Symbol of Oppression
KRT Wire | 02/21/2005 | Supreme Court to consider eminent domain
But on Tuesday, the Supreme Court will consider whether the government’s powers have gone too far.
At issue is a case from New London, Conn., where the city condemned a stable working-class neighborhood, which has waterfront views of the Thames River, to allow a private developer to build a swank, upper-class haven with high-priced houses and affluent commercial properties.
The motive for New London was more taxes and more jobs. But the price for Susette Kelo and the others in the neighborhood includes losing the homes they’ve inhabited for decades and, they say, their property rights.
via K. Burel
Bush’s argument: “If the rich are unable to take land from the poor, they’ll leave the country taking all of those jobs with them. Giving the rich everything they desire is the best thing we can do for our economy.”
We had the city doing this sort of thing here. Some morons devised a plan to build a mall in the middle of the city. The only way to make it work was for the city to buy all the property and then give it to the developer along with millions of dollars. The whole plan died. The city is now broke and deservingly so. I met once with one of the guys selling the plan. You have to be careful because these developers use stategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPP Suits). If you go to a public meeting, take notes but don’t say a thing. Most of these stupid schemes get exposed by newspaper reporters and editors. Make fun of the developers and that sort of thing. If you all laugh together, you won’t all be crying together. Remember that most of these ideas are hatched by corporations and they ain’t got pants to kick or a soul to damn. Consult the Irish Mafia for more on this. If the developers start showing plans for moving hills around and talk about relocating streams, bodies of water and stuff like that, you know there are going to be problems. Think landslides and floods. Most of these plans have a ton of propaganda and PR spin to make it look like without a new mall or condo, the whole town is going to die. These inventions are generally the work of engineers from out of town looking to associate themselves with success. Some of lawyers may come from nowhere, while being everywhere all at the same time. They planned on paving Cape Cod at one time. All politics is local.
John, have you checked out San Leandro, lately?
The city did “domain” laws on all the big factories, and built shopping center and new car lots…….because it would provide more $$ than the companies who’d been there since before the city was incorporated. We’re living in a plutocracy — where the rich aren’t individuals, but corporations.
…..Corporatocracy!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Corporatocracy
Thanks for putting up this article John…Susan Kelo and her neighbors are decent people that just want to live in their own homes. The government redevelopement agency must not be offering her “just term” otherwise she would take the deal. The government is picking us off one by one or in small groups like the residents of Fort Trumbull in New London. First they came for the “urban blight” neighborhoods…
then they came for the “economic developement” of New London…
who will fight for you when they come for your home?