Posted: 26 Jun 2017 Michael Snyder THE ECONOMIC COLLAPSE BLOG
Did you know that the federal government owns 28 percent of all land in the United States? Today, the feds control approximately 640 million acres of land, and after decades of very poor management, many are calling on the states to take a larger role. This is particularly true in the 11 western states where the federal government collectively owns 47 percent of all land. East of the Mississippi River, the feds only own 4 percent of all land, and there is no reason for such a disparity to exist. In Connecticut and Iowa, the federal government only owns 0.3 percent of all land. Such an arrangement seems to work very well for those states, and so why can’t we dramatically reduce federal land ownership in the western states as well? Of course the federal government will always need a very small amount of land for certain national purposes, and nobody is disputing that. According to the Heritage Foundation, the following are the primary purposes that federal land is being used for… These holdings include national parks, national forests, recreation areas, wildlife refuges, vast tracts of range and wasteland managed by the Bureau of Land Management, reservations held in trust for Native American tribes, military bases, and ordinary federal buildings and installations.We will always need to have some land set aside for those purposes. But does the Bureau Of Land Management really need more than 247 million acres? Does the Forest Service really need more than 192 million acres? Does the Fish and Wildlife Service really need more than 89 million acres? If the feds were doing a good job, that would be one thing, but in so many instances federal land managers have gotten an extremely bad reputation. The following comes from an article by Sue Lani Madsen… For example, federal land is exempt from state noxious weed control laws, and lack of weed control has earned federal land a reputation as a bad neighbor. Frustrated local federal land managers are hindered by layers of internal regulations and restricted funding that make timely response to weed outbreaks difficult.And thanks to mismanagement by the feds, wildfires tend to spread very rapidly in many areas owned and controlled by the federal government. At this point more than 2.6 million acres of land have already burned in 2017, and that is close to 30 percent ahead of last year’s pace. If you have never lived in a western state, it may be difficult for you to imagine just how frustrating it is to have the federal government in control of vast stretches of your state. In so many cases the feds simply do not care about local issues or concerns, and when they drop the ball there is often very little that can be done about it. According to Ballotpedia, the federal government owns more than 28 percent of the land in 12 different western states… Washington: 28.5 percent Montana: 29.0 percent New Mexico: 34.7 percent Colorado: 35.9 percent Arizona: 38.6 percent California: 45.8 percent Wyoming: 48.1 percent Oregon: 52.9 percent Alaska: 61.2 percent Idaho: 61.6 percent Utah: 64.9 percent Nevada: 84.9 percent Here in Idaho, we are glad to have so much public land because it is a wonderful thing for hunters, fishers, hikers and those that enjoy other outdoor activities. So we want to continue our tradition of having wide open spaces that are owned by the public – we just want the federal government to hand over the keys and leave. We believe that Idaho land should be owned by the people of Idaho, and we believe that Idaho’s natural resources should be managed by the people of Idaho. Those that are against transferring ownership of federal land to the states often argue that it would be too expensive for the states to handle… Paying for wildfire protection alone—it accounts for about half of the U.S. Forest Service’s annual budget of $6.5 billion—would burden Western taxpayers, says the Center for Western Priorities, a conservation group.But one study found that it is actually profitable for states to manage their own public lands. Here is more from Sue Lani Madsen… A 2015 study by the Property and Environment Research Center, a free-market environmental think tank, consistently found state-managed land provided a return on every dollar spent while federal lands managed by the U.S. Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management cost more to operate than they return in revenue.At the end of the day, this is just another area where we need to readjust the balance of power between the states and the federal government. Our founders intended to create a system where the states had much more power than the central government, but instead that has become totally flipped around. Today, it is almost as if the 10th Amendment does not even exist. Most of the time the federal government treats state governments as little more than puppets, and very few state governments have the backbone to stand up for themselves. As conservatives, we need to start standing up against the costly federal mandates that are imposing such a financial burden on our state governments. We want control of our own laws and our own budgets. It is also time for the feds to get off the backs of our farmers, our miners, our loggers and our ranchers. Some of the most abusive federal agencies, such as the EPA, need to be shut down entirely. And if our local communities do not want to take Islamic refugees from the Middle East, they should not be forced to do so by the federal government. Here in Idaho, three young Islamic refugees raped a 5-year-old girl, and yet the federal government does not seem to care about our outrage. Recently, I have been talking to so many people that just want the federal government to leave us alone. Instead of solving our problems, most of the time the federal government is the problem, and things would be so much better if the feds would just stay out of our business. |
New Faith-Based Film Reveals the Horrific Reality of John 15:20
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"America will stand by followers of Christ in this hour of need," U.S. Vice President Mike Pence told the World Summit in Defense of Persecuted Christians, the recent conference on the topic of persecution held in the nation's capital.
