[Conscience of a Conservative]

What is YOUR solution to a road needing to be built,

There's the thing you are missing. No one is objecting to the use of eminent domain for public works projects like roads, bridges, etc. That is clearly constitutional (within certain limitations), and uncontroversial. What people are objecting to (and what Trump is supporting) is the use of eminent domain to transfer private property from one private owner to another, for the purpose of private development of the land. That's not a "public use," and so it is not permitted by the Constitution (black-robed idiots in Kelo notwithstanding).

[austinaero]

“There’s the thing you are missing. No one is objecting to the use of eminent domain for public works projects like roads, bridges, etc. That is clearly constitutional (within certain limitations), and uncontroversial. What people are objecting to (and what Trump is supporting) is the use of eminent domain to transfer private property from one private owner to another, for the purpose of private development of the land. That’s not a “public use,” and so it is not permitted by the Constitution (black-robed idiots in Kelo notwithstanding). “

I still don’t understand the offense. It’s ok to build roads, bridges, and other things that will COST money every year to maintain, thereby creating a new drain on tax resources,,that’s ok....right?

But getting a court to induce a settlement to build a parking lot, business, etc, that will INCREASE tax revenue is not ok?

What? I thought we didn’t want Daddy Govt to own everything?

[Crusher138]

What people are objecting to (and what Trump is supporting) is the use of eminent domain to transfer private property from one private owner to another, for the purpose of private development of the land. That's not a "public use," and so it is not permitted by the Constitution (black-robed idiots in Kelo notwithstanding).

It is my experience that a large percentage of the anti-eminent domain crowd are against ANY government purchase of private land and the Kelo decision has them saying "See! See!". I live in a house that is part of a development where they needed to purchase hundreds of the small plots I spoke about in my previous post. At the end there were 3 owners who wanted extravagant amounts of money for their small, useless (by themselves) pieces of land. Finally the developer agreed to proceed and build around the three plots, making them kind of natural parks. Since that would REALLY make them useless, especially after planning and zoning rezoned them, they gave in and accepted the offer.