NEVADA | In the state of Nevada, Cliven Bundy and his family are currently caught in a fight over land with the Federal government. This is over his long standing refusal to acknowledge a 1993 modification to grazing rights on the land.
Bundy claims the land has been in his family since the 1800s. On Saturday, hundreds of federal officials, helicopters, low flying aircraft and hired cowboys, began rounding up Bundy's cattle in northeastern Clark County.
Bundy stated to the media, "I have raised cattle on that land, which is public land for the people of Clark County, all my life. Why I raise cattle there and why I can raise cattle there is because I have preemptive rights... who is the trespasser here? Who is the trespasser on this land? Is the United States trespassing on Clark County, Nevada, land? Or is it Cliven Bundy who is trespassing on Clark County, Nevada, land? Who's the trespasser?"
More than 100 supporters violated a crudely taped off "First Amendment Area" to rally in support of the Bundy family. They erected two flagpoles with the words "We the People" above a flag which read, "Liberty Freedom For God We Stand". The first amendment area stood empty, with one sign nearby declaring, "1st Amendment is not an area."
Abby Martin reports on the Bureau of Land Management's siege of a Cliven Bundy's ranch in Nevada over cattle grazing on federal land, which has escalated into a heavily militarized standoff between the agency and protestors defending the rights of the rancher.
Farmer knows his land and what goes on there. So when this rancher says the tortoise eats cow manure as a protein source and grazing reduces wildfires, tend to believe him. So BLM should be sending him a check for supporting an endangered species!! But US about to crack down on yet another lover of freedom and more importantly willing to stand up for it!! As an olde Kennedy, McGovern Liberal am ashamed of this behavior by the Feds and they should be too!! This is Federal Government as Bully. They are not serving us!
Actually the only way this compares to Wako is if by cult leader you mean a rancher and his religious flock of cows automatically armed with deadly turtle stomping hooves. "Put down your weapons" Demands BLM. But the dumb cows refuse to comply. If Bundy was a pig farmer. Instead of his cows being shot dead. A flock of pigs could fly!
BLM thugs? Naw! I'm no fan of the BLM, but they're in the right on this one. This Bundy guy is a freeloader. He wants to use public land without paying for it. As far as I'm concerned he's stealing from the rest of us. Lock him up and throw away the key! A reasonable person would have just paid the fee, but he's disregarded that reasonable requirement for years and so he deserves what he's getting. Sorry if you don't see it that way, but that's the way I see it regardless of how anyone else may want to spin it!
Showdown at Nevada Cattle Ranch The guy feels that he's entitled to a free ride and owes twenty years in grazing fees totaling up to a million bucks. He's just like all those people who refuse to pay taxes because they claim that the IRS has no right to collect taxes from citizens. It's the same half-assed bullshit. And then there's all the nutjobs lining up to support this idiot who talk about freedom, but have not clue that freedom and responsibility go together. What a circus. I'm not a big law and order kind of person, but this is a case where law enforcement needs to do its job and arrest this deadbeat POS.
My two cents: This guy had TWENTY YEARS to prove that he had the legal right to the land and he was unable to prove it. In the meantime he failed to pay fees which any other rancher would also be required to pay. He owes money. He needs to pay up. It's pretty simple. No one should be allowed to use public land for grazing without paying some kind of fee. The rest of us have to pay if we want to profit through the use of public land and so should this guy. He isn't exempt!
I just watched the ten-minute YouTube video and it's almost up to a million views! It's actually pretty amusing. You've got a bunch of halfwits protesting because some rancher in Nevada failed to pay fees for twenty years. I'm usually one of those people who consider the BLM to be a bit overbearing (I'm against closing roads in the desert), but on this one I'm on their side! Like others have pointed out, the rancher wanted a free ride and it looks like the free ride is over. Reportedly someone got tasered, attack dogs are being used, and the rancher's cattle are being confiscated. I've got no problem with any of that. Go BLM! For once the BLM is actually doing its job without trampling on the rights of citizens!
Bundy offered to pay grazing fees to the state. He is also the last remaining cattle rancher. It's not like everyone but him is paying. Everyone else has been driven out of business!
"I have no contract with the United States government," Bundy said. "I was paying grazing fees for management and that's what BLM was supposed to be, land managers and they were managing my ranch out of business, so I refused to pay."