Posted on 01/23/2016 10:01:45 PM PST by Cincinatus' Wife
DES MOINES - If nothing else, Donald Trump certainly didn't toe the company line or kowtow to the citizens of Pella, Iowa, while touting his support for eminent domain during his second campaign stop in the Hawkeye State on Saturday.
With only eight days until voting, the Republican Party front-runner continued to back eminent domain before a crowd interspersed with locals from Pella and Oskaloosa as the two cities continue to push to build a regional airport next to Highway 163 using the practice. Twice, Trump called the practice a "positive thing" while talking up the necessity of its use.
"I'm not in love with eminent domain, but eminent domain is a good thing. It's necessary," Trump said, adding later that "eminent domain is something that's a positive thing - not a negative thing. Yeah, sometimes cities will use it in order to do business."
"Let's say a person has a house or a person has a backyard and they're going to build a factory that's going to employ 5,000 people, and sometimes the city will use the power," Trump said. "And by the way, if you don't get that property, they're going to go to another city, and they're going to spend millions of dollars and they're going to build a factory there, they're going to employ 5,000 people - but not in your city. Eminent domain is a positive thing. It's got to be used judiciously."
According to reports, the building of the proposed airport, which has been talked about for over a decade, would seek to use eminent domain to take property from nine separate properties. Despite largely enjoying Trump's remarks, locals in the crowd admitted they were a little surprised Trump used the occasion to support the idea.
"If I had to say yes or no to the airport ... I would say no. It's going to be a huge tax burden on the community. I don't want to see that," said Guy Schwab, a Pella resident. "I don't want to be given the bill for ... private enterprise thinking that they want something. Right now, we've got private businesses that front that airport. I don't want the bill."
Schwab, a 65-year-old impending retiree, argued that the airport isn't a necessity as the two current airports (Pella and Ottumwa) aren't deficient structurally or financially.
In his pitch, Trump also touched on the building of pipelines, specifically mentioning the Keystone XL and Bakken pipelines, which runs from Northwest to Southeast Iowa to deliver crude oil from North Dakota to Illinois.
"Where else is eminent domain used? For pipelines. All of these [GOP 2016 candidates] are in favor of the Keystone pipeline," Trump said. "You couldn't build five feet of the Keystone pipeline without eminent domain. It's going through people's farms, it's going through people's houses."
"Without it, you wouldn't have any highways, you wouldn't have laws," Trump continued. "Did anyone know that that's how you build roads and thats how you build schools and that's how you build other things?"
Bob Owens, a 61-year-old resident of Pella, agreed partly with Trump's points, stating, "yeah, you've got to think about progress, and you've got to think about things that [Trump] was talking about. But when it gets to actual personal and talking about taking away your farm, then it gets to be a little bit of a different deal [who's against the airport.] We have a good airport. We have an airport that's functional. I just personally don't think there's a need for it."
Although the situation is in limbo, the stance of many area residents is clear with signs lining Highway 163 protesting the airport. Other candidates who have come into the area have taken on the issue directly, with Sen. Rand Paul hosting a town hall on the subject in Oskaloosa on Jan. 7.
Trump is currently in a heated battle with Sen. Ted Cruz to win Iowa. According to the latest RealClearPolitics average, Trump leads by 2.5 points over the Texas senator. In the Washington Examiner's presidential power rankings, Cruz is in first place with Trump in second. While Trump is slated to make stops in Iowa on both Sunday and Tuesday, Cruz will be holding events from Monday to Friday, with the two meeting Thursday at the GOP debate in Des Moines.
If you can be forced to sell your property to the highest bidder what the hell’s left of private property rights?
Yes, it is as simple as that.
I would be against that. because moving from one house to another is not cheap and requires lot of work to pack and unpack.
But I would gladly go along with confiscating any house if the owner was paid AT LEAST 35% over and above market value of an average house.
Well that’s another debate...
I tend to agree with you on that front.
But being forced to the sell to the highest bidder is far worse.
"Adexposing how Trump has used eminent domain to bulldoze an elderly woman's home to create a limo parking lot" https://t.co/zK7wI1QQUC— Ted Cruz (@tedcruz) January 22, 2016
It didn’t matter what she and her husband paid for their boarding house in 1961. It mattered what the current market value was in 1993.
Alaska doesn’t have property taxes?
Ted Cruz tweets lie - see post 125.
I will say whatever I want when it comes to liberals including Trump. The “power brokers” cry if they want to.
We talked about this. The video is factual. The tweet isn’t.
I want an "80% rule".
If the government assesses your real estate for X dollars, you should be able to hand them the keys for 80% of X dollars.
Pigs will fly first.
?
Please direct me to something that explains your comment about Prop 187, Ted Cruz and Bush.
Eminent reclaim?
Only in a few of the larger cities.
In most of the rest of the state - you buy it outright, it's YOURS.
No government gunthugs coming around to tell you to pay the King's Rent.
If you can be forced to sell your property to the highest bidder what the hell’s left of private property rights?
_____________________
No. It is not that simple. In order to succeed in an eminent domain suit the govt, has to show a substantial governmental interest in its acquisition. Obviously, the court did not find the substantial interest here and the suit failed.
Developers, rarely use eminent domain because it is too expensive to the developer. Often, like in the recent Lakewood case, it is the politicians who push eminent domain to create jobs and tax base.
It is cheaper and easier just to make an offer on the property directly to the owner and save the legal fees. Multiple appraisals are required in these cases to get to the proper value and the property owner will bring in their appraiser as well.
If you read the articles, by all accounts, Trump made a purchase offer prior to the suit.
Tone deaf Trump is honest about how things work in DC. Sad but true.
I have LOTS of property, and it's all paid off.
It's the weirdest thing, though - I get these letters twice a year claiming that I have to pay somebody, or they're going to take THEIR land back from me.
I get confused by that.
Maybe I should move to Alaska.
After decades of happily running her boarding home, Ms. Coking was eventually relegated to the ground floor before her family moved her out. Now 91, she lives at a retirement home in the San Francisco Bay Area near her grandson, Ed Casey. He has been trying to sell the property since she moved out in 2010, initially putting it on the market for $5 million....Mr. Casey said the most he remembered Mr. Trump offering was $1.9 million...now the property will go up for auction. The reserve price, or the lowest the seller will accept, is $199,000.
Furthermore, the constitution says the land “private property [shall not] be taken for public use, without just compensation.”
The land was assessed in 1996 for $251,000 and Trump offered $1.900,000. That is definitely not Trump “stealing the property.” Vera most likely of diminished mental capacity and got punked by her attorney.
No, you don't own real estate property.
The last thing about condemnation is that each state has its own code and caselaw. The only time federal law comes in is when it is the federal government that wants to E.D.
Plus the property owner typically gets the property valuation based upon highest and best use if the zoning is achieved. For many property owners, its the financial equivalent of a lottery ticket.
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