Two Democrats kill chances of reforming outdated hardrock mining law

[TexasTowelie]

Amid the recent skirmishes over revising the reconciliation bill, known as the Build Back Better Plan, lawmakers once again skipped a chance to reform the General Mining Law of 1872.

Under this outdated law, hardrock miners can extract profitable minerals such as gold and silver from public lands without having to pay any federal royalties. Though it has been challenged several times over the past few decades, mainly by Democrats, the law has not been significantly updated in the nearly 150 years since its passage.

In August, a House committee, chaired by Raúl Grijalva, D-Ariz., tried to modernize the legislation by adding language to the reconciliation bill to establish federal royalties of between 4% to 8% on these mines. This would have been the most consequential update that the mining law has received in the nearly 15 decades since President Ulysses S. Grant signed it into existence.

However, hardrock royalty reform never even reached a vote thanks to Democratic Sens. Catherine Cortez Masto, D-Nev., and Joe Manchin, D-W.V., who made his personal fortune in coal mining. Manchin initially signaled support for the royalty provisions in October when he spoke in front of the Senate Committee on Energy and Natural Resources, stating that he could “never imagine that we don’t receive royalties on so many things we produce in this country.” But he later reversed course and reportedly promised Cortez Masto that he’d block any mining royalties, effectively killing reform before it even reached the full Senate. On Nov. 4, royalty reform was officially out of both the House and Senate bills.

Read more: https://www.hcn.org/articles/south-mining-2-democrats-kill-chances-of-reforming-the-outdated-hardrock-mining-law
(High Country News)

[2naSalit]

1. Needs to be taken up in...

A future Bill. Hopefully we can get more seats in Congress to make these legislative moves go smoother.

[BlueJac]

2. Manchin to the rescue again.

He just can't help himself!

[Firestorm49]

3. Acting on what's best for the country? Acting on what's best for his constituents?

Or, acting on what’s best for him? Naive on my part? Perhaps. But I believe that in the purist sense of democracy, our elected representatives need to be forbidden to pass or engage in legislation that primarily benefits themselves. Just like insider trading within congress should be banned. Fat chance.

Of course, I’m living in a dreamland. Our government hasn’t worked that way since it’s inception, money being the sole source of life on Earth.

When we read about America being listed as a backsliding nation, it’s sure not hard to figure out why. Now all drop to your knees and genuflect our the lord, the dollar. Praise be the dollar.