Do It Voluntarily. Or Else.

Radley Balko | February 19, 2009

I'm getting the impression that the Obama administration doesn't fully grasp the meaning of the word "voluntary."

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack told consumer groups, farm groups and meat industry leaders Tuesday that he will ask the meat industry to voluntarily follow stricter guidelines for new package labels designed to specify a food’s country of origin…

If the industry does not comply with the stricter guidelines, the administration will write new rules, according to those who spoke with Vilsack on Tuesday.

Comments

|2.19.09 @ 11:52AM|#

I don't know. Looks like the standard choice government gives you:

"Do what we want or we will hurt you."

Xeones|2.19.09 @ 11:53AM|#

Remember, according to Harry Reid, taxes are voluntary too.

New World Dan|2.19.09 @ 11:54AM|#

It's kind of like when I tell my kid: clean your room or I'll clean it for you.

This is a common government tactic: reform your practices or we'll step in and really be a pain in the ass. The threat of legislation was enough to put warning labels on music and to get baseball to start a steroid testing program. In most cases, this is still preferable to outright regulation.

Hugh Akston|2.19.09 @ 11:57AM|#

Dan,

I don't see a distinction. Either way the actions are motivated by threat of force.

|2.19.09 @ 12:00PM|#

Xeones, no "yo, fuck Vilsack"? Feeling a bit off today?

|2.19.09 @ 12:00PM|#

Yo, fuck Xeones for not being predictable.

Obamatarian|2.19.09 @ 12:08PM|#

The Obama administration is so much better than McCain/Palin would have been.We've got legal porn and medical marijuana now.Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

We won. Deal with it.|2.19.09 @ 12:09PM|#

Speak stupid, carry a big club.

T|2.19.09 @ 12:16PM|#

Don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good.

Since nothing the new administration has proposed is even good, I don't think I have to apply that metric yet.

Franklin Harris|2.19.09 @ 12:19PM|#

Is this one of those "nudge" things I've been hearing so much about?

LarryA|2.19.09 @ 12:28PM|#

We've got legal porn and medical marijuana now.

And, if we just hold our breaths a little longer, Obama says he respects the Second Amendment.

Inigo Montoya|2.19.09 @ 12:29PM|#

You keep using that word. I do not think it means what you think it means.

Xeones|2.19.09 @ 12:31PM|#

Leave me alone, dudes. I figured the "fuck Tom Vilsack" was implied. Besides, i'm not trying to become a caricature of myself, you know?

Seward|2.19.09 @ 12:33PM|#

Why would I care about the country of origin exactly? Is this some way to promote U.S. grown meat or something?

I don't care where the animal was born, slaughtered, etc.

Obamatarian|2.19.09 @ 12:34PM|#

And, if we just hold our breaths a little longer, Obama says he respects the Second Amendment.

Obama has already said that he supports the second amendment so that is no longer questionable except by paranoid GOP shills.
He supports common sense gun-safety measures such as the regulation and traceability of ammunition and a ban on weapons of choice of gangs,anti-government radicals and drug cartels.

|2.19.09 @ 12:35PM|#

Leave me alone, dudes. I figured the "fuck Tom Vilsack" was implied. Besides, i'm not trying to become a caricature of myself, you know?

But it's how I judge whether all is right with the world. You not posting your regular words of wisdom is kinda like Joe not arguing incessantly over meaningless semantics. It makes me worry about the rest of my day.

|2.19.09 @ 12:38PM|#

Leave me alone, dudes.

Never!

|2.19.09 @ 12:40PM|#

Remember, according to Harry Reid, taxes are voluntary too.

Not to mention Treasury Secretary Geithner.

And mad props to "Obamatarian". Excellent performance art, up there with Juanita. The trick is making what you say virtually indistiguishable from what the "real items" are saying, yet somehow parodic at the same time. Well done.

|2.19.09 @ 12:46PM|#

He supports common sense gun-safety measures such as the regulation and traceability of ammunition and a ban on weapons of choice of gangs,anti-government radicals and drug cartels.

