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No, Mr. Trump, Victims of Eminent Domain Do Not "Get a Fortune"
Foundation for Economic Education ^ | February 26, 2016 | George Leef

Posted on 02/29/2016 9:09:58 AM PST by reaganaut1

During the debate among Republican presidential candidates last month, Jeb Bush hammered Donald Trump on his abuse of eminent domain. But Trump apparently sees nothing wrong in having government officials force people to sell their property.

Trump replied,

Eminent domain is an absolute necessity for a country, for our country. Without it, you wouldn’t have roads, you wouldn’t have hospitals, you wouldn’t have anything. You would have schools, you wouldn’t have bridges.

And what a lot of people don’t know because they were all saying, oh, you’re going to take their property. When somebody — when eminent domain is used on somebody’s property, that person gets a fortune. They at least get fair market value, and if they’re smart, they’ll get two or three times the value of their property.

This last assertion led George Mason law professor Ilya Somin (an expert on eminent domain) to quip at the Volokh Conspiracy, “If eminent domain really were a good way to make a fortune, the Donald Trumps of the world would be lobbying the government to condemn their property. But that rarely, if ever, happens.”

Put aside Trump’s hyperbole about the supposed impossibility of schools, hospitals, and bridges without eminent domain. What I want to focus on is his claim that eminent domain is not objectionable because people who have their property taken make out just fine financially.

That claim is simply indefensible. The truth is that people who lose their property to eminent domain proceedings are almost never made whole.

(Excerpt) Read more at fee.org ...


TOPICS: Cheese, Moose, Sister
KEYWORDS: amnestypimpsonfr; banalltrumpbashers; blogpimp; brokenrecord; concerntroll; concerntrollalert; concerntrolls; considerthesource; eminentdomain; enoughalready; fino; finos; ibtz; ilovetowhine; inyourheadrentfree; ntsa; presidentdonaldtrump; severetds; trump; waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah; zotalltrumpbashers
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1 posted on 02/29/2016 9:09:58 AM PST by reaganaut1
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To: reaganaut1

“Victims of Eminent Domain Do Not “Get a Fortune””

That’s because they did not read ‘Art of the Deal’. Dopes.


2 posted on 02/29/2016 9:12:00 AM PST by patq
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To: reaganaut1

Generally they don’t.

But Trump offered the widow woman $2 million. Which is a fortune.


3 posted on 02/29/2016 9:12:41 AM PST by miss marmelstein (Richard the Third: With my own people alone I should like to drive away the Turks (Muslims))
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To: reaganaut1

“eminent domain”. That was so last week. We’ve already moved on to racist KKK supporter. Try to keep up.


4 posted on 02/29/2016 9:14:11 AM PST by McGruff (It's clear Trump Derangement Syndrome has no limits.)
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To: reaganaut1

“FEE is a non-political, non-profit, tax-exempt educational foundation and accepts no taxpayer money. FEE is supported solely by contributions from private individuals, foundations, and businesses and by the sales of our publications. FEE is proud to adhere to the strictest of standards in financial and programmatic transparency, earning the highest possible ratings from both Charity Navigator (four stars) and GuideStar (Gold). Support FEE today.”

They are “non-political”, right! Like most organizations founded by true conservatives, this one seems to have been taken over by the globalist, progressive movement.


5 posted on 02/29/2016 9:16:07 AM PST by SubMareener (Save us from Quarterly Freepathons! Become a MONTHLY DONOR!)
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To: SubMareener

Go See George H. Bush and John Sunnnu who appointed Judge Souter who made it the law of the Land.


6 posted on 02/29/2016 9:17:11 AM PST by scooby321
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To: miss marmelstein

No, he didn’t offer 2 mil. Got a source?


7 posted on 02/29/2016 9:18:19 AM PST by Leto
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To: Leto

Of course he did. And if you KNOW he didn’t, why do you ask for a source? Just google it - it’s all over the internet.


8 posted on 02/29/2016 9:19:43 AM PST by miss marmelstein (Richard the Third: With my own people alone I should like to drive away the Turks (Muslims))
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To: patq

They should have gone to Trump Univ. then they would have done much better /s


9 posted on 02/29/2016 9:22:26 AM PST by Bidimus1 (W)
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To: McGruff

“eminent domain”. That was so last week. We’ve already moved on to racist KKK supporter. Try to keep up.”

That is funny. He is like Rubio the robot.


