Hit 'em when they ain't lookn'.

The attention of Congress is now almost entirely on the big issues: the war in Iraq and what way to better support the troops.

The major political blogs are taking on the question of corruption. dengre, as always, keeps the attention of dailykos on the aftermath of the Abramoff Scandal and the House cleaning that is still in order. While that is going on, the folks at redstates.com are taking on corruption themselves, starting with California Representative Ken Calvert. They understand that being unwilling to address this issue costs them vote, seats, power.

The Green Party of CA is going through a period of self flagellation and factional fighting that must warm the cockles of a -heart and justify every spoiler rationalization that they have ever voiced.

Meanwhile, back in Washington, Monsanto is at work, pushing the GMO favoring legislation that they failed to get through California's legislature in 2006. Yesterday,House Committee on Agriculture, Livestock, Dairy and Poultry Subcommittee, met to mark up the Farm Bill of 2007.
This bill includes the following seemingly innocuous language.

SEC. 123. EFFECT OF USDA INSPECTION AND DETERMINATION OF NON-REGULATED STATUS.
Notwithstanding any other provision of law, no State or locality shall make any law prohibiting the use in commerce of an article that the Secretary of Agriculture has—
(1) inspected and passed; or
(2) determined to be of non-regulated status.

The effect of this bill is to once more, override the expressed wishes of many states and local constituencies in favor of a "big government knows best how to protect all of you mentality."

I would have expected this from a Richard Pombo. I was very concerned in that he appeared to be next in line to chair the Agriculture Committee had he remained in a Republican Congress. Happily, he is gone and the Republicans no longer have complete control over Congress.

It must be the Corporate indebted Democrats who are sponsoring this legislation. We have a strong movement for sustainable agriculture in California. In many counties, Greens, like Erica Martenson in Napa, are leading the effort to protect local agriculture from the onslaught of unregulated use of genetically modified organisms. We know that non-regulated GE crops will contaminate neighboring crops. Everyone knows this but Congress would take away our protection from the unscrupulous Monsanto's of this world.

There are three California Representatives on that sub-committee: Joe Baca (CA-43), Dennis Cardoza (CA-18) and Jim Costa (CA-20). All are Democrats. All three need to hear from us regarding the elimination of this un-necessary, un-democratic big government appropriation of the rights of local government to protect their citizens.

It is time Greens stopped discussing bylaws and started to protect our interests, the other parties are not doing it.