[at-l] Re: at-l Digest, Vol 2, Issue 36

[ellen at clinic.net (Bob C.)]

>These persons were standing up for the owners land rights.    Yep.  And I'll do
>that ever time - it's one of the basic concepts on which   this country was
>founded.  Your failure to understand that is a major   barrier to your desire
>to be taken seriously.   Breen had the right to ask   ten times what he got for
>the land if he wanted.  ATC and NPS had the right   to pay it or not - or to
>negotiate.  And if they negotiated badly, that   wasn't Breen's problem - nor
>his fault.  It was  theirs," thinks Jim.

One certainly has the right to ask whatever one wants. But there is no
constitutional requirement that the public pay it. The right of governments to
take land for public purposes is the law in every civilized nation -- including
this country. The practice of  Eminent Domain -- the taking of private land for
the public good -- IS one of the basic concepts on which this country was
founded.

The only requirement is that "just compensation" be paid. Nor is it a
particularly controversial concept. None of the "property rights" folks
objected, for instance, when the state took my house and land to widen the road,
thus allowing visitors to a luxury resort down a dead end road to get there 12
second quicker.

Eminent domain is practiced scores of times daily -- perhaps hundreds or
thousands of times daily.

It's not property rights that are at issue in this debate, but what defines the
public good. Being a liberal, I think trails qualify. Others disagree. The
majority -- including I suspect, Jim -- think eminent domain should only be
undertaken in response to the desires of motorists -- or in the case of New
Jersey, casino operators.

It was this prejudice that allowed the Breens to shake down the taxpayers for $4
million. The law, the constitution and common sense allowed the National Park
Service to take the land and pay just compensation. They didn't because it has
become a tradition to use this basic government right only for trivial purposes
-- like getting people to luxury resorts 12 seconds faster.

Therefore Congress stepped in and paid an exorbitant amount, ignoring such basic
concepts as a fair appraisal. Of course, the latter was a bit difficult in this
case, since the Breens refused to allow appraisers on their land.

Weary




     
Bob