Congress Serves Interests Other Than Public
Many hailed the continuing resolution passed by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama last month as a victory amid the budget stalemate. While the government stays open for the next six months, it brings with it the same awful corporation-serving politics that may make a shutdown seem desirable.
Hidden in the wording of the resolution was the Farmer Assurance Provision, referred to as the "Monsanto Protection Act" by its opposition, which essentially mandates the Department of Agriculture to approve the planting of genetically engineered or modified seeds at the request of a farmer of producer. What makes this worse is that the Monsanto Company, one of the biggest agriculture companies in the world, actually wrote that provision. Republican Roy Blunt of Missouri, the senator that introduced it admitted as much in an interview and seemed to do so with what could only be described as nonchalance.
This outrageous circumvention of federal authority is not an isolated case. Take 10 minutes and look up every way Congress has limited the ability of Medicare to negotiate drug prices or the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives to enforce gun laws.
This speaks to a larger, fundamental problem of Congress acting not in the best interest of the people, but in the best interest of powerful corporations who donate millions to re-election campaigns.
In this instance, the rules of legislation in Congress (written and enforced by Congress) allow for matters completely unrelated to the bulk of a bill to become part of the bill as what's known as a rider. Often used as earmarks for special spending projects, the rider in this case made the USDA ineffective. It's not about whether the seeds are harmful. It's about that fact that if they are shown to be harmful, there's now no way to stop them from being planted, grown and sold.
How do we stop this madness and get Congress back to serving the people? There are many problems and even more solutions. Several of them are in the hands of the Supreme Court.
The Court has not only gutted effective campaign finance reform in recent years, but also prohibited presidents from striking certain items from bills (a "line-item veto," which the court declared unconstitutional in 1998). Unless the balance of the court changes, the only way to get around it is to pass a constitutional amendment (or several). Alas, it would take a state-led constitutional convention to circumvent Congress' role in the amendment process. We are stuck in a sick, convoluted catch-22.
The Monsanto rider is not the worst rider that can be imagined. It is, however, symptomatic of just how far Congress has strayed from its intended function. The problems are so fundamental it may well take constitutional amendments to fix them, amendments that would become the most important ones since those that abolished slavery and created due process.
Nothing can happen without the strong will of the people, and we need to be heard. Many of Congress' operations take place in the shadows. Unless we make it clear that we want action, this kind of politics will continue to be business as usual.