Yes, I’ve been quiet about the Bundy Ranch situation. Fine… You want my opinion?
Bundy is a nutter and owes his grazing fees. But he also has a point. I believe the States should control their own land and not the Feds through the BLM. I know a lot of guys that work for the BLM and they are good guys. But in Nevada, they are over-stepping quite a bit. Pulling back like they did was a smart move. They had nothing to gain by pushing further.
Harry Reid is right when he said that this isn’t over. The BLM will make their bones on this. That much is for sure. Because it’s BLM land, not Nevada land. The Feds will get their due. They are like the Lannisters from the Game of Thrones.
Does anyone really think this is about Turtles? Does anyone really give a crap about the turtles? Las Vegas is killing them because they have too many. Even though they are “endangered”. Really? What’s really going on?
The BLM controls most of the western states. This is patently wrong. See the Feds made these huge land grabs by offering PILT deals. Payments in lieu of Taxes. The States turn over “unproductive” land to the Feds and get payments from the Feds in return. “More than what they would earn in taxes” or so they said. Utah took it. And it so happens that the PILT money is a fraction of what they would be making on the revenue from the Mineral Rights… OIL MONEY. Crude, Tar Sands, Oil Shale, Fracking… Black Gold… Texas Tea… And then all the Natural Gas on top of that. Billions of dollars worth and the Feds pay out Pennies in PILT. Nevada gets PILT payments as well. How’s that working out for them?
Now, in Nevada, they don’t have as much oil as Utah. Not like in the Uintah Basin. But Harry Reid’s son has a solar energy deal with China… a deal that is supposed to happen on that contested land. You can bet the farm – er – the Ranch… sorry… That Harry Reid is fully set and ready to destroy the Bundy’s so his son and he can make some bacon on that land the Bundy’s are raising beef on. Reid is ready to go Full On Waco on the Bundy’s. Yet that clown points a finger at the people that are saying “hey, that’s not right” and calls them Domestic Terrorists. Well, I can’t say how I feel about Reid. The G-Men would be knocking on my door if I did.
All I can say about this situation in Nevada is “Follow The Money”. Who benefits from this? Nevada? No… Nevada doesn’t get nothing.
Huh… Looks the Sheriff might be getting some scratch. The Reid Family sure is. But the people of Nevada are getting the thumb screws. As are all of us… Because this is a States Rights issue at the core of the Bundy’s arguement – and it’s an issue that needs to be looked at.
When I ran for office in 2010 in Utah, my platform had two key issues I wanted to push. Taking Back Utah and Constitutional Carry. Now, when I was running, the US Forrest Service had just shut down the majority of the routes through the Uintah Mountains. Trails, Dirt Roads… basically all access to old family hunting grounds that the people of Uintah County had been hunting for generations. I was there at the meetings and listened to the proposals and listened to the people – and let me tell you. The Feds didn’t give a damn. They had their goals to accomplish. Keep everyone where they could be found easily. “For their safety” and to keep the wear and tear down on the trails. Yeah – by concentrating all that traffic in one big loop. They never explained just how that works.
Utah can manage Utah better.
Nevada can manage Nevada better.