I don’t like to go off half-cocked. I have a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Political Science, but for the life of me I can’t get my mind wrapped around this one.
Bankrupted California cities are now talking about seizing hundreds, possibly thousands of homes in California to condemn them, because the owners have troubled mortgages.
Under the controversial practice known as “eminent domain for Public Purpose” (Kelo v. City of New London) cities would be able to walk into essentially anybody’s home and say, “Sorry, you’ve gotta move. This property now belongs to the city!”
It’s a blatant, in-your-face, bare-assed grab of private property which our Constitution guarantees the government CANNOT do! Cities could then re-sell these properties to other homeowners who are theoretically more financially sound. The city makes a profit. The new investor gets a lower priced home. And the previous homeowner who was supposedly the deadbeat who couldn’t keep his HOA dues and his mortgage up, basically sacrifices the built-up equity of his home to the Goddess of Redistributivism.
Isn’t this bald-faced theft from the poor and subsidization of the middle income and rich? Of couse it is!
Lenders are furious that legislatures would arrogantly subsume their contracts with borrowers. Lenders took the risk in the first place to help put people into homes. Now, bankrupt cities across California are taking a very real look at this property-grab plan. That’s the crazy thing: they actually ARE looking at this home confiscation plan as something moral, and problem-solving.
Despite the obvious violations of the U.S. Constitution (actually, only fools and Tea Party members still think the Constitution should be observed by American lawmakers), it all amounts to a land grab from private citizens that has has no precedent; absolutely no precendent ANYWHERE in American law.
It does have precedent in Nazi Germany, Mussolini’s Italy, Stalin’s purge of Russia, Castro’s seizing of the assets of Cubans, and Hugo Chavez’ nationalization of everything he can remember to nationalize in Venezuela.
Have we really come so far where this kind of outrage can be casually discussed at the local City Council meeting? California has the 9th Circuit of Appeals, the nation’s most radical court which would probably enthusiastically endorse the whole land-grab scam.
For the flag-waving, patriotic, red, white and blue American, the shame and embarrassment just grows. How do you explain to new immigrants that America is now considering adopting the same policies that drove them from their socialist home countries in the first place?
How?
