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As a former mayor, I know that local governments must have control over land use decisions.

The federal government needs to do a much better job of managing our resources, but the sale or transfer of our land is an extreme proposal, and I won't tolerate it.

One of the things I would love for people to think about is social responsibility. If you are fortunate enough to be someone who owns land, I think you ought to be making the most efficient use of that land possible.

So government acts as a safeguard of our property.

I don't see any justification for the federal government owning land, other than the Statue of Liberty and maybe a few parks, maybe a few refuges. But to just own land to do nothing with it I think is a disservice to the Constitution.

The government shouldn't step in at the first stage and create land banks. Industry should buy the land as much as they can, and if they get stuck, then the government should step in.

One would expect that private property taken by eminent domain would become land available for public use such as parks and roads. Unfortunately, this decision creates a loophole for government to manipulate the definition of public use simply to generate greater tax revenue.

The mystery of government is not how Washington works but how to make it stop.

You talk to the farmers, the ranchers, our small community bankers, and boy, one of the No. 1 issues is the regulations coming out of Washington.

I resent Washington telling states, or the residents of those states, what to do and what to think.