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July 31, 2007
On Federalism: Eminent Domain
I'm With Fred
Will any of the presidential candidates seek the upper hand with voters by embracing one of the most populist no-brainer issues?
If you can believe it, this week, the non-candidate and high-powered Capitol Hill lobbyist cum actor, Fred Thompson, blogged on the Kelo decision and his support for eminent domain reform legislation.
Not surprisingly, the public responded to Kelo with outrage. Since then, numerous states passed legislation aimed at curbing an abuse of eminent domain powers. In the 2006 election cycle, 12 states held referendums proposing to limit state governments’ abilities to confiscate property a la Kelo. Ten states approved the proposals, each with strong majorities.
Now, nearly two weeks ago, members of both parties in Congress introduced legislation in the House that would deny federal economic funding to state and local governments upon a finding that those governments had abused their power of eminent domain by seizing private property that would be used for private economic development. This is an important issue, and Members of Congress need to act to make sure that federal funds are not used to enable these sorts of takings of private property. Another option would be the reissuance of President Ronald Reagan’s Executive Order 12630, which directs federal agencies to “first do no harm” to property rights when issuing new regulations.
Posted by lumi at July 31, 2007 8:42 AM