One More Wooden Stake to the Heart of SQ 777 - The Right to Harm

   Conservative groups across the state are lining up to say "Vote NO, on SQ 777", including the Oklahoma Conservative PAC and the Daily Oklahoman newspaper. There is actually a long list of entities state-wide that say "VOTE NO", including many family ranchers and farmers, which includes family hog farms in particular. Of course the reasons for voting NO, are numerous and varied - but the most prominent reason for family hog farms to vote "no" is as follows:
   Out-of-state and foreign factory hog producers decided as early as 1996 that they wanted to "corner the market" as far as hog production was concerned, but to do that they needed state laws in place across the nation which would increase their bottom line - profits (both for shareholders and company executives). Of course, there are only a few corporate hog farms across the U.S.A., including Seaboard Farms which is international, and Shuanghui (Smithfield), which is owned by China. Critics of these corporations, including the Humane Society of the United States (HSUS), have complained for many years about corporate mistreatment of livestock by these two farm "factories". As a matter of fact, in my opinion, several corporate factory farms have persuaded our local farmers and ranchers that this SQ is for them. They have done this by enlisting what many people believe are grassroots organizations such as Farm Bureau and the National Pork Council.
   I think the best way to find out about SQ 777 would be to ask any of the 50 hog farms statewide what they think of it. For obvious reasons, I believe its best not to ask Seaboard what it thinks (LOL).
   A very important aspect of corporate control in ANY industry, is to put the competition out of business, so to speak. We see it all the time in our everyday lives as Wal-Mart enters a community to "corner the market" and run the local competition out of town. Grocery stores, tire shops, restaurants, pharmacies, and many other local vendors fold - when Wal-Mart comes to town. Wal-Mart does this by receiving tax breaks, free property, etc that our local businesses never had access to. SQ 792, the liquor modernization bill, is designed to run our local liquor stores out of business. As a matter of fact, Wal-Mart is the largest contributor to the vote yes on SQ 792 campaign at $1,613,507. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that Wal-Mart would like to corner the liquor market!
   SQ 777 is to farms what SQ 792 is to our local liquor stores. Several years ago, there were 1,689 hog farms in Oklahoma.Seaboard factory farm entered Oklahoma in 1992, and the number of hog farms was slashed to only 53 full-time hog farms by 2012. This phenomenon was not because 1,636 hog farms decided to just quit the business, but because Seaboard began to corner the producer market. Many people believe that's "just too bad" (sarcasm intended), but it's because they have no friends that were forced out of the business. In my opinion, Seaboard and Tyson are the forces behind "Yes on SQ 777", as they "control" what many people believe are "grassroots" supporters of the bill. I have ample evidence to support my opinion, as ALEC is definitely involved.
   In summary, I'll be voting NO on SQ 792, as well as SQ 777 because I support our local business owners as well as our local farmers and ranchers, and neither of these bills do that...