Hey, what's up? You like your house? That's too bad, because you know what would look AWESOME in that spot? A brand new Wal-Mart!
Yeah that's right, thanks to a new Supreme Court decision local governments can now seize your home in order to make way for private economic projects, such as shopping malls or Big Box stores (eg: Wal-Mart, Target, etc...) More on the flip
From MSNBC:
WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court on Thursday ruled that local governments may seize people's homes and businesses -- even against their will -- for private economic development.
It was a decision fraught with huge implications for a country with many areas, particularly the rapidly growing urban and suburban areas, facing countervailing pressures of development and property ownership rights.
As a result, cities now have wide power to bulldoze residences for projects such as shopping malls and hotel complexes in order to generate tax revenue.
The 5-4 ruling -- assailed by dissenting Justice Sandra Day O'Connor as handing "disproportionate influence and power" to the well-heeled -- represented a defeat for some Connecticut residents whose homes are slated for destruction to make room for an office complex.
Those residents argued that cities have no right to take their land except for projects with a clear public use, such as roads or schools, or to revitalize blighted areas.
I'm sorry but this is corporate welfare at its most egregious. I mean it's one thing to give a corporation tax breaks, subsidies, and flat out giveaways, but to let them come into your community and kick normal Americans out of their homes? This sinks corporate government to a brand new low. It's a policy that's emblematic of the new merger of business and politics, producing a lack of civil liberties that is ironically reminiscent of the old Soviet Union. Like the bankruptcy bill, it subordinates the rights of the people to the profit motive of the corporate class. Private property rights are paramount, remember that? Wasn't that a huge reason offered for the Cold War? And yet here we are, with corporations being given the right to dictate where citizens should be removed from their own homes.
I admit, it troubles me when governments exercise the privilige of eminent domain in the first place. However, at least I recognize the need for those things. People may have to sacrifice their property for projects that benefit the whole community sometimes, but only as a last resort. But what is this? The government is now saying you must lose your home, not for your town or your well-being, but so that a remote corporation that contributes nothing to your local community (with the sole exception of low paying jobs that poison the job market in the long term) can pad its profit margin. Where is the justice in that? Why should you lose your home so that Wal-Mart or Days Inn or The Gap can get a little more money? And how likely do you think it is that any strapped local government can stand up to these corporations when they come in demanding special favors? This is more than Big Government, this is Corporate Government, government run entirely for the profit of a few big businesses. This is Government, Inc.
And yes, I'm aware that this particular 5-4 decision saw the court's conservatives lining up to oppose this moronic decision. Hey, even a stopped clock is right twice a day. The rights of the people to own property are essential, and they CERTAINLY should not be compromised for wealthy private industry. If the Dems don't pick this up and run with it they're dumber then I thought.