More like they're unhappy that they've been bypassed with initiatives taken to the public and they want to reassert control for their corporate friends. They can't touch the constitution, so they want to have some amendments moved to state statutes that they can more easily change or over-ride.
Uh, forget the people's will. They clearly don't know what they're voting for, right? After all, that's why they voted for you. Who needs to think anymore once one's legally-elected representative is calling the shots for you? It's not like they have any other interests in mind besides yours. A politician has never made a decision that's better for corporations than it is for the public.
TALLAHASSEE -- Republicans are aiming to "scrub" or "purify" the state constitution by revisiting several ballot initiatives carved into the document by voters in recent years.Honestly, what offends me most -- and there's much about this that's offensive -- is that some guy in the Florida legislature has the nerve to speak out against special interests by saying that proper treatment of animals is not a timeless principle...
The issue sets up a power struggle between well-financed issue advocates and members of the state Legislature, who contend the constitution has become muddied with arcane requirements they personally oppose but are compelled to enact.
"The constitution is supposed to be there for setting timeless principles," said Rep. David Simmons, R-Altamonte Springs, chairman of the House Judiciary Committee. "Instead, it's been hijacked by special interests in recent years. Pregnant pigs and such do not belong in the constitution."
The prohibition on caging gestational pigs was approved by voters in 2002, following a campaign by animal-rights advocates.
This, of course, is to serve the other special interests of the pork industry, which clearly doesn't think compassionate treatment of animals is a timeless principle. These are the type of machinations that need to be made as transparent to the public as possible, and in a prominent way. Corporations and their lawmaker friends seem to go behind the backs of the public every time the people vote against them.
Case in point: Monsanto. When Mendocino residents banned GMOs from their county, the company began to attempt an end-run around the vote. It's disgusting, and we should be doing everything we can to increase antipathy toward companies and politicians that engage in these practices.
Categories: florida | constitution | legislature | pork | pigs | monsanto | gmo | animal-rights
