’ to allow genetically-engineered food on the market without fully-informing consumers of the presence of genetically- engineered ingredients. Instead of federal regulation, consumers should demand that manufactures provide full information and refuse to buy those products that are not fully labeled. Once producers see there is a demand for non-genetically-engineered products they will act to fulfill that demand. Of course, makers of genetically-engineered food should be held legally responsible if they fraudulently market their products or harm anyone." - Ron Paul

"I am an opponent of the FDA's war on natural foods and farmers. I've stood up for raw milk, hemp and natural supplements. I fought to take power AWAY from the government on these issues. So while there is evidence we should be concerned about GMOs, we should also be careful not to lose our constitutional perspective simply because the end result is one we may desire. That's what we fight against. That's what the statists do. Take a loot at a pretty thorough rundown on the recent GMO amendment. There were many more problems with it, including the potential the FDA could have assumed broad new rulemaking authority if this badly written amendment had passed." -Rand Paul
 
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Isn't this old news? ...and is it really a surprise that a libertarian leaning official votes against...more government regulation? Don't you trust the FDA to tell you what to eat?

Rand Paul’s recent NO vote on a bill requiring the labeling of genetically modified foods is causing quite a stir in the Ron Paul community. Over at the Daily Paul, a very heated exchange is underway including comments like this from ‘freetoroam,’

“He (Rand Paul) is a disaster and votes like this drive good Americans away from the Liberty movement.”

Another libertarian site, The Humble Libertarian, posted the following,

As if Rand Paul’s credibility with liberty activist isn’t already badly tarnished, he voted NO on a bill to require GMO food labeling. This is a very important issue and an issue that crosses party lines. Folks have an absolute right (emphasis mine) to know what they are eating.

An “absolute right,” seriously?

When did the federal government gain such a great track-record that we would trust them to tell us when food items are safe? This might be a good time to remember just why Dr. Paul earned that nickname of “Dr. No.” (Here’s a hint. He didn’t get it by voting for feel-good legislation in the name of “safety.”) I’m unaware if Ron Paul has commented on this issue recently, but I see no reason to believe he has reversed his position since providing the following comments to vote-tx.org in 2008,

"The federal government lacks constitutional authority to mandate labeling of products containing genetically-modified food. Furthermore, those who do not wish to consume genetically-modified products should be leery of federally-mandated labeling because history shows that federal regulatory agencies are susceptible to ‘capture,’ where the regulators end up serving the interest of the business they are supposed to control. In the case of labeling, federal agencies could redefine the meaning of ‘modified’ to allow genetically-engineered food on the market without fully-informing consumers of the presence of genetically- engineered ingredients." - Rep. Ron Paul

More: http://iroots.org/2012/06/23/was-rand-paul-right-to-vote-against-mandated-labeling-of-gmos/
 
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Why should businesses be forced to label these things? Also, this vote was taken a year ago. How is this news?
Because the crap they put in the food we are eating. We should be allowed to know what's in these things. And no it was just done a few days ago.

Not the job of the government.
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Its the job of the state government to force companies like Monsanto to say what's in the food they are letting people eat...guess everyone is ok with being poisoned.

"The federal government lacks constitutional authority to mandate labeling of products containing genetically-modified food. Furthermore, those who do not wish to consume genetically-modified products should be leery of federally-mandated labeling because history shows that federal regulatory agencies are susceptible to ‘capture,’ where the regulators end up serving the interest of the business they are supposed to control. In the case of labeling, federal agencies could redefine the meaning of ‘modified’ to allow genetically-engineered food on the market without fully-informing consumers of the presence of genetically- engineered ingredients. Instead of federal regulation, consumers should demand that manufactures provide full information and refuse to buy those products that are not fully labeled. Once producers see there is a demand for non-genetically-engineered products they will act to fulfill that demand. Of course, makers of genetically-engineered food should be held legally responsible if they fraudulently market their products or harm anyone." - Ron Paul

"I am an opponent of the FDA's war on natural foods and farmers. I've stood up for raw milk, hemp and natural supplements. I fought to take power AWAY from the government on these issues. So while there is evidence we should be concerned about GMOs, we should also be careful not to lose our constitutional perspective simply because the end result is one we may desire. That's what we fight against. That's what the statists do. Take a loot at a pretty thorough rundown on the recent GMO amendment. There were many more problems with it, including the potential the FDA could have assumed broad new rulemaking authority if this badly written amendment had passed." -Rand Paul
You see one reason I know the real reason he voted against it...can't piss off to many people for his run in 2016...he figured the liberty folks were the least of his worries big business could keep him from winning.
 
