Recent Supreme Court Rulings

[hot_pastrami]

I saw this news story last night. There are a lot of news stories which unsettle me these days, but few that make me fume. This was one of the rare latter.

It really does seem that we are rapidly approaching a tipping point in the US, after which we will be completely stripped of the ever-shrinking list of freedoms we enjoy. Our supreme court has spoken, and now all Americans have the right to keep their own property unless someone with more money wants it. What a disgrace.

I am a pretty easygoing person, but if it was MY home, I'd be chained to something solid inside, and armed. No doubt I'd be forcibly disarmed and arrested, but that's the sort of thing that needs to happen to show Americans that they now live in a country where if you don't want to sell your nice house to someone with more money, the police will come and remove you from it. Free nation, my ass.

[Elspode]

It is the whole "fair market value" thing that bothers me. If this is all about Free Enterprise making a blighted area a better place, why doesn't it start with Free Enterprise ponying up however much money it takes to get people to *want* to sell their houses?

Market Value - $250,000
Sells for - $3.9 million

Yeah, that would probably make people feel a little better.

[hot_pastrami]

Originally Posted by Elspode

It is the whole "fair market value" thing that bothers me. If this is all about Free Enterprise making a blighted area a better place, why doesn't it start with Free Enterprise ponying up however much money it takes to get people to *want* to sell their houses?

Good point. The "value" of any object is defined by how desirable it is. By virtue of the fact that some entity with lots of money wants to build something there, it's value should be increased dramatically; but the "fair market value" given to the owner in these instances is based on it's value BEFORE the rich entity wanted it. What a racket.

[xoxoxoBruce]

Originally Posted by hot_pastrami

Good point. The "value" of any object is defined by how desirable it is. By virtue of the fact that some entity with lots of money wants to build something there, it's value should be increased dramatically; but the "fair market value" given to the owner in these instances is based on it's value BEFORE the rich entity wanted it. What a racket.

I Atlantic City one woman held out against the first casino so they built around her. I mean they walled up 3 sides of her property with casino. Now her property is worth so much they taxed her out. Most of the proceeds from the property went to back taxes.

Llast year Vietnam was trying to convince Boeing to throw some business their way and invest in a plant there. After considerable investigating, Boeing said no because the Viet's legal system didn't provide enough protection for ownership of private property. Wonder if they'll be moving out of the US?

Fair Market Value? A few years back my township took 176 acres of farmland (orchards) for "open Space". They decided the value was $13.5k/acre. Yet a half mile up the road 1/2 acre lots were already selling for $60k. That's in the courts. Plus they sold the taxpayers/voters the whole bond issue approval deal with the $13.5k number.
Now when the dust settles the deal is done and J.Q. Public has to ante up no matter what the cost.

[russotto]

[quote=hot_pastrami]
It really does seem that we are rapidly approaching a tipping point in the US, after which we will be completely stripped of the ever-shrinking list of freedoms we enjoy. Our supreme court has spoken, and now all Americans have the right to keep their own property unless someone with more money wants it. What a disgrace.[quote]

Replace "rapidly approaching" with "have passed". Actually, we passed it shortly after 9/11. The age of freedom is over and humanity is returning to its usual state of tyranny and despotism.