Like Drunks on a Binge
Dept. Interior Media Advisory, March 24, 2009 [here]:
Secretary Salazar, Rep. Rahall and other House Members to Hold Press Conference Following Vote on Omnibus Public Lands Bill
WASHINGTON, D.C. – Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar will join House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick J. Rahall (D-WV) and a bipartisan group of House Members at a press conference following House vote of the Omnibus Public Land Management Act of 2009 (H.R. 146), which is expected on Wednesday.
The omnibus public land bill combines more than 160 individual measures – introduced in the previous Congress by both Democrats and Republicans in the House and the Senate – many of which have previously passed the House of Representatives. Among its many provisions, the bill includes new wilderness designations, wild and scenic rivers, National Park units, hiking trails, heritage areas, water projects, and historic preservation initiatives.
Who: Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar
House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Nick J. Rahall (D-WV)Invited:
Rep. Raúl Grijalva (D-AZ)
Rep. Peter DeFazio (D-OR)
Rep. Jim Costa (D-CA)
Rep. Rick Boucher (D-VA)
Rep. Earl Blumenauer (D-OR)
Rep. Barney Frank (D-MA)
Rep. Bill Pascrell (D-NJ)
Rep. Norm Dicks (D-WA)
Rep. Buck McKeon (R-CA)
Rep. Mary Bono-Mack (R-CA)What: News conference on the Omnibus Public Land Bill (H.R. 146)
When: Wednesday, March 25, 2009, at approximately 2:30 p.m. or immediately following the House Floor vote on the bill
Where: Room H-137 Capitol Building (House Ways and Means Committee room)
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Like Drunks on a Binge
Central Idaho Post, Jim’s Corner, March 27, 2009
by James Huntly
Courtesy The Central Idaho Post, 1206 S Hall St, Grangeville, ID (208)-983-2344 (No website, but a great periodical. Please subscribe. You won’t be sorry).
WHEN I WAS a child, there were those who liked to change the rules if they were losing the game we were playing. They seemed to have the attitude that rules should only be obeyed when they were winning. The reason I mention this is because our representatives in Washington D. C. seem to play this childish game every day that they are in session.
Not long ago H.R. 146, a bill that would protect Revolutionary War and War of 1812 battlefields was passed by the House of Representatives and sent on to the Senate. Then two weeks ago the House failed to pass S 22 the Omnibus Public Lands Act. After S22 failed the Senate went back into action determined to see this public lands legislation passed into law.
The Senate, in a move that would have made Mandrake the Magician envious, attached S22 to H.R. 146 as an amendment. On March 19th, before the ink was dry on my last article, the Senate passed H.R.146 as amended by a vote of 70-20 and sent it back to the House of Representatives for their approval.
It appears that, under a rule that blocks additional amendments, the House will pass the Senate version of H.R. 146 by the end of this week. This monstrous bill is going to cost you the taxpayer a minimum of ten billion dollars and will create several new wildernesses, 1,000 more miles of wild and scenic rivers, national monuments, national conservation areas, trail systems, historic parks, more national heritage areas in 8 states, a coastal and ocean observation system, coastal land conservations plans and the Christopher and Dana Reeve Paralysis Act.
It will fund land exchanges, travel management plans, land acquisitions, transfer of lands into trusts, establishment of a landscape conservation system, watershed management, wolf compensation and prevention, public awareness and education, Bureau of Reclamation authorizations, ocean exploration and undersea research, ocean and coastal mapping, Smithsonian laboratory and space in Edgewater, Maryland and in Gamboa, Panama and the construction of a greenhouse facility whose location I could not pinpoint.
It also addresses Native American Water Rights, protections of American battlefields, prohibited acts and criminal penalties and sets up advisory commissions.
Given that the Obama Administration and our Congress throw money around like a drunk on a binge, be prepared for an all out media blitz after this legislation is passed by the House and when our President signs it into law. It should be a real dog and pony show as the President hands out pens to every environmental organization that donated to the presidential campaign and the DNC. I wonder if the cost of several dozen pens was included in the ten billion dollar cost estimate.
Quote for the Week: “Alexander Hamilton started the U. S. Treasury with nothing, and that was the closest our country has ever been to being even.” — Will Rogers (This quote was found at BrainyQuote)
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Very important note from Julie Kay Smithson, Property Rights Research [here]
Please call the staffer for the U.S. Representative for your area at this Congressional Switchboard number: 202-224-3121. Express your view about this Trojan horse and let the staffer know that “NO” is the ONLY way to vote on this horrid excuse for “legislation.” Make your call, please. It takes effort to fight these things — effort from us all! Cramming 150-200 “wouldn’t pass on their own” pieces of “legislation” into one “omnibus” or Trojan Horse “bill” is certainly a bill. It is a bill that every elected official in Washington, D.C., knows will be paid by American taxpayers. Such a monster leaves the enumerated powers as set forth in the United States Constitution, in the dust, ground underfoot by the designer heels gathered on both sides of the aisle.
