Back in the beginning of February, America’s more craven version of Renfield, Utah’s Republican Rep. Jason Chaffetz, proposed a bill that would allow him and other Republicans to sell off public lands. The blowback from Republicans and Democrats alike made Rep. Chaffetz stand up on two feet and backpedal, saying he was withdrawing the bill, having listened to his constituents. It seemed too good to be true, since Rep. Jason Chaffetz is a truly craven person. Well, it seems it was too good to be true.
If you cannot read that screengrab, you can look for yourself and see what a giant slap in the face of the American people actually looks like in practice. Rep. Chaffetz told the public he was “withdrawing” his bill on February 2. Eight days later the bill was referred to a subcommittee. Here’s a refresher on H.R. 621:
To direct the Secretary of the Interior to sell certain Federal lands in Arizona, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming, previously identified as suitable for disposal, and for other purposes.
And here’s the early spin, right in Section 1:
(a) Short Title.—This Act may be cited as the “Disposal of Excess Federal Lands Act of 2017”.
There’s only one thing “excessive” in our government these days and it’s politicians like Rep. Chaffetz.