http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1161
Ethical abrogations from corporate lobbyists lead to dysfunction in the New
Mexico Legislature by Stephen Fox 03/26/05: Murray 2005.03.27 rmforall

Every legislature in the world is cluttered and made dysfunctional by the
log jam of special interests, corporate lobbyists, and legislators who are
beholden to their campaign contributors. Legislators everywhere have tricks
up their sleeve, within [or without] the law, delaying tactics which kill
bills and procedural tactics to alter and eviscerate the intent of any bill.

Although we see more of this recently in Washington with pharmaceutical
corporations manipulating the regulatory processes in the U.S. Food and Drug
Administration, Republicans and Democrats alike have contributed to the
demise of governments' need to function free from corporate manipulation,
which is serious and egregious, resulting in a mild to major breakdown of
the so-called 'democratic process.' Maybe the dysfunction is repairable,
perhaps it is not.

I wrote two identical bills in the 2005 New Mexico Legislature, to create a
Nutrition Advisory Council with the express powers to create a higher
standard for food quality than is possible through the present F.D.A. and
its list of so-called 'generally recognized as safe' food additives. It is
true consumer protection legislation; it was sponsored by the President Pro
Tempore of the New Mexico Senate, Ben Altamirano (D-Silver City) and Rep.
Irvin Harrison (D-Gallup).

SB 525 passed the Senate 32-1 and HB 721 passed the House 41-19. Everything
looked like both bills would end up happily on the Governor's desk, and the
beneficiaries would be all 1.8 million New Mexicans, in terms of health and
improved food quality standards, due to a statutory move away from
neurotoxins and carcinogens in most junk food and fast food.

Then two corporate lobbyists got involved, representing Altria Corporate
Services (the parent company for Kraft and Phillip Morris) and the Glutamate
Association (the representatives of the chemical manufacturers who add
monosodium glutamate to thousands of food products, and tell you that it is
just as harmless as salt and pepper, and that you are just imagining
headaches from M.S.G.). These lobbyists pressured the Chairman of the House
Business
and Industry Committee to introduce amendments, ostensibly from the New
Mexico Grocer's Association, whose only lobbyist was completely unaware of
these amendments attributed to his association. When the Pro Tem's real
amendments were presented in the committee hearing, the committee chairman's
amendments were withdrawn, but still in the hearing attributed to the NM
Grocer's Association by the assistant to the Chairman (who is considered to
run the committee in his absence due to receiving kidney dialysis). As if
this weren't horrifying and grisly enough, what comes next?

The bills approval by the committee was delayed by 48 hours in being
reported out of the committee by unnamed persons, thus resulting in delaying
the bill's being voted on the House floor till the last day, when SB 525
died along with about 50 other Senate bills, thanks to an absurd and destructive
two hour filibuster by a Republican Representative from Roswell, which
served no apparent purpose whatsoever.

The House bill in the Senate faired differently. Its hearing in Senate
Corporations was interminably delayed, probably by the Chairman. Finally,
on the Wednesday before the Saturday adjournment, it had a final hearing in
Senate Corporations Committee, but only a subcommittee of four was present,
who gave it a do-pass recommendation, although none of the Republicans had
shown up. Normally what happens in that case is that the full committee
either accepts the recommendation for a do-pass or tables it or gives it a
no-pass recommendation, which still allows it to come to the Senate floor,
if the sponsor has the votes to override the negative committee report.

However, this Chairman of Corporations took it upon himself to do something
outside of the ethical procedures of the Senate: he made a substitute motion
to table it, and then convinced the Republican Minority Leader to second his
motion. Who knows what he said to get this result [or why], because the
Republican Minority leader had only two weeks earlier spoken in favor of the
identical bill as the Pro Tempore Senate President's bill, and voted for it
in the 32-1 Senate passage of the bill. But on that last Thursday of the
session, perhaps the bill was misrepresented to him-- he seconded the motion
to table the bill.

The Corporations Chairman then collected votes against it all from
Republicans, and ignored one Democrat and one Republican who had voted for
the identical bill two weeks earlier, marking down that they were absent--
one was most certainly present in the Chambers; she was just ignored and her
vote not taken in this so-called "floor poll." However, no floor polls are
included in the Rules of the Senate, and even the Corporations Vice
Chairman, who had duly voted for it in the sub-committee, had not been
asked nor consulted as to her vote, nor even about the substitute motion to
table the bill! The Corporations Chairman declined to give the committee
report to the House Sponsor, Irvin Harrison. The report was handed over
only after he was informed that Senator Altamirano wanted the report to
examine.

These shenanigans are perhaps amusing bizarre warped parliamentary games to
the average person. However, for the 1.8 million New Mexican beneficiaries
of the bills, they were catastrophic and deadly tactics to kill the bills,
which is precisely what happened.

How much of this calamity was the result of corporate lobbyists? Did they
pay for these results, or buy some dinners for legislators? Did they
promise campaign contributions? Was it just plain old "good old boy" pressure?
The
most baffling question of all: how could the Minority Leader, a member of
the rarely convened Senate Ethics Committee, be pressured to do a total
about-face on legislation he had spoken for and voted for two weeks earlier?

There are many honorable legislators in both parties who would never ever
think of doing anything like this, who play the game fairly, honestly, and
ethically, regardless of who has contributed to their campaigns and which
lobbyists are leaning on them to do this or that. These honorable
legislators will vote for these bills next year, and they are by far in the
majority.

We will try again next year, with the Honorable Ben Altamirano and the
Honorable Irvin Harrison as the sponsors for these same bills again.

