Worse than Bush: Obama fills key government positions in agriculture and trade with biotech execs

Monday, August 12, 2013 by: Ethan A. Huff, staff writer
Tags: Obama cabinet, Monsanto, Big Ag

(NaturalNews) Anyone who still supports the usurper-and-cheat Obama based on his agriculture "policies" has apparently not been paying any attention whatsoever to reality. Contradicting nearly every promise he made on the campaign trail with regards to reforming American agriculture and kicking out the special interests, Obama has done the exact opposite of virtually everything he said he would do, filling key government positions in both agriculture and trade with executives from the chemical and biotechnology industries.

With a legacy that is now substantially more corrupt than even that of Bush Jr., Obama has exposed himself as nothing more than a puppet and lapdog of corporate agriculture, having lied his way into the White House with promises of ending the reign of terror that corporations still hold over American agriculture. Rather than keep any of these promises, Obama instead decided to fortify the ranks of the very same corporate oligarchy that continues to promote unlabeled genetically-modified organisms (GMOs), toxic crop chemicals, environmentally-destructive monoculture, and other industrial systems.

One key nomination that the mindless masses of Obama supporters conveniently ignored was that of Islam "Isi" Siddiqui, who was given the position of Chief Agricultural Negotiator for the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative (USTR) back in 2009. Siddiqui had previously worked as a lobbyist for CropLife America (CLA), a global lobbying group that represents Dow AgroSciences, DuPont, Monsanto and others. Siddiqui even served as Vice President of Science and Regulatory Affairs for CLA, which actively promoted chemical interests all across the globe.

If there was ever a man more suited for backing and promoting the interests of the chemical agriculture lobby at the expense of clean and sustainable agriculture interests, it was Siddiqui. And yet Obama saw fit to install this corporate pawn into one of the loftiest positions of government responsible for directing agricultural trade policy for the U.S., where he has since actively pushed pesticides and GMOs all around the world.

FDA, USDA, USAID, Supreme Court, Executive Cabinet all work for chemical industry under Obama

But Siddiqui's appointment is hardly the only example of key government positions being handed over to agribusiness. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), the Supreme Court, and the Executive Cabinet have all been stocked by Obama with former Big Ag and biotech executives that are right now steering the future of agriculture toward a world dominated by corporate-owned crops and chemicals.

Not long after first being elected in 2008, Obama appointed the following industry lobbyists into key government positions:

• Roger Beachy, Director of the National Institute of Food and Agriculture at the USDA. According to investigative reporter Jon Rappoport, Beachy is a former director of the Monsanto Danforth Center.

• Michael Taylor, Deputy Commissioner of the FDA. Taylor is a former Vice President for Public Policy at Monsanto, prior to being handed the government position of "food safety czar."

• Tom Vilsack, Commissioner of the USDA. A former Iowa governor, Vilsack actively supported biotech interests in his state and across the country.

• Ramona Romero, Counsel for the USDA. Romero had previously worked as a corporate counsel for biotech giant DuPont.

• Rajiv Shah, Head of USAID. Shah had reportedly worked in key positions at the vaccine-promoting Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, which heavily funds and promotes GMOs all across the globe.

• Hillary Clinton, Secretary of State. Clinton previously worked at the Rose Law Firm, which was a counsel to Monsanto.

And the list goes on and on. Be sure to read Jon Rappoport's full report on Obama, Monsanto's key lobbyist, here:
http://www.infowars.com

Sources for this article include:

http://www.motherjones.com

http://grist.org/article/2009-09-23-monsanto-suagr-beet-court/

http://www.infowars.com