Posted on 08/09/2015 7:15:46 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
In a free market, there’s a pretty simple process for dealing with the situation that arises when one person covets another’s belongings: The coveter makes an offer to purchase them. If the offer is rebuffed, the coveter can make a new proposal, but he cannot simply take what he wants. It’s an effective way of recognizing the impracticality of the Tenth Commandment while enforcing the Eighth.
Donald Trump’s covetous nature is not in dispute, but what many may forget is that he’s no great respecter of the admonition not to steal, either: The man has a track record of using the government as a hired thug to take other people’s property. This is called, of course, “eminent domain.”
The Constitution’s Fifth Amendment allows the government to take private property for “public use,” so long as “just compensation” is paid. In the infamous 2005 Kelo decision, the Supreme Court held that “public use” could include, well, private use, so long as the new property owner paid more in taxes than the previous one. In other words, it allowed developers and the government to gang up on homeowners. The developer gets more land, the government gets more tax money. The only losers are the original owner and his property rights.
A decade and a half ago, it was fresh on everyone’s mind that Donald Trump is one of the leading users of this form of state-sanctioned thievery. It was all over the news. In perhaps the most-remembered example, John Stossel got the toupéed one to sputter about how, if he wasn’t allowed to steal an elderly widow’s house to expand an Atlantic City casino, the government would get less tax money, and seniors like her would get less “this and that.” Today, however, it takes a push from the Club for Growth to remind us of Trump’s lack of respect for property rights. The problem dates back to at least 1994.
That year, Trump promised to turn Bridgeport, Conn., into“a national tourist destination by building a $350 million combined amusement park, shipping terminal and seaport village and office complex on the east side of the harbor,” reported the Hartford Courant. “At a press conference during which almost every statement contained the term ‘world class,’ Trump and Mayor Joseph Ganim lavished praise on one another and the development project and spoke of restoring Bridgeport to its glory days.”
The wrinkle? “Five businesses and the city-owned Pleasure Beach now occupy the land,” as the Courant put it. The solution? “The city would become a partner with Trump Connecticut Inc. and obtain the land through its powers of condemnation. Trump would in turn buy the land from the city.” Here’s how the story concluded: “The entire development would cost the city nothing, Trump said, and no private homeowners would be affected because there are no dwellings on the land. Trump would own everything.”
That brings us to the story of the aforementioned elderly widow in Atlantic City, which starts at about the same time. The woman, Vera Coking, had owned property near the Trump Plaza Hotel for three decades, and didn’t want to move. Trump thought the land was better suited for use as a park, a parking lot, and a waiting area for limousines. He tried to negotiate, at one point offering Coking $1 million for the land. But she wasn’t budging. So New Jersey’s Casino Reinvestment Development Authority filed a lawsuit, instructing Coking to leave within 90 days and offering compensation of only $251,000. Perhaps the only upside to this story is that in neither case did Trump succeed.
The Bridgeport plan fizzled. Coking fought in court, and — in part because these were the days before Kelo was decided, no doubt — she was lucky enough to win. In 1998, a judge threw out the case. In 2005, however, Trump was delighted to find that the Supreme Court had okayed the brand of government-abetted theft that he’d twice attempted. “I happen to agree with it 100 percent,” he told Fox News’s Neil Cavuto of the Kelo decision.
Can Republicans support someone with so little regard for the property of others? Let’s hope not.
— Robert VerBruggen is an associate editor of National Review.
No amount of deflecting excuses Trumps support of Kelo.
He’s a F’n slimey crook that swills other people’s money rather than risk his own.
He doesn’t loose anything when he goes bankrupt; he just moves on to different suckers.
Give up troll!
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That’s all you got? Very telling indeed.
At least I’m not taking the same side as the GOPe and Media.
Trump cannot get elected and he knows it.
His negatives among likely Republican voters are reaching 60%.
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If this were true, you folks wouldn’t be going apoplectic over Trump. If Donald were as much a joke as you folks say he is, you wouldn’t be wasting so much time on Trump threads.
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Got your number!
Troll on, your time will come.
He is on track to throw the election to the dem candidate.
He doesn’t have to win to do that; all he has to do is fool the fools like you.
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Nice link.
You threatening me?
There's a lot more at that site.
Until a couple of days ago, I didn’t understand it. Now, I think I do. I’m going to call it the “Dragonslayer Syndrome.”
People see him as a would-be dragonslayer. The evil dragon (D.C. cartel, GOP elite, whatever-you-call-it) has been terrorizing the people for so long that they will support anyone who claims he will slay the dragon. They will overlook his past misdeeds and current ulterior motives so as long as the dragon gets slain. That’s the only goal in sight.
As you probably know from reading fairytales, if the Dragonslayer is successful, he is celebrated as a hero and greatly rewarded, but he never gets to be king.
So, when you see conservatives defending him and overlooking what would normally be a nail in another’s coffin, realize that their focus is totally and solely on slaying the dragon.
I don’t know if he can slay the dragon or not. Time will tell. But rest assured, he will not be king in this fairytale.
You’re still rationalizing. And if YOU were being honest, you’d admit Trump has no regard for property rights of ordinary Americans.
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Got your number!
Troll on, your time will come.
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SpaceBar, when this clown disagrees with people, his standard response is to call them a “troll.” If you’re looking for stimulating conversation, you might want to look elsewhere.
He is on track to throw the election to the dem candidate.
He doesn’t have to win to do that; all he has to do is fool the fools like you.
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And yet NO criticism from Ted Cruz and Sarah Palin...hmmm?
Wait! Keep it up, you'll probably help his poll numbers
Thank you for that. Hopefully people will listen and think this time; although it is looking doubtful. We have the same old, silly “X”DS and “concern troll” drivel already being posted. Whenever one sees “derangement syndrome” in a post, it can be translated to “Don’t bother me with facts! I refuse to hear the truth.”
Actually, I got your number bro.
I have every respect for private rights, but when a holdout like this appears and trys to halt a zillion dollar improvement to her city, I begin to side with the city....she was offered FAR more than her property was worth and her obstinance was uncalled for. Sometimes a little sacrifice is necessary for the good of the whole.
Trump did try to use eminent domain to oust an old lady from her home so he could build a parking garage. The problem is government just has too much power. When it’s for sale, people will buy it.
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