Big Government stares down Cliven Bundy, feds flinch first

By Scott Roberts | for Freedom Foundation

Last week, using officers dressed up like soldiers going into combat, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management sought to confiscate one Nevada ranch family’s cattle. In response, neighbors, other citizens, and state legislators from across the West stood with the Bundy family against the federal action. The situation rapidly escalated, with Rep. Matt Shea, R-Spokane Valley, telling Freedom Foundation, “There was about 5 minutes where we were very close to something very, very bad happening.”

Shea, along with Rep. David Taylor, R-Moxee, organized a coalition of state legislators from Western states who traveled to Nevada in support of the rancher, Cliven Bundy.

Although there are plenty of nuances and subtexts to the confrontation, what it represents is the conflict between an out-of-control federal government versus those citizens who will resist it. Why, after all, is the federal government–created to manage foreign affairs and regularize interstate commerce–the largest landowner in Nevada with powers that reach even beyond those massive holdings?

at Freedom Foundation.