Ownership Society

"Another priority for a new term is to build an ownership society, because ownership brings security and dignity and independence. Thanks to our policies, home ownership in America is at an all- time high."

-- George W. Bush, 2004 RNC
  Washington Post article

Rejecting pleas by homeowners fighting to keep their properties, the Supreme Court on Thursday said local governments could condemn a person's home or business so the sites could be redeveloped for more lucrative uses.

In a 5-4 decision written by Justice John Paul Stevens, the court said the Constitution permits governments to condemn a person's property, paying them a fair price for it, as part of a broader economic redevelopment plan to revitalize a distressed community.
  Chicago Tribune article

It's not as if a homeowner owns his home anyway, is it? Generally the mortgage company owns it, and even for those who finally pay that sucker off, there's the state waiting at the door to claim it on any eventual day you can't pay your property taxes.

The court recognized the "hardship" such condemnations may bring to property owners uprooted from homes and businesses in the name of economic development. But local governments should be given "broad latitude" to determine whether their citizens would be best served by condemning private property, especially where it is part of a broader scheme for redevelopment, the court said.

Sounds mighty damned communistic to me. Freakin' lefties. Funny how the lines are drawn so crookedly, and yet you can still be assured of an insult when someone calls you a liberal.

Private property, I guess, is only for corporate fat cats.

Activist judges.

....but hey, do what you want....you will anyway.