Legislative session--first day

From the Heartland, Margot McMillen writes: Today was the first day of the rest of our lives, the saying goes, and on opening day in Jefferson City that means the rest of our legislative lives for 2013. The Rs have what they call a "bullet-proof" majority in the General Assembly, both house and senate, bought and paid for by the Farm Bureau, the chemical companies (Dow, Monsanto), big meat packers (Cargill, Tyson) and the big food sellers (ConAgra, Wal-Mart). So we're already seeing bills introduced to dismantle the very weak regulations and make sure there aren't any more. My favorite is the bill, just filed, to make it illegal to fly a drone over a Confined Animal Feeding Operation to take pictures of the pollution as it leaks out into the creeks. This morning, the a.m. radio bunch were crowing over the potential of the session. One guy, calling himself a card-carrying libertarian, wants to see the end of any kind of licensing, from hairdressers to embalmers to doctors AND the end of unions through a right-to-work law AND the end of state income tax. They have enough votes to override any veto, making the governor "irrelevant," how they see it. So, we gotta be active and make the citizens "relevant." It'll be fun!!