Posted on 08/22/2015 5:25:55 PM PDT by SeekAndFind
Since he shot to the top of the presidential polls, Donald Trump’s serial bankruptcies and bullying nature have made big headlines. But no one seems to have brought up a bullying business practice he’s particularly fond of: eminent domain.
The billionaire mogul-turned-reality TV celebrity, who says he wants to work on behalf of “the silent majority,” has had no compunction about benefiting from the coercive power of the state to kick innocent Americans out of their homes.
For more than 30 years Vera Coking lived in a three-story house just off the Boardwalk in Atlantic City. Donald Trump built his 22-story Trump Plaza next door. In the mid-1990s Trump wanted to build a limousine parking lot for the hotel, so he bought several nearby properties. But three owners, including the by then elderly and widowed Ms Coking, refused to sell.
As his daughter Ivanka said in introducing him at his campaign announcement, Donald Trump doesn’t take no for an answer.
Trump turned to a government agency — the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority (CRDA) — to take Coking’s property. CRDA offeredher $250,000 for the property — one-fourth of what another hotel builder had offered her a decade earlier. When she turned that down, the agency went into court to claim her property under eminent domain so that Trump could pave it and put up a parking lot.
“Trump has had no compunction about benefiting from the coercive power of the state to kick innocent Americans out of their homes.”
Peter Banin and his brother owned another building on the block. A few months after they paid $500,000 to purchase the building for a pawn shop, CRDA offered them $174,000 and told them to leave the property. A Russian immigrant, Banin said: “I knew they could do this in Russia, but not here. I would understand if they needed it for an airport runway, but for a casino?”
Ms Coking and her neighbors spent several years in court, but eventually with the assistance of the Institute for Justice they won on July 20, 1998. A state judge rejected the agency’s demand on the narrow grounds that there was no guarantee that Trump would use the land for the specified purpose. “TRUMPED!” blared the front page of the tabloid New York Post.
It wasn’t the only time Trump tried to benefit from eminent domain. In 1994, Trump incongruously promised to turn Bridgeport, Connecticut, into “a national tourist destination” by building a $350m office and entertainment complex on the waterfront. The Hartford Courant reported: “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.”
But alas, five businesses owned the land. What to do? As the Courant reported: “Under the development proposal described by Trump’s lawyers, 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.” The project fell apart, though.
Trump consistently defended the use of eminent domain. Interviewed by John Stossel on ABC News, he said: “Cities have the right to condemn for the good of the city. Everybody coming into Atlantic City sees this terrible house instead of staring at beautiful fountains and beautiful other things that would be good.” Challenged by Stossel, he said that eminent domain was necessary to build schools and roads. But of course he just wanted to build a limousine parking lot.
In 2005 the Institute for Justice took another eminent domain case to the Supreme Court. By 5-4 the Court held that the city of New London, Connecticut, could take the property of Susette Kelo and her neighbors so that Pfizer could build a research facility. That qualified as a “public use” within the meaning of the Constitution’s “takings” clause. The case created an uproar.
Polls showed that more than 80% of the public opposed the decision. Justice Sandra Day O’Connor issued a scathing dissent: “Any property may now be taken for the benefit of another private party, but the fallout from this decision will not be random. The beneficiaries are likely to be those citizens with disproportionate influence and power in the political process, including large corporations and development firms … The Founders cannot have intended this perverse result.”
Conservatives were especially outraged by this assault on property rights. Not Donald Trump, though. He told Neil Cavuto on Fox News: “I happen to agree with it 100%. if you have a person living in an area that’s not even necessarily a good area, and … government wants to build a tremendous economic development, where a lot of people are going to be put to work and … create thousands upon thousands of jobs and beautification and lots of other things, I think it happens to be good.”
When Donald Trump says: “I give to everybody. They do whatever I want,” this is what he’s talking about: well-connected interests getting favors from government. Vera Coking knows the feeling.
But bow-boy is NOT one of US. Trump is and has been since birth. He respects this country and our Constitution. o-king, not so much. Big difference.
Thats what I was thinking
I remember it well.
Can we burn down those neighborhoods in Detroit and Philadelphia?
I WILL BRING THE GASOLINE AND MATCHES.
I like what Trump is saying but I will still vote for CRUZ, if CRUZ winds up not being on the ballot I will write him in.
If I can’t do that I will vote for JACK (Jack is my old dog, he’s honest and loyal).
CRUZ OR LOSE
I think people are supporting Trump and overlooking some of his weak points. I get that, actually. But it’s good to remind ourselves occasionally that he, like everybody else, isn’t perfect.
“The Church of Trump has already decided
They don’t care.
Trump could eat babies on the stump.
They won’t care.
Burn down poor neighborhoods for a casino.
They won’t care.”
Anything you have to say about Trump, I don’t care.
The best way I have heard it put...”Trump is the middle finger of the base”....
I like it....
“Stories like these, and I’m sure there are hundreds, will destroy Trump in the general.”
Lol. Yeah, just like all the stories that were to destroy Trump in the primaries, and he just grows stronger.
so, some hag lost out on millions and now AC is a toilet again.. who’s sorry now?
“I don’t want to stay home on election day, but will not put someone I don’t want next in line by proxy.”
Oh, but you are, Hillary Clinton, by proxy.
Trump grew up in an era when “urban renewal” was seen as a heroic act for builders. It’s not surprising that he kept that view that also aligned with his business interests.
Bridgeport could well have used Trumpization.
RE: He made the right decision to get out when he did. Smart business. Are you saying you would have done it differently?
He made the wrong decision the first time, to get into Atlantic City. If he did not do it, he would not have needed to bail in 2007, a mere 7 years later.
So why the need for the eminent domain to take the widow’s home in the first place?
Was that in order to build a highway or a railroad or some vital infrastructure? Nope, it was for casino’s. Hardly vital at all as proven 7 years later.
He'll get my vote in the primary.
And if he gets the Republican nomination for President, I'll vote for him again."
Novemberslady, you are the first person I've heard of who supports Jeb Bush.
Can you explain why you think a man who holds all of these liberal positions would make a good president? If you like Jeb so much, you must agree with them yourself.
Jeb Bush: Birthright Citizenship Is A Constitutional Right
Jeb Bush Was Director of Philanthropy That Gave Tens of Millions to Planned Parenthood
Jeb Bush Says He Will Not Kowtow To Conservatives
Jeb Bush: We Will Lose Our Liberties If We Control The Border
Jeb Bush 'Not Going to Back Down' on Immigration, Supports 'Path For Legalized Status'
Jeb Bush: Legal Status for Immigrants 'Rational, Thoughtful'
Jeb Bush Still Refuses To Rule Out Tax Hikes
Jeb Bush: "I Would Govern Like Lyndon Johnson As President"
Jeb Worked With Bloomberg Amid $50 Million Anti-Coal Campaign
Jeb: "Humans Contribute To Climate Change"
Jeb Bush: I'm 'Fine" With Transgender Soldiers If Morale Is Unaffected
here’s what the great Jim Robinson said about Trump then:
See here:
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/news/2706770/posts?page=133#133
Post Number 133
-——————————————————————————————Jim I’m very tired of paying my monthly donation for a rectum to post his poison!
I’m sure that I’m not the only donor feeling this way.
He has zero respect for you and your loyal donors.
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