EMINENT DOMAIN CASE BEFORE HIGH COURT

I know you've grown tired of hearing me hammer this point home ... but in the history of civilization no culture based on freedom and economic liberty has survived without recognizing the individual's right to property and zealously protecting those rights.  For many years now property rights have been under a clear assault from politicians seeking to solidify their positions of privilege and power through the misuse of eminent domain.  Unfortunately, as has been documented  numerous times in this space and on the air, a new national epidemic has emerged.  Politicians, hungry for tax revenues at all costs, have started to see private property rights as a small inconvenience.  So if you're a farmer who doesn't want to sell his land to build a new Wal-Mart: look out.  Government agents could confiscate your land under eminent domain, give it to Wal-Mart and oh by the way- they get to decide how much to pay you for it.   It's happening all too often across this country.

We're going to learn a lot in the next few months about the freedom of economic liberty in America.  One of these hideous eminent domain cases is now in the U.S. Supreme Court.  A New London, Connecticut case of eminent domain abuse goes before the Supreme Court today, finally bringing national attention to the growing problem of government land grabs in the name of private developers. It's about time.

Eminent domain is a holdout from the old English common law.  The purpose of eminent domain was to acquire property  for public uses like schools, highways, police or fire stations and the like.   We've gone far beyond that now.

Which brings us to today's case before the United States Supreme Court.  On one side, you  have the government of New London, Connecticut.  They argue that confiscating land and selling it to a private developer under eminent domain serves the public good because it provides much-needed government revenue.  Don't you think that you should read that again?  This city is saying that a person's right to their property ends when the government figures out that that property in the hands of another private owner would generate more tax revenue.  When does this concept arrive at the doorstep of your local city council or county commission?  How do you like the idea that your home is yours only so long as some developer doesn't convince a politician that if he could get his hands on that property he would build something that would be so much more valuable and pay many more dollars in taxes?  What country do we live in again?

The basic facts of the case are that pharmaceutical giant Pfizer agreed to build a $270 million global research facility in New London in 1998.  The developers wanted to build a conference center, hotel complex, offices, condos, etc. adjacent to the facility.  Some of the homeowners didn't want to move.  No problem, the government posted notices on their doors telling them they had four months to get out or police would remove them and their belongings.

It went all the way to the Connecticut Supreme Court, which sided with New London.  Now in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, the case is called Kelo v. City of New London, Case Number 04-0108.  A decision is expected in June.  Keep an eye on this one.  The decision made in this case will determine whether or not we truly live in a free society that respects property rights.

A LITTLE FRENCH SPINE?

In case you missed this, Le Grande Weasel Jacques Chirac joined George Bush yesterday in warning Syria that the time has come for Syria to remove its troops from Lebanon.  Did Bush slip something in Chirac's wine?  Or is it just possible that Chirac is growing a spine.  How convenient for him.  Now he won't have to drag himself across the floor like a slug.  Maybe, just maybe, we're seeing a grudging admission here that U.S. actions in deposing Saddam Hussein and bringing free elections to Afghanistan and Iraq have actually contributed to the cause of peace. 

NORTH KOREA BACK ON THE WAGON

This should come as no surprise....the resident Communist gargoyle of Asia has decided that it just might be in his best interests to come back to the negotiating table for additional six-party talks.  The other countries, including Russia and China have told Kim Jong-Il to end his little temper tantrum and return to the discussions.

North Korea has set some conditions.  What does it want?  "Sincerity."  Yup..that's all.  But Kim Jong Il need look no further than what happened in Iraq to know just how sincere the United States and George W. Bush are.  No matter what sort of posturing and assorted nonsense North Korea puts forth in the media, they know we've got them surrounded.

After all, now that North Korea has nukes  what are they going to do? Use them?  Hardly.  All that would leave them with would be a Pennsylvania-sized crater north of the 38th parallel.  Oh, and by the way ... do you think that the mainstream media in this country will ever tell the American people of the role that Jimmy Carter and Bill Clinton played in this saga?  If it were not for Carter's free lancing and Clinton's inaction we might not be facing this problem in North Korea today.

