We had leftovers for dinner tonight.

I wasn’t cooking – we went into Philadelphia today to lend our support for Occupy Philly.

I have to admit that food-wise, our leftovers are generally pretty good.  They’re definitely better than the leftovers we’re getting from our current government.

Government-Bashing on a food blog?!?  Well…  Yes.

We have a Congress right now that wants to dismantle the government.  That wants to dismantle every safety-net and social safeguard there is and that wants to allow our food to be poisoned, our air to be poisoned, and our water to be poisoned in the name of de-regulated corporate profit.

I’m not being hyperbolic about this – The EPA is under attack, USDA regulations are under attack.  Food conglomerates and chemical manufacturers are fighting labeling regulations – they don’t want you to know what’s in your milk, tomato, chicken, ground beef, or breakfast cereal.  The wealthiest of the wealthy are buying Senators and Representatives who, in turn, are doing their bidding.

Ever wonder about that label on milk or cheese that reads “No significant difference has been shown between milk derived from rbST-treated and non-rbST-treated cows.”?!?   It was written by Michael R. Taylor, in 1994 who, as FDA Deputy Commissioner, shaped the agency’s policy on rBGH. Until the summer of 1991, he represented Monsanto and the International Food Biotechnology Council.  Most recently he has been working as an FDA Deputy Commissioner For Foods.  They continually fight efforts to allow companies to simply state that they DON’T treat their cows with rBGH.  Just as with genetically modified foods or irradiated foods – they don’t want us to know.  They don’t want us to be able to make a choice. They are passing laws to make it illegal to state that food is NOT tainted with chemicals.

There are listeria outbreaks, e coli outbreaks, salmonella outbreaks.  Food-borne illnesses are rampant, but the cry is that our government is too big – too “Big Brother” trying to tell us what we can or can’t eat.  HELLO?!?  If we want a clean food supply, we need MORE regulation, not less.

And the goal has been to keep us all too busy trying to keep a roof over our heads and make ends meet to pay attention.

And it has been succeeding.

Until now.

We bailed out Wall Street and not a single person went to jail for their illegal activities.  They crippled our economy, our piddly retirement accounts went straight to hell, and they’re making obscene bonuses and paying less in taxes than Victor and I did last year.

Teachers are under attack, civil servants are under attack.  Unions are under attack.

My favorite quote is:

Do you Remember when teachers, public employees, Planned Parenthood, NPR and PBS crashed the stock market, wiped out half of our 401Ks, took trillions in TARP money, gave themselves billions in bonuses, and paid no taxes?

Yeah.. Me Neither.

And gays in the military?!?  Guess what?!?  I’m a Viet Nam Veteran.  I was a Gay In The Military.  And I’m married to a man.  I can’t begin to describe the hoops we have to jump through when April 15th rolls around, the legal crap we have to deal with after being together for 17 years.

Fed up?!?  You bet I am.

And that is why I am supporting Occupy Wall Street, Occupy Philly, Occupy Wichita, Occupy Tulsa, Occupy Portland, Occupy San Francisco, and every other group out there.

We are “We, The People.”

We Are The 99%.

It is past time for us to start paying attention.

Start reading labels.  Stop buying crap food.  Start asking questions. Start demanding answers.

Start Paying Attention.

We Are The 99%.