Congressman Want to Tax Federal Gov't

[Khephra]

SALT LAKE CITY -- Two congressional Republicans who blame the federal government for meager education funding in the West said Monday they want to tax the federal government's vast landholdings across 12 Western states.

U.S. Reps. Chris Cannon and Rob Bishop said the government has failed to keep its promise to sell the land it now manages, and that it owes states a one-time payment amounting to 5 percent of the land's value and should pay yearly property taxes.

The Utah congressmen said they plan to introduce legislation in January.

Under their proposal, the one-time payment in Utah would net $836 million, and across all 12 states would amount to billions. The annual property taxes would total $116 million in Utah and up to $782 million in each of the other 11 states.

http://www.newsday.com/news/politics/wire/sns-ap-education-funding,0,939899.story?coll=sns-ap-politics-headlines

[BayCityProgressive]

1. tax and spend liberals! Run!

[Eye and Monkey]

2. a "promise to sell the land"???

Feds promised? Which Feds? Sell the land? To whom?

[Rose Siding]

3. Probably to mining or energy interests

Hey, there's an idea! Increase the amt paid for leases by mining and energy interests.

Is the We Hate Government myth so prevalent in the brainless wing of the repub party that they don't see this as being a TAX on We The People?

[NVMojo]

4. this is a ploy that is tied into the Lincoln County Land Bill

that was signed in Congress yesterday for Nevada to grab federal land for a water pipeline through this rural county to get water to Vegas, it will also sell some of the federal land in Lincoln County to private developers with connections at dirt cheap prices. US Senator Harry Reid has promised to do the same thing in every rural county in Nevada and then move on to other states. When land is held by the BLM or Nat. Forest Service for the public, it doesn't pay taxes. Rural counties get "payment in lieu of taxes -PILT funds from the feds instead. Utah is ultra conservative and would privatize every national park in it's state if it could. Big time Repuke state.