Thank you! Some FReepers are acting like Democrats — only seeing what’s on the surface and not looking at the logical end. When eminent domain is used for “private interest” it is, in the end, public. Taxes = roads, schools, parks, etc.
Except that isn't what happened in New London, is it?
The company backed out of the deal and developed elsewhere, leaving the town with an empty lot generating zero taxes.
That's the difference between "public use" and "public good." The public use is guaranteed when the local government follows through with the road, school, or hospital. The public good is speculative when the lure of better business never materializes.
The Kelo decision was wrong because the Supreme court speculated on a land grab, and the fallow-through never happened.
-PJ