The U.S. Supreme Court's "New London Decision" in favor of municipalities' rights of eminent domain for economic development is Bush's/Rove's wet dream come true.
The Court's decision, with liberal-leaning Justices, Souter, Bader-Ginsberg, Stevens, and Breyer voting FOR the municipalities and effectively AGAINST individual property owners will provide ample fodder for Repuglicans attempting to paint Liberals as the enemy among all voters in ecnomically depressed areas.
The New London Decision is a HUGE mistake. Think of the moral ground that Thomas, Scalia, and Rehnquist will gain as a result of voting against this ruling. And the only person the Repugs had to sacrifice was Anthony Kennedy.
You have to ask why the Court's ruling is a disaster in the making?
Consider the following: a small town has a few remaining plots of land near the growing commercial core. Those few are residential and house elderly owner-occupants.
A developer enters the picture. He knows the Town's strapped for cash in light of all the belt tightening from the Feds - thanks to Bush's massive tax cuts. The developer tells the local Town Council that if he could buy the land from these remaining homeowners and tear it all down he could develop it into a successful commercial center and increase the tax revenue for the town.
There's only one problem. None of the owners want to sell.
Of course, the Town forcing these people out at the behest of a private developer would be an abuse of power wouldn't it? That would NEVER happen in a small town right? Town Council members are ALWAYS honest citizens. They can ALWAYS be trusted to do what's ethical. Not one of them anywhere would EVER take a bribe right? No one in a small town EVER has secret business deals and liaisons gong on behind everyone's back do they? No developer in a small town EVER uses the fact that say, his wife's brother is a member of the Town Council to get influence does he?
The New London Decision gives TOO MUCH power to municipalities over private landowners and we all know what too much power can do. Given how desperate many ecnomically struggling parts of this country are, a developer with deep pockets could appear to be a way out of a troubled financial situation.
Doesn't this just seem tailor-made for a 2006 Repuglican Campaign theme? (See, Libruls hate the elderly! Libruls hate working people! Libruls take away peoples' homes! Libruls hate the little guy!, and so on)
Watch out folks, this WILL come back to haunt us - and soon.