"
You would be wrong."
I'm going to post a quote from an article on the
U.S. News & World Report site discussing the President's executive order. This is a quote from Texas Senator John Cornyn (Rep.), who was asked about the President's order. Cornyn has introduced legislation into Congress that would "bar federal funding for any state or local projects in which the land was obtained through eminent domain," legislation which I support. I think Cornyn sees exactly what I did upon reading the President's order:
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. . . 'This order appears to apply to a null, or virtually null set of government actions. ... I'm not aware of any federal government agency that takes property for economic development,' he said. 'It's an effort to appease the property rights base, while ignoring the difficult question of when eminent domain should be used to help downtrodden communities.' . . ."
I think Cornyn has it right. We need viable legislation to control the runaway excesses of state and local governments who repeatedly tread upon property rights in exercising their right of eminent domain. The President's Executive Order, which I think is a good thing in so far as it stakes out a position for the federal government, is really about politics in that it is attempting to put this issue on the agenda for this election year.
I would like to add that I also want it on the agenda, so I do applaud the President for his action. It occurs to me upon rereading my earlier post, which prompted your response, that you may have taken from my comments that I was implying that this was a cynical act on the part of the President, and that I discounted its importance for that reason. That was not my intention. I view this action as useful political calculation on President Bush's part. This issue should be before the American people.