Because, as we all know, gangs, anti-government radicals, and drug cartels ALWAYS follow the law and obtain their firearms and ammunition through legal channels. FAHK! Why do liberals always bring up this "failed policy of the past"??

As the saying goes, if they make it criminal to own guns(or ammo), then only the criminals will own guns(or ammo). Why is that so hard to understand? The instant you make it more difficult to own firearms that you may use to protect your family and your property, the criminals, who don't give a flying fuck about your "common sense" gun laws, get the upper hand.

Go downtown in any major city that outlaws conceal/carry, and grab the nearest gang member(politely, of course...don't want to risk violence). Then ask him if he's aware that he's breaking the law by carrying that glock in his waistband. He'll most likely look at you with shock in his eyes, pull out his gun, and hand it to you, apologizing for his ignorance the entire time. Mmmm...yeah...right...

You're just being naive.

Jeff P|2.19.09 @ 1:14PM|#

The FCC has been using the voluntary EAS system as a bludgeon for years.

|2.19.09 @ 1:33PM|#

Any guesses on who trolling as "obamatarian"? I am guessing J sub D. He doesn't seem to be around on this thread. Could Obamatariand be the new Lefiti?

fyodor|2.19.09 @ 1:54PM|#

I see a distinction between self-policing/enforcement and the government doing it, and I'd prefer having the former option.

But yeah, it's hardly voluntary.

|2.19.09 @ 1:56PM|#

i'm not trying to become a caricature of myself, you know?

Too late. You made your bed, now lie in it.

|2.19.09 @ 2:17PM|#

The thing that makes it so hard for one of these producers to say "Fuck you" to the government is that their competitors would rather use it against them than fight with them. That's where greed trumps liberty. We really do need the right people in charge.

Namely, me.

|2.19.09 @ 2:20PM|#

Dey took our jerbs!

New World Dan|2.19.09 @ 3:04PM|#

Hugh,

It's the subtle distinction between the threat of violence and actual violence. It's always possible that the threat is just a bluff. It's also important to note that free markets aren't perfect markets, and that they take time to work. People, being impatitent often want to nudge them in the right direction.

Or back to the analogy with my kid. She knows she needs to clean her room, and that one way or another it will get cleaned. If she does it herself, she's still in control of the process. If she waits for me, a lot of it will end up in the trash and she won't be happy.

And yes, governments are inherently paternalistic. It is their fundamental nature. And as a parent, I will confirm for you that good parenting requires a delicate balance between freedom and discipline.

MattXIV|2.19.09 @ 3:08PM|#

I don't like "voluntary" regulations since the threat of more onerous regulations can be used to intimidate the target into "voluntary" submitting to rules that the goverment would not be able to enact explicitly as a matter of law, such as content regulation that would be struck down on first amendment grounds.

Frank|2.19.09 @ 4:33PM|#

Silentz I agree with you. The problem is it seems that this administration is bent on making either guns and or ammo illegal.

|2.19.09 @ 5:09PM|#

That's two threads in a row where someone has explicity said Parent:Child::Government:Citizen.

Yo, fuck that noise.

Vines & Cattle|2.19.09 @ 5:57PM|#

COOL is a nightmare, a bureaucratic nightmare meant to further the grip of the state upon the relatively few agricultural producers we have left. The sad thing is that so many ranchers welcome it, under some belief that "Raised in the USA" is going to make American meat sell better.

Never mind the myriad complications it will add to the industry (labeling, logistical hurdles in the feedlots, direct sales by farmer/ranchers) that will end up making American meat even more expensive in the long run.

balasdasd|2.20.09 @ 2:07PM|#

Parenting has nothing to do with government you fucking idiot. Leftist big government fools don't care about how many lives are ruined by their friendly government.

America strangles businesses here. That's half the reason that so much is being outsourced. It's not that "wages are so much cheaper"
It's that regulation and government intrusion is utterly insane.