From: alra@governance.net Subject: VOTE FRIDAY!! Land Trusts Tax Scam!! Land Rights Network American Land Rights Association PO Box 400 – Battle Ground, WA 98604 Phone: 360-687-3087 – Fax: 360-687-2973 – E-mail: alra@landrights.org Web Address: http://www.landrights.org Legislative Office: 507 Seward Square SE – Washington, DC 20003 Phone: 202-210-2357 – Fax: 202-543-7126 – E-mail: landrightsnet@aol.com VOTE FRIDAY!! Land Trusts Tax Scam!! ***** 100% MAXIMUM ALERT !!! ***** PLEASE - GO ALL OUT ON THIS ONE !! The vote is ONLY A DAY AWAY !!!!!!! WE ARE MAKING PROGRESS ! ! ! ! ! ****Your calls forced the Vote on the Land Trust Tax Favoritism Amendment to be delayed until Friday morning. The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and other massive, Multibillion Dollar Land Trusts are demanding a huge new tax break for themselves - at the expense of churches, private schools, orphanages and private property owners! TNC has $700 million in annual revenue, much of it from government grants, selling land to government agencies, and tax deductible contributions - all subsidized by you - the taxpayer!! TNC has over $3 BILLION in assets, owns millions of acres of land, has thousands of employees, operates in dozens of countries across the world, and is notorious for cutting insider trading deals with the corporate CEOs on their board of directors. BUT THEY DEMAND MORE!! ### The vote is NOW THIS FRIDAY MORNING, September 5. SEE BELOW ACTION ITEMS FOR HR 7 - the Faith Based Initiative bill. ### The Land Trusts are losing ground - we may win!!! ### Here is the Tax Favoritism that they are DEMANDING: The Land Trusts are demanding a loophole that will discount 50% off of capital gains taxes for a seller of land - BUT - only if the land is sold to a Land Trust or government agency! If the land is sold to anyone else, forget it - no tax break. This places churches, private schools and private parties at a comparative disadvantage when attempting to purchase land - because this Tax Favoritism only applies if land is sold to a Land Trust or the government! And here is the rest of the story - the only ones who will benefit from this special deal are Land Trusts, NOT the seller of the land. Here is why: This proposal will severely devalue private property. It allows Land Trusts and government agencies to cut their offering price for land by nearly the amount of the tax cut, so effectively the only beneficiary is the land trust! This Tax Favoritism for the Land Trusts is even worse than it seems. Consider the following additional impacts: a) it will damage the property tax base of communities since more and more land will become tax-exempt. This increases the tax burden on remaining private land - while the Land Trusts sit back, not paying any taxes, and lick their chops deciding who to go after next. b) it will hand over more land to government agencies, since this Tax Favoritism proposal permits the tax break for sales of land ONLY to Land Trusts or government agencies. c) it will cost, according the House-Senate Joint Taxation Committee, $948 million - nearly a BILLION dollars added to America's national debt, just to feed the Land Trusts hunger for more power. d) Land Trusts, since they are "non-profits," already have huge business advantages over private individuals, since they don't pay taxes and contributions to them are tax deductible. ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!!! e) this Tax Favoritism proposal will discourage private parties from even bidding on land, so many times the only offers for land will be made by the twin buzzards of Land Trusts and government agencies. Do you think you will get a fair price from them??? f) HR 7, the Faith Based Initiative that the Land Trusts are attempting to amend, is intended to encourage churches, orphanages and private schools to promote social services. The Land Trusts desire to place themselves at an advantage over private schools and churches in this very bill!!! g) WATER RIGHTS. The Land Trusts are demanding that this Tax Favoritism include sales of water rights, damaging future agriculture use. *** ACTION *** ACTION *** ACTION ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! Some people are fighting back!!! JOIN THEM PLEASE !!! EXAMPLES: Mr. Otis Ingram of the Forest Landowners Association says, "This legislation is nothing more than a public subsidy for so-called environmental groups to purchase private property, and remove it from productive use. It amazes me that this horrible proposal keeps popping up, despite its obvious problems." A property owner in