THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
An Online Journal of Political Commentary & Analysis
Volume IX, Issue # 178, September 24, 2007
Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
Government Committed to & Acting in Accord with Conservative Principles
Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity
CONGRESSIONAL SELF-DEALING ALIVE & WELL:
Legislation That Would Enrich Select Special Interest Groups
to Be Voted on This Week -- A News Release from the
National Center for Public Policy Research
By David Almasi
"NATIONAL HERITAGE AREAS," SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS, & CONGRESSIONAL PORK BARREL POLITICS: THE
"CELEBRATING AMERICA'S HERITAGE ACT" AS PROPOSED CONGRESSIONAL LEGISLATION TO EARMARK OVER $ 135 MILLION IN
FEDERAL FUNDS FOR SOCALLED NATIONAL HERITAGE AREAS, CREATE SIX NEW NATIONAL HERITAGE AREAS, INCREASE
FUNDING FOR NINE EXISTING HERITAGE AREAS, & THEREBY FURTHER EMPOWER & ENRICH ANTI-PROPERTY RIGHTS SPECIAL
INTEREST GROUPS -- GRANTING SPECIAL INTEREST GROUPS, IN LEAGUE WITH THE NATIONAL PARK SERVICE, THE POWER TO
FORCE LAND USE RESTRICTIONS ON OWNERS OF PRIVATE PROPERTY -- GIVING MILLIONS OF FEDERAL TAX DOLLARS TO
ENVIRONMENTALIST GROUPS FOR THE SOLE PURPOSE OF LOBBYING LOCAL GOVERNMENTS TO DEPRIVE LANDOWNERS OF
THEIR PROPERTY RIGHTS -- LEGISLATION DESIGNED TO INGRATIATE CONGRESSMEN WITH THE POLITICAL
ENVIRONMENTALISTS
FULL STORY:
In Washington, D.C., on Wednesday, September 26, 2007, the Natural Resources Committee of the U.S. House of
Representatives will vote on a bill that would funnel over $135 million of federal pork to special interest groups in select
House members' districts. The "Celebrating America's Heritage Act," put forth by Representative Raul Grijalva
(Democrat -Arizona), would create six new national heritage areas, including the controversial "Journey Through
Hallowed Ground." It would also increase congressional funding for nine existing heritage areas by 50 percent. This
self-dealing is indicative of a Congress that has little interest in reforming ethics or earmark abuse, says the National
Center for Public Policy Research.
"The only heritage celebrated in this bill is the unfortunately strong tradition of congressional self-dealing to pet special
interests," said Peyton Knight, Director of Environmental and Regulatory Affairs for the National Center. "The rhetoric
from Congress about reigning in spending and eliminating earmarks is apparently just that -- rhetoric, and nothing else.
This bill would establish permanent pork pipelines to numerous members' districts."
National heritage areas are creations of Congress in which special interest groups, whose work, at times, has been funded
through secret Congressional earmarks, team up with the National Park Service to influence decisions over local land use
previously made exclusively by elected local governments and private landowners.
For instance, the special interest group lobbying for the Journey Through Hallowed Ground heritage area (which has been
quietly slipped into the Grijalva bill) received an anonymous one million-dollar earmark in the 2005 transportation bill.
Incredibly, the group wasn't even incorporated at the time. This is an instance where one pork-barrel earmark was
distributed to bolster support for another pork-barrel earmark.
Congressman Jeff Flake (Republican - Arizona) has observed: "[O]nce a federal line is drawn around property for a heritage
area, the door for annual federal earmarks and grants is opened."
According to figures from the National Taxpayers Union, the Celebrating America's Heritage Act's $135+ million price tag is
equal to the annual federal income taxes paid by 33,276 middle class Americans. Ironically, it is the middle class that stands
to lose the most, as heritage area interest groups are typically hostile to property rights and frequently use their muscle to
restrict land use and make housing more expensive for middle-income buyers.
Earlier this month, The National Center delivered a coalition letter to congressional leaders signed by a diverse group of 114
think tanks, local government officials, civil rights organizations, grassroots leaders, farmers, ranchers and sportsmen calling
on Congress to oppose the creation of any new national heritage areas.
"Despite cries for more accountability, less self-dealing and stronger property rights protections, Congress is putting forth
legislation designed to enrich pet interest groups and erode Americans' property rights," said Knight.
"It's little wonder why congressional approval ratings are
at floor level. Congress isn't tone deaf, it's earless."
LINKS TO RELATED TOPICS:
American Government & the U.S. Congress
The American Political System:
Politics & Government in the U.S.A.
Fiscal Policy: Taxation & Government Spending
Political Environmentalism Versus Human Progress & Prosperity:
Policy Issues Relating to Energy, Environment,
& Natural Resources
The U.S. Constitution & the American Economic Order:
Civil Liberties -- Private Property Rights
The National Center for Public Policy Research, founded in 1982, is a non-partisan, non-profit educational foundation based in
Washington, D.C. The NCPPR is a Conservative think tank and communications and research institute supporting a strong
military defense of the U.S.A. and its true allies, advocating foreign and military policies that serve American national interests
and uphold U.S. national sovereignty, opposing policies that increase the political power of the United Nations at the expense
of the constitutional authority of American national, state and local governments, defending the private enterprise capitalist
economic system and the rights of private property owners, opposing political environmentalism, socalled "sustainable
development policy" and all other forms of statism and socialism, and seeking to provide free market solutions to contemporary
issues and problems of public policy.
As Executive Director of the National Center for Public Policy Research, David Almasi directs the National Center's media
relations, provides staff support to Project 21, and has other important management duties and responsibilities. Almasi has
served as Media Programs Director for Defenders of Property Rights, Accuracy in Media, and Putting People First. An
experienced writer, his commentaries have appeared in numerous periodicals, including such newspapers as The
Philadelphia Inquirer, The Washington Post, The Detroit Free Press, The Orlando Sentinel, The
Miami Herald, and The Houston Chronicle. Almasi is co-author, with David Ridenour, of Nicaragua's
Continuing Revolution (Signal Books, 1990).
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THE PROGRESSIVE CONSERVATIVE, USA
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Dr. Almon Leroy Way, Jr., Editor
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Conservative Government Ensures a Nation's Strength, Progress, & Prosperity