Posted on 03/12/2017 5:06:16 AM PDT by vooch
Federal Gov't owns about 750 million acres of land ( excluding Alaska ). Much of this land is low value, but a surprising amount is in high value areas.
If the Feds sold off 1/2 their property at average price of $50,000 per acre that would generate about $20 trillion. This would be enough to retire the entire national debt.
What are Freepers thoughts' ?
Sounds good to me.
About 8% of Federal Budget goes to debt service. Retiring debt would mean Federal Budget would be immediately balanced.
Sell it. Sell the Post Office to private investors. Its real estate alone is over $1 Trillion in value.
Fedgov would simply rack up the debt again.
1. I suspect you are over estimating the average value per acre.
2. Utah is suing (or is expecting to sue) the Federal government to get the feds to transfer the land to the states.
http://www.sltrib.com/news/3984279-155/utahs-lawsuit-over-federal-lands-nearly
http://fox13now.com/2016/06/15/lawsuit-over-control-of-federal-lands-may-be-filed-in-2017/
Rather than selling the land(s), should they not go back to their respective states instead?
Uh, $50,000 per acre would mean the bulk of the land was high value. I don’t know where you live but even prime Midwest farm ground only goes for an average of about $8-10,000 per acre. Unless a lot of this land is in high value settings, and I suspect it’s not, the average value per acre would be far less than $5,000 per acre. Probably more like $1-2,000 or less.
Great idea! Devil in the details, but pay off a big chunk of debt and build a Wall
Do It! Or sell 100 yr leases for half that.
That or the States should simply confiscate it. The Federal Government has no Constitutional right to the land beyond DC and military reservations.
The Fed is not supposed to own land.
Pray America woke
As long as the land ends up belonging to the state it’s in or American corporate or private interests.
Feds should never have confiscated a States land in the first place. All states should be able to control and use the resources within their boundaries....or do they still have borders?
A lot of that real estate actually isn't owned by the post office, but leased. Hundred year lease, but still a lease.
I think 50,000 /acre does sound a little high but it’s still a wonderful idea to knock down the debt
“Fedgov would simply rack up the debt again”
I agree. Because in theory the land “belongs” in trust to the taxpayers, although some would argue that it belongs to the citizens. Of course I disagree with the citizens having any rights unless they are paying taxes. Non taxpayers shouldn’t even be allowed to vote as far as I’m concerned. Neither should welfare recipients. But hey, I’m just shootin’ my mouth off as usual...
Sale should be limited to individual US citizens. In perpetuity.
Post Office is actually one of the few things the Federal Government is doing that is actually constitutional. We'll have to add removing it to the “article V” constitution convention, eh?
https://about.usps.com/publications/pub100/pub100_005.htm
The Constitution and the Post Office
In June 1788, the ninth state ratified the Constitution, which gave Congress the power “To establish Post Offices and post Roads” in Article I, Section 8. A year later, the Act of September 22, 1789 (1 Stat. 70), continued the Post Office and made the Postmaster General subject to the direction of the President. Four days later, President Washington appointed Samuel Osgood as the first Postmaster General under the Constitution. A population of almost four million was served by 75 Post Offices and about 2,400 miles of post roads.
The Post Office received two one-year extensions by the Acts of August 4, 1790 (1 Stat. 178), and March 3, 1791 (1 Stat. 218). The Act of February 20, 1792 (1 Stat. 232), continued the Post Office for another two years and formally admitted newspapers to the mails, gave Congress the power to establish post routes, and prohibited postal officials from opening letters. Later legislation enlarged the duties of the Post Office, strengthened and unified its organization, and provided rules for its development. The Act of May 8, 1794 (1 Stat. 354), continued the Post Office indefinitely.
The Post Office moved from Philadelphia in 1800 when Washington, D.C., became the seat of government. Two horse-drawn wagons carried all postal records, furniture, and supplies.
$50,000/acre?
Much of it currently runs about $640/acre. It’s “public” because nobody wants it.
Go look up “cheap land in (insert state here)”. You’ll find the big tracts are checkerboarded with BLM land, runs dirt cheap, and is covanented “no personal dwellings” - likely because there’s no water, no utilities, bad for farming, lousy views, lousy mineral content.
I think the land should be for sale, gov’t has some ulterior motive for not selling. Understand that most of it really is undesirable, and worth very little.
By extension, there is a good case that the gov’t should supply (but not dominate) data services.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.