You know what they say. You can’t fool mom.
When a group of
pro-labeling moms in Washington State figured out that the Grocery
Manufacturers Association (GMA) was breaking the state’s campaign
finance disclosure laws, they did something about it. They formed a
grassroots group, Moms for Labeling, and they sued the GMA.
Their complaint? The
GMA is concealing the identities of out-of-state corporations, namely
Big Food companies, which are funneling donations to the NO on I-522
campaign through the multi-billion dollar Washington D.C.-based lobbying
group. The Moms had a whistleblower lined up to testify. But then the
judge dismissed their case, on a technicality.
You’d think
that would have been enough to make the GMA happy, but no. The lobbying
giant went after the Moms with a countersuit, prompting a judge to slap the Moms with a $10,000 fine, under a law that is supposed to protect citizens from frivolous suits by big companies.
End of story? Not
yet. In dismissing the suit, the judge ruled that under the
circumstances, only the state attorney general now has the authority to
sue the GMA for violating Washington’s Public Disclosure Act.
The NO on I-522 campaign has so far raised $17.1 million
to blanket the airwaves with lies, as it tries to scare voters into
voting against the I-522 GMO labeling initiative. The GMA, which
represents over 300 corporations including Kraft, Kellogg’s, Monsanto,
Dupont, Starbucks, PepsiCo, Coca-Cola, ConAgra and General Mills, has
kicked in $7.2 million so far – $5 million more than the lobbying group
spent last year in California, to defeat a similar GMO labeling
initiative.
Who’s missing from the NO on I-522 donor roster this year? The junk food giants who spent millions last year, but this year, are hiding their donations from public view.
from here
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