Before the fall: America's public lands on clearance rack [View all]

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There’s a Russian connection between what the 115th Congressional Republicans are legislating and not too distant events in that foreign nation. See if you can follow the breadcrumbs.

Before the fall of the former USSR, the country needed money to satisfy its governmental budgets. To get money, the state auctioned off state properties. The banks put in charge of the auctions devalued, then sold those state properties for pennies on the dollar to...themselves.

Yukos (Russian Oil Company) 1994
Value at auction: $350 million
Valued 2 years later at: $9.0 billion

Overnight, billionaires were made from scams like this. Vladamir Putin and others followed that recipe after the fall of the former Soviet Union, as outlined in Rachel Maddow’s -- Putin, World's Richest Man piece. Putin is now estimated to be worth $85 - $100 billion.

Fast-forward to 2017. Just like with Putin's regime, within hours of taking control of our government, after Russia helped get Donald tRump and Republicans in power, on January 3rd, 2017, Republicans made a subtle, if not quiet sly move to House rules that makes it easier to dispose of unspecified public lands. These rules do not require senate nor presidential approval. The idea was that at least some public lands are a drag on local economies and therefore should be devalued to having no value, making it possible for states to, you guessed it, sell them to satisfy budget funding. That was House Resolution 5. It is already enacted and in force.

As being reported in the news in the past several days, Utah Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R), with help from fellow Utah Republican Congressman Rob Bishop's H.R. 5 crafty wording, introduced H.R. 621, a bill that identifies 3.3 million acres across 10 states to be 'disposed of' and sold off. Right now, the CBO, which provides lawmakers with data so they can make budget decisions, officially considers public lands to have no monetary value, meaning that legislation like Chaffetz's has an easier path to enactment.


It’s a recipe whose result is something we can know and see right now, this very moment: Russia. Land of the oligarchs. America. Soon to be the land of the oligarchs, with the king of America's oligarchs at the helm and his KGOP crew doing the dirty work. Rust belt and coal jobs be damned!

Say goodbye to our national parks
http://www.democraticunderground.com/10028547773

References
1) The Wilderness Society
2) The Rachel Maddow Show - MSNBC