"Our administration is fully committed in bringing relief and comfort to believers, not only across the Middle East but across the world," he said.
People from 130 countries were represented at the summit, which was organized by evangelist Franklin Graham and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association.
So what is happening to Christians around the world that is worrying so many people?
Clarion Project's new film Faithkeepers uncovers the horrific reality faced by so many simply for being who they are.
In the Middle East, the birthplace of Christianity, Christians and other minorities are being violently persecuted, driven out of their homes, and killed," the Faithkeepers team says. "Their places of worship are being destroyed, and their history is being erased."
Across the world, but particularly in the Middle East, Christians and other religious minorities are persecuted for their faith. Most of this persecution is meted out at the hands of radical Islam, although by no means all of it.
In Iraq and Syria, ravaged by war, Christians, Yazidis and other minority groups are suffering grievously under the yoke of terrorist groups like the Islamic State. Christian communities that fall under their control are given a simple choice: convert to Islam, pay the jizya, a humiliating protection tax, or die.
Thousands of Yazidi women and girls were kidnapped into sex slavery and sold in the markets of Mosul and Raqqa. They have suffered unimaginably.
"Faithkeepers gives face and voice to the humanitarian crisis and genocide affecting millions in the Middle East as a result of religious and ethnic persecution," the Faithkeepers team added.
"The film is a testament to the stories of the persecuted and an inspiring portrait of the human spirit. Faithkeepers—the movie and movement— will awaken, enlighten and inspire all people of faith to stand up and take action."
In an exclusive interview with Faithkeepers Producer Paula Kweskin by Elliot Friedland, obtained by ASSIST News Service (www.assistnews.net), she was asked why she's so excited about her latest movie, which premiered on May 23.
"It brings much-needed attention to the horrific persecution faced by Christians and other minorities in the Middle East," she said.
What is the goal of Faithkeepers?
"We would like to awaken the Christian community and all people of conscience to understand and be empowered to take action on behalf of Christians and other minorities in the Middle East who are experiencing genocide. We feel there is a real lack of information and this is first and foremost a film to educate people and wake them up about this humanitarian crisis."
Asked what efforts is the U.S. government doing to protect Christians in the Middle East and is it enough? Kweskin said: "Congress has taken a number of steps to protect Christians and other minorities in the Middle East.
"House Concurrent Resolution 75, which passed the House of Representatives in March 2016, correctly states 'the atrocities perpetrated by the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) against Christians, Yezidis, and other religious and ethnic minorities in Iraq and Syria constitute war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.' The bill is currently awaiting passage through the Senate but if passed it will push the U.N. and other international bodies, working with U.S. leadership, to establish war crimes tribunals for ISIS leaders and take other more robust steps to tackle ISIS. There are other proposed bills, including one which would expedite the asylum process for Christians and other minorities fleeing ISIS persecution.
(Editor's Note: HR (House Resolution) 390, 'The Iraq and Syria Emergency Genocide Relief and Accountability Act' passed the U.S. House of Representatives on the evening of June 6 by unanimous consent).
"In addition, President Trump has increased the number of soldiers deployed to Iraq and Syria to fight ISIS and earlier this year he gave Defense Secretary Mattis the authority to set troop levels in Iraq and Syria. This means the U.S. military has the freedom to commit the forces it needs to eliminate ISIS, working with local partners on the ground."
"We have a three-pronged call to action: awareness, advocacy, and aid. Visit our website for more information on how exactly to help (https://clarionproject.org ):
Awareness: Spread the word by posting the trailer on your Facebook page or sending it to family and friends – each one of has the capacity to do that and awareness leads to action.Advocacy: Speak to elected officials and make sure they are engaged on the issue and are supporting steps to end the genocide and help these communities.Aid: We are collecting funds to distribute to selected charities and organizations in the region doing critical work on the ground."
What needs to be done to help Christians and other minorities who are now returning to villages and towns that were devastated by ISIS?
"First and foremost, there has to be strong security in place. But we can't just protect them, we also have to help them rebuild. Right now they're going back to destroyed churches and homes and are in a terrible situation. We need to give them the support to restore their devastated communities, whether that is politically, economically or in other ways. But I don't think it will be possible for them to return unless there is a strong effort from the international community to assist them, not just in the short term but in the long term."
How do you respond to people who say the United States has already wasted too much blood and treasure in the Middle East and that it's not our problem to fix?
"This is a humanitarian mission that goes beyond any one country. I see a genocide happening and I feel compelled to act. Minorities in the Middle East are a stabilizing and moderating force in the region.
"A strong, peaceful and diverse Middle East is definitely in America's interests."
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