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.
There’s no such thing as private property rights if the “owner” is forced to sell to the highest bidder. That’s what Trump’s position comes down to.
Basically when Trump wants your land for one of his projects he thinks you shouldn’t have the right to refuse to sell it to him at “fair market value”. Fair market value is in the eye of the beholder. It may be priceless to the owner.
I strongly disagree with Trump on this. Not only is it wrong, it is against basic American principles.
I don’t know how to answer that. If you are a Trump supporter then all of my real estate belongs to the state if some guy with deep enough pockets wants it. If you are a Cruz supporter then yes I own real estate.
What is it with the use of the term Strawman and you folks?
Anyone brings up a topic and addresses it, and you folks dismiss it as a strawman argument.
Keystone will require hundreds if not thousands of land takings.
One seems to be a bridge too far to you folks. You hadn’t noticed?
Strawman? LOL
I don’t need to reconsider the qualifications...they’re the same as they have been for quite some time. Playing games and being juvenile like you are being in tone isn’t going to change that.
Tone deaf is Jeb Bush, not Donald Trump. His support of eminent domain is controversial with many, I didn’t like Kelo myself. He is, however, a real estate developer, and his perspective is colored by that. Eminent domain is necessary for any sort of public work or development. So long as people being bought out are amply compensated and the taking is for legitimate public benefit, it’s fair and necessary.
Property taxes are coming due in February.
What happens if you pay all but a hundred bucks of your property taxes?
This is a PARTICULAR sore point with me, because ALL my property is paid off.
How do you feel about Cruz pocketing $100,000 in donations from sleazy crony capitalist Goldman Sachs and then casting U. S. Senate votes in support of them? That does’t look either principled or conservative to me.
Have you asked Trumpettes to take days off? Maybe you just did not notice those threads.
Not safe here now for principled conservatives who choose not to support Trump. I am toning it down, but am not happy about it.
Hey Tough Guy when did you stop paying your taxes on your income, your real estate and your cars?
You don't know if you own real estate, but you're opining on the issue?
Just because you choose to stick you head in the sand doesn’t mean others do. In addition some people can actually make an intelligent argument one way or the other instead of just mindlessly attacking the messenger. And you do realize that you have a choice to ignore threads that touch upon your sensitivities.
Well that sounds all well and good, but you folks haven’t understood Trump’s goals for seven months now. When are you going to start admitting what he has said he wants to do looks pretty damned good from a Conservative perspective?
You want to go back two to thirty years, but you don’t want to look at his platformm.
Being a jerk and demeaning FR is not “supporting Cruz.” I wish it didn’t come to zotting but they all were repeat violators.
I'm asking YOU clowns.
You're making a big deal over "eminent domain" - when you don't even own the property.
Nobody does. We RENT from the government.
Find another issue to get worked up about, or go string some tax collectors up.
LOL
You are still rehashing that.
Thousands with Keystone, but Trump is the real bad guy with one.
This becomes absurd, and what’s really sad is you folks won’t even admit it.
Nothing. I get a notice from the town that I owe them a hundred bucks. I then pay them and its all good.
What happens if some shithead wants your property condemned to build a mall and you don’t want to sell so Trump sics his state puke actors on you to grab your land?
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