Alabama wrote to his congressman today: "This is wrong. They don't need the tax breaks, they are already non-profits! It will allow Land Trusts to cut their offering price for property as compared to others since the net to the seller is greater." A state Farm Bureau official wrote: "The non-profit world is gradually engrossing a very significant portion of American economic life, thus increasing the net cost to the rest of us. What states have approved support for land trust acquisitions? Has there been good discussion of the long term implication of such control?" PLEASE DO THESE THREE THINGS: NUMBER ONE. Contact BOTH your House member and ALL of the key House Ways and Means Committee members listed below. This issue has changed up the usual "conservatives" and "liberals" into an unpredictable mix, so ANY House member is fair game. -----You can call every Representative at (202) 224-3121. A TEMPORARY TOLL FREE NUMBER is (800) 648-3516. HOUSE WAYS AND MEANS COMMITTEE (Tax Committee) William Thomas (R-CA) -- (202) 225-2915 -- FAX (202) 225-8798 – E-mail: bill.Thomas@mail.house.gov Philip Crane (R-IL) -- (202) 225-3711 – FAX (202) 225-7830 – E-mail – go to www.house.gov/crane Amory Houghton (R-NY) – (202) 225-3161 – FAX (202) 225-5574 – E-mail – go to www.houghton.house.gov Wally Herger (R-CA) – (202) 225- 3076 – No fax listed – E-mail – go to www.house.gov/herger Jim McCrery (R-LA) – (202) 225-2777 – FAX (202) 225-8039 – E-mail – go to www.house.gov/mccrery Dave Camp (R-MI) – (202) 225-3561 – FAX (202) 225-9679 – E-mail – go to www.house.gov/camp Jim Ramstad (R-MN) -- (202) 225-2871 – FAX (202) 225-6351 – E-mail: mn03@mail.house.gov Jim Nussle (R-IA) – (202) 225-2911 – FAX (202) 225-9129 – E-mail: nussleia@mail.house.gov Sam Johnson (R-TX) – (202) 225-4201 – FAX (202) 225-1485 – E-mail – go to www.samjohnson.house.gov Jennifer Dunn (R-WA) – (202) 225-7761 – FAX (202) 225-8673 – E-mail: dunnwa08@mail.house.gov Mac Collins (R-GA) – (202) 225-5901 – FAX (202) 225-2515 – E-mail – go to www.house.gov/maccollins Philip English (R-PA) – (202) 225-5406 – FAX (202) 225-3103 – E-mail – go to www.house.gov/english J.D. Hayworth (R-AZ) -- (202) 225-2190 – FAX (202) 225-3263 – E-mail: jdhayworth@mail.house.gov Jerry Weller (R-IL) – (202) 225-3635 – FAX (202) 225-3521 – E-mail – go to www.house.gov/weller Kenny Hulshof (R-MO) – (202) 225-2956 – FAX (202) 225-5712 – E-mail – go to www.house.gov/hulshof Scott McInnis (R-CO) -- (202) 225-4761 – FAX (202) 225-0622 – E-mail – go to www.house.gov/mcinnis Ron Lewis (R-KY) – (202) 225-3501 – FAX (202) 225-2019 – E-mail: ron.lewis@mail.house.gov Mark Foley (R-FL) – (202) 225-5792 – FAX (202) 225-3132 – E-mail – go to www.house.gov/foley Kevin Brady (R-TX) -- (202) 225-4901 – FAX (202) 225-5524 – E-mail – go to www.house.gov/brady Paul Ryan (R-WI) -- (202) 225-3031 – FAX (202) 225-3393 – E-mail – go to www.house.gov/ryan Eric Cantor (R-VA) – (202) 225-2815 – FAX (202) 225-0011 – E-mail – go to www.cantor.house.gov NUMBER TWO. Contact Congressmen Roy Blunt and Richard Pombo, who are leading the fight for PROPERTY RIGHTS. THANK THEM. Here are their key staffers: For Rep. Roy Blunt, please contact: April Ponnuru - april.ponnuru@mail.house.gov Rep. Richard Pombo, please contact: Laura Hylden - laura.hylden@mail.house.gov NUMBER THREE. INCREDIBLY, the Washington, DC offices of the American Farm Bureau Federation and the National Cattlemen's Beef Association have meekly lined up in the shadow of the Land Trust lobbyists in support of this massive handout - this sellout of private property, water rights, and tax funds. This cave-in has NOT been approved by state affiliates of either organization! IF you are a member of the Farm Bureau or the Cattlemen's Association, then contact your state chapter and the lobbyists below and ask them what the heck is going on!!! Was this massive handout of land and water rights ever voted on by the membership??? #*#*#*# Has your state organization approved this, do they even know about it??? #*#*#*#* HERE are the Farm Bureau lobbyists who caved in: Patricia Wolff - patw@fb.com Richard Newpher - richardn@fb.com Phone 202-484-3600 Fax 202-484-3604 HERE are the Cattlemen's lobbyists who caved in: Jeff Eisenberg - jeisenberg@beef.org Myra Hyde - mhyde@beef.org Phone 202-347-0228 Fax 202-638-0607 TELL THEM, and your state affiliates - the multibillion dollar Land Trusts have ENOUGH advantages already!!! Enough is enough! MAKE SURE THIS E-MAIL GET INTO AS MANY HANDS AS POSSIBLE!!! -- To unsubscribe from this mailing list; please visit http://governance.net and enter your email address.