 Welcome to the Age of Obama
Erich Veyhl, editor of Maine Property Rights News, provides a preview of things to come as the Totally Democrat government takes power. January 17, 2009 Senate Passes Omnibus Land Grab Bill 73-21 Maine Senators Snowe and Collins Oppose Private Property The tone of the new more anti-private property government in Washington was set this week when the Senate passed the omnibus Federal land grab bill S22 by an overwhelming majority that included Maine's Senators Snowe and Collins. The grab bag of over around 160 bills left over from last year that failed to move in the previous Senate covers tens of millions of acres including "Heritage" controls and acquisition targeting private property and millions of acres of Federal land to be locked up from extracting oil, natural gas and other natural resource. The bill was the first to move through the Senate this year, ruthlessly pushed by a cloture vote cutting off discussion last Sunday. It contains well over 1,000 pages. The "omnibus" approach was used by the Senate leadership to "package-deal" numerous controversial bills into one bill to avoid careful examination of the large volume and avoid the risk of opposition to pet projects sponsored by politicians in each state scratching each others' backs. Snowe and Collins sponsored one section targeting the Harriet Beecher Stowe House in Brunswick, ME for absorption by the National Park Service after the agency goes through the formality of "studying" what it already plans to get. Snowe and Collins were not the only Republicans to refuse, as described by Washington analyst R J Smith in an email, "to stand on any sort of principle and [instead] simply wash along with the never-ending move to socialist land ownership of the nation and the closing down of the entire resources base -- oil, gas, coal, minerals, forest products and livestock -- and the loss of all the jobs and wealth created by those industries." He reports that the counts for three votes in the Senate (the first two being to cut off discussion) were: The first cloture vote (1/11/09) was 66 Aye; 12 Nay; 20 Not Voting. Second cloture vote (1/14/09) was 68 Aye; 24 Nay; 6 Not Voting The final vote (1/15/09) was 73 Aye; 21 Nay, 4 Not Voting On the final vote 21 Republicans voted against the land grab; 19 for it, and with 1 not voting. The opposition in the Senate was led by Sen. Coburn (OK-R). Only 11 Republicans, wrote R J Smith, voted correctly -- Nay -- all the way through the two cloture votes and the final vote -- led by the heroic Mr. Coburn. Everyone who still believes in a free and prosperous society should personally thank all of them starting with Coburn. [Any Senator or Congressman can be reached at (202) 224-3121.]" Coburn - OK Brownback - KS DeMint - SC Grassley - IA Inhofe - Ok Isakson - GA Johanns - NE McCain - AZ Sessions - AL Shelby - AL Thune - SD Another 8 Republicans voted correctly on the second cloture vote and on the final vote. Burr - NC Chambliss - GA Cornyn - TX Ensign - NV Hutchinson - TX Kyl - AZ McConnell - KY Vitter - LA And on the final vote two more Republicans voted Nay. Graham - SC Roberts - KS Sadly, 19 Republicans voted against all of the principles of a free society and for pork before principles, socialized land before a free society, and entropy before energy security and economic growth. The Brits have a word for these folks who just care about their own pork or park: Jack Men. 'I'm all right, Jack. I've got mine. Screw you.' It was especially sad to see both GOP senators in the following states vote against principle and freedom: ID, ME, MS, TN, UT and WY. The Omnibus Public Land Mismanagement Act of 2009 now heads to the House where Rep. Rahall (D-WV) promises to move it quickly to the floor for a vote, bypassing any action in the Natural Resources Committee. Many of the 160+ bills in the Omnibus have never had hearings in either house and one wonders if there are any members who are able to name even a handful of the disastrous bills in this monster... You can't maintain a free society based upon socialist land ownership and locked-up land at that. Without property rights, no other rights are possible. Isn't 50+% of America owned by government at all levels enough? In fact, too much? Myron Ebell, Director, Energy & Global Warming Policy for the Competitive Enterprise Institute, sounded a similar theme critizing Republicans for voting against the principles they claim to represent: http://www.openmarket.org/author/myron-ebell/ Land Grab Bill: Senators Check Principles at the Door by Myron Ebell January 17, 2009 Tags: Congress, conservative, Energy, Environment, federal spending, natural resources, oil, pork, pork barrel, property rights, republicans, Senate, spend I have heard several Republican congressional leaders say that the party has learned its lesson from their disastrous losses in the past two elections. From now on, it’s back to being the party of limited government, fiscal discipline, lower taxes, and against pork barrel spending. Sounds good, but Senate Republicans have blown their first opportunity to demonstrate that they mean what they say. The first bill that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) brought to a vote in the 111th Congress is the omnibus land grab bill that was blocked in the waning days of the last Congress by Senator Tom Coburn (R-Okla.). It was re-introduced by Senator Jeff Bingaman (D-NM), Chairman of the Energy and Natural Resources Committee, as S. 22. It contains around 160 titles. Lots of new National Parks, Wilderness Areas, Wild and Scenic Rivers, National Trails, and National Heritage Areas. Plus making official a whole new designation of public land lockups for the Bureau of Land Management called Areas of Critical Environmental Concern. And withdrawing 1.2 million acres from the Bridger-Teton National Forest in Wyoming from future oil and gas production–an area with high gas potential. The Senate voted on Thursday 73 to 21 to pass this monstrosity. Twenty-one Republicans voted against it, but nineteen Republicans (and all 54 Democrats who voted) voted for it. This first vote suggests that it’s going to be business as usual for many Republican Senators in the 111th Congress. Talk about shrinking government and reducing federal spending. Talk about increasing domestic energy production. Talk about stopping pork barrel spending. And then vote the other way. The twenty-one Senators who voted against S. 22 were: Brownback (Ks.), Burr (NC), Chambliss (Ga.), Coburn (Okla.), Cornyn (Tex.), DeMint (SC), Ensign (Nev.), Graham (NC), Grassley (Ia.), Hutchison (Tex.), Inhofe (Okla.), Isakson (Ga.), Johanns (Neb.), Kyl (Az.), McCain (Az.), McConnell (Ky.), Roberts (Ks.), Sessions (Ala.), Shelby (Ala.), Thune (SD), and Vitter (La.). They should be congratulated. If you hear any of the nineteen Republicans who voted for the land grab bill talk about getting back to the basic conservative principles of less government, lower spending, and protecting property rights, have a good laugh. S. 22 now moves to the House of Representatives. |
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