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To: jimbo123

Funny thing... I do not remember anyone here at Free Rebpublic complaining about GW Bush use of eminent domain...

did W use it? Yes he did... See below...

“In 1991, the team convinced local voters to approve a tax increase that helped build a new $191 million stadium. The city of Arlington used eminent domain to acquire the property from hundreds of private owners, claiming the stadium was a “public use” just like highways, schools, and government buildings.
Several property owners were lowballed, and court decisions increased their final take. The compensation for one 13-acre plot was increased from $877,000 to $5 million, for example. The city, not the team, was held responsible for making the larger payments.

The stadium clearly benefitted the Rangers’ owners more than anyone else. Bush turned his initial $600,000 investment into $15 million when the team was sold in 1999. But it has produced little of the promised economic benefit to Arlington, and there has never been a real “public use” factor aside from baseball fans’ paying their money to see games.”

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2005/6/26/125539/-

http://www.austinchronicle.com/issues/vol16/issue42/pols.bushstadium.html

For those questioning if it happened while GW owned the team here is the baseball ownership for George Bush...

A series of beneficial moves, By Tom Farrey

The sequence of events related to the purchase and sale of the Texas Rangers by George W. Bush and his partners:
1988
October: While helping manage his father’s presidential bid, George W. Bush learns that Bush family friend and Fort Worth oil man Eddie Chiles is putting the Texas Rangers up for sale. (His father is elected president in November.)
1989
January: Bush is first mentioned in news reports as a potential candidate to run for governor of Texas in 1990, despite never having held public office. Republican leaders express concern about his lack of credentials and experience.
April: Bush helps arrange a syndicate to purchase controlling interest in the Texas Rangers for $89 million. He borrows $500,000 to buy a small stake in the team and convinces the investor group to make him managing general partner. Bush becomes the public face of the team, while co-general partner Rusty Rose assumes control over the financial side. He receives a reported salary of $200,000 and begins lobbying for a new stadium for the club, which plays in a renovated minor-league facility, Arlington Stadium.
September: The Rangers fail to make the playoffs. But with new free agent pitcher Nolan Ryan, they post their first winning record in three years (83-79) and surpass 2 million in attendance for the first time in franchise history.
1990
April: Bush buys an additional $100,000 ownership stake in the Rangers.
October: Arlington Mayor Richard Greene crafts a deal that will go before voters and devote $135 million toward a new stadium for the Rangers by raising the sales tax by a half-cent. At the time, Greene is among a group of former executives being sued by federal regulators for his role in the widespread savings-and-loan scandal.
1991
January: Arlington citizens, by a 2-to-1 margin, approve public funds for the new $191 million ballpark. Two weeks before the vote, federal regulators dismiss their lawsuit against Greene after he pays a $40,000 penalty.
April: The Rangers shepherd through the Texas legislature a bill that creates the Arlington Sports Facilities Development Authority (ASFDA), a quasi-governmental entity that is given the power of eminent domain. Shortly after the bill is signed by new governor Ann Richards, 13 acres of private property are seized for the Rangers’ new ballpark, later prompting two lawsuits.
Juan Gonzalez and Ivan Rodriguez break in with the Rangers, giving the team two popular stars in Latino communities of North Texas. Both would later become American League MVP award winners.
July: Bush buys another $6,302 ownership interest in the Rangers, increasing his financial investment to $606,302.
1993
January: President George H.W. Bush leaves the White House, defeated by Bill Clinton.
September: George W. Bush announces his intention to run for governor of Texas in 1994, making the decision after expressing some interest in the baseball commissioner’s job that has been vacated by Fay Vincent.
October: Nolan Ryan, baseball’s all-time strikeout leader, retires after 27 years. Ryan, who had become a Bush friend, later campaigns for him for governor.
1994
April: The Ballpark in Arlington, with its retro touches reminiscent of Baltimore’s Oriole Park at Camden Yards, opens to much fanfare. A league-leading average of 40,374 fans attend games in the coming months, best in franchise history.
August: The end of the season is canceled due to a labor dispute between owners and players, with the Rangers finishing in first place for the first time in franchise history. Among major-league owners, Bush is perceived as a moderate who worked hard to avoid a work stoppage.
November: Bush is elected governor with 53.8 percent of the vote, defeating popular incumbent Ann Richards despite her attacks on the stadium deal and Bush’s grasp of issues. (She had declared that it was “difficult to run a race against someone who doesn’t have a clue.”)
December: Before taking office, Bush resigns as managing general partner of the Rangers but keeps his ownership stake in the team. At the time, his share is 1.8 percent equity interest, plus another 10 percent bonus if the team is later sold and the investors get back their original investment plus interest (Rose, the other general partner, gets a 5 percent bonus for his role).


57 posted on 02/07/2016 2:51:49 PM PST by GeaugaRepublican (American Sovereignty vs the wealthy globalists. TPP anyone?)
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To: GeaugaRepublican

Please don’t soil the pages of this fine forum by using DailyKos as a source. Conservatives know better. Trump supporters? Not so much.


64 posted on 02/07/2016 3:24:11 PM PST by Hoodat (Article 4, Section 4)
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