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Obama's Park Service kicks owners out of private Lake Mead homes over shutdown

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October 6, 2013

It appears that private property rights are the latest casualty in the shutdown started by Sen. Harry Reid's "my way or the highway" stand on Obamacare funding. Some 60 families have been kicked out of their privately-owned homes on Lake Mead by National Parks Service personnel as a result of the partial government shutdown, Newsmax reported Sunday.

"They are all vacation homes and everybody who lives in them are considered visitors," said Lake Mead Recreational Area spokeswoman Christie Vanover.

"If anybody needs to gather their personal belongings, we’re not going to deny them access. They can go do that. They just can’t spend the nights there or have barbecues during the day," she added. They need to get in and get out."

"Unfortunately overnight stays are not permitted until a budget is passed and the park can reopen," the NPS told KTNV.

Among those forced out of their homes by the Park Service was an elderly couple who has owned a home on the lake since the 1970s.

Ralph and Joyce Spencer was forced to leave their home so fast they forgot a number of essential items, like Ralph's pants.

The problem, KTNV said, is that the private home owned by the Spencers is on federal land.

In the meantime, the elderly couple is spending most of their time in the family ice cream store and is staying with nearby family members. Still, Joyce said, the move was a lot for the seniors to handle.

One homeowner told the Las Vegas Review-Journal he was never forced out of his home when the government shut down during the Clinton administration.

"This can’t last forever,” said 71-year-old Bob Hitchcock, a lifelong Republican. “October 17 is going to be a big deadline with the debt limit vote coming up. Heaven help me if the government doesn’t open by then."

But Obama and the Park Service intend to cause as much pain as possible to pressure Republicans to cave on Obamacare funding and the debt ceiling.

On Friday, we reported that a Park Ranger admitted being ordered to make life as inconvenient as possible in order to punish Americans during the shutdown.

“We’ve been told to make life as difficult for people as we can," an angry Park Ranger told the Washington Times. "It’s disgusting.”

Across the country, Park Rangers have been doing exactly that, closing down parks, roads, and even scenic bypasses on a whim.

Obama, meanwhile, fomented violence against Republicans Saturday when he called them kidnappers who “demand ransom” and “hold our democracy or our economy hostage.”

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