Stupid vote by Rand. Personally, I want to know which products contain GMO so I can avoid this crap.

It's not about government control, people! It's about informed consumer choice. Obviously, corporate interests do not want that. But our elected representatives should know better.
 
though a food producer can't mislabel something in order to sell it, to pass a law compelling them to label anything at all is immoral. (if it isn't your property, you don't have the right)
good rule of thumb, if the company is too afraid to list what something is... don't buy it.
if a company lies about the contents through the label, sue them- and let everyone know they sell poison/defraud people.

last thing we need is another state bureacratic army in charge of label inspections.
 
Because the crap they put in the food we are eating. We should be allowed to know what's in these things.

What you need no one's permission to do is to refuse to eat that which you can't reasonably verify the contents of to your satisfaction. If a company refuses to tell you what's in the product, it doesn't take a brain surgeon to figure out that consuming that product is probably not in your best interest.

There is no possible legislative cure for stupid.
 
So unbelievable that supposed libertarians would cannibalize their own for voting against government regulation. Is this really happening?

The free market solved this issue awhile ago. Companies that make GMO free food proudly market and label them as such. If there is no label indicating food is GMO free, then it has GMOs. It's not complicated. In fact, the rapidity with which the food market assimilates to consumer demands is staggering. It was seemingly overnight that every other item in the supermarket was labeled "No Transfats".

Voting against government regulation is now unlibertarian. Pretty pathetic.
 
Stupid vote by Rand. Personally, I want to know which products contain GMO so I can avoid this crap.

It's not about government control, people! It's about informed consumer choice. Obviously, corporate interests do not want that. But our elected representatives should know better.
Exactly! Like I said he knows who to piss off and who to cower to...big business wins this round.
 
Give more power to the FDA? We shouldn't even have an FDA!

There should be private 'quality-control' firms, and you have the options to trust the ones you want to trust. If one of them slips up - oh boy - you can expect hell to pay for them. When the FDA slips up - what happens? Consumers get sick or die, and no consequences to the FDA.
 
Rand should introduce a bill stripping the patent office of the authority to grant patents for GMOs. That way he'd shrink government while ensuring maximum consumer health and freedom.
 
Ok GMO label mandating fans out there? Do you support the mandatory calorie count menus in Obamacare?
 
Why should businesses be forced to label these things? Also, this vote was taken a year ago. How is this news?

Because GMO is crap, inferior to natural stuff, and given the choice people wouldn't want to pay the same money for GMO that they pay for real food.

It's a different product, and so it needs a distinct label, so that nobody would confuse it with real food.
 
Wow....http://farmwars.info/?p=8686

Not surprised anymore really wish Napolitano or Ventura would say they are running already. Maybe even Cruz.

Didn't you know that poor Monsanto only wants to operate within the free market? Small farmers should know better than to try and compete with Monsanto's amazing scale of production. Monsanto's multi-million dollar legal department and government allies could never keep up with the devastating amount of regulation placed on them.
 
Stupid vote by Rand. Personally, I want to know which products contain GMO so I can avoid this crap.

It's not about government control, people! It's about informed consumer choice. Obviously, corporate interests do not want that. But our elected representatives should know better.

Do you often have a hard time understanding enumerated powers and the US constitution?

Hint: this isn't an enumerated power.
 
Because the crap they put in the food we are eating. We should be allowed to know what's in these things. And no it was just done a few days ago.

Then stop eating it! I love all this stuff about 'our food' like we're all pigs feeding at the same trough or something. You have the freedom to eat or not eat what you want, the point is don't infringe on mine with this statist compulsory labeling nonsense.

Because GMO is crap, inferior to natural stuff, and given the choice people wouldn't want to pay the same money for GMO that they pay for real food.

It's a different product, and so it needs a distinct label, so that nobody would confuse it with real food.

You're proven wrong by that fact that people do choose to pay money for it. They're satisfied with the product and thus they don't feel the need to research every aspect of the food's production.

Who's to say it costs the same either? The point of gm is to maximize crop yields so that food can be sold for cheaper.
 
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