Free Republic

Big trouble potentially awaits America if the Russian-Ukraine tensions escalate into a Russian invasion. And that trouble is not limited to potential counter-attacks from only Russia should the US decide to step in to protect their NATO ally Ukraine, as a recent Russia-China alliance has declared a “new era” where the US will be challenged as a global power as well as NATO as the “cornerstone of international security.” While the potential for conventional military operations against the US remains small, the fact that these newly aligned powers have engaged in almost a decade’s worth of reconnaissance hacking has given...

The latest round of attacks aimed toward Donald Trump can only reasonably be considered divinely inspired fails. OMG Donald Trump Supports Eminent Domain!! [ *NOTE* Watch closely who picks up on this attack approach and you’ll identify an even larger number of the GOPe deceivers than were visible before. ] Brett Baier interviewed Donald Trump for his Fox News Special Report segment and carried with him a specifically pre-framed angle of attack, an agenda. Baier used the Club for Growth argument (see video: @3:34) for conversation about Eminent Domain.

The last time Rick Santorum was in Iowa, political reporters suspected that an endorsement in the Republican U.S. Senate contests was eminent. Santorum endorsed his longtime friend Secretary of State Matt Schultz, who is running for congress in Iowa’s third Congressional District on his trip to Iowa in back in March, but he refused to endorse U.S. Senate candidate Sam Clovis at the time. Clovis was an early and influential supporter of Santorum in the 2012 presidential race. This morning Santorum got of the sidelines and officially backed Clovis in Iowa’s U.S. Senate race, but in doing so called out...

The City of Richmond’s move to seize the loans of over-mortgaged homes can continue, U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer ruled this week. According to the San Francisco Chronicle, the reason was because “he felt the case, brought by Wells Fargo and Deutsche Bank on behalf of holders of loans on over-mortgaged homes, was not ‘ripe for determination’ since Richmond had not exercised eminent domain and might never do so.” Despite an initial win in federal court, will Richmond first have to prove that loans on over-mortgaged homes in its city are “trapped” to meet the “blight” criteria of California...

Richmond's controversial plan to seize underwater mortgages through eminent domain includes loans for at least two homes purchased for over $1 million as well as other high-end properties - a revelation that appears to undermine the city's argument that the plan would combat blight. The city is pursuing mortgages with balances ranging from $98,000 to $1.12 million, according to data collected by Marc Joffe, an analyst who received the property addresses, loan balances, offer amounts and other information through a California public records request and shared them with The Chronicle. --SNIP-- Eminent domain is the seizure of private property for...

According to the Department of Labor, in the week ending August 3, the advance figure for seasonally adjusted initial claims was 333,000, an increase of 5,000 from the previous week’s revised figure of 328,000. The 4-week moving average was 335,500, a decrease of 6,250 from the previous week’s revised average of 341,750. joblessc080813 Continuing claims rose above the 3 million mark, printing at 3,018,000. This represents an increase from the previous week of 2,951,000. Yet we seem stuck in a continuing claims slump since April. ontjc080823 Consumer confidence? It rose to -23.5, the highest level since early 2008. bcc080813 Delinquent...

Richmond California is considering invoking eminent domain to condemn and seize hundreds of underwater mortgages to help troubled homeowners. The controversial move would be the first of its kind in the country. Richmond is not the first to consider it. San Bernardino (also known as San Berdoo) considered … and rejected it. Richmond is the farthest along in a plan advocated by Steven Gluckstern’s Mortgage Resolution Partners LLC for U.S. cities to confiscate mortgages and write them down in an effort to help homeowners escape oversized debt burdens. The idea has drawn opposition from bondholders such as Pacific Investment Management...

Wall Street warns against using eminent domain to seize underwater mortgagesBy Peter Schroeder - 08/19/12 05:00 PM ET Heavy hitters in the financial industry are lining up against a new idea brewing among local government officials to help struggling homeowners by seizing control of their mortgages through eminent domain. With many areas of the country still digging out from the housing crisis, some local governments are considering taking on the underwater mortgages at a substantially lower price, thus making them more affordable for the borrower. With policymakers at the federal, state and local level struggling to find a way to...

The Wall Street Journal reports that seizing mortgage could yield BIG returns for investors. “Tapping the power of eminent domain to repair underwater mortgages could generate investor returns of up to 30% and billions of dollars in fees for bankers behind the proposal, according to people with knowledge of the plan. Despite the controversy, some potential investors in Mortgage Resolution’s plan are stepping forward. “We think the program has legs and a fairly strong legal justification” to seize mortgages with eminent domain, said Tom Capasse, co-head of Waterfall Asset Management, which said it is considering investing in the plan.” Of...

