Huckabee Campaign Press Release - Nevadans, Not DC Bureaucrats, Should Control Nevada

By Mike Huckabee

Washington is at war with the American people and common sense. From foreign policy to Obamacare, Washington's idiocy and insanity flows faster than a California flash flood, but with much more regularity.

More than two centuries ago, we fought a revolution against unaccountable, out-of-touch tyranny. Sadly, Washington has preserved federal land management practices that operate more like a feudalistic property arrangement from King Arthur's era. Nevadans and citizens from across America have a right to be furious.

Why does the federal government still own and manage 84 percent of Nevada, 66 percent of Utah, and 53 percent of Oregon? When we deprive states and citizens the power to control their destiny, we undermine the essence of our Constitution.

Presidents have deployed American troops to overthrow oppressors and empower foreigners with the power to control their future. Yet today, Washington politicians deny the same basic right to American citizens living in Western states. This is crazy.

The American people, in every state, have a constitutional right to equal protection and equal treatment under the law. But in Hillary Clinton's native New York, the federal government owns less than 1 percent of the state. In Massachusetts, the home state of John Kerry and Elizabeth Warren, it's less than 2 percent. Does Washington think that New Englanders are more trusting and responsible than folks in Western states? These massive discrepancies in federal land management practices are unfair, unconstitutional and un-American.

Federal land generates no property tax revenue for states, but it certainly burdens states with infrastructure and law enforcement costs. In Nevada, Washington controls 56 million acres, which is nine times the size of Vermont. In return, Washington provides $25 million in payment in lieu of taxes. That's a meager 50 cents an acre. What a rip-off.

The American people have lost faith in a broken, blind Washington that no longer represents us. It's time we burn down the corrupt Washington political machine and the federal land management power grab that has persisted for too long.

As the governor of state who battled Washington for over decade, I believe government closest to the people is the most accountable, responsive and fair. I also believe the people of Nevada should control and manage their land — not detached Washington bureaucrats living thousands of miles away.

We need to shift power back to state and local governments. We need to empower Americans to control their own destiny. We need to restore the fundamentals our Founding Fathers fought to establish because the nonsense we have now is not it. Let's start by letting Nevadans control Nevada.

Mike Huckabee, a Republican, is the former governor of Arkansas and a candidate for president.

This op-ed ran in the Reno Gazette-Journal on December 10, 2015.