January 4, 2016
ON THE GOVERNMENT TEAT BUT DEMANDING MORE MILK:
The Armed Oregon Ranchers Who Want Free Land Are Already Getting A 93 Percent Discount (LEAH LIBRESCO, 1/04/16, 538)
In a news conference Sunday, Ammon Bundy explained that he was there in protest of the "unconstitutional transactions of land rights and water rights."Those transactions, though, can be a pretty good deal, regardless of their constitutionality. According to a 2015 report by the Center for Biological Diversity, the Bureau of Land Management's fees for grazing cattle on public land are much lower than the fees charged by private landowners, and they've only become cheaper in recent years.In 2012, the bureau's fees for grazing were 93 percent cheaper than the average market rate in 16 Western states ($1.35 versus $20.10 per AUM, which is a fancy acronym for the amount of land needed to support a cow and her calf for a month1).
How the Leader of the Oregon Armed Protest Benefited From a Federal Loan Program (Russ Choma, Jan. 4, 2016, Mother Jones)
As one of the leaders of a band of armed, anti-government activists who have taken over a National Park Service building in Oregon, Ammon Bundy has denounced the "tyranny" of the federal government. And he has brought a new round of attention to the anti-government militia movement that in 2014 rallied behind his father, Cliven Bundy, when the elder Bundy and armed supporters confronted federal agents in Nevada. But not long ago, Ammon Bundy sought out help from the government he now decries and received a federal small-business loan guarantee.
Posted by Orrin Judd at January 4, 2016 4:15 PM