Next Level BS #18: Eminent Domain Abuse and Corruption: Because... Money!

Today on Next Level BS we take a look at two heart-wrenching cases of city governments abusing eminent domain, following the Kelo V New London ruling by the US Supreme Court. The ruling paved the way for cities to use eminent domain to grab private property, and turn it over to developers for things like shopping malls. And to make matters worse, the underhanded city governments are classifying perfectly fine neighborhoods and homes as blight in order to decrease property values in an extortion scheme to get the homeowners to agree to pennies on the dollar. This is turning into a huge problem, as corrupt city governments are in collusion with developers, eyeballing suburban neighborhoods for redevelopment.




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a reply to: theNLBS

Yet another wonderful decision by the republican majority on the court, thank GWB and the Roberts court for yet another ruling that is against the people.

If the government did that crap to me I would take that 6K and buy lots of ammo and other accessories. I guarantee that situation would become big news.

Don't worry NSA I don't live there. I am just sayin.

I read about that Kelo case - it was scary. The residents there, owned old houses that were right next to a lake. Any other part of the area, and they would be just "some old properties beside the lake". But the city was desperate for cash, and owning a waterfront campus was The-thing-to-own" for corporations, so they got turfed off.

a reply to: theNLBS

Wow. That's just beyond BS.

You might have to re-scale your BS meter by adding another level for BS like that.

Kind Regards
Myselfaswell

P.S, Enjoying the shows, keep up the good work.

For the record ?

People are using 'eminent domain' every time the support higher taxes on them rich folks.

Isn't that how ED is defined ?

Taking property away to 'benefit' the public ?

Oh yeah ED is a huge problem.

originally posted by: neo96
People are using 'eminent domain' every time the support higher taxes on them rich folks.
Isn't that how ED is defined ?

I've tried to make sense of that, but I can't. What do you mean?

a reply to: SkepticOverlord

Let me see if I can interpret.

Every time the rich are taxed disproportionately it's akin to eminent domain.

a reply to: neo96

Higher taxes? The rich have had tax breaks under Nixon, Reagan then GWB, Romney pays 15% in taxes. Please what are you talking about?

a reply to: SkepticOverlord

Real easte=money.

They are the same thing.

Someone owns a home.

Someone owns their money.

The Government reserves to come and take whenever they please.

And they have.

And while we're on 'real estate'.

Everyone thinks they own their homes. The fact is they don't.

Between the cities, and the states every single person that thinks they own a home or land are basically renters.

That thing called property tax is what i am taking about.

Failure to pay that the city, state gets to take it at their leisure.

a reply to: neo96

Before the supreme court made there decision Jiffy Lube could not take your property through the courts to build there business now they can because of the supreme courts foolish decision.

a reply to: LDragonFire

What?

The practice of eminent domain has existed since pretty much the beginning of his country.

Hell just ask the 'Native Americans'.

I'm still fuzzy on your… fuzziness. But apparently it seems you're trying to inject some political drama about taxes into a thread about video covering two corrupt local city governments extorting home owners into submitting to eminent domain.

ok...

originally posted by: neo96
Real easte=money.
They are the same thing.

Not really, but that's a much larger-scope finance discussion than is appropriate for this thread.

The Government reserves to come and take whenever they please.

Isn't that what the video is about.

Everyone thinks they own their homes. The fact is they don't.

No true.

Between the cities, and the states every single person that thinks they own a home or land are basically renters.

See above.

That thing called property tax is what i am taking about.
Failure to pay that the city, state gets to take it at their leisure.

Partially correct to some extent. Yes, you need to pay your property taxes. If you don't there will be problems. But the entire value of the property is not seized. The government entity sells it at various types of auctions, deducts the due taxes from the sale price, and gives the property owner the difference.


Still now sure how you "points" apply to the video.

originally posted by: neo96
Hell just ask the 'Native Americans'.

That was Manifest Destiny, not Eminent Domain.

Eminent domain? The irony is it was the homes pulled down that were the eminent domains of ordinary, and most likely hard working folks, at least in this case. How evil can 'authorities' be when it comes to the big buck. Eminent Domain Eh! they just make things up, smother it with legalese, and tell people it's for the benefit of everyone, the greater good, a new deal..blah blah. Such slimy, greasy b.......

Good thread OP!

a reply to: SkepticOverlord

I'm still fuzzy on your… fuzziness. But apparently it seems you're trying to inject some political drama about taxes into a thread about video covering two corrupt local city governments extorting home owners into submitting to eminent domain.

Not really. I thought we were talking about a persons property.

As it's defined:

: something that is owned by a person, business, etc.

Property

As ED is defined:

: a right of a government to take private property for public use by virtue of the superior dominion of the sovereign power over all lands within its jurisdiction

ED

But they aren't the same thing.

Alright then.

I will never forget the first time I heard about eminent domain.

It seemed so wrong on so many levels that at first I thought it had to be a joke.

I guess the joke was on me once I realized that the government could actually get away with claiming my own property as theirs.

originally posted by: LDragonFire
a reply to: theNLBS

Yet another wonderful decision by the republican majority on the court, thank GWB and the Roberts court for yet another ruling that is against the people.

Kelo vs City of New London

You may want to go and read Wikipedia's info on the Kelo case. It was not Robert's court, rather Rehnquist's court who rendered this decision. Further, President Bush took action as stated below.

On June 23, 2006, the first anniversary of the original decision, President George W. Bush issued an executive order instructing the federal government to restrict the use of eminent domain ...for the purpose of benefiting the general public and not merely for the purpose of advancing the economic interest of private parties to be given ownership or use of the property taken.

However, since eminent domain is often exercised by local and state governments, the presidential order may thus have little overall effect.

State Legislation:
Prior to Kelo, seven states specifically prohibited the use of eminent domain for economic development except to eliminate blight: Arkansas, Florida, Kansas, Kentucky, Maine, New Hampshire, South Carolina and Washington. As of June 2012, 44 states had enacted some type of reform legislation in response to the Kelo decision. Of those states, 22 enacted laws that severely inhibited the takings allowed by the Kelo decision, while the rest enacted laws that place some limits on the power of municipalities to invoke eminent domain for economic development. The remaining eight states have not passed laws to limit the power of eminent domain for economic development.

Although Kelo was a disastrous decision, some good did come because of this decision. States took action, whether enough action remains to be seen, and eminent domain has been brought to the forefront where legislator's are aware the public is demanding action. It's definitely not fixed, but hopefully solutions to the abuses can be found.

a reply to: smurfy

The scariest part of this most recent issue is how the local municipalities classified target neighborhoods with home values between $90k and $212k as blighted. That way, the people could never actually sell their homes, loosing whatever fight they might have with the municipality before it even begins.

Despicable.