Politics

‘Eminent Domain Is WONDERFUL!!’ – El Trumpo Loves Gov’t Taking Private Property Away [Full Interview]

In a long and wide-ranging interview on Fox News, el Trumpo defended his positions including the one many conservatives find to be his weakness – his adoration of Eminent Domain, and especially the Kelo Supreme Court decision.

The first part of the interview contains the Eminent Domain discussion:

I think many might get upset that he’s calling people who don’t want to sell their property “hold outs” – what if they just like their property?

Also he gives the example of eminent domain where property is taken to “build highways,” but Trump has never built a highway!! The Kelo case was about developers abusing Eminent Domain not for public gain, but for private gain. And Trump thinks it’s “wonderful.”

Here’s what happened in the Kelo decision – the Supreme court basically ruled that “public gain” means “private gain.” Most of us understand when Eminent Domain is needed because government needs to do something for public gain, which is constitutional, like building a highway. But what developers were arguing in the Kelo case is that they can include increasing the tax base as “public gain.” So the government can take away your property and give it to a developer to make a mall as long as they believe they’ll get more taxes out of the mall than they will out of you.

That’s NOT the original intent of Eminent Domain.

And what that means is that “public gain” is rendered meaningless because a local government can just declare that it would increase the tax base to take anyone’s property and give it to a developer.

Does that sound conservative to you?

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