Poison pill? Obama Can’t Fix Congress’ Monsanto Giveaway with an Executive Order

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50. Maybe so.

Maybe I've misspoken. I've seen some pretty strong recriminations against the president for signing the bill. The bill was a comprehensive appropriation measure. Of course there will be some provisions in it that we object to. This provision, section 735, is one of them.

But as I've pointed out elsewhere, it's not like this either won or lost the fight over GMOs.

The provision changes the way the Secretary of Agriculture is required to respond to challenges to regulations for "plant pests" under the Plant Protection Act.

Removing the provision is as simple as writing to strike it in a future appropriations bill. Or even better, writing legislation that addresses GMOs directly, rather than relying on the vague and equivocal language of the Plant Protection Act.

Obviously, this would be more difficult with the house under Republican control. But the Senate could take the initiative. And of course the Democrats could take the House in 2014 or 2016.

My point is that excoriating the president for a single objectionable provision in a comprehensive appropriations bill is not realistic, as I see it. Expecting the president to go to the mat over this and shut down the government over it is not realistic.