TRYING TO PLAY THE GOTCHA GAME

Partisan politicians love hearings, especially if they're televised.  These political hacks aren't there to gather information, they're waiting in ambush ... waiting to ask some question designed to either embarrass the witness or make some huge political point.  Do you remember Loretta Sanchez?  She's the lady who unseated B-1 Bob Dornan in Orange County California.  Loretta saw that there were growing numbers of Hispanic voters in her district, so she changed her name from Anglo to Hispanic and won ... won with no small amount of voter fraud involving illegal aliens and non-citizens voting.  Bob Dornan toyed with the idea of changing his name to Montezuma, but decided against it. But that's another story.

Anyway .. here's Loretta Sanchez questioning Donald Rumsfeld at a recent meeting of the House Armed Services Committee.  Ms. Sanchez (H-CA) thinks she's found Pentagon Don playing fast and loose with some numbers:  (This from Taranto's Friday Column.)

Sanchez: Unfortunately, as I said, this committee has had a hard time assessing where we really stand with the Iraqi army as an effective fighting force. Over the past year, we've received incredibly widely fluctuating estimates of that. And I think you have a real credibility problem on this issue.

Rumsfeld: Fluctuations of what?

Sanchez: The fluctuations of--the numbers that you bandy around about how many troops we really have out there that are Iraqi police, et cetera, et cetera. . . .

Rusmfeld: Now, you say we bandy around numbers. They're not my numbers. I don't invent them. They come from Gen. Petraeus. . . .

Sanchez: I have Petraeus's numbers. They're different than your numbers, by the way.

Rumsfeld: Well, what's the date? They aren't different because these came from Petraeus. He may have two sets of numbers, but they are not different if the date's the same. The date on my paper here is Feb. 14. What's yours?

Sanchez: Dec. 20.

Rumsfeld: Not surprising there's a difference.

Don't you love it?  Sanchez says that Rumsfeld is "bandy(ing) around numbers" and he ends up eating her lunch.  How in the hell do these people ever get elected?  Oh, I forgot.  Change your name and get the non-citizens to the polls.

AUSTRALIA INCREASES IRAQ DEPLOYMENT

In an age where freedom and democracy aren't particularly popular, and certainly not in the Middle East or amongst the assorted Euro-weenies, Australia has once again stepped up to the plate.

And what have the Aussies done?  Have they followed the Spanish example of packing up their burros and surrendering?  Nope...the government of Australia, led by Prime Minister John Howard, is increasing the troops in Iraq.  That's right, increasing...as in sending more.  450 more, to be exact.  This on top of the 950 it already has there.   The troops will help replace 1,500 Dutch troops that are being pulled out.

Howard said he would keep troops in Iraq as long as needed.  He also had this to say:  "I believe this is the right decision. It will make a significant contribution to the coalition effort. It will make a significant contribution to the rebuilding of Iraq."

Nice to know there aren't any weasels down under.

READING ASSIGNMENTS

Gary Becker won the Nobel Prize for economics. That would mean that he might know a thing or two about economics.  Gary Becker says that individual Social Security accounts would protect retirees from big government.  Retirees aren't impressed.  They seem to LIKE big government.

An American solider serving in Baghdad received a package of letters from Brooklyn middle-school children.  What he didn't expect was the hate-filled tone the letters took on.  Where do you suppose they got that idea?  David Andreatta of the New York Post has the full story.

Larry Summers could be on his way out at Harvard, a victim of the left's political correctness jihad.  Remember, academic freedom is only for people like Ward Churchill.

The media loves to talk about conservatives, but are strangely silent when talking about liberals.  The Media Research Center reports.

A student at Gonzaga  University wrote Professor Mike Adams to complain about the lack of religious freedom there.  You can imagine what happened next: a letter to the president of the university.

Howard Dean's remarks that the Republicans would need the hotel wait staff in order to fill a room with blacks shows that both he and his party are stuck in a time warp.  Star Parker has more.

Since his random thoughts are better than most people's regular thoughts, here are some from today's column by Thomas Sowell.

The left is trying to smear John Negroponte, the nominee to be National Intelligence Director, because he used to be the ambassador to Honduras in the Reagan Years.  Rich Lowry looks at the facts.

Jack Kemp calls out Bill Gates and Warren Buffet for being pessimistic about the U.S. economy and the dollar, and  says the facts just don't support their arguments.

President Bush is calling on Russia to stop backsliding when it comes to freedom and democracy.  So what does this mean?  James M. Goldgeier & Michael McFaul explain.

So what can George Bush realistically expect to accomplish in his tour of Europe?  Peter Brookes says Iraq is not the only point on which the United States disagrees with the Axis of Weasels.

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