Posted on 02/03/2016 6:08:39 AM PST by Kaslin
Donald Trump is running a pretty successful presidential campaign saying that he wants to "Make America Great Again."
But he seems to have very little interest in what exactly it is that makes America great.
This paradox is very much on display when Trump talks about eminent domain, the authority given to government in the constitution to take private property for public use.
Trump says, "Eminent domain is wonderful."
The Fifth Amendment to our Constitution tells us: "No person shall be ... deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation."
The key question is, what is "public use"?
George Mason University law professor Ilya Somin sums it up as follows: "Until the early 20th century, most courts interpreted those words to cover things such as roads or power lines -- projects owned either directly by the government or by private owners who have a legal obligation to serve the entire public, such as utility companies."
"By the 1950s, however," Somin continues, "The original meaning of 'public use' had been largely abandoned. Legal elites came to believe that government planners should have nearly limitless authority to take property to promote growth and combat blight afflicting the urban poor."
Donald Trump includes himself among these "legal elites" who think government should be free to confiscate private property and turn it over to some private developer who proposes a project, claiming it will create jobs.
This is what happened in the Kelo v. City of New London decision in 2005, when the Supreme Court sided with the city of New London, Connecticut, which seized property to make way for a commercial development anchored by a new research facility for Pfizer Corporation.
One of the property owners, Susette Kelo, sued the city, claiming this seizing of private property for a private development was not "public use" as intended in the constitution.
The court sided with the city, 5-4. The two solid conservatives on the Court at the time, Anton Scalia and Clarence Thomas, sided with Kelo, who was represented by the libertarian public interest law firm Institute for Justice.
Donald Trump told Fox News' Neil Cavuto, regarding the Kelo decision, "I happen to agree with it 100 percent."
It sounds so nice to say a project can bring jobs and development. But can we really allow, in our country, the forcing of private owners off their property because a government entity, working with a private developer, claims there is potential in some new development there?
We have proof in the pudding with Kelo, where the owners were removed and then the project fell through. The place is now an abandoned lot.
Washington is filled with special interests looking for favors, claiming their business project is in the "national interest." Business people such as Donald Trump, who think they know what is best for everyone, can be free to buy out whomever they want. But how can we put the force of government behind them and kick people out of their homes? This is what makes America great?
Back in 1993, Donald Trump tried to buy Vera Coking's Atlantic City home to use the property for his casino development. She refused to sell. So New Jersey confiscated her property. Coking was represented by the Institute for Justice, and defeated Donald Trump in court. Coking kept her home.
Cato Institute economist Mark Calabria estimates that since the Kelo decision in 2005 more than 1 million households "have been displaced by government action." Of these households, Calabria estimates 29 percent were black and 32 percent households in poverty.
What makes America great is respect for law and respect for all private citizens and their property.
We need leaders who understand and care about this. This is what will make America great. Not unprincipled dealmakers looking for wealth and power.
You’re right. It’s rather like the “Cruz’s wife works for Goldman Sachs” posts isn’t it.
Dunno about touch back, this sounds like queue back.
I’ll be generous and say he might well want to do it.
But to get it to happen with a restive Democrat segment in Congress, he will have to horse-trade.
If he can’t even horse-trade with We The People, how can he with Democrat filibusterers and the like?
She could have a bias for Goldman Sachs, but there are worse concerns like her paper about a globalist agenda. Goldman Sachs, meh. Globalism, EEEEEK!
Your absolutely right that I care about the invasion of this country over some lawyers nitpicking the edges of the constitutional authority on eminent domain.
One threatens us NOW. It is happening NOW! We’re being flooded with terrorists from the middle east NOW!
And in response we gaze at hypothetical cases in law about minutiae of eminent domain law.
Puhleeese.
That’s arguing over your kid’s college rejection notice while your house is burning.
Your absolutely right that I care about the invasion of this country over some lawyers nitpicking the edges of the constitutional authority on eminent domain.
One threatens us NOW. It is happening NOW! We’re being flooded with terrorists from the middle east NOW!
