Governments around the world — including OUR federal government — are cracking down on food production in ways that will make it HARDER to grow and purchase food. Amish farmers are even going to jail for refusing to fall in line. But Rep. Thomas Massie (R-KY) has a solution: a simple amendment to the Constitution that will add the “right to grow food and purchase food from the sources that you want.” Rep. Massie joins Glenn to explain what the amendment would do and how he has worded it to ensure that the government won’t abuse it to create a larger welfare state. This has nothing to do with food stamps, he argues. It’s about restricting the government’s ability to tell YOU what you should grow and buy.
Transcript
Below is a rush transcript that may contain errors
GLENN: You know, I wanted to have you on today, to talk about your resolution. Your resolution. Your -- your amendment, that you want to add to the Constitution, which, I mean, it has no chance of passing, Thomas. Because there's no common sense anymore.And the press, I saw when you -- when you suggested this. I'm all in.
And the press ran headlines like, G.O.P. now wants to control your food.
What?
What?
THOMAS: Or that I'm for Listeria or E. coli or something like that. Look, what I did is I threw out there, a little constitutional amendment. And I put a little thought into it. Basically, a constitutional amendment that guarantees your right to be able to grow food and to purchase food from the sources that you want. Because right now, we've descended into this courtocracy, where four companies control all of the meat. A few cooperatives control all of the milk.
We see Amish farmers. Just living off the land.
Telling people, going to jail. Having all their food confiscated.
Our Founding Fathers, ever contemplated getting to this point?
Because they didn't get this to the Bill of Rights. Because it was just too obvious.
We need something like that now.
You know, I ran it by mark Lee. Before I threw it on social media. I'm looking for a Democrat cosponsor.
Because I think that's key.
And it's hard to draft the constitutional amendment. That doesn't do something accidental.
For instance, my first version of it. I thought, man, this is great. I read it. And I'm like, no. The left is going to say, this guarantees everybody's right to food stamps. And that's not what I want to do.
GLENN: Jeez.
So this, actually, stems from, this Amish guy who has been arrested. Is being hassled by the -- I don't know.
FDA. FBI. I don't know.
Some three-letter agency, that now thinks that they can go in with a S.W.A.T. team, to an Amish farmer. And this is ridiculous!
It's absolutely ridiculous.
THOMAS: It is ridiculous. And this is -- they harassed him multiple times. This time, I believe, the bill -- before it was over beef. He's not the only Amish person. There are other ones who are being prosecuted.
There's a guy, Samuel Fisher in Virginia, who is being prosecuted.
And so I came up with this amendment. And let me read it. It's pretty short. The right of the people to grow food and to purchase food from the source of their choice shall not be infringed.
And Congress shall make no law, regulating the production and distribution of food products, which do not move across state lines.
It's a -- it's a very tight and compact amendment, but it covers a lot of things in there.
First of all, I'm trying to basically get the Feds out of the meat processing that's local. That's just interesting.
That's what the second clause is about. Congress shall make no law regulating the production and distribution of food products.
And, you know, it's a shame I have to do that. But anyways, there's -- we have this big meat oligopoly, that's enabled and enhanced by the USDA. The overregulation. They just regulate all the little guys out of it. But the first clause here, the right of people to grow food.
You know, you have a right to political speech, for instance. Whatever -- your city can do. And ordinance, and whatever.
But they can't keep you from putting a sign up in your yard. Saying, who you should be able to vote for.
I think you should be able to grow tomatoes without being thrown out of your house, for instance.
And then one other thing this amendment covers. Your ability to purchase food from the source of your choice.
Now, the people who brought food from a month Miller in Pennsylvania. They did cross state lines. That food did cross state lines, I'm told.
But the people who bought it knew what they were buying.
And you should never be deprived of the ability to have a contract between two consenting adults, to purchase food.
GLENN: No. No. I disagree with you.
To purchase food, you can have just a -- a contract with one human adult. To another human adult.
That's ridiculous.
We need to start mutilating our children, without parental consent.
What is wrong with you, Thomas Massie?
We should be focusing on the mutilation of our children. And mutilate them some more. Without any adult supervision at all.
Just the government telling us what to do.
THOMAS: I'm sorry. I forgot. I'm sorry. I forgot. The key to good health is always multiple vaccines, and nine controlling drugs. Yeah, I'm sorry. Glenn.
I've got off the narrative here for a second.
GLENN: I know. I have to tell you, when I saw that you said, that, you know, you can't do it over state lines.
I thought to myself, and maybe Mike talked toy about this. You're smart enough to know. This is what the Commerce Clause.
This is what threw the Commerce Clause under the bus. That they regulate all commerce, but it was supposed to be between states. But it happened because of wheat.
And they said, well, you know, that wheat. It -- you know, it's pollen. Kind of goes in the air. And goes across state lines.
So we have to regulate that now. So how are you thinking that you're going to get this across?
THOMAS: Well, and this is actually to countermand that horrible Supreme Court Decision where they said, a guy can't grow his own wheat. Feed it to his own animals.
Because if he grew his own wheat. He isn't buying wheat in inner state commerce.
So he was affecting inner state commerce. By introducing more wheat to the supply. Even though it wasn't across state lines.
GLENN: Oh, that's what it was. You're right.
THOMAS: Yeah. And this is -- this is to counterman that horrible decision, that the Supreme Court made. And that's why I said, you know, food products. Which do not move across state lines.
Instead of saying, interstate commerce. We have to physically say. If it's not going across state lines. That it's not state he commerce.
That Supreme Court decision, people want to look it up, is Wickard v. Filburn.
GLENN: Yes. Wickard v. Filburn.
It's been years since I've read it. That court case changed everything.
And, you know, I don't know if -- I don't know if we can get Congress to pass anything anymore.
But thank you for the common sense. On this. And the bill.
You're not voting for the bill. Right?
THOMAS: Oh, heck no. By the way, I think it was Mike Lee who suggested I could name my Constitutional Amendment Roscoe Filburn's revenge.
(laughter)
GLENN: All right. Thomas, thank you so much. God bless you.
THOMAS: Thank you, Glenn.
STU: That would have been like a fun M. Night Shyamalan twist, if he voted for the bill in that interview.
Yeah, I'm totally --
GLENN: I had that.
No. What will you do?
You have to pass it. Otherwise, the world melts down.
STU: By the way, I think that was perhaps the nerdiest joke ever made on this show.
The Roscoe Filburn reference. I think it was. And I applaud Thomas Massie.
That is perhaps the --
GLENN: No, it was. It was. It's not often -- he's writing it in his diary today. I had a chance to use that joke today.
He's been waiting for years.
