Government Enforced Protection

Ever since the days of the "New Deal"(bad deal) the federal government, and the presidents have, without exception, been in the business of transferring power from us(the people) to them. More often than not, the power grab has gone hand-in-hand with a "deal" that the government has made with big business. Of course, they always claim that they are only protecting us from something awful that will happen to us otherwise.

The latest power grab in the name of "protection" is called the National Animal Identification System (NAIS). It is a system proposed by agribusiness and embraced by the United States Dept. of Agriculture (USDA) to track livestock in this country. Its supposed function is to keep terrorists from intentionally infecting our food supply, and also to protect us from things like avian flu, mad cow disease,and whatever else they can come up with to implement it by the target date of January 2009-or earlier if they can fast track it as they are currently attempting to do.

Here's how NAIS will work. On the individual level, your home (including name, address, telephone number, and Global Positioning Satellite coordinates) will have to be registered with the government. Your livestock-every fish, fowl,cow,hog,sheep,chicken, etc.- will have to be registered. Your animals will have to be electronically tagged so they can be tracked by satellite. They will also have to have blood drawn so they can be identified by their DNA. Of course agribusiness, the promoters of the system,will have it easier than the individual; they'll be able to register their stock in lots with one entry covering a herd(how convenient)
Who pays for all of this? The family raising a pig, cow, or a flock of laying hens for their own consumption will absorb the cost of compliance themselves. Agribusiness gets to pass on their costs to the consumer.

Government bureaucrats like to portray themselves as capable agencies that ride Quiotic-like to the rescue of the ordinary folks like you and me in times of crisis. The "national herd" concept the government now projects does not bode well for those of us who love freedom. And don't be fooled into thinking that this directive will be easily avoided, or ignored. The NAIS will turn your veterinarian into a spy. He will be required to see your documentation for registration before treating your animals, and must report you if you are not in compliance.The exact degree of compliance enforcement is one of the details not fully spelled out yet. As if its not a bitter enough pill-the uneccessary intrusion, the cost, the corporate welfare-without the added discussion of penalties, but I would expect enforcement to be the way bureaucrats always enforce so-called laws, that being with fines, imprisonment, and seizure of your property.

So, who actually stands to benefit from this do-gooder program? It will be agribusiness, and the high tech companies that provide the tracking and identification systems that will be mandated,not the public.

I am not anti-business, but I am anti-business-in-bed-with-government.

Businesses should prosper or die on the basis of their ability to provide a product that the public needs and wants, not because they've received government hand-outs, and favors. NAIS is out and out welfare of the worst kind,that being corporate welfare. It is a program to benefit large corporations, and expand big government.

Who loses with NAIS? The consumer, the small farmer, the family that wants to take the initiative to take control of their food supply by raising a few organic chickens for eggs and meat,the 4-H kids-yeah, even the 4-H'ers will have to comply, and by increasing the burden on the small producer, the NAIS will help destroy the small producer's market to the advantage of the agribusinesses.

This is not a program that was proposed by consumer groups, or voters, and it hasn't even been run through Congress. It is, pure and simple, a naked attempt to increase power, and profit on the part of both government, and corporations at the expense of small farmers, and the public.
The businesses involved are moving fast on this one. For them, the windfall profits will be enormous,so they have much to gain for a long time to come by forcing it through.The small farmer, the rural family, the consumer,the advocates of personal freedom of choice in America all have much to lose.

The good news is that there is still time to stop this usurpation of the people's rights by big government under the guise of "protectionism". Now is the time to enact the real "Patriot Act" by E-mailing,calling, or writing your congressman,and governor to protest."Will we lie supinely on our backs until we are bound hand and foot?;forbid it almighty God. I know not what course others may take, but as for me give me liberty, or give me death."

The revolution will not be televised.