LETTERS: Bundy’s presence makes Paul look foolish

To the editor:

When a presidential candidate goes off on a subject in the manner that Republican Sen. Rand Paul did in Mesquite, I always wonder if the candidate is just pandering or actually giving a position on the subject (“Paul backs transfer of federal land,” Tuesday Review-Journal). He said he would “either sell or turn over all the land management to the states,” saying that state ownership would be good but private ownership would be the best.

Sen. Paul stood on stage with Cliven Bundy, a known lawbreaker who flaunts his squatting all over Nevada, as the senator opined about the bad federal government for controlling this land. Mr. Bundy has been living large for reasons unknown to us, because the Bureau of Land Management has not done its job and grabbed him for not paying what he owes for land usage. Sen. Paul is apparently OK with this. So, presuming Sen. Paul actually accomplished a land transfer to the state, did he ask if Mr. Bundy would then pay the state fair rent for the property? Would Mr. Bundy then buy the property?

Sen. Paul was standing on stage with a guy who made a fool out of him by his mere presence. If the senator was pandering, he knows the answer to those questions. Mr. Bundy and those people clapping have no intention of paying anyone, ever, for the use of or ownership of that land. If Sen. Paul was not pandering — if that was actually his stance — then he is either the most gullible or uninformed individual to ever weigh in on this issue. Tell us, Sen. Paul, who are the buyers, what is the selling price, and how many acres are we talking about?

What will the new owners do with the land? Sell it to the state? What will the state do that the feds will not? Cut the rents? State or federal, that land is taxpayers’ performing asset when someone wants to use it. Rent gets collected. The wagon trains have all reached California, the distribution is settled. When you can be made a fool of by the likes of Cliven Bundy, you should really not be running for president of the United States. It degrades the process.

JIM CASSIDY

HENDERSON