Sen. Barrasso: Opposes taxpayer funding of free health care for illegal immigrants

• American taxpayers should never foot the bill…’

U.S. Sen. John Barrasso

R-Wyoming

WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senator John Barrasso (R-Wyo.) joined U.S. Senators Bill Cassidy (R-La.), Marsha Blackburn (R-Tenn.), Roger Wicker (R-Miss.) and Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-Miss.) in introducing legislation to ensure taxpayer dollars are not used to subsidize Medicaid benefits for illegal immigrants.

The Protect Medicaid Act prohibits federal money from being spent on administering state Medicaid benefits paid for by American citizens to noncitizens. If a state chooses to give Medicaid benefits to illegal residents, the bill will ensure it is entirely on the state’s dime, without costs to taxpayers in other states.

“President Biden and the Democrats want to offer incentive after incentive for illegal immigrants to cross our southern border,” said Senator Barrasso. “American taxpayers should never foot the bill for Biden’s handouts to those who break the law. Our bill stops liberal states from abusing Medicaid and using the money of hardworking Americans on illegal immigrants. Republicans will continue to fight against radical policies that fail to secure our border and keep the homeland safe.”

The Protect Medicaid Act requires the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of Inspector General (OIG) to review and report on:

How states that provide Medicaid services to illegal immigrants keep federal and state dollars separate.

Whether states providing health benefits to illegal immigrants use gimmicks that rip off the federal government, like provider taxes and intergovernmental transfers, to launder federal dollars to offset the cost of providing benefits to this population.

Whether people in the country illegally benefit from covered outpatient drugs purchased under the Medicaid Drug Rebate Program and the 340B program, and whether this impacts the prices American citizens pay.

Sen. Lummis: Making the Endangered Species Act work for Wyoming

• ‘Change is needed to to modernize this antiquated policy.’

By U.S. Sen. Cynthia Lummis

R-Wyoming

Fifty years ago, the Endangered Species Act (ESA) was signed into law by President Richard Nixon with the intention of establishing a clear process for recovering species on the verge of extinction.

In the years that have passed since its enactment, this well-intended law has taken on a life of its own and dramatically shifted from its original purpose to the point where it does far more harm than good to Wyoming communities with virtually no improvement to the species it aims to recover.

Since its passage, 1,667 species have been protected under the ESA. Of those 1,667 species, only 62 have successfully been delisted during a 50-year span. What is even more concerning is 36 species were only delisted because of data errors, such as when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service listed the Monito Gecko because scientists could not find enough geckos during their daytime search. Once they realized it was a nocturnal species, U.S. Fish and Wildlife went back at night and found the Monito Gecko to be a thriving species and promptly removed it from the list.

The failure to recover species has not stopped the ESA from enacting harsh restrictions on ranchers, landowners and many businesses across Wyoming.

The Western Caucus Foundation marked the ESA’s 50th anniversary by compiling a comprehensive report. It details the problems and failures of the ESA and plans to create a road map for commonsense reforms that ensure the ESA is more effective in saving impacted species and less harmful on people living and working in Wyoming.

I value the good intentions of the ESA to preserve our nation’s iconic species and landscapes, but change is desperately needed to modernize this antiquated policy in a way that actually recovers endangered species without destroying the communities around them.

U.S. Rep. Hageman: Natural Asset Companies proposed rule threatens property rights

•  ‘It doesn’t stop there. Land belonging to sovereign nations … and private land owners subject to control…’

U.S. Rep. Hageman

R-Wyoming

Tri-State Livestock News

Quietly, on September 29, 2023, the Securities and Exchange Commission, at the request of the New York Stock Exchange, proposed a rule to create a new type of company called a Natural Asset Company (NAC). According to the proposed rule, a NAC would “hold the rights to ecological performance,” giving these companies license to control the management of both public and private lands through quantifying and monetizing natural outputs such as air and water. In other words, NACs would use the air you breathe as currency.

Under the guise of climate change, NACs would make this “control” mechanism profitable without the actual use of the land itself. By monetizing and leveraging the management of these natural outputs their war cry of “ecological performance” would fall under the rules of sustainable development. “Natural assets” would now belong to corporations that are potentially run by special interest groups such as The Nature Conservancy and the World Wildlife Fund, thereby requiring all production tied to the land to fall under the sustainability rules established by these non-governmental organizations.

It doesn’t stop there. Land belonging to sovereign nations like the United States of America and private landowners can be subject to the control of NACs. For example, China could invest in a NAC which would effectively create their stakeholder position in a national or state park, placing them off limits for any kind of production or resource development. It is also possible that private landowners could involuntarily cede control of their land to NACs, such as through the rules of a conservation easement or other program that a current or previous landowner has participated or is participating in.

So, what is the motive behind all this? The answer is power and money, and…total control.

It appears the government intends to hand control over natural assets to the NACs as reports indicate that plans are underway to track the values of natural assets and place them on a federal balance sheet. It is also reported that a new accounting framework has been created by the Rockefeller-founded Intrinsic Exchange Group (IEG) because traditional NACs could not withstand the scrutiny required under general accounting principles, possibly leading to an artificially created economy four times larger than today’s entire economy.

The IEG admits that “producing these essential goods and services and managing resources wisely is as valuable, or perhaps even more valuable, than food production.” Without question, this is a part of the Biden administration’s 30×30 agenda – a land grab designed to secure 30 percent of America’s land and waters for conservation and preservation by 2030. Ultimately, this would allow the federal government, questionable investors, and perhaps international extremist groups to massively profit off of America’s natural outputs while simultaneously gaining control over them.

In December, President Biden and Vice-President Harris announced an international partnership initiative called Landsat 2030 International Partnership Initiative. This partnership between the U.S. Geological Survey and NASA, both members of the Working Group for Biden’s National Strategy to Develop Statistics for Environmental-Economic Decisions, will help them understand and track changes in the condition and economic value of land, water, air and other natural outputs. In short, it is satellite data collection on every square inch of earth and its sole purpose is to create an asset base for an investment product such as a NAC.

The American Stewards of Liberty group, however, recognized quickly that NACs are a direct threat to energy, mining, and agricultural production on land across America saying, “It is the fleecing of American’s property rights, consolidation of power, and transfer of wealth on an international scale.”

The SEC extended the public comment period for its NAC proposal to January 18, 2024.

In response to the recent comment period extension, Congresswoman Harriet Hageman (R-WY) stated, “I encourage all of you to weigh in on this potentially devastating effort to securitize our national heritage lands and private property rights! This development just goes to show that we should never give up, and that our voices do matter.” Thirty-one members of the House of Representatives joined Hageman in a letter successfully demanding a longer comment period.

Representative Hageman and American Stewards of Liberty have worked closely with R-CALF USA on property rights issues in the past, each with the understanding that the foundation of liberty rests on the shoulders of private property rights. It is essential that Americans weigh in on the extended comment period by January 18.

Comments can be submitted here:  https://www.sec.gov/rules/sro/sr-nyse-2023-09