Our Long National Nightmare is Over: Congressional Republicans Push to Declare Pizza a Vegetable

well, the reagan administration empirically did buckle to the ketchup producers and declared ketchup a vegetable that could be fed to kids in schools as a vegetable. another example of the systematic subordination of well being of actually existing kids to profits for agri-corporations. part of a long long pattern of republican willingness to subordinate health and well-being to profits for corporate interests. problem is that the democratic party represents a different corporate faction, really, so is not, despite what they say in the fantasy land of conservatism, different in kind from the right. they're just less vulgar and short-sighted. this subordination of political parties--and so the one mechanism that makes the system accountable to people---to corporate interests is a big explanation for the occupation movement. and it is entirely political. modern farm policy took shape across the 1930s with the idea of stabilizing agriculture as a sector, but the main changes that explain the centralization of wealth and power in agri-corporations are the doing of the nixon administration--republicans. so it is not at all far fetched to link the farce that often is us agricultural policy and its consequences at moments like this to the right. it doesn't matter whether you like it or not. its a simple historical fact.

 

A whole paragraph on that and not one mention of my bloody Mary's for breakfast idea... pfft.

 

Bloody Marys are more than a decent breakfast, they are a well balanced meal any time of the day. The celery stick proves it.

 

cross post, sir. criminy. bloody marys are the breakfast of champions. they've gotten me in trouble in the past. once, after about 20 of them, i ended up on the porch behind my grandfather's house with my father, who was a hefty individual. we broke the porch off the house. i blame the celery.

 

Dude, I've been replacing a hot water heater all afternoon... got the bruised and bloody knuckles to prove it. I need a couple drinks just to get my reading comp. up. My bad.

I swear every time I take a trip I return to a broken house. Tomorrow I hope to restore electricity to all the bedrooms.
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I had about 10-12 of them in the United Club lounge in Houston Sat. I'm not used to the United Clubs, spent a lot more time in the US Airways Clubs. I never gave it much thought until I ordered a drink and the lady never charged me. Kind of felt like I might be stuck in a scene from the Blues Bothers except no one followed me out to my POS cruiser to tell me I owed them for all the booze I drank.

 

easy and common access to the way your representative vote would correct this and other maladies in American politics. What would it be like if pols stats were published like baseball stats?

 

They are - they're just not as interesting. Oh wait, we're talking baseball stats. I don't pay any attention to those either.

For instance, I can see how my Senator Jim Webb voted.
http://www.govtrack.us/congress/person.xpd?id=412249&tab=votes

I can also find other interesting tidbits like this:

Wow, quite a range there. I can't imagine having difficulty figuring out whether my net worth is $500K or $6 million dollars, but I'd sure love to have the problem.

And why don't they round those numbers to the nearest dollar? That bugs me.

To keep this on topic, I still think I'd prefer my child to have pizza at lunch rather than a McRib sandwich.

 

The new standards for school lunch programs that were promulgated by the Dept of Ag this year (the first time in more than 10 years) are really not all that drastic -- more fruits, vegetables, and whole grains; offer only fat-free or low-fat (1 percent) fluid milk; limit saturated fat and sodium; minimize trans fat... -- unless you are invested in frozen pizza and french fries or as the Republicans in House suggested, the federal government shouldn't tell children what to eat (even if the feds pay for it).

To kill these regulations in a back door manner through a spending bill as the House Republicans did this week (with little or not objections from Democrats) is just another example of manipulating the system in favor of special interests over a relatively benign attempt to address childhood obesity that is spiraling out of control.

 

Unfortunately, when it comes to corporate lobbying, the dems. are almost as bad as the reps. Dollar signs blind the distinction between right and wrong.

 

Almost as bad? Man I think they may be worse. Mainly because they run around screaming that the act is so wrong while at the same time accepting all the cash they can get their greedy hands on.

 

That's kinda what I meant
if there was a site that (and I know there is ) that recorded how a given member of congress voted. and it was easy to use for even older voters and common as say facebook

You know something that was just out there
something where 'mr.smith' would explain why he voted yay or nay on a given bill
something even grandma could grasp.

 

Issmmm, I edited your post. You had the entire statement in quotes and it looked like all you were doing was quoting Joniemack. I think what I did is basically what you meant to do, put her comment in quotes and your added comments outside the quote. If this isn't right please let me know and I'll work with you to change it.

 

it was what I was trying to do, I saw the mistake but didn't think to edit to fix it until too muchh time had passed

in the words of the great Presidential candidate

oops
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oh and thanks

 

No problem, glad it worked out.

 

The government should not nor be expected to dictate what kids eat, that is what parents are for. Granted in this world we live today, where both parents have to work and it is easier to microwave a dinner than to cook one from "scratch" to make sure little Jimmy is eating properly, we look to government to keep our kids thin. But it is not so much as what they eat as the other variables in their lives. Instead of buying Jimmy an X-Box where he'll sit all day and the only exercise he gets is in his thumbs (not even his mind is really being exercised), the PARENTS need to take the initiative and explain to Jimmy he can't have an X-Box until he is a set age. Make him go outside and play tag or put him in little league, flag football, join the Y, etc.

There are far far more reasons Jimmy and his peers are fat than school lunches. THAT IS WHAT NEEDS TO BE ADDRESSED. We cannot nor should not expect our schools and governments to do that for us.

If you are not prepared to deal with your child and show them healthy ways to eat and live, then don't be a parent. That is part of parenting.

 

Managing what kids eat at home, eat out or pack in a school lunch is absolutely the parents job, not the governments.

When it comes to the National School Lunch Program that is heavily subsidized by taxpayer dollars, IMO, the government absolutely has the right and the responsibility to balance healthier eating within reasonable program costs.

 

Well, they are to me, I love baseball stats, to me they can be more exciting than watching the game. I am also a baseball historian and looking at the stats can tell you much about why certain teams will do certain things when a player reaches a certain age.

The way a politician votes (his stats) can tell you a lot about whether or not he represents what is in your best interests, I think more people should know how their elected officials vote and what they have or have not supported in whatever committees they happen to be in.

But to each their own, baseball and political stats aren't for everyone.

I think that it shows what our elected officials think of our intelligence. Maybe the 5ooK and the 6 mill are estimates on property he owns (which as we know real estate is at a low right now) or maybe he "pads" just so he can hide monies. Who knows what the true reason is behind it.

They should, however, since it is mandated round to the nearest dollar and have an independent body keep tabs on the net worth.

I remember in high school Am Gov. our teacher saying that when elected to Congress or President, by law their monies went into blind trusts and they could not touch them, this was to keep them from any inside knowledge that may spike certain stocks they may have held.

I'd like to know why it doesn't seem to be in place any longer and which congress people decided to change that law and why they did. But I digress.

Hey now, the McRib is a meat (byproduct) and is available only on a limited time basis. Besides they are no where near as delicious as they used to be.

 

There's an app for that (android only)
http://sunlightfoundation.com/projects/congress-for-android/

One of my top 10 android apps.