Obama Illegally Shuts Down Hundreds of PRIVATELY FUNDED Parks

From Capitalism Institute, October 3, 2013

Yesterday, we reported thatObama shut down a park that wasn’t even using government funds. It looks like this was only the very tip of the iceberg.

Now, reports are coming in that the White House directly ordered federal police to force hundreds of parks nationwide to shut down — that were privately funded, privately run, and were often even paying the federal government money.

This means Obama is spending money to shut down parks that earn the feds money — to make the “shutdown” look worse for political reasons. This is basic propaganda, and the media is pretty much ignoring it in order to support him through silence.

From PJ Media, directly quoting one of the managers of the parks:

Warren Meyer of Phoenix, AZ, is owner and president of Recreation Resource Management, Inc. RRM employs about 400-500 camp workers and managers across about a dozen states. It is one of a handful of companies that have been managing national parks and campgrounds as tenants for years, through previous government shutdowns including the last one in 1995-1996. Those previous shutdowns never closed any of the parks managed in this way, but the current shutdown threatens closure.

The campgrounds are self-sufficient and receive no federal funding. No government employees staff or manage the parks. The management companies pay the National Park Service out of the funds they generate from operating the thousands of campgrounds. So the reason for the shutdown is puzzling to Meyer.

Today, he sent a letter to both of his senators, John McCain and Jeff Flake, asking for help to keep his parks open.

“My company, based in North Phoenix, operates nearly over 100 US Forest Service campgrounds and day use areas under concession contract. Yesterday, as in all past government shutdowns, the Department of Agriculture and US Forest Service confirmed we would stay open during the government shutdown. This makes total sense, since our operations are self-sufficient (we are fully funded by user fees at the gate), we get no federal funds, we employ no government workers on these sites, and we actually pay rent into the Treasury.”

Notice that last part. The parks not only do not cost the taxpayers any money, they pay funds into the Treasury out of the fees park users pay. Shutting them down will cost the taxpayers money.

How much? Meyer told the Tatler that his parks generate hundreds of thousands of dollars per week. Multiply that across his competitors and the Treasury could lose a few million dollars, in what is essentially free money to the government, over the course of the shutdown.

Incredible. Millions of dollars are being destroyed, money is being spent, and private parks are being barricaded — for Obama’s political games. What a pathetic man and government.

The man mentioned above later emailed the author at PJ Media, and wrote:

It’s official.  They are shutting all of us down ASAP.  Marching orders straight from the White House.

He also wrote the following:

We are like prisoners of war who have to pay for our prison.

Is this legal? Of course not. There is no legal authority to shut down parks and violate contracts that likely exist — he’s going out of his way to disrupt businesses that should be allowed to fairly operate as they have been doing.

From the Daily Caller:

During the government shutdown, the Obama administration has forced the closure of privately owned parks, stoking calls from lawyers for park owners to take legal action against the federal government.

“As a lawyer who once worked for the government, I assume there is no legal authority for this because these private tourist attractions were not shut down in prior ‘government shutdowns,’ even under Bill Clinton, who understood how to play political hardball,” Hans Bader, senior attorney at the Competitive Enterprise Institute wrote in an email.

A lawyer with the conservative Heritage Foundation said that the Obama administration’s actions were likely illegal and that business owners forced to close shop should sue.

Please spread this. We all know the media won’t do it — let’s do their job for them.