Progressives, otherwise known as modern liberals, tend to view the world as being made up of very big pieces. They like their government to be big and take every opportunity to make it as powerful and intrusive as possible. And, whether they like to admit it or not, they like their corporations big also. That makes their beloved big and powerful unions possible.

Conservatives, also known as classical liberals, tend to break the world up into smaller pieces. We don’t like to make a federal case out of everything. We prefer to handle things on the state or local level. Ultimately, the individual is sovereign and responsible for his or her own welfare.

When it comes to politics, however, sometimes you can’t tell the players without a scorecard. On many issues, conservatives and progressives get caught off-side. Progressives start talking like conservatives and conservatives start talking like progressives. It makes for some interesting rhetorical moments.

Take for example the recent vote in the senate regarding the labeling of GMOs - genetically modified food. The state of Vermont has a new law that goes in to effect on July 1st that will require all foods that have GMO content to be labeled as such. Sounds reasonable enough. To my mind, one of the few legitimate functions of government is to ensure adequate disclosure so that consumers can make educated decisions. Vermont’s law doesn’t ban GMOs, it simply requires that products that contain them be labeled.

In response to the Vermont GMO labeling law, there were two pieces of legislation introduced in congress, one in the house and one in the senate that aimed at nullifying it. In the house it was HR 1599 and in the senate is was S 2609. Each bill became known by its detractors as the “Deny Americans the Right to Know” or “DARK” Act.

The Organic Consumers Association, or OCA, an organization that leans decidedly to the left, complained that the Dark Act was “against states’ rights to label GMOs”. I guess we can lump them in with what those on the left commonly refer to as “Tenth-ers”, in reference to the tenth amendment of the Constitution, that says: “The powers not delegated to the United States by the Constitution, nor prohibited by it to the States, are reserved to the States respectively, or to the people”. I love it when progressives invoke the Tenth Amendment.

And yet, HR 1599 sailed through the house, where erstwhile conservatives hold a solid majority. Legislators with a solid conservative track record like Louie Gohmert (R-TX), David Brat (R-VA) and our own Alex Mooney (R-WV) voted to deny Vermont their Tenth Amendment right to require a label on GMO foods. Maybe it’s not fair to pick on those three legislators as the vast majority of Republicans in the house voted for the bill — there were only a dozen or so that voted against it. Herd mentality. But every representative that voted for the bill, was voting against the Tenth Amendment.

The bill hit a road block in the senate and did not garner the necessary votes to bring it to the floor. Ironically, the key sponsor of the senate version was Pat Roberts (R-KS). Why is this ironic? On the state level, Kansas has enacted legislation to nullify federal law with regard to second amendment rights. However, it is a Kansas senator that is sponsoring legislation that would strip Vermont of its tenth amendment rights.

It gets better. Ted Cruz did not cast a vote on S 2609, but according to this Washington Times headline, “Ted Cruz: Don’t let ‘anti-science zealotry’ shutdown GMOs”. Here’s the Times’ full quote of Mr. Cruz, “People who decide that is what they want, they can pay for it already, but we shouldn’t let anti-science zealotry shutdown the ability to produce low-cost quality food for billions across the globe.”

Perhaps Mr. Cruz isn’t aware that he might be channeling Senator Elizabeth Warren (D-MA). According to the Atlantic article entitled “Elizabeth Warren’s 11 Commandments of Progressivism”, the second one listed was, “We believe in science, and that means that we have a responsibility to protect this Earth.” Do we also believe in the constitution? Do we believe in our Creator? Do we believe in “progressive science” or do we believe in “conservative science”? Do Senators Cruz or Warren really know which science is truly “settled science”? Does the Organic Consumers Association? By the way, the OCA is just fine with the federal government trampling states’ rights when it comes to global warming.

I humbly submit that one person’s beliefs might not necessarily be the truth. Further, it may very well be immoral to enact legislation to force me to act on your beliefs, if they conflict with mine. Especially if, in the fullness of time, they turn out to be false beliefs. Science evolves, unfortunately politicians don’t seem to. Allowing politicians to use science as a basis to enact legislation that might have an adverse effect on our lives, economic or health-wise is sheer madness. When it comes to GMOs, just label it and let the consumer decide. I think the average consumer is smarter than the average politician.