The latest round of attacks aimed toward Donald Trump can only reasonably be considered divinely inspired fails.
OMG Donald Trump Supports Eminent Domain!!
[ *NOTE* Watch closely who picks up on this attack approach and you’ll identify an even larger number of the GOPe deceivers than were visible before. ]
Brett Baier interviewed Donald Trump for his Fox News Special Report segment and carried with him a specifically pre-framed angle of attack, an agenda. Baier used the Club for Growth argument (see video: @3:34) for conversation about Eminent Domain.
Of course Eminent Domain is wonderful, it goes without saying.
It is not even a reasonable argument to state otherwise. Eminent Domain is expressly written into the 5th Amendment of the U.S. constitution because without the ability of government to control property use, institute easements and take ownership of land parcels there would be complete chaos. Think about the power grid as an example. How do you get electricity to your home if the municipal government cannot put a power pole in the neighborhood yards? It really is that simple.
Or if you live in the country and build a home and you need to have utilities installed, think about how ridiculous it would be if the neighboring land owner two miles away refused to allow the transferring infrastructure?
Eminent Domain is an essential element of society and life. There is no other option without it. Donald Trump says “eminent domain is wonderful” because it is.
Yet look at how quick the punditry moved to make an issue out of it:
You just have to laugh at the scope of the FAIL.
Now, there is an argument to be made that the Kelo Supreme Court decision, which expanded Eminent Domain to encompass the transfer of property ownership from one private owner to another private owner, is going to far.
In Kelo you enter into the “greater good” argument where the property rights of an individual are compromised by government intervention. Should a property owner lose their property for a developer or business who is putting a manufacturing facility upon it?
That’s a more nuanced argument and should be decided between the interested parties and resolved in local courts if needed.
However, the larger argument of “eminent domain”, where the government can use private property for the benefit of a larger society is not an issue; it is essential. There’s another aspect to “actual property ownership” that revolves around taxation, economic activity, private property “ownership”, and who actually owns real property that is subject to cyclical taxation, but that’s for another day.
Short version “anything that is taxed, while existing in a static economic form, you do not technically own”.
But in their rush to find something, anything, to attack Donald Trump with – Fox News once again shows how absolutely biased they are in their efforts to get rid of Donald Trump and make way for their chosen candidate, Jeb!
"In Kelo you enter into the “greater good” argument where the property rights of an individual are compromised by government intervention."
All that the Kelo decision said was that local governments could take property for commercial use. Since that decision, 42 states have passed laws against taking property for commercial use, thereby voiding Kelo.
All that the Kelo decision said was that local governments could take property for commercial use. Since that decision, 42 states have passed laws against taking property for commercial use, thereby voiding Kelo.
Kelo was wrongly decided and should be reversed by SCOTUS
