Posted on 04/03/2016 2:28:33 PM PDT by drewh
As president, Donald Trump would sell off $16 trillion worth of U.S. government assets in order to fulfill his pledge to eliminate the national debt in eight years, senior adviser with the campaign Barry Bennett said.
"The United States government owns more real estate than anybody else, more land than anybody else, more energy than anybody else," Bennett told Chris Jansing Sunday on MSNBC. "We can get rid of government buildings we're not using, we can extract the energy from government lands, we can do all kinds of things to extract value from the assets that we hold."
In a wide-ranging interview with The Washington Post, Trump said he would get rid of the $19 trillion national debt "over a period of eight years." The article noted that most economists would consider Trump's proposal impossible, as it could require slashing the annual federal budget by more than half.
However, when pressed on whether the United States could sell off $16 trillion worth of assets, Bennett responded affirmatively on Sunday.
"Oh, my goodness," he said. "Do you know how much land we have? You know how much oil is off shore? And in government lands? Easily."
The federal government's assets totaled $3.2 trillion as of September 2015, according to the U.S. Government Accountability Office. However, that does not include include stewardship assets or natural resources.
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnews.com ...
I was only pointing out that it had been proposed many times before.
And I was only pointing out those in D.C. talk and do nothing. The solutions for many of Americas problems and issues have been voiced a million times. And those SOBs in D.C. did nothing but become wealthier, while Middle America became the results of their reckless mismanaged corruption.
As soon as all the unconstitutional activities of an unlawful Federal government are curtailed I’ll gladly pay up. Let me know when that is accomplished.
On this - we are in complete agreement.
***Hey, Trump. The government doesn’t own anything. We the people do. The guy needs to pick up a constitution.***
Really? Then try carrying a gun in a government building “the people” own. Why don’t you go grow a garden, or cut down trees on your government land, see how far that gets you. Or better yet, you try buying some of that government land.
Pssh!
Oh and by the way, paying property taxes = you don’t own jack sh*t.
And President Reagan’s Interior Secretary James Watt. The government “owns” about 40% of the land in this country, estimated value in the quadrillions. Sell it or auction it and use the proceeds to pay off the national debt.
can we sell Puerto Rico?
so all the people have title to the post office?
no, just the government owns it, but you are right in that the people paid for it. But we were used because ‘we’ don’t own a thing. if I did, I wouldn’t have to pay to get into a national park.
It is the *details* that matter.
As if that’s not happening at breakneck speed already.
Ok, then, but they didn’t make it happen. It was also proposed on a small scale, smaller than what Trump has in mind.
Trump has a bug picture view of how to fix the country. A bigger view than any other candidate.
Not OBE even mentions the debt. I get they are ok with it.
When people hear this they think Grand Canyon, etc. and freak. The reality is the government owns so much ordinary land it is unreal, they have many properties that are land and buildings just sitting. One of our TV reporters did a special on government land in NM that was just properties with land, office or warehouse type buildings. The kicker is several were built and never used, just sitting. When people would attempt to buy them it was just too complicated to even figure out who to talk to.
I think it is a great idea as long as spending is curtailed so we don’t keep getting in this fix.
The same place that said he wouldn’t. My point wasn’t to support or condemn the presumption of the headline, it was to point out the ridiculousness of these types of threads. Trumps going to do this, Cruz is going to do that. Patently ridiculous to me. The only one able to act as dictator in this country is Obama because our representatives refuse to counter his usurping of our process. If you think a republican will be afforded the same latitude, forget it.
Now that is where I wish EOs were allowed. When congress obstructs against the wishes of the voters then the president should have more flexibility. Of course if trump uses the bully pulpit he may guilt congress into doing their job.
Yeah, go tell that to one of our government Masters.
You'll get slapped with a dozen charges of felony "conspiracy to vex a government official" and felony "conspiring to give a government official a frowny face" so fast it will make your head swim...
What in the world are you talking about?
It’s all there for us D1 - we can right the ship!
LOL, “conspiracy to vex a government official” I like that.
Not a complete Trump fan, but this is a GREAT idea.
According to this guy, it is too late. Our debt is so great, even selling all the Federal lands can't pay it off.
“Sell it or auction it and use the proceeds to pay off the national debt.”
It’s a band aid on a severed artery.
People in debt need to make more and spend less, not sell off everything they own.
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