The federal government owns 628,801,639 acres.
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42346.pdf
The federal debt is ~$17.6 trillion. http://www.usdebtclock.org/
$28 thousand an acre for mostly desert scrub brush?
I have never understood why when we are trillions in debt that the federal government still owns most of the land in the west.
We could sell most of that land, pay off the debt and still have money left over
“We could sell most of that land, pay off the debt and still have money left over.”
Sell the land to who?
Land is worth $20 Trillion?
In the Constitution, there is no provision for the United States to own any land that is not directly associated with conducting the business of government and provision for military bases and arsenals. There is no provision for national parks, land management, national forests, those are all the legacy of the first round of progressives to invade the halls of government with ill intent to the citizens.
The land was “stolen” from its rightful owners, the states, when the western states were formed. Just take it back and give to them.
Harry Reid just sold a big chunk to China. Some other corrupt poltitician might choose to sell Alaska back to Russia.
The Land, except for military bases and necessary government buildings, does not belong to the federal Goverment. It belongs to the people of the state in which it is bordered.
The land should be turned over to the states period. It should belong to them.
The federal government owns 628,801,639 acres.
http://www.fas.org/sgp/crs/misc/R42346.pdf
The federal debt is ~$17.6 trillion. http://www.usdebtclock.org/
$28 thousand an acre for mostly desert scrub brush?
“We could sell most of that land, pay off the debt and still have money left over.”
Who’s we kimosabe? That land is held in trust. The Feds don’t “own” it. They need to have “control of it” it taken from them as has been proposed previously in this post. Then the states can individually decide how to utilize it. Making it productive would reduce the states debt and make it possible for the Feds to get out from under their “subsidizing” the states with federally collected tax money. The only problem for the feds will be that they will loose their “management cut” from the federal taxes they’ve been collecting so they could re-dole it out back to those who paid it. Federal taxes are the biggest ponzu scheme I’ve ever seen.
That land is likely collateral on our $17T debt.