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| Cliven Bundy Source: www.danaloeschradio.com |
By Dana Loesch, Apr. 11, 2014, Danaloeschradio.com
By now you’re familiar with the standoff between the federal
government, i.e. the Bureau of Land Management, and 67 year-old rancher Cliven
Bundy. (If not, check the backstory
and my radio interview with him here.) The BLM asserts their power
through the expressed desire to protect the endangered desert tortoise, a
tortoise so “endangered” that their population can no longer be contained by
the refuge constructed for them so the government is closing it and
euthanizing over a thousand tortoises. The tortoises, the excuse
that BLM has given for violating claims to easements and running all but one
lone rancher out of southern Nevada, is doing fine. In fact, the tortoise has
lived in harmony with cattle in the Gold Butte, Clark County Nevada for over a
hundred years, or as long as Cliven Bundy’s family has lived on the land as
ranchers. In fact, the real threat to it is urbanization, not cattle.
A tortoise isn’t the reason why BLM is harassing a 67
year-old rancher. They want his land. The tortoise wasn’t of concern when Harry
Reid worked BLM to literally change the boundaries of the tortoise’s habitat to
accommodate the development of his top donor, Harvey Whittemore. Whittemore
was convicted of illegal campaign contributions to Senator Reid. Reid’s former
senior adviser is now the head of BLM. Reid is accused of using the
new BLM chief as a puppet to control Nevada land (already over 84% of which is
owned by the federal government) and pay back special
interests. BLM has proven that they’ve a situational concern for the
desert tortoise as they’ve had no problem waiving their rules concerning wind
or solar
power development. Clearly these developments have vastly affected a tortoise
habitat more than a century-old, quasi-homesteading grazing area. If only Clive
Bundy were a big Reid donor.
BLM has also tried to argue that the rules have changed,
long after Bundy claims he secured rights and paid his dues to Clark County,
Nevada. BLM says they supersede whatever agreement Bundy had prior; they
demanded that he reduce his living, his thousand-some-odd head of cattle down
to a tiny herd of 150. It’s easy for the government to grant itself powers of
overreach, but it doesn’t make it right. Many bad things are done in the name
of unjust laws. Just look at Obamacare. This heavy-handed tactic has run the
other ranchers from the area and now Bundy is the last one. He’s the last one
because he stood up to the federal government.
So why does BLM want to run Bundy off this land and is Reid
connected?
Read the full story: www.danaloeschradio.com
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