bripat9643
Diamond Member
- Apr 1, 2011
- 170,164
- 47,312
Woo Hoo! Go Trump! Do it! Kick those snowflakes in the yarbles!
CONFIRMED: President Trump Can Sell Federal Land To Build The Wall - Big League Politics
To build a wall along the United States’ international border with Mexico, President Donald Trump could order the sale of approximately 500,000 to 5 million acres of federal land. The U.S. Government currently claims ownership of about 640 million acres of land — or about 28% of the total land mass of the nation. This could raise the entire $25 billion needed to finance building the wall (not just the next installment we are currently fighting over).
But one must understand that out of 640 million acres there is a vast diversity of terrain. The task is to select only between around 0.08% to 0.78% of that total land. Most federally-owned land is not suitable. But some land would be appropriate for sale to the State government, the County, or the general public. Some Western public land is nothing but empty grassland, just ordinary grazing land. Some public land is indistinguishable from the type of land currently owned and used by private citizens. In some cases, there seems to be no plausible reason for the federal government to be holding the land at all.
Decisions about which public lands within a state to consider as candidates must be nominated by each State government. It cannot be the President deciding, because left-wing interests groups will demagogue the issue. The State must identify which lands are not environmentally sensitive, culturally historic, important for scenic or recreational purposes, or reasonably claimed by Native Americans. Throwing those decisions to the States allows all the stake-holders to debate the choices, minimizing left-wing hysteria.
To build a wall along the United States’ international border with Mexico, President Donald Trump could order the sale of approximately 500,000 to 5 million acres of federal land. The U.S. Government currently claims ownership of about 640 million acres of land — or about 28% of the total land mass of the nation. This could raise the entire $25 billion needed to finance building the wall (not just the next installment we are currently fighting over).
But one must understand that out of 640 million acres there is a vast diversity of terrain. The task is to select only between around 0.08% to 0.78% of that total land. Most federally-owned land is not suitable. But some land would be appropriate for sale to the State government, the County, or the general public. Some Western public land is nothing but empty grassland, just ordinary grazing land. Some public land is indistinguishable from the type of land currently owned and used by private citizens. In some cases, there seems to be no plausible reason for the federal government to be holding the land at all.
Decisions about which public lands within a state to consider as candidates must be nominated by each State government. It cannot be the President deciding, because left-wing interests groups will demagogue the issue. The State must identify which lands are not environmentally sensitive, culturally historic, important for scenic or recreational purposes, or reasonably claimed by Native Americans. Throwing those decisions to the States allows all the stake-holders to debate the choices, minimizing left-wing hysteria.
