IF I WERE KING

2 PARAGRAPHS 4 LIBERTY: 436

And what would I do if I were King? I would follow the Constitution, which would result in a much smaller and less expensive and intrusive federal government. And this would benefit everyone, except for the politicians and special interests.

As a quick example, I would abolish the federal Bureau of Land Management and give the land that it currently manages back to the individual states. Few people know this, but that land consists of more than 2.47 million acres in the twelve Western states, which is about one-eighth of the total land mass in our country. (In fact the BLM controls more than 80 percent of the land area of the entire State of Nevada!) None of this land consists of military bases or national parks or even national forests. It was originally called “land that no one wanted,” because it had been bypassed by the original homesteaders. But who believes that the federal government today can provide for, use and protect land better than the individual states or the people therein? The states could make money by selling some of the land to private individuals, subject to environmental rules and regulations of course, but then the land could be used for such things as recreational retreats, retirement homes or even villages, or for many other beneficial and creative purposes. And then the states and the federal government could often receive income and property tax revenue along the way.

There are many areas in which everyone will benefit by a reduced presence of the federal government, and abolishing the BLM would be an instructive place to start.

(Did you hear that recently a man was severely injured while playing a game of “hide and seek?” So where did the authorities take him after they found him? To the ICU!)