Prometheus 6

Quote of note:

Rep. Nick J. Rahall II (W.Va.), ranking Democrats on Pombo's committee, criticized the measure in an interview yesterday. He said that it "would result in a blazing fire sale of federal land to domestic and corporate interests."

Rahall said the government would collect hundreds of millions of dollars more if it charged an 8 percent royalty on the extracted minerals. "We're setting up Uncle Sam to be Uncle Sucker," he said.

Assininity of note:

House Resources Committee Chairman Richard W. Pombo (R-Calif.) said the measure would cut the deficit and promote private ownership. "In some states primarily owned by the federal government, it's important that more of that land become private property," Pombo said. "These environmental groups want the federal government to own everything."

Come on. This is the United States of America. "Promoting private ownership" is like promoting bipedal locomotion in humans. The real idea here is to fund further irrational tax cuts by selling our property at bargain basement prices. Two sell-outs for the price of one.

Bill Would Sell Land Promised to D.C.
By Juliet Eilperin and Debbi Wilgoren
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, November 10, 2005; A02

Tucked inside a huge budget bill headed for an upcoming House vote is a provision that could spur the federal government to sell off millions of acres of public land to mining interests, marking a major shift in the nation's mining policy.

The measure, which would generate an estimated $158 million in revenue over the next five years, would also put on the market key parcels of federal land in the District that had been promised to the city for initiatives such as redevelopment along the Anacostia River.

The surprise measure has angered even Republicans such as Rep. Thomas M. Davis III (Va.), who has vowed to fight it.

Congress has barred the government from selling land outright to mining companies since 1994, on the grounds that they should lease public land the same way oil and gas firms do to extract the minerals below. But House Resources Committee Chairman Richard W. Pombo (R-Calif.) said the measure would cut the deficit and promote private ownership. "In some states primarily owned by the federal government, it's important that more of that land become private property," Pombo said. "These environmental groups want the federal government to own everything."