Bitcoin Forum

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/LIS/roll_call_lists/roll_call_vote_cfm.cfm?congress=112&session=2&vote=00161#position

http://thomas.loc.gov/cgi-bin/bdquery/z?d112:SP2310:

Of course he voted against it.

How can the market work in his "libertarian" proponents' favor if people have the information to make a free market function.

The change in the U.S. labeling laws really bothers me.  I can't believe this is the game they want to play to prevent people from knowing what they consume.

Do you really think that more labelling regulations are going to change anything?

If I understand it correctly, it is a federal law to allow states to force producers to put a particular label on their products in some cases.
Any consistent libertarian has to be against forcing people to do things they don't want to do with their property. Rand Paul's vote is as expected.

Has anyone here ever tried non-GMO corn? I've only eaten corn that is the result of centuries of selective breeding, far removed from anything unmodified.

and apples..

I have little opinion on labels... I forgive Ron Paul whether right or wrong on this.

Funny it's even an issue next to Obama's evil.

Rand Paul <> Ron Paul

He's completely right to do so.

Whats stopping you from informing yourself now? Also, for example beer labels don't even need to tell me the alcohol content, and food labels are missing all sorts of info they should have to be truly informative. Usually if I am worried about it I look it up anyway. How much of that food does the FDA actually test anyway? While I like having that info, it seems that government enforcement of them is just kind of a wasteful and feel-good measure. If someone put a label and it was later found to be incorrect that should be fraud though.

If people want their food products certified in a certain way and are willing to pay what it costs then the market will provide this service. These laws are both redundant and an infringement on property rights. This is Ron Paul's perspective and I totally agree with his vote.

Sorry that's doing it backwards.  If you are being sold something, you deserve to be told what's in it.  You are free not to read it, but that is your choice.  If the product does not have facts that you need to know on the packaging, you never get the chance to make that choice.  

The only fact the packaging absolutely needs is a unique identifying number like a PLU or UPC code. Then the internet can solve any remaining information shortages. We could even streamline the process with a smartphone app...

*scan*
[pause]

==WARNINGS==
Non-Kosher
Non-Halal
Contains meat
Made in a factory that processes tree nuts
GMO
Comment by ChargersFan123: "these things are disgusting! fail!" (2 responses)
Comment by Joints420: "whatevs, i liked it but it did make me throw up i think"

Tap an entry to see additional information.
Buy carrots now! Tap here to get a better deal on carrots!

Great idea, but...


What the hell are these things!?!?!? Vat-grown pork rinds or something? ;)

What about all the bugs that are "allowed" to be on or in certain foods....


We eat a lot of thrips and maggots :(

GMO does not equal selective breeding. 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetically_modified_organism

Right now 85% of corn is GMO, so it is most of it, but 17 years ago almost no corn was GMO.  If you had corn before then, it was non GMO.  I can not taste the difference but usually taste is not going to be the problem.

http://www.naturalnews.com/035734_GMOs_foods_dangers.html

They already cross pig DNA with produce, how long before they cross people DNA with soy lentils?  :D

The important thing is that the buyer has access to information that meets a common standard and that is accurate.  Once that is there, if there is a market for smartphone apps, great. 

I agree you "deserve", but you don't get to force the seller to tell if he doesn't want to. Just don't trust him and don't buy from him if you find it suspicious.
I believe the law in question was about forcing a label. The simple fact that some people want to force others to put a particular label on their products is already suspicious too.

Wouldn't it make more sense just to allow non-GMO food producers to label their products as such, and market the idea of non-GMO products being superior to consumers? Is that not currently allowed?

I seem to recall a ban on "GMO free" labeling. Not sure if it was nation-wide or not.

Glad someone has some sense.

Yes, it is allowed, and some of them are already doing it.

Americans who export food to the UK are not allowed to separate GMO foods and not allowed to say what % is GMO. 

So why is it "backwards"? The market already solves the problem. You haven't actually made a counter argument, just restated your case. People will have labels if they are willing to pay the premium for labels. If they aren't willing to pay the cost, then what's the point in forcing them to pay for something that they don't want?

Why are you "free not to read it"? If you don't have the facts that you need to know on the packaging, you never get the chance to make that choice. The only solution is to use the states monopoly of violence to force people to read the labels, right? People are also free to not buy a product without a label on it. On one side you advocate personal responsibility and on the other hand you advocate coercion by the state.

You completely have the choice to not buy it..  The government should be doing nothing but making sure that what a company would choose to put on its label is factual. If the people want companies to print specific things on the labels then it's the peoples responsibilty to either not buy those products or refuse to do so until the company provides the product they want, not the governments...


+1 to this.

That seems so fucked up. Under what guise could such a law be allowed to be made?  UK should ban American imported food unless it can be known what is in it. Speak with your wallets people, it's the only language they know!

http://agbioforum.org/v10n1/v10n1a06-gruere.htm

"These outcomes show that in developed countries, thus far, mandatory labeling has failed to provide consumer information and consumer choice. Before the regulations, consumers did not know about GM content, while after implementation of the regulations they do not know more, but all products are basically non–GM (or only contain accidental GM traces under the threshold level)."

Essentially if you tell people that the food has GM content, it gets rejects so the law was made to prevent people from knowing.