There will be several more bills which will be sponsored by other sponsors,
due to the staggering amount of work to get them through, even under normal
circumstances, including one to interdict/prohibit/ban ASPARTAME, a proven
neurotoxin used as an artificial sweetener in hundreds of products,
including diet cokes, chewing gum, and yogurt, which, because it breaks down
into formaldehyde and a brain tumor causing agent, diketopiperazine, is
neurotoxic to every man, woman, and child who ingests it.

There will be a re-introduction of a bill to create a Health Report Card for
every child. There will be a bill with funds asking for adding one course
requirement for High School graduation in New Mexico, a course in Health and
Nutrition.

No doubt, in 2006, there will be 50 lobbyists fighting these bills, instead
of two. Some may come out from Washington and from corporate headquarters,
who reason that it would be cheaper in the long run to pay to kill these
bills, instead of more money later, should the Attorney General of New
Mexico join in suits against aspartame manufacturers similar to the $235
billion Big Tobacco suits of the 1990's.

However, by 2006, both houses will be more thoroughly educated about the
medical urgency for all of these bills, and even if no ethical complaints
are filed about these procedures, and no action is taken by the legislature
about these corporate lobbying abuses, we will still win the next battle.

The 2005 Legislative Session was just a skirmish for improved food quality
and real consumer protection. The 2006 session will be more like a battle
within the context of the larger war, the war between gigantic corporations
which lie horribly about the toxicity of their products, and their
opponents: ordinary people trying to protect and improve their health and
the health of their children.

At your earliest convenience, please write to Governor Richardson and to
Attorney General Madrid with your views on these matters. They need to hear
from you. 2006 is the Governor's Short Session: all bills have a fiscal
component and must be part of the Governor's Call and have an Executive
Message from the Governor. Please send your own Executive Message to
Governor Richardson.

Stephen Fox

PLEASE TRY AND RECRUIT MEMBERS - SEND THEM TO
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartame/
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http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1157
Sales volume: saccharin > sucralose > aspartame, Harold Brubaker
timesleader.com 2005.03.23: Murray rmforall

A very detailed, highly credible account of the dubious approval process for
aspartame in July, 1981 is part of the just released two-hour documentary
"Sweet Misery, A Poisoned World: An Industry Case Study of a Food Supply
In Crisis" by Cori Brackett: cori@...
http://www.soundandfuryproductions.com/ 520-624-9710
2301 East Broadway, Suite 111 Tucson, AZ 85719

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartame/messages
Aspartame Victims Support Group Edward Bryant Holman, Chief Moderator
807 members, 18,197 posts in a public, searchable archive
http://www.presidiotex.com/aspartame/ bryanth@...

http://www.HolisticMed.com/aspartame mgold@...
Aspartame Toxicity Information Center Mark D. Gold also Co-Moderator
12 East Side Drive #2-18 Concord, NH 03301 603-225-2110
http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame/abuse/methanol.html
"Scientific Abuse in Aspartame Research"

http://www.sweetpoison.com/ Janet Starr Hull, PhD, CN jshull@...

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1092
Janet Starr Hull, who also had Graves disease in 1991, told Justin Dumais to
quit aspartame: Murray 2004.06.12 rmforall

http://www.aspartamesafety.com marystod@...
Mary Nash Stoddard, Founder
Aspartame Consumer Safety Network and Pilot Hotline [1987-2004]
P.O. Box 2001 Frisco, TX 75034 1-214-387-4001 [ 25 miles N of Dallas ]

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/957
safety of aspartame Part 1/2 12.4.2: EC HCPD-G SCF:
Murray 2003.01.12 rmforall EU Scientific Committee on Food, a whitewash

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1045
http://www.holisticmed.com/aspartame/scf2002-response.htm
Mark Gold exhaustively critiques European Commission Scientific
Committee on Food re aspartame ( 2002.12.04 ): 59 pages, 230 references

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1131
genotoxicity of aspartame in human lymphocytes 2004.07.29 full plain text,
Rencuzogullari E et al, Cukurova University, Adana, Turkey 2004 Aug: Murray
2004.11.06 rmforall

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1088
Murray, full plain text & critique:
chronic aspartame in rats affects memory, brain cholinergic receptors, and
brain chemistry, Christian B, McConnaughey M et al, 2004 May:
2004.06.05 rmforall

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1067
eyelid contact dermatitis by formaldehyde from aspartame, AM Hill & DV
Belsito, Nov 2003: Murray 3.30.4 rmforall [ 150 KB ]
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http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1143
methanol (formaldehyde, formic acid) disposition: Bouchard M et al, full
plain text, 2001: substantial sources are degradation of fruit pectins,
liquors, aspartame, smoke: Murray 2005.03.19 rmforall

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1155
continuing aspartame debate in British Medical Journal, John Biffra, Bob
Dowling, Nick Finer, Ian J Gordon: Murray 2005.02.09 rmforall

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1140
EPA Preliminary Remedial Goals, PRGs, 2003 Oct, air and tap water --
methanol, formaldehyde, formic acid -- not mentioned is methanol from
aspartame, dark wines and liquors: Murray 2004.11.20 rmforall

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/message/1141
Nurses Health Study can quickly reveal the extent of aspartame (methanol,
formaldehyde, formic acid) toxicity: Murray 2004.11.21 rmforall

Rich Murray, MA Room For All rmforall@...
1943 Otowi Road, Santa Fe, New Mexico 87505 USA 505-501-2298
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/aspartameNM/messages
179 members, 1,161 posts in a public searchable archive
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