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Robin Hood stole from the rich to give to the poor. Our Supreme
Court has now empowered our cities to take property from the poor, and give to the
rich...
Life, liberty, and the pursuit of
property? Weren't these rights promised to us by Thomas Jefferson in the
Declaration of Independence? Actually, no, it was the pursuit of
happiness (for the record, it was John Locke, an eighteenth-century British
philosopher that coined the phrase, "life, liberty, and the pursuit of
property", but we digress).
In any event, the fact of the matter is that today, June 23, 2005, marks the
beginning of the end for us common men, because today our Supreme Court has
determined that the rights of wealthy developers to take your land (for a
handsome profit), are more important than your rights to live in your own home.
Yes it's true, in a landmark ruling today, Kelo v. The City of New
London, by a 5-4 vote, our Supreme Court held that local governments,
in the name of eminent domain, may seize private property to give to
private developers.
Justice John Paul Stevens, wrote for the majority, "The City has carefully
formulated an economic development plan that it believes will provide
appreciable benefits to the community, including -- but by no means limited to
-- new jobs and increased tax revenue."
Justice Sandra Day O'Connor wrote for the minority, "The beneficiaries
are likely to be those citizens with disproportionate influence and power in the political
process, including large corporations and development firms."
CNN.com writes, "As a result, cities have wide power to bulldoze residences
for projects such as shopping malls and hotel complexes to generate tax
revenue." ("High Court OKs Personal Property Seizures". CNN.com,
June 24, 2005).
Does this sound familiar? I can picture
Tod Ridgeway and his developer cronies salivating at the thought of all of the private land that they can now seize in the name of the
public good. They look at the peninsula with disdain, they have their
eyes on local bars and even older, small family-owned businesses.
Not even churches are safe. By the time they are done with this place, we should just rename it Irvine Beach,
because that is what is will look like - their latest IAC development.
This truly is a sad day. Keep your eyes on them...
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