More Sewage From Pombo the Pervert

I was awake a few nights ago thinking about phrases that fit Representative Richard Pombo. Many came to mind, including many that aren't suitable for polite audiences, but the one I like that sums it up best is "Public Enemy Number One". Between the neocons, the Bushies, the ID'ers, Tom DeLay, Pombo and their ilk, the terminal cancer of the Republican Party is clear. The only unresolved question is - terminal for who? Them - or all of us.

But, terminal cancer for the R-Party, at least it's extreme right wing, would be the good part. The bad part is the immediate need to counter another Pombo perversion, i.e. the sale of millions of acres of YOUR public lands via the 1872 Mining Law. Pombo's proposed revision of the 1872 Mining law is like reforming rape laws by making rape legal and punishing the victims. And, knowing there's no public support for such atrocities the cowardly assassin (who must think he's a cowboy - see photo) and his mates are proposing to do this, and MANY other, dastardly deed(s) through the budget reconciliation bill.

This, of course, isn't Pombo's first outrage - he also proposes destroying the Endangered Species Act, selling your national parks, allowing the oilies to invade and exploit the Arctic NWR, and a host of other attacks along his trail of serial abuse. And the list of other atrocities the Republicans have attached to the budget bill, that can't be filibustered, are unbelievable.

For more background on his ESA attack I'll separately submit an Op-Ed of mine that appeared in the Bend Bulletin a few weeks ago. A bit more detail on Pombo appears after the AP article about his attack on your lands through the 1872 Mining Law.

For background - the 1872 artifact of 19th Century greed and exploitation does need revision, i.e. minerals on public lands should be leased according to strict, public-interest-comes-first regulations. Not given away, along with the land, as the 1872 law now allows and Pombo's degeneration makes much easier. That means this current bunch of 19th Century thieves can't be allowed to make the revisions.

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The main message is to strip all the stealth attacks on the public interest from the budget reconciliation bill, particularly all that have come through Pombo's committee, and kill Pombo's attack on endangered species. That probably means they should just start over again. The 1872 outrage and the Arctic NWR attack are at the top of the "do something about" list.

BUT WHAT TO DO?

Fax, phone and email via your Congressman's and Senator's websites.

HERE'S HELP:

If you live in Oregon, our Senator's contact information is:

Senator Gordon Smith
One World Trade Center
121 SW Salmon Street, Suite 1250
Portland, OR 97204
Phone: 503.326.3386
Fax: 503.326.2900

Senator Ron Wyden
700 NE Multnomah St
Suite 450
Portland, OR 97232
(503) 326-7525

Smith's and Wyden's web/email contacts mechanisms are:
http://gsmith.senate.gov/public/index.cfm?FuseAction=Contact.Home

http://wyden.senate.gov/contact/

Phone calls are also useful. Phone #'s are shown above for both Smith and Wyden, and Smith's fax # is shown. Faxing your letter will help ensure timeliness, but I can't locate Wyden's fax #.

It's very important to also contact your Representative. Yours may not be as hopelessly "challenged" as mine.

The capitol switchboard can connect you to your Representative's or Senator's office at this #, regardless of where you live:

202-224-3121

Their web/email information can be found at:

http://www.congress.org/

This is NOT the time to "Let George Do It!". Actually he's part of the evil empire on the other side. Take 15 to 30 minutes to do something that you'll be glad you did. It'll get you in the habit, if you aren't in it yet, and there'll be more opportunities, albeit critical needs, to do more of the same.

Have a nice day :<(

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House Could Alter 19th Century Mining Law
By John Heilprin
The Associated Press
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/selling_mining_lands
Friday 11 November 2005

Washington - As many as 20 million acres of public land could be sold under a proposed change in mining law that is tucked into a budget bill in the House.

At issue is the possible overturning of a congressional ban that has prevented mineral companies and individuals from "patenting," or buying, public land, including some in national forests and parks, at cheap prices if the land contains mineral deposits.

"If this provision became law, it could literally lead to the privatization of millions of acres of public land, including national park and national forest land," said Dave Alberswerth, public lands director for The Wilderness Society.

A vote on the overall bill was put off until next week.

The Interior Department over the past decade has approved slightly more than half of the 405 patent applications it received before 1994, and is processing the final 50.

House Resources Committee Chairman Richard Pombo, R-CA, and other committee members want to lift the ban, which prevents anyone from applying for a new patent application. They propose raising the price to $1,000 per acre or "fair market value," whichever is more. That does not take into account the value of the minerals the lands might contain.

..............

Sen. Dianne Feinstein, D-CA, wrote Pombo and urged him to withdraw the measure. She said it would allow people to "carve out numerous private enclaves within our public lands" and that the land sales "could fragment the desert parks" in California.

"Your bill also appears to require the secretary of the interior to sell 'mineral deposits' or lands containing 'depleted' mineral deposits to anyone desiring them," she wrote.

............

The new language lowers the threshold for obtaining a permit and generally mirrors what the National Mining Association advocated. Luke Popovich, a spokesman for the trade group, said those changes would help boost rural Western economies by drawing investment "in areas where mining companies are clearly the high-wage employers."

Read the article at: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/selling_mining_lands

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http://www.beyonddelay.org/summaries/pombo.php

Rep. Richard Pombo (R-CA)

Rep. Richard Pombo (R-CA) is a sixth-term Member of Congress, representing the 11th district of California. In 2003, he took over the chairmanship of the House Resources Committee, becoming the youngest chairman in the House, and winning the post over nine more senior Republicans with the strong backing of Majority Leader Tom DeLay. Rep. Pombo's ethics violations include: misuse of the franking privilege, accepting campaign contributions in return for legislative assistance, keeping family members on his campaign payroll, and misusing official resources.