(The News As We See It) by R.T. Fitch ~ President of Wild Horse Freedom Federation
Is Salazar Breaking the Law?
The US Department of Interior’s plan to merge the Office of Surface Mining into the much larger Bureau of Land Management was met with stinging criticism by lawmakers during a subcommittee hearing Friday.
Last week Department of Interior Secretary Ken Salazar announced his plans to merge the functions of OSM, which primarily oversees state regulation of coal mining on private land, with the BLM, which has a broader agenda to allegedly allow multiple uses of public lands including leasing areas for oil, gas or renewable energy development; permitting hard-rock mining for uranium, cooper and other mineral extraction; and currently to strip federal lands free of native, wild horses and burros in violation of current laws and congressional mandates.
Salazar’s order will go into effect December 1, without a congressional hearing or vote, following consultation with department staff and the White House. The order directs Deputy Interior Secretary David Hayes to consult with OSM and BLM staff and develop a plan by March 1, 2012 to boost efficiency across the agencies by integrating administrative functions, abandoned mine restoration, fee collection and regulation, inspection and enforcement responsibilities across the two agencies.
“It is a proposal I am deeply concerned about impacting the ability of the nation to access our vast coal reserves,” said House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Mineral Resources Committee Chairman Doug Lamborn, a Colorado Republican. “Furthermore there are clear statutory limitations prohibiting the OSM from leasing or promoting coal which is one of the key responsibilities of BLM.”
But lawmakers from both parties raised concerns about the merger. A number of Republican members including Representative Bill Flores of Texas questioned whether Interior has the statutory authority to merge the two agencies.
Representative Rush Holt of New Jersey, the committee’s leading Democrat, asked for assurances that the merger would not impact the agency’s oversight.
Related articles
- Department of Interior Kingpin Pulling “Fast-One” with Merger of BLM and OSM? (rtfitch.wordpress.com)
- Congressmen Send Letter to Salazar to Halt Costly and Deadly BLM Wild Horse Stampedes, AGAIN (rtfitch.wordpress.com)
- Federal Judge Orders BLM to “Answer” Wild Horse Inhumane Charges (rtfitch.wordpress.com)
- Breaking News: Congressman Grijalva Letter Seeks Congressional Support for Wild Horses (rtfitch.wordpress.com)
- Fitch Outs BLM Employee Who Advocates Hunting Season on Wild Horses (rtfitch.wordpress.com)
Categories: Horse News, Wild Burros, Wild Horses/Mustangs
Straight from the Horse's Heart 
“Representative Rush Holt of New Jersey, the committee’s leading Democrat, asked for assurances that the merger would not impact the agency’s oversight.”
Are you for real???
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I agree, Marge. Since when have the Feds ever abided by “assurances”, since they have absolutely no legal standing or mechanism to prosecute. As I remember, the cartel of banks and investment houses made “assurances” before the Wall Street bailout. How’s that workin’ out for ya, American taxpayer?
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Did everyone transfer their bank accounts, direct deposits, savings etc to a credit union or small, local bank….isn’t today the day to make the statement?
I moved mine last winter.
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I kept mine in a little bank and will not open again in a National bank. But we have to use them sometimes… use it and move on if that is the case. But look around for a regional/local alternative.
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R.T., thanks for being a voice we can count on to separate and examine the threads in this snarl of greed. Denise, I closed a Well’s Fargo account and it felt good.
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AMEN….sister, friend. I’d ask the brothers to do the same.
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.. , stinging criticisim
by lawmakers !?!? Am I missing something here ??
The way I read it the only “LawMakers ” here ,are the White House and the Satanzar of the Department of Interior !! And, as has been proven many times over ” Breaking the law ” is their forte !!!
Thanks RT , appreciate the article . Great artwork too !
PS; Yesterday, the Obama administration announced its objection to adding President Franklin Roosevelt’s D-Day prayer to the World War II Memorial in Washington, D.C., according to a FoxNews article by Todd Starnes.
The objection was noted during a Nov. 3 congressional hearing on Rep. Bill Johnson’s (R-OH) bill – the “World War II Memorial Prayer Act of 2011.”
Robert Abbey, the director of the Bureau of Land Management, said any plaque or inscription of the prayer would “dilute” the memorial’s central message and therefore “should not be altered.”
http://secure.afa.net/afa/activism/TakeAction.asp?id=411
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Lets be honest, it seems to me, there is some sort of payoff going on here. It should be illegal; it’s a conflict of interest, and it’s wrong. Making money and doing whatever it takes to make more money becomes the chief motivation in vertually all their decisions and actions. If making more money means lying, stealing, defrauding, falsifying, or harming other people, it’s okay . If making more money means breaking the laws, destroying the environment, selling out our country or seeing people and animals suffer, it’s okay. The majority of these people are greedy beyond belief and corrupt beyond belief.
Greed, defined as the love of money, is indeed the root of all evil.
When is the American public going to wake up and say ~~~I’m mad as HELL and I’m not going to take it anymore?
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Some people are going to say it tomorrow, when those opposed to the Keystone XL pipeline hope to encircle the White House. I suppose Obama will either be off campaigning or with the family at Camp David. Heaven help he should actually have to witness citizens’ anger and frustration!
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Put your money, your resources and your energy into your own communities and local businesses, to the degree that you can. That’s a start. “They” have so much power, but WE have more. I compare it to getting burrs out of a Horse’s mane or tail. You pull the hair away from the burr. Strand by strand, you gradually get rid of the burrs.
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Many of us are late in coming into this battle. We’ve had a lot of catching up to do, but we’re learning fast.
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Long term planning and stealth implementation of land industrialization has been in the works for a long time – this is how Fed inter-agencies work, and are often a done deal by the time information gets out to the public, then some politicians make public complaints but do nothing because their intent is to fool the people again that they are working for the “public”. The lands have been desecrated and our wild horse and burro herds must be saved. Major wake up call of the people in the US required now.
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We have to pluck those ponies and burros from BLM hands some how soon. They do not have to go down because of any of these shenanigans. What are we offering them? Where do they land? We need to create the plans that will secure their freedom and save their lands… or a part of them.
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They certainly abuse the powers of the offices. I always said Salazar was the absolute mad man to put into this position. He is all about the money while our horses, burros and natural resources are destroyed. This is the problem no one in the other areas of country have a clue about what is happening out West and the media are probably paid off to keep quiet. Thanks RT for these blogs because we can circulate this information through our emails and other forms. One can only hope that those involved in these practices suffer the worst possible fate. Just Mind Blowing!!! How do we as citizens try to get this reversed?
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