in the interest of talking something besides bush/kerry, i thought i'd bring this up: eminent domain.
here's the situation: there's a neighborhood in CT where folks have lived for generations. nothing wrong with the area -- it's just not paying as much taxes as,oh, say a luxury condo community would.
tuff nuts, right? wrong. the city of new london (i believe it is) is sucking up all the properties in this neighborhood in order to tear it down and sell it to developers to build luxury condos and i believe a business as well will be going in there (as in a big corporation).
now what's the law of the land say? "...nor shall private property be taken for PUBLIC USE, without just compensation."
the city claims that the luxury condos and this big corp coming in are "public use" because they will generate more taxes than the previous tenants -- middle class home owners -- were generating, and therefore it's justified in saying, "too bad, so sad, get out."
surely the court will stop this, though, right? wrong. the court is agreeing with the city, and the people who have lived there for decades are getting booted off their own property and out of their own homes.
so what say you on this issue? who's property is it anyway? what would you think if your gubmint told you to get out and make way for luxury condos or a big company to move in?