Utah Congressman and Koch Bothers Political Whore Rob Bishop Thinks Our Public Lands Are Worthless

If you live in, or love, the West because of the public lands, you are going to have to speak up in their defense in 2017

"Americans were outraged this week when House Republicans voted in secret to approve a rules change that would have prevented the independent Office of Congressional Ethics from investigating allegations of criminal behavior, allowed partisans to quietly shut down any ethics investigation, and barred disclosures of all this to the press.

What the public did not know was that the 43-page package of technical-seeming rule changes was filled with other, far more damaging things that clearly show why Republicans are so anxious to shut down the ethics office. Leading the pack of outrages was a provision written by Utah Representative Rob Bishop saying that transferring ownership of public lands belonging to all Americans “shall not be considered as providing new budget authority, decreasing revenues, increasing mandatory spending or increasing outlays.” What that means in English is that politicians like Mr. Bishop want it to be a matter of federal policy that there is no cost whatsoever to giving away our public lands for free—our national parks and monuments, national forests, wildlife refuges, and all the rest."

Read up, peeps!

• Rob Bishop Thinks Our Public Lands Are Worthless

"If you live in, or love, the West because of the public lands, you are going to have to speak up in their defense in 2017. The ethics office scandal temporarily delayed a vote on the package of rule changes, but Rob Bishop’s language is still in there, and it will be voted on soon."

CfA Demands Audit of Legislative Expenditures for Utah Land Transfer Lawsuit - Updated

"Utah, the best managed state," Har-har-har

Via Utah State Senator James Dabakis:

UGLY and SHOCKING: Fiscal conservatives my butt! So many first class plane tickets, expensive hotels, lobbying with tax money, luxurious meals etc with YOUR money! A sneak 129 page peek behind the translucent veil of totally closed state government. Explains why they were so insistent on keeping the details on the $14 million dollar state land lawsuit and its billing away from Rep Joel Briscoe and me. Thanks independent group The Campaign for Accountability for bringing facts to UTAH.

Read the good Senator's above-referenced article, peeps:

• CfA Demands Audit of Legislative Expenditures for Utah Land Transfer Lawsuit

Here's more from the Salt Lake Tribune and the Standard-Examiner:

• Are Utah taxpayers footing bill for land-transfer lawyers’ lavish travel?
• Public lands lawyers billed too lavishly

"Utah, the best managed state," Har-har-har.

The Trib piles on with yesterday's house editorial:

• Editorial: Utah ensures land-transfer lawyers win even if they lose

Don't let the cat get yer tongues...

Idaho Statesman: Utah Lawmakers Face Hostile Crowd on Land Transfer

Screw Utah Republican Ken Ivory, sez the Idaho Legislature

Via the SLTrib's ever-savvy Pat Pagley:

People are wising up to the Utah land grab scam. Even Idaho refuses to get on board with our lawmakers' sure-to-lose lawsuit.

Read up:

• Utah lawmakers face hostile crowd on land transfer

Sadly, for Crackpot Utah Republicans who are pushing to commit $14 million of Your Taxpayer Money to this Don Quixote moment, "the auditorium in the Idaho Capitol was filled to an overflow crowd of hunters, anglers, conservationists and others opposed to the idea of transferring the public lands from federal management. "

"Nuff said"?

What a bummer, No?

Screw Utah Republican Ken Ivory, sez the Idaho Legislature

Republicans are Morons, No? LOL

Read it and weep, American Conservationists

Top-notch cranky letter from highly articulate Standard-Examiner reader, Pam Wixom.  She's one smart gal, and she well frames the issues regarding the ongoing federal land-grab, naming names and clobbering this whole Koch Bothers backed effort to bribe all Republican to turn over all Utah Public Lands to the politically satanic Koch Brothers. Read up, peeps!

• Bishop, Chaffetz orchestrating a land grab on behalf of the oil industry

More...

•  Beyond the Bundys: The Far Right and the Future of Conservation

Read it and weep!