Democrats Blocked DeMint’s Attempt to Stop Obama’s Land Grab

In my humble opinion, the federal government has no business taking over state land.

Kudos to Senator Jim DeMint for trying to stop Obama from taking over 10 million acres of land in nine western states. Unfortunately, his statist colleagues defeated the amendment.

DeMint wrote an op-ed that appeared in The Washington Times earlier this week.

The document lists 14 properties that, according to the document, “might be good candidates” for Mr. Obama to nab through presidential proclamation. Apparently, Washington bureaucrats believe it’s more important to preserve grass and rocks for birdwatchers and backpackers than to keep these local economies thriving.

Administration officials claim the document is merely the product of a brainstorming session, but anyone who reads this memo can see that it is a wish list for the environmentalist left. It discusses, in detail, what kinds of animal populations would benefit from limiting human activity in those areas.

The 21-page document, marked “Internal Draft-NOT FOR RELEASE,” names 14 different lands Mr. Obama could completely close for development by unilaterally designating them as “monuments” under the 1906 Antiquities Act.

It says all kinds of animals would be better off by doing so, like the coyotes, badgers, grouse, chickens and lizards. But giving the chickens more room to roost is no reason for the government to override states’ rights.

Rep. Robert Bishop, Utah Republican, made the memo public because he didn’t want another unilateral land grab by the White House, like what happened under former Presidents Bill Clinton and Jimmy Carter.

Using the Antiquities Act, President Carter locked up more land than any other president had before him, taking more than 50 million acres in Alaska despite strong opposition from the state.

President Clinton used the authority 22 times to prohibit hunting, recreational vehicles, mining, forestry and even grazing in 5.9 million acres scattered around the country. The law allowed him to single-handedly create 19 new national monuments and expand three others without consulting anyone.

Read the whole thing. Obama’s going after land that’s rich with resources. Actions speak louder than words. He says he’s focused on job creation. If that were true, he wouldn’t be doing this. As the French would say, au contraire mon frère!

Exit Question: Are there any attorneys out there who can let us know if the states can legally stop this? On more thing: how many states would have ratified the Constitution if they believed the federal government could come in and steal their land?

Via Hot Air (Make sure you follow the link to read Ed’s commentary.)

This entry was posted on Saturday, March 6th, 2010 at 12:37 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.