Why our government sucks even more!!??!!

[demonsvx]

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20050625/...NlYwMlJVRPUCUl
WHAT THE HELL

[UberRoo]

It used to be that the government was relatively self-sufficient. For that reason, greed was never really an issue. Now, the government has two motivations to seize property; to create a more profitable tax base, and because developers will bribe the government to do what they want. (Is "bribe" too strong a word, or not strong enough?) The term "public use" in the fifth amendment needs a closer analysis. Private interests seem to be increasingly mistaken for public interests. A great part of the public in many cases is the people these seizures displace. How do you justify development that is supposed to benefit a population that doesn't exist yet, and won't exist until after the development is complete? By benefiting future generations? Perhaps, but by tearing down their childhood homes? There's a lot of factors to weigh.

Commercial interests are increasingly controlling the government. The government only has a need for very little money, but it's found plenty of excuses. Give 'em an inch, and they'll take an acre.

Honestly though, I'm not aware of any cases that were truly outlandish. Sometimes people are very generously compensated and are happy to move. I agree that if it happened to me, I'd complain a great deal, but this just doesn't seem to be a pervasive problem. I've heard this issue before, but ultimately the vocal minority seems to be an extremely small minority and exceptionally whiny.

Amendment V
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a grand jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the militia, when in actual service in time of war or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.

[NikFu S.]

Imperialism on a small scale.

Instead of developing undeveloped land just take the seat that's warm.

You'd have to pay me a heck of a lot of dough to get me off my seat.

[demonsvx]

Taking our rights a little at a time for "the better of our country" F&#$ that Im sick of all these politicians deciding whats best "for us". These clowns create a war we dont need, we still havent found Bin Laden, North Korea has weapons of mass destruction and we do nothing about it, impose democracy by teaching hate and violence, take away our rights as AMERICANS and tell us what to do!!?? To he77 with that We must lead our country as an example to the rest of the world, thats what used to make the US great now its a war machine ready to act on BUSH'S command. History has repeated itself and George W. Hitler is rounding up Arabs instead of Jews.

[Shadow248]

This liberal thread needs a good conservative smackdown.

Originally Posted by demonsvx

Taking our rights a little at a time for "the better of our country" F&#$ that Im sick of all these politicians deciding whats best "for us".

You put them where they are. If you really want to change something, go out and get a law degree, work your way up the ladder and get yourself to a position to do something. Also, do me a favor, when you get there, call me and let me know so i can complain about you no matter what you do. I'll complain when you do nothing and people die. But then i'll complain when you try to do something to fix what you screwed up. Then i'll complain just becuase I don't like you.

Originally Posted by demonsvx

These clowns create a war we dont need, we still havent found Bin Laden, North Korea has weapons of mass destruction and we do nothing about it, impose democracy by teaching hate and violence, take away our rights as AMERICANS and tell us what to do!!??

Ok, here...if you want to continue this ridiculous position of yours, you must answer for me one question.

What do you think we should have done?

You have basically two choices:

1 - Continue with diplomacy (aka DO NOTHING). Result: Thousands of Iraqis die (under Saddam's rein), thousands more Americans die in many future terrorist attacks. You complain that GW did nothing.

2 - Go to war. Result: Thousands of Iraqis die, thousands of American lives are saved because despite Saddam and Al-Queda's threats, absolutely no terrorism related deaths occur. You complain that GW did something.

So in both choices, thousands of Iraqis die and you complain. However in choice two, many American lives are spared. I'll take the lesser of the two evils, but i'd love to see what you think.

Originally Posted by demonsvx

To he77 with that We must lead our country as an example to the rest of the world, thats what used to make the US great now its a war machine ready to act on BUSH'S command.

Why? In the end, who really cares? Other countries only care about us because we support them. Why should we care any further? In the end, you have to look out for yourself. That's what everyone else is doing, that's what we need to do. Personal safety is number one, friends are number two.

Originally Posted by demonsvx

History has repeated itself and George W. Hitler is rounding up Arabs instead of Jews.

Hmm...did you complain like this about the WWII War Criminal trials? No one compared us to Hitler then. There are alot of similarities between this situation and post WWII. But you don't complain about how we handled WWII.

Yes, I know you just want to have something to complain about. Unfortunately for you, I have some late-night free time while I wait for the Orange-Cream soda to wear off.

[Landshark]

Originally Posted by demonsvx

Taking our rights a little at a time for "the better of our country" F&#$ that Im sick of all these politicians deciding whats best "for us". These clowns create a war we dont need, we still havent found Bin Laden, North Korea has weapons of mass destruction and we do nothing about it, impose democracy by teaching hate and violence, take away our rights as AMERICANS and tell us what to do!!?? To he77 with that We must lead our country as an example to the rest of the world, thats what used to make the US great now its a war machine ready to act on BUSH'S command. History has repeated itself and George W. Hitler is rounding up Arabs instead of Jews.

no one is forcing you to stay here........if you hurry, you can hop that plane with Eddie Vedder, Barbra Streisand, and Alec Baldwin.





try France.

