Harry Reid pushing for quick vote on land grab bill

Saw that myself....This is BAD. They are using the expiration of the Domestic drilling ban last fall to justify thier land grab. There is plenty of pork in this bill also.

Another paste from Townhall...

Amanda Carpenter :: Townhall.com Columnist
Harry Reid’s Land Grab
by Amanda Carpenter
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It’s hard to pinpoint the worst part of the public lands legislation bill Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is calling up for an under-the-radar Sunday vote.

The 1200-page, pork-laden, $10 billion proposal locks up millions of acres of energy-rich property by designating it as environmentalist-friendly “federal wilderness” area where not even as much as a bicycle would be permitted to travel across the land. Many of these areas recently became available when the ban on domestic drilling in Western states expired last fall and the liberal left couldn’t muster the courage to keep it in place due to rising energy prices. Now Democratic leaders are using different legislative strategies to put a new kind of ban in place.

One Republican House staffer put it this way: “Reid is going to make it federal land so no one can touch it. He’s locking up the equivalent of ANWR.”

The bill, S.22 "Omnibus Public Lands Management Act of 2009," would cordon off more than 3 million acres from energy leasing by restricting various areas as “federal wilderness” or “wild and scenic” river ways.

Since the price of gasoline has dropped and attention has diverted to other matters, such as President-elect Barack Obama’s inauguration, Leader Reid has made the land grab a priority and is calling members of the Senate back to Washington on Sunday to rush it through. And the bill, which is basically an omnibus compilation of pet projects and land seizures sponsored by individual House members and senators, has wide-ranging, bipartisan support since it helps many of them secure support from stakeholders in their home states and districts.

For example, one piece of the bill that has drawn the ire of the Wall Street Journal is a provision sponsored by Rep. Barney Frank (D.-Mass.). He’d like to make a robust, container shipping port located in his district’s Taunton River into a scenic tourist destination. This would have the liberally convenient side effect of killing a proposal to create a terminal to import liquefied natural gas.

Then, as to be expected in an omnibus bill, there’s the pork. California Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D.) is requesting $461 million to legally settle a dispute over the San Joaquin River with the environmentalist group Natural Resources Defense Council. The money would be used for a water project that has the “minimum goal” of restoring 500 salmon to the river. (That’s nearly $1 million per fish!) Montana Sen. Jon Tester (D.) wants $5 million to fund a “Wolf Compensation and Prevention Program” to assist property owners use “non-lethal” measures to prohibit wolves from killing their livestock.

The lands bill chief opponent Republican Sen. Tom Coburn (Okla.) argues it’s foolish to add acreage to the federal government’s responsibility when it can’t even properly manage treasured properties like the Statue of Liberty or National Mall appropriately. And, “we’re not exactly suffering from a shortage of wilderness,” his spokesman John Hart said in a conversation with Townhall.

Coburn has drafted 13 amendments to the bill, but Reid is not allowing him to offer a single one of them. One of them is a common-sense measure to just require that the current maintenance backlogs of government property be brought up to date.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R.-Ky.) is urging his fellow Republicans to just skip the vote, as a means of opposing the bill and drawing attention to the fact it’s been more than 120 days since Reid allowed a GOP amendment to be accepted on the floor.

Several Republicans, however, have their own projects in the bill making it a difficult vote to skip. Republican Sen. John Barasso of Wyoming, who is typically a reliable conservative vote, has a provision tucked away in the bill to withdraw 1.2 million acres of state land from mineral leasing and energy exploration, where 8.8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas and 331 million barrels of recoverable oil are estimated to exist.
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About The Author Amanda Carpenter is National Political Reporter for Townhall.com.

Tried to leave messages with California Senators but both mail boxes are full.

As predicted, this bill passed the U.S. Senate today by a vote of 66 to 12. It now moves on to the U.S. House for a vote.

Harry Reid does not respond to citizens of the State of Nevada unless you are associated with a special interest group. Have sent many emails and letters and get the same generic response (NOTHING)!

I can't believe for the life of me that John Barasso is supporting this bill.

I hope he isn't expecting to be re-elected.

F*cking *******.

damn liberals

land grab

just go the saws notice on the passage of the senate version of this bill. sick and tired of these know it alls who want to kick around states like utah like it was their own personal playground. like to kick a few of these idiots right in the teeth...

You can draft up a letter in about 30 seconds to send to your representatives here. :beer;

http://www.savethetrails.us/Default.aspx?PetitionID=31

has the house voted yet?

xrated said:

has the house voted yet?

Click to expand...

No.

it'll pass the house ...

I'll be absolutley flabberghasted if it doesn't.

If Obama was serious about change, he'd veto this bill and tell his own party "break this bill down, then we'll talk".

he won't do that though, that would become a political suicide for him.

Dogmeat said:

it'll pass the house ...

I'll be absolutley flabberghasted if it doesn't.

If Obama was serious about change, he'd veto this bill and tell his own party "break this bill down, then we'll talk".

he won't do that though, that would become a political suicide for him.

Click to expand...

Well of course it will pass. This is the change they want!!!

Why would Obama even think of a veto? This is the Obama, liberal, perfect storm.

This, and many of these bills, will pass in the next year or two.

So what is the question here?

it would seem, the question is.....how much are we pushed before we dig our heels in.

I wrote my congressman over a week ago and still not even a blanket thank you email This is why he lost my vote this fall.

As Blue Ribbon Coalition writes in this months issue "The runaway Wilderness train" After 8 years of a liberal democratic controlled country its scary if there will be anything left for motorized users!! There is no common sense in Washington!!! Its the new tone of this Hollywood, (Bill Maher) outlook society. I just get pissed!

All I know is, my entire way of life is under attack.

Riding snowmobiles, dirt bikes and quads is under attack.
People who work in the oilfield and the oilfield itself are under attack.
For that matter, anyone who makes a decent wage is under attack.
Anyone who isn't union is under attack.
Anyone who believes the government has no business holding stake in private industry is under attack .

Everything is under attack ....

I fail to see how things were so bad we needed all this "change" myself