Obama's "Change" Looks Like More of the Same

Rumors in our nation's capital have president-elect Obama leaning towards Tom Vilsack as the head honcho of the USDA in his upcoming administration. As the post below points out, this man is no friend of American farmers (except perhaps the huge corporate ones), and has very questionable connections to biotech groups and corporations such as Monsanto that are aggressively supporting and marketing genetically modified foods and agricultural practices that are nutritionally and ecologically disastrous.

Apparently the big-bucks behind those that support control of the food supply have bought and paid for access and influence within the Obama camp. Despite campaigning against the status quo and "Old Boy Network" in Washington, it appears for now that Obama is practicing business as usual. When one analyzes the massive financial advantage that Obama had over his Republican opponent, along with some of the questionable moves that were made by the McCain camp during the election, it is no small stretch of the imagination to suspect that perhaps Obama was picked for the job far before the voting took place. Only time will tell, but it will be interesting to keep an eye on how much real change will occur over the next four years.


Six Reasons Why Obama Appointing Monsanto's Buddy, Former Iowa Governor Vilsack, for USDA Head is a Terrible Idea
From: National Campaign for Sustainable Agriculture & the OCA
Nov. 12, 2008

* Former Iowa Governor Tom Vilsack's support of genetically engineered pharmaceutical crops, especially pharmaceutical corn.

* The biggest biotechnology industry group, the Biotechnology Industry Organization, named Vilsack Governor of the Year. He was also the founder and former chair of the Governor's Biotechnology Partnership.

* When Vilsack created the Iowa Values Fund, his first poster child of economic development potential was Trans Ova and their pursuit of cloning dairy cows.

* Vilsack was the origin of the seed pre-emption bill in 2005, which many people here in Iowa fought because it took away local government's possibility of ever having a regulation on seeds- where GE would be grown, having GE-free buffers, banning pharma corn locally, etc. Representative Sandy Greiner, the Republican sponsor of the bill, bragged on the House Floor that Vilsack put her up to it right after his state of the state address.

* Vilsack has a glowing reputation as being a schill for agribusiness biotech giants like Monsanto. Sustainable ag advocates across the country were spreading the word of Vilsack's history as he was attempting to appeal to voters in his presidential bid, and there was controversy because Vilsack often traveled in Monsanto's jet.

*Vilsack is an ardent support of corn and soy based biofuels, which use as much or more fossil energy to produce them as they generate, while driving up world food prices and literally starving the poor.

http://www.grassrootsnetroots.org/articles/article_15573.cfm