06 Aug American Farm Bureau Federation SELLS OUT to Green Land Trusts!

American Farm Bureau Federation SELLS OUT to Green Land Trusts!

August 6, 2003

Action Alert! Action Alert!
APC is in possession of a very controversial letter.

The American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF) and their high-priced lobbyists have SOLD OUT their members, farmers and property rights advocates. Rather than fight they have decided to CAVE to The Nature Conservancy, the Land Trust Alliance and the rest of the land grab lobby.

Recall that the Senate passed President Bush’s “faith-based initiative,” otherwise known as the CARE Act (S. 476) AND included a nasty little provision in the bill that would UNDOUBTEDLY put a limitless amount of property and farmland into the hands of land trusts and government agencies. The provision in S. 476 gives the seller of any property a 25% capital gains tax cut—ONLY if he sells his land to an environmental land trust or government agency! This only benefits organizations like the multibillion-dollar Nature Conservancy as they will get to swoop in, offer the seller a LOWER price for his land citing the 25% tax break on the profits, and UNFAIRLY ELIMINATE all other competitive bidders.

Property values would plummet.

Schools, churches and other “faith-based” organizations looking to purchase land would be NO MATCH for The Nature Conservancy and their greedy little land grabbers armed with an UNFAIR TAX ADVANTAGE.

Farmland would be snatched up in gigantic swaths and shut off from agricultural use as the government and greens add to the pieces of the Wildlands Project.

Most importantly, more and more land will be taken out of private use and locked away and controlled by government.

And we all know that FARMLAND LOST IS FARMLAND LOST FOREVER.

NOW, the House of Representatives’ version of the CARE Act (H.R. 7) does NOT include this unfair tax advantage for green land grabbers and big government agencies. HOWEVER, big-money green lobbyists are pushing hard to get this unfair tax advantage included in H.R. 7.

You would think the Farm Bureau would fight the radical greens—the same land grabbers who are destroying the property rights of farmers nationwide—RIGHT???

WRONG!

The Farm Bureau’s lobbyists and their national headquarters are RUNNING SCARED and selling out commonsense property rights in the process! According to a letter from AFBF President, Bob Stallman:

“Farm Bureau supports excluding a percentage of the gain from the sale of permanent conservation easements and from land sales to an entity that intends to keep the land in a conservation use.”

In other words: The Farm Bureau supports making it IMPOSSIBLE for anyone but the government and the billion-dollar environmental movement to purchase land.

Were Farm Bureau members consulted before this terrible, anti-property rights decision was made???

Were local state Farm Bureau agencies informed???

THIS IS AN OUTRAGE!

WE MUST ACT NOW!

** ACTION TO TAKE**

1. Contact your local state Farm Bureau office and ask them if they even knew about this decision! Tell them that you do NOT support unfair tax favoritism for wealthy land trusts and government agencies and neither should they! You can locate your state Farm Bureau by going to: http://www.fb.org/state/

2. Call American Farm Bureau Federation Headquarters and DEMAND that the Farm Bureau RESCIND its endorsement of tax favoritism for land trusts and government agencies! Express your outrage that they would even CONSIDER backing such an anti-property rights, anti-farming boondoggle! Phone: (847) 685-8600. Fax: (847) 685-8896.

3. Click here: to send this urgent alert to up to ten of your friends.

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