And in response we gaze at hypothetical cases in law about minutiae of eminent domain law.
Puhleeese.
That’s arguing over your kid’s college rejection notice while your house is burning.
There is no horse trading necessary.
He can implement fully e-verify.
He can build the wall.
He can deport.
It’s ALL already law.
It is amazing that posters on a conservative website have decided to minimize the importance of private property rights in order to advance the political interests of a specific candidate in a Republican nominating process. The distinction between public and private is perhaps the most fundamental principle that distinguishes American conservatism, yet many now seem willing to set it aside in the short-term focus of the moment.
This distinction is why we have Freedom of Religion, why we believe in low tax rates, and even why we have the Second Amendment; all because public and private are two separate things.
The proper use of Eminent Domain requires that a compelling public interest be served by some alternate disposition of private property, and that public interest is greater than the property owner’s right to deny the public access to the property. This clearly is the case for the Keystone pipeline or for highways or other public projects such as hospitals. It clearly was not the case in the Kelo decision or for Vera Coking’s home.
If the Kelo decision and the attempted condemnation of Coking’s home are acceptable, what uses of Eminent Domain would not be acceptable? If I can’t be secure in my own property when a developer claims his ownership of it will increase tax revenue or when a real estate investor argues that his parking lot will look nicer than my small home, then when can I be secure in my own property? Is there any reason that government can’t force me to give up what I own?
Trump’s argument that Eminent Domain authority must be unlimited or else we can’t build Keystone is simply absurd. If the public interest truly justifies this kind of taking, then it also justifies arbitrarily high tax rates and even confiscation of guns, as soon as someone decides that the result is in the public interest. These are not ideas that conservatives have traditionally supported.
But now conservatives support this because Trump says so? Forced agreement with every detail of a philosophy or person is simply Political Correctness. You can agree with Trump on a majority of positions and support his candidacy without agreeing with him on everything. This is why many argue that Trump’s supporters have fallen into worship of an idol.
We need to take a middle road, finding out how sincere and capable Trump is. And letting him know that yes, We The People intend to hold his feet to the fire.
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Eminent domain is how the Keystone pipepline will be built and it is not a govt run highway program but a private for profit enterprise to the benefit of Canada - Cruz's homeland. Trump's version spews out casino chips and the other oil - but other than that no difference.
And there are laws that never get paid to happen. Not so simple.
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The oil pipeline is for export out of New Orleans. So maybe it is vital for China's national defense.
We would be quite wise to have anti-waste provisions and fair-impact compensation that includes why the person lives at that place (e.g. to make a job possible).
Real property itself ultimately is Caesar’s. We only get to invest in it and live there while in Caesar’s good graces. All we have to do is not pay the taxes on it to find this out.
I agree, xzins. This and our jobs are number 1 to me. These are Trump’s signatures issues.
Trump WILL build that wall; the rest of the field - doubtful. It will be business as usual.
Yes it is.
Gets a bit tiresome
What paper are you referring to? I’m not trying to be a smartass; I’d really like to read it.
As for a bias, that may be, but no more than Trump and others who own a lot of shares in Goldman stock.
So you believe the oil or finished product refined from the oil must be exported.
Explains why you’re a Trump voter.
Vital infrastructure (such as roads, bridges, pipelines, etc.) = Public use
Limousine parking lot = NOT public use
Explains why youâre a Trump voter.
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No, I won't say idiot or stuff like that because maybe I was not clear and you misunderstood. I want the oil to stay in the USA to lower domestic oil prices and overseas dependency (though Canada is another country) but the keystone pipeline is being built to export oil out of New Orleans - which I don't like and therefore to claim the pipeline is essential for national defense is bogus since the oil is being exported. In any case the claim eminent domain is OK for a private enterprise like the Keystone pipeline that benefits a foreign country but Trump applying that to a what amounted to a crack house across from his casino is wrong is bizarre. Trump offered up to 6 times market value and was turned down and eventually built around it. Now the house can't be given away and is a blight on the community full of resident crack heads.
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