My message to Utah Congressman Rob Bishop (R)

Rob Bishop
In the Pocket of Big Oil
National Embarrassment

A little known fund that provides money for outdoor recreation, land preservation and projects on public land has been eliminated. The Land Water Conservation Fund  was a deal the government made 50 YEARS AGO with gas and oil companies. Money from profits made from off shore drilling would go towards conservation. The theory being if we harm the environment in one place we can protect it in another.The fund would get up to 900 million dollars a year. However often a huge portion of this money would end up in the "general fund." None the less, over 100 mill or more would be used for the benefit of us all. Obviously, over the past fifty years this fund had no direct affect on gas prices. Gas has been cheap and expensive over that time, and secondly the money comes from PROFITS.  Let me make this clear, THIS WAS NOT A BUNCH OF TREE HUGGERS WHO COME UP WITH THIS IDEA. FOR FIFTY YEARS THIS FUND HAD BIPARTISAN SUPPORT. This program has always been very popular with both sides. It brought jobs and outdoor recreation to each Congressman's state without costing taxpayers anything.

In comes Utah Congressman Rob Bishop, he single handedly blocked this bill this month when it was up for renewal. Somehow he convinced enough Republicans to vote against it. Not surprisingly Rob Bishop is in the back pocket of oil and gas. They are the biggest contributors to his campaign. It is an embarrassment to the great state of Utah. I have followed this bill closely and it seems most of his constituents wanted him to renew the LWCF. Again I say, this fund benefited us all. Whether you were a hiker (stereo-typically liberal) or a hunter (stereo-typically conservative) this bill was good for all Americans. By killing this fund, the only people helped were a few gas/oil CEOs and stock holders. Quite honestly, it probably cost Americans jobs since a lot of those funds went towards public projects that DIDN'T COST THE TAXPAYER A DIME!

It has bothered me so much that I went on Rob Bishop's Facebook page and wrote the following. Posts need his approval so it will probably never see the light of day. Luckily I have a medium in my blog and get to express my views where people can see them.

Rob Bishop,

I truly can not understand how you can look yourself in the mirror after blocking the BI PARTISAN LWCF. Clearly the fund had no affect on the price of gas over the past fifty years. So many worthwhile projects are gone/ on hold because of you. Utah may be the most beautiful state in the country so it surprises me that a Congressman from such a great state would do this. Since the LWCF has had bipartisan support for fifty years and you tore it down, the only conclusion I can come up with is you are in the back pocket of oil. The LWCF literally benefited EVERY American no matter conservative or liberal. Whether hiker, hunter, or both (like me) that fund benefited us all. Who benefits from taking away this fund? A few millionaire CEO's and some Wall Street stock holders. You didn't create working class jobs,  you didn't make the economy stronger. If anything, those public land projects that you blocked would have created jobs in rural areas. All you did was harm us all. Based on the many comments I have read below, I am not alone in this opinion. I believe you let down the majority of the constituents that voted you in. Whether another Republican runs against you or a Democrat beats you, it is irrelevant to me, I just know you did not do your job and you let down most of those that voted you in, and you need to be voted out.