10 posted on 02/29/2016 9:23:49 AM PST by Parley Baer
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To: reaganaut1

This is why people have maneuvered to buy up real estate in the path of government and private projects since the founding of the country.

This article is a crock.


11 posted on 02/29/2016 9:26:17 AM PST by TTFlyer
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To: reaganaut1
The truth is that people who lose their property to eminent domain proceedings are almost never made whole.

This is the truth.

Speaking from personal experience.

12 posted on 02/29/2016 9:26:56 AM PST by Texan
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To: McGruff

***“eminent domain”. That was so last week. We’ve already moved on to racist KKK supporter. Try to keep up.***

Don’t forget ...Mafioso


13 posted on 02/29/2016 9:27:39 AM PST by ResponseAbility (The truth of liberalism is the stupid can feel smart, the lazy entitled, and the immoral unashamed)
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To: scooby321

It has always been the Law, souter just allowed it to be expanded to things like casinos and parking lots that MIGHT pay more taxes than a home does.

He and the other 4 should have been in my pinon impeached as kelo was not fulfilling “shall hold their offices during good behaviour” But the federal system has worked as the states passed laws to mitigate or remove its usefulness.

http://ij.org/report/five-years-after-kelo/

But of course no politician is trustworthy so all those state laws must not have happened.. we need to burn it all down .. etc etc. etc...


14 posted on 02/29/2016 9:29:06 AM PST by Bidimus1 (W)
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To: TTFlyer
This article is a crock.

No it's not. People buy up property ahead of development knowing it'll probably increase in value, not to get money through the process of condemnation.

15 posted on 02/29/2016 9:30:20 AM PST by Texan
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To: reaganaut1

Kelo (or Poletown as a similar case was known in Michigan before it was rightly overturned by a conservative court). This is another reason why I will not vote for Trump, Hillary, or Bernie under any circumstance.


16 posted on 02/29/2016 9:30:55 AM PST by Darren McCarty (Cruz in 2016 - I will not vote for Trump if he's the nominee.)
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To: TTFlyer

And those that just happen to be in the way ? I think you may be confusing westerns with black hats and rail road barons with modern America.

I do agree that there is some manipulation of the system but no system is perfect, to claim as trump does that people are mostly better off when their property is force-ably taken from them is a very anit-liberty view I think.

If you can show numbers that prove trumps case please post them (not sarcasm) as it would be very interesting to read.


17 posted on 02/29/2016 9:33:55 AM PST by Bidimus1 (W)
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To: reaganaut1

We had a tract of our property taken by eminent domain.

In the 1900’s our family signed an easement for a railroad line that ran from Newport VT to Sherbrooke,PQ. The trains ran on it two times a day through the early 1980’s.

Finally, that route was eliminated and the tracks were removed.

The State of VT stepped in an declared that the track bed would be “improved” and converted into a bike path.

The landowners on that five mile stretch of property fought like cats and dogs. The land that this easement took amounted to about 100 feet beyond the “accepted” property line. Our lot was about 1,000 feet wide. This was no small piece of property. (100ft x 1,000ft).

It cost tens of thousands of dollars to fight them in court. In the end, the proposed a settlement had the state and the owners and a judge pick estimators to give us an estimated value. The picks were averaged and we got a settlement of that amount.

What was interesting was that the piece of property that I never knew as mine turned out to be the place where my “ancestor’s” workshop had been. I had dug around a little and found stuff he had invented in the 1880’s (wrenches and what not.)

In the end, we got a fair value. But I learned the ins and outs of how the “state” can just walk in and take your stuff so that Yuppies can ride their bikes through my back yard (they don’t allow snow machines in the winter) and their dogs can run unleashed and crap in my driveway.


18 posted on 02/29/2016 9:34:15 AM PST by Vermont Lt (Ask Bernie supporters two questions: Who is rich. Who decides. In the past, that meant who died.)
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To: reaganaut1

Cruz is FINISHED, there is No path to the nomination. He tag teamed with Rubio. Get a hobby already...


19 posted on 02/29/2016 9:35:39 AM PST by heights
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To: reaganaut1
From the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution: "...nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation."

It's not like this idea originated with Trump. If the compensation does not seem just, that's a problem with the courts. What constitutes "public use" has been adjudicated on a number of occasions and it turns out be a pretty broadly interpreted term.

20 posted on 02/29/2016 9:36:38 AM PST by hinckley buzzard
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