"The tea parties are having trouble channeling their grassroots base."

[Clio the Leo]

Tea parties fail to stop food bill
Leaders struggled to rally the grassroots around niche policy issue.
By Ambreen Ali

The tea parties are having trouble channeling their grassroots base.

While tea-party leaders have been able to get activists fired up about protests and elections, it has been much harder to incite that same fervor over niche policy issues.

That could undermine the movement's ability to channel its electoral gains into a policy force and hold accountable the lawmakers activists helped elect.

The struggle played out this week as several tea-party groups and conservative commentator Glenn Beck failed to stop the Food Safety Modernization Act (S. 510) in the Senate.

"Enough phone calls were not made," Debbie Dooley, a Tea Party Patriots national coordinator, said.

Only six of the 18 Republicans Tea Party Patriots targeted voted against the bill. It sailed through the Senate 73 to 25 Tuesday with a broad coalition of bipartisan support that included the powerful U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

<snip>

The legislation gives the Food and Drug Administration the authority to recall food and requires it to inspect farms and food processing facilities. It also puts greater responsibility on manufacturers and farmers to prevent food contamination.

http://www.congress.org/news/2010/11/30/tea_parties_fail_to_stop_food_bill

Well *I* called! ;) .. Score one for us "Nanny state" advocates. :bounce:

[sakabatou]

1. What grassroots? They're astroturfs aren't they?

[PSPS]

3. You're right. Such a "grass roots" claim immediately identifies the piece as pure propaganda.

If it weren't for Tom Delay, the Koch brothers and the 24/7 free advertising by Fox, there would be no "Tea Party" at all.

[ixion]

2. Score another win for Big Ag, and a smackdown for the family farm

hurray.

[Clio the Leo]

6. "new food safety bill will have provisions to exempt small farms from costly regulations.."

New Food Safety Bill to Exempt Small Farms

Big factory farms mean big fat problems, just look at the recent Cal-Maine egg recall; 24,000 dozen eggs possibly contaminated with salmonella and now an undercover video showing rampant health violations and animal abuse.

Clearly we need to regulate giant food producers in the United States, but, we also need to protect smaller farms that go about their business without violation and supply their community with fresh local food.

So after much consternation and bickering, the new food safety bill approved by the Senate will have provisions to exempt small farms from costly regulations that could put them out of business.

An agreement facilitated by Senator Jon Tester of Montana would allow farmers who make less than $500,000 a year and sell directly to consumers, local restaurants and supermarkets within their state or within 275 miles of their farm to be exempt from expensive food safety plans imposed on bigger farms.

http://www.organicauthority.com/blog/organic/new-food-safety-bill-to-exempt-small-farms/

[EC]

4. Maybe some of the people dragged into the movement

decided they liked food safety and wouldn't make the calls...winter has a way of cooling tempers...

[SoCalDem]

5. There is no "base"..

They are and always were, just pawns..people with time on their hands, who took the box lunch & a ride on a fancy tour bus..