The House Judiciary Committee on Thursday approved a bill that would prohibit states and local governmnets from using eminentdomain to take property for economic development.
The bill (approved 27-3) split Democrats on the Committee with heated debate on the subject. Committee Republicans had a strange ally in Rep. Maxine Waters (D-CA), who tried unsuccessfully to make the new ban even stronger. Other Democrats, like Rep. Jerrold Nadler (NY), wanted to restrict the ban by offering amendments on the grounds that this bill would hobble city governments seeking to promote economic development.
Republican Howard Coble (NC) stated what the Kelo decision did was create a huge opposition by joining all political view points. "Ethnic minorities and the elderly are disproportionably effected" when private property is taken for a private purpose, Coble explained.
I am in complete agreement with the House panel. Private property should only be taken by the government for a public use. And when I say public I don't mean giving it to a private company to build a baseball park or any other crap like that. This is America where freedom is not just intended to be for hippies to protest. Our Founding Fathers understood private property is the basis of all political and constitutional rights. Without the means to live how does one carryout the 1st Amendment rights (I am no excluding the others Amendments) in the first place?
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