Good grief! Hasn’t the Democrats’ tantrum gone on long enough? Wisconsin citizens voted on who represents them, so isn’t it time the Dems follow the Republican lead and give them that representation? If these senators want a meeting, all they have to do is get back to work. They’ll have many legitimate meetings in the line of that work. I feel bad for Wisconsin. I hope all areas of government can be cured of such union parasites as are behind this.

“Wisconsin gov: Democratic senators’ border-meeting idea ‘ridiculous’“

At least some of Wisconsin’s state senators went to work today. While Republicans showed up to vote on Governor Scott Walker’s budget bill, Democrats, every last one of them, chose to hide and shirk their duty. Citizens are to be represented by those they elect. Apparently the Democrats believe voters should not have this right, and that citizens should become their subjects.

And the actual subject here? Unions. Walker’s bill strips unions for public workers of their collective bargaining abilities. It stipulates that public workers will pay more towards their pensions and health care coverage. It also gives individual public workers a grievance process that they do not currently have.

The bill itself is sensible and much needed. As a parent in Wisconsin’s neighbor, Minnesota, I’m hoping it will be passed and then rub off on us. Teachers unions in Minnesota have made it so that bad teachers cannot be fired once they’ve worked for three years. They’ve made it difficult for the very best teachers to be hired or retained. And for these benefits to our students, they’ve received tens of millions of dollars in dues, fees and contributions in this state alone.

The best teachers, the top of the class, should be the ones hired. Good teachers should receive good pay, their performance also serving as their job security. Bad teachers should be let go, with no further pay or benefits. This should all be based on individual performance, not on the strong-arming for collective pay and benefits. Good teachers would benefit from unions having to step down. More importantly, students would benefit from the same. We could finally strive for positive education reform without unions standing in the way.

The situation in Wisconsin sounds tense. Officials are searching for the missing Democrats. Hallways around the Senate chamber are packed with protesters to the point that no one can get in or out. The senators who showed up for work have been told to lock themselves in their offices due to the protesters, who are even banging on their windows. At least one union is calling on people from neighboring states to get involved and protest the bill, as though it is our business to do so. Even Obama seems to think it’s wise to speak out against the bill, as though it is a nationwide bill, and to stir up a bigger mob.

My thoughts are with Wisconsin. Voters there spoke volumes in the last election. May the quiet grace and level-headedness of their representatives who didn’t hide inspire the rest of the community, may they pass this bill, and may no one be hurt in the process.

Today the Senate passed S510, the Food Safety Modernization Act. It has evolved somewhat from 2009′s HR875, but not enough to allay existing fears that it’s a grab for complete control over our food supply.

An accredited third-party auditor shall not be owned, managed, or controlled by any person that owns or operates an eligible entity to be certified by such auditor;

The above section is pointless. Unless, miraculously, large corporations and the government would be above influencing auditors who were not directly managed by them. Not only that, but such an auditor could actually do damage to a small, mom & pop operation in favor of a large company.

There should not be auditors under this bill because S510 should not be enacted at all. It does nothing to enhance the safety of our food supply, since it neglects to address certain aspects of food production. For instance, pesticide and hormone use, gene splicing, and steps not taken to avoid contamination on corporate farms. While corporate anything likely won’t feel too big of a sting from the reporting or inspections required by this act, small, local operations could be devastated.

Section 415 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, which S510 refers to, excludes “farms; restaurants; other retail food establishments; nonprofit food establishments in which food is prepared for or served directly to the consumer; or fishing vessels” from the definition of facilities required to register. This appears to let the homesteader or family farmer who sells at the local farmer’s market off the hook. But what if that homesteader actually makes something with the food he grows? Cider from apples, perhaps? Cheese that might be sold in a local grocery chain? Yes, there should be laws concerning food safety, but the regulations posed by this bill are too costly and intrusive, and are open to future changes that could clamp down on home or locally grown food while providing no new safety measures.

Foodborne illness outbreaks are limited to the population that consumes the tainted food. Mass producers sell nationwide and worldwide. Homesteaders and true family farms more often supply a much smaller, local population. The outbreak is only as big as the consumer base, making the homestead and the local farm an effortless way to provide food safety. Instead of encouraging the comeback of these farms, S510 penalizes them. In fact, it penalizes all of us through new regulations and the cost of implementing and maintaining them. In exchange, it offers a false sense of security.

We have a President who refuses to do the will of the people or even to meet Republicans in the middle on some very major issues. Even now, after voters have made known their disapproval of the actions of an unchecked Democratic Senate and presidency, Obama is too egotistical and out of touch with US citizens and reality to bend. Yet somehow certain overly-liberal voices scream that if things come to a standstill it will be entirely the fault of Republicans. Well I, for one, am glad to have representatives with the clout and the intent to effectively stop the runaway train we’ve been on. It’s unhealthy to have too much of any one thing at a time, and we overdosed on Democrats in the Senate. Time to detox.

Finally, A Minnesota Supreme Court ruling on the Coleman – Franken recount battle that has kept us only halfway represented and looking like monkeys. Maybe Coleman will have gained some sense, and won’t keep this going. It looked obvious long ago who fairly won the race, and Coleman has only succeeded in causing a deficiency in the Senate for the people he supposedly wants to represent.