In his op-ed, Professor Shiller discusses an approach by Professor Robert Hockett from Cornell Law School – using eminent domain powers of government to force principal writedowns for mortgages. “Professor Hockett argues that a government, whether federal, state or local, can start doing just this right now, using large databases of information about mortgage pools and homeowner credit scores. After a market analysis, it seizes the mortgages. Then it can pay them off at fair value, or a little over that, with money from new investors, issuing new mortgages with smaller balances to the homeowners. Taxpayers are not involved, and...

House votes to overturn Supreme Court decision on eminent domainBy Pete Kasperowicz - 02/28/12 05:19 PM ET The House on Tuesday afternoon approved legislation that overturns a 2005 Supreme Court decision that affirmed the ability of states to take control of private property under the doctrine of eminent domain and hand it to another private developer. That decision, Kelo v. City of New London, led to sharp complaints in particular from Republicans, who argued that the Court ignored the normal "public use" standard. Under that standard, eminent domain was seen as permissible only when the land or property taken would...

Don’t be fooled by The Donald. Take it from one who knows: I’m a South Jersey gal who was raised on the outskirts of Atlantic City in the looming shadow of Trump’s towers. All through my childhood, casino developers and government bureaucrats joined hands, raised taxes and made dazzling promises of urban renewal. Then we wised up to the eminent-domain thievery championed by our hometown faux free-marketeers. America, it’s time you wised up to Donald Trump’s property redistribution racket, too.

There’s good news and bad news. First, the bad. As we all know, there just aren’t enough places to play skee-ball in Mount Holly, New Jersey. Which just ain’t right. But fear not. The good news rights that wrong. I have found the perfect location for skee ball this side of Steel Pier. Unfortunately for Mount Holly mayor Tom Gibson, that location happens to be where his house now sits. Hey, stuff happens. All that remains to be done is grease the political skids and file the paperwork required to seize Gibby’s house through eminent domain. Isn’t it great when...

Utah Invokes Eminent Domain Against the Federal Government By ELIE MYSTAL This is the kind of story that sounds unbelievable — until you realize that it’s dealing with the people who run Utah. The WSJ Law Blog reports: Utah Governor Gary Herbert on Saturday authorized the use of eminent domain to take some of the U.S. government’s most valuable parcels. A state is invoking the Takings Clause against the federal government? This reminds me of the time I came home and my dog told me to get off the couch. Sure, I was surprised that my dog was (a) talking...

Two measures OKd by Gov. Gary R. Herbert would allow use of eminent domain to take valuable sites. A long court fight is likely. Supporters hope the bills, which the Republican governor signed Saturday, will trigger a flood of similar legislation throughout the West and, eventually, a U.S. Supreme Court battle that it hopes to win -- against long odds. More than 60% of Utah is owned by the U.S. government, and policy makers complain that federal ownership hinders their ability to generate tax revenue and adequately fund public schools... Initially, the state would target three areas, including the Kaiparowits...

Utah governor, aiming for court battle, approves use of eminent domain to take federal land SALT LAKE CITY (AP) -- Fed up with federal ownership of more than half the land in Utah, Republican Gov. Gary Herbert on Saturday authorized the use of eminent domain to take some of the U.S. government's most valuable parcels. Herbert signed a pair of bills into law that supporters hope will trigger a flood of similar legislation throughout the West, where lawmakers contend that federal ownership restricts economic development in an energy-rich part of the country. Governments use eminent domain to take private property...

An entire neighborhood was uprooted to make way for a big money development which will never be built!Want to know why people are mad at the nexus between big government and big money? The Famous 'Kelo House' Property Is Now A Vacant Lot By John Carney The Business Insider Law Review Nov. 10, 2009 What you are looking at above is a monument to government folly. It is the vacant lot where the home of Susette Kelo once stood. A decade ago, the town of New London, Connecticut claimed Kelo's house by right of eminent domain. The plan was to...

I read in Newsweek that an Eminent Domain case is going to be heard this term by SCOTUS ... Does anyone have the case name or know when it is on the docket for oral argument ???

Using its power of eminent domain, the city of Houston seized the land for the park from brothers James and Jock Collins last year. Officials claimed there was a "public necessity" for the park in the Uptown area, despite the fact that a much larger one — the 4.7-acre Grady Park — is just two blocks away. What will the new "pocket park" be used for? That's hard to say. The city has yet to draw up any plans for the land at the corner of Post Oak Lane and San Felipe. In fact, city parks director Joe Turner testified...

GRANJENO, Texas (AP) - Founded 240 years ago, this sleepy Texas town along the Rio Grande has outlasted the Spanish, then the Mexicans and then the short-lived independent Republic of Texas. But it may not survive the U.S. government's effort to secure the Mexican border with a steel fence. A map obtained by The Associated Press shows that the double- or triple-layer fence may be built as much as two miles from the river on the U.S. side of the Rio Grande, leaving parts of Granjeno and other nearby communities in a potential no-man's-land between the barrier and the water's...