There is so much noise in this presidential campaign that it takes effort to notice a signal. That is, a policy initiative that could, as former President Donald Trump said on September 24, “make America rich again.”
Trump called for “a new American industrialism,” entailing federal land being used for new factories. “We will set up special zones of federal land with ultra-low taxes and regulations for American producers,” Trump said. “These will be ideal spots for relocating entire industries that we’ve taken in from other countries.”
Territorial abundance as a key to wealth creation is embedded in the American dream. Pilgrims and pioneers went west, questing for homesteads, property and profits, and the federal government helped, buying or conquering Louisiana, Florida, California, Alaska and Hawaii.
This was America’s manifest destiny: God gave us this land on which to flourish. As late as 1963, President John F. Kennedy declared, as he dedicated a dam in Heber Springs, Arkansas, that it was “wasteful” not to develop natural resources.
Yet, during the 1970s, the federal government went both green and elitist, shifting from go-go developmentalism to long-distance imperialism. No longer would the feds be developing; they would be freezing development, thereby pleasing environmental lobbyists and mostly Democratic donors.
Today, the federal government owns about 27% of the land in the U.S. — more than 1 million square miles. There is no particular logic to this federal ownership, which varies widely by state from more than 80% of Nevada to just 0.3% of Connecticut.
But whatever the percentage, the blue dots on the East and West coasts aim to maintain hegemony over the red zones of flyover country. Indeed, on September 27, President Joe Biden (remember him?) proclaimed National Public Lands Day. Green zealots and trust funders, from Manhattan to Beverly Hills, were thrilled.
And if folks in Red America are put out? Made under or unemployed? Too bad. They were not going to vote for Biden — or Kamala Harris — anyway.
Fortunately, Red America has a champion in Trump, who is breaking new ground, reclaiming federal land for the benefit of ordinary people, not the amusement of the specially privileged. In his July 18 acceptance speech at the Republican National Convention, he pledged to tap the “liquid gold under our feet,” adding: “We are a nation that has the opportunity to make an absolute fortune with its energy.”
And it is not just oil (and natural gas and coal), that is richly abundant, it’s everything. We just have to be willing to dig it out.
For instance, rare earth elements — so essential to high tech — it turns out they are not rare at all, they are just scattered. Here in the U.S., Uncle Green has been locking them down, but in China the government has encouraged mining with an eye toward monopolizing world tech production.
If Trump wins this year, all that could be reversed. To be sure, Democrats in Congress, the judiciary and the deep state will not go along — and, of course, China won’t want the competition. And yet, a re-elected Trump will have allies: the states. To be more precise, about half the states — the Republican half.
As we all know, red states have been assertive in recent years: governors such as Texas Gov. Greg Abbott and Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis have challenged the Biden-Harris administration — and won big victories for federalism and states’ rights.
So, plenty of red-izens would cheer for a Trump 47 and pro-growth land policies. At the same time, of course, blue staters will sneer. And if red states have a right to growth, maybe blue states have a right to no growth.
Come 2025, this could be the federalist-minded compromise between Red and Blue: Only half of America will get rich again.
James P. Pinkerton, a former White House domestic policy aide to Presidents Ronald Reagan and George H. W. Bush, is a former Fox News contributor.
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