Throw the bums out: NationalPropertyRights.Com, 8/10/06

The Supreme Court gave city governments the power to trample our property rights, and the zealots in California’s City Halls have taken every opportunity to abuse it. But it’s not just the poor and the elderly who bear the brunt of America’s post-Kelo binge. Even the most powerful, financially-rich companies are at risk.

The Hercules CA city council voted to invoke eminent domain – the rawest form of power in the hands of the government – to confiscate property legally purchased by Wal-Mart where it intended to open a new store that would have created hundreds of jobs for the community. The City Council voted unanimously to seize the property claiming, in the words of Mayor Ed Balico, that “The City of Hercules is very unique.”

Sadly, it’s not. Kelo has opened the Pandora’s box of property seizure putting every citizen and business at risk across the entire United States. One deluded resident of Hercules, Steve Kirby, said in support of the Council’s action "Throw the bums out." Well, that’s exactly what happened to Susette Kelo who was tossed out of her home when the Supreme Court ruled that the New London , Connecticut City Council had the authority to remove her from her home. Mr. Kirby needs to think again. If the government can take Wal-Mart’s property, nothing stands in the way of it taking Steve Kirby’s home, too.

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NationalPropertyRights.Com: http://www.nationalpropertyrights.com