[UberRoo]

Originally Posted by demonsvx

Taking our rights a little at a time for "the better of our country" F&#$ that Im sick of all these politicians deciding whats best "for us".

Be careful of what you criticize. The same Bill Of Rights which permits you to be a "2nd Amendment practitioner" also permits the government to seize property. Because the government seems so often to be in error, to some extent it's simply easier to dispense blanket criticisms. The danger with captious rhetoric is that sooner than later you're just crying wolf.

[dcarrb]

Had the local government wished to condemn that land and convert it into, say, a public green space rather that a commercial development, I'll bet the ruling would have come down differently.

dcb

[mohrds]

Back on topic, this is a great parody article I read on a blog.

Developers Use Eminent Domain to Acquire White House

President Bush was stunned today when he was told by his Housing and Urban Development Director that he & Laura would have to vacate the White House no later than noon on Monday. The HUD Director said he made his best effort to stop the acquisition of the White House but did not have adequate legal staff to challenge the developer’s avalanche of lawsuits. Eventually, he was forced to give in to the Washington D. C. Council’s decision. He continued, “The White House is considered a private residence since it the President’s primary residence. So, according to the Supreme Court decision, it falls under the same eminent domain rules as all other residential property. I do not think this is what the SCOTUS intended but you know what they say about unintended consequences of government action. We tried to stop them by getting the White House put on the historical site register but somehow the approval got held up in a Senate Committee.”

The President initially became highly agitated because he thought the Vice President had forgotten to tell him that he had been impeached. But, his Chief of Staff, put the news in terms the President understood. Mr. President, “It’s like a bar closing. You don’t have to go home, but you can’t stay here”. The President will operate from Crawford, Texas in the short term until new office space can be found. HUD Director Jackson said, “The President has directed us to look at West Virginia as a new Executive Branch location because he wants to build a baseball field just like the one in the movie Field of Dreams. We think West Virginia is a little remote but the President said, “If we build it, they will come”. It will probably work out just fine because it will substantially decrease our security costs. Also, we can acquire large blocks of cheap land directly adjacent to multi-lane super highways that don't go anywhere and have absolutely no traffic on them. Funny thing about West Virginia, everything seems to be named after Senator Byrd.”

A spokesman for Donald Trump said, “The White House property was acquired by China Global Development Corporation (CGDC) in a partnership with Trump Corporation. CGDC provided all the financing. Trump Corporation will provide the architecture and construction oversight for a new ultra-luxury high-rise condominium complex that will include a hotel and casino. The building will fit in with the classic Washington architecture but our tower will be the tallest in the District. It is expected to be built and fully occupied by wealthy lobbyists by the end of 2006 with the casino opening in early 2007. This will be a high profile project and will be managed by the next winner of the Apprentice TV show.” When asked about plans for the White House he said, “We considered preserving the White House but the land is too valuable so we are just going to knock it down and build a parking structure on that space."

When pressed for details on how the acquisition was made one day after the Supreme Court gutted the eminent domain law a Chinese spokesman from CGDC said, “We hired Jack Abramoff to put this deal together over a year ago. He knows everybody in Washington and knows how to grease the skids. Of course, we had a back-up plan in case the D.C. Council didn’t vote our way.” When asked about the back-up plan he said, “Jack worked out a deal with the Fuhgahwee Indian tribe and the Bureau of Indians Affairs to have the land reclassified as an “Indian Reservation”. Once it was reclassified as tribal land, we could build whatever we wanted, based on a 99 year lease Jack negotiated with the tribe.”

Councilman Marion Barry who is well known for his classic quotations said, “This project will generate a lot of new tax revenue for D.C. which means the D.C. Council will be extremely powerful because we will be have a lot more money to spend. This is just the first project that Jack has in the queue. Jack is in a little trouble right now. But, I am sure he will make a come back, just like I did. In this town power is about more than money & I don't know any other lobbyist that has trained Israeli snipers that owe him favors, if you know what I'm saying. Washington will be a much different place when Jack & I get done with it.”

[SVXphile]

Mohrds....check THIS out!

http://www.freestarmedia.com/hotellostliberty2.html

You know what they say about paybacks!

PS Come to think of it, almost everything here IS named for Byrd!

Don

[demonsvx]

They should place a memorial honoring his great decision complete with a scale model of his home. HAHAHAHAHAHAH thats funny if I do say so myself. Serves him right to mess with our basic rights. I wonder after they build the hotel if pro-constitution activists get a discount

[mohrds]

I am pleased with the public outcry over this decision. I can't look at any news on TV, print, or radio without a story about eminent domain abuse.

I'm assuming that it is going to be a big issue during the next round of local/state/national elections.

I'm going to make it an issue here...

Doug

[SVXphile]

This has sure sturred up a hornets nest!

Here is some background:

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/data/c...ment05/14.html

It seems that it is up to the states to set their own rules.

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,160973,00.html

Don