This is probably political maneuvering and manipulation at its best, the kind of stuff most of us non political types despise. In this case it just might be for the good but not for the reasons most would think.
The U.S. Senate is trying to pass what it described by the Associated Press as a bipartisan bill to protect public lands.
The bill combines nearly 60 separate proposals to expand wilderness protection in several Western states and establish the Abraham Lincoln National Heritage Area in Illinois and Niagara Falls Heritage Area in New York state, among dozens of provisions. Coburn considers the bill bloated and expensive and has blocked it for months.
Most consider this bill a good thing but I do not. Designating more public lands to wilderness effectively shuts out the land to public access and eliminates proper land management tools. The idea of forcing more National Heritage Lands on the people of the country threatens property rights.
What’s holding up the bill though is an amendment that was added to it by Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla and co-sponsored by Sen. John McCain. The amendment would change the restrictions now placed on guns in national parks so that people could keep guns accessible for protection.
The political wrangling comes because some believe the amendment is being used to force Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Barack Obama into making a comment or voting for or against the measure during this campaign period.
Those supporting the land protection measure don’t like the amendment.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., whose measure to create a 100,000 acre wilderness protected area outside Seattle is among those being blocked, called the dispute disheartening.
“It’s sad that individual political interests are working to hold up an effort that is broadly bipartisan and so obviously in the public interest,” Murray said. “Surely we can all agree that creating wilderness land for future generations should not be held hostage by ideology or political gamesmanship.”
In my opinion, if this holds up or defeats the land protection measure it would be in the best interest of the public, running contrary to the opinion of Sen. Murray.
But in the end it doesn’t really matter how you line up on issues, politics will be politics while we continue to ask ourselves why it takes years to ever accomplish anything in Washington? And what is the approval rating of Congress these days? I think it’s under 20%.
Tom Remington
