You really want these people to run health care?
Some GOP commentary on HR 1018, which passed the House 239-185 the other day:
House Democrats plan to hold a vote on the “Restore Our American Mustangs Act” (H.R.1018), which would create a new $700 million welfare program for wild horses…Conducts a horse census every two years…Provides “enhanced contraception” and birth control for horses…Establishes an additional 19 million acres of public and private land for wild horses…Covers $5 million tab to repair horse damage to land…Mandates that government bureaucrats perform home inspections before Americans can adopt horses
Mark Steyn has some commentary as well, and notes that the cost of this legislation comes down to a mere $10,500 per horse:
The federal Bureau of Land Management aims for a manageable population of 27,000 wild mustangs. Currently, there are 36,000, and the population doubles every four or five years. To prevent things getting even more out of hand, the BLM keeps another 30,000 mustangs in holding pens — or, if you prefer, managed-care facilities. That’s to say, under federal management, one in every two “wild” horses now lives in government housing…
Under this legislation, no horses or burros could be, ah, terminated, and they would have to be released from their holding pens after six months. To facilitate the release of the tame “wild horse” population, the act adds to their present 33-million acre habitat (that’s bigger than New York State) another 20 million acres — or approximately the size of Connecticut, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont combined…
It’s a mere ten-and-a-half grand per mustang. If you’re wondering why it costs more to keep a horse on 52 million acres of wilderness than it does to stable him at an upscale horse farm in New England, that’s because, in order to prevent the mustang population doubling again by 2013 and requiring the annexation of another 50 million acres…the bill mandates “enhanced” contraception for horses and burros…
In 1971, the United States Congress recognized mustangs as “living symbols of the historic and pioneer spirit of the West.” And surely nothing captures the essence of the “pioneer spirit” than living on welfare in a federal care facility while being showered with government contraceptives. Welcome to America in the gelded age.
Just when we thought it would be hard for this Age of Foolishness to get much worse, we discover new follies beyond our imagination. Wake us up when all this is over. HT: Powerline
July 20th, 2009 at 4:58 am
Green thinking envirowackos usually want to preserve natural species and thwart any effort to introduce changes to that enviroment because it may hurt said natural species. But they make a big exception for horses, which were introduced to this hemisphere by eeevil white men. Go figure. Compounding the problem is the fact that it is nearly impossible to slaughter horses for meat in this country. In the 80s and 90s pleasure horses commanded good prices largely because salvage horses were worth so much money. I think it would tough to impossible to adopt BLM colts from care centers, break them to ride and be able to sell them for enough money to cover expenses. Finally, I think throwing this kind of money at wild horses will likely cause the problem to worsen, rather than improve. There will be new Government salaries to pay and fiefdoms to build and they won’t ever go away.