> My political inclinations lead me in this direction, and from what
> I've seen so far, the initiatives do seem to be mostly originating
> from the right. Some 30 states are said to be considering
> legislation, but the only ones I've seen mentioned are Georgia,
> Virginia, Indiana, Kentucky, Alabama, Texas, Ohio and Michigan.
> Except for Michigan, and possibly Ohio and Virginia, the other
> states are all Republican strongholds.
Curbing the abuse of eminent domain isn't necessarily a right-wing effort, and it has been undertaken in both Democratic and Republican strongholds -- see the list below:
<blockquote>Some states have imposed limits on the power of eminent domain.
By 2004, at least 12 states (AR, FL, ID, IL, KY, ME, MA, MT, NH, SC, WA, WV) had some restrictions on the power of eminent domain. Alabama, Delaware, Nevada, Texas and Utah enacted permanent limits on eminent domain in 2005.
Other states have imposed a moratorium on the taking of homes solely for economic development projects.
In 2005, legislatures in California and Ohio approved moratoriums on eminent domain to study the extent of the problem and design the best remedy for abuse. A moratorium is a cautious approach which recognizes that there is no one-size-fits-all solution.
<http://www.stateaction.org/issues/issue.cfm/issue/ EminentDomain.xml></blockquote>
A while ago, Nathan presented Illinois as a model of Democratic Party politics. Let's look at Illinois, then:
<blockquote>2 state senators push eminent domain curb Officials hope to aid private landowners facing public seizure
By Crystal Yednak Tribune staff reporter Published January 31, 2006
Surrounded by owners concerned that local governments will use eminent domain powers to obtain their property for private development, state Sens. Susan Garrett and Dan Cronin on Monday pushed legislation that would give them a better chance at challenging such actions.
The legislation, filed this month by Garrett, a Democrat from Lake Forest, also would compensate property owners for relocation costs and attorney fees in certain cases.
<http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/west/ chi-0601310249jan31,1,7744612.story?coll=chi-newslocalwest-hed></ blockquote>
Nathan argues that renters have been more mistreated than homeowners by developers. That is probably true. But a majority of American households are homeowners -- "69 percent in the fourth quarter of 2005, down from 69.2 percent a year earlier" (Ruth Simon/WSJ, "Homeownership Rate Falls" (Contra Costa Times 17 Feb 2006 <http:// www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/local/states/california/ 13895487.htm>) -- and many of current renters want homes of their own when they get a chance. That's the reality that liberals and leftists must reckon with.
Kelo v. New London was an unjust decision that gave bad name to eminent domain, and now a backlash against eminent domain is on. If liberals and leftists don't present their own reform of eminent domain, rightists will exploit the backlash to "reform" it against people's interests.
Yoshie Furuhashi <http://montages.blogspot.com> <http://monthlyreview.org> <http://mrzine.org>