Don’t let anyone tell you that the GOP is not in the hip pocket of wealthy developers. Last year the GOP proposed legislation in the Georgia legislature that would have given developers carte blanche to seize land through eminent domain, not for the purpose of public works projects such as bridges, roads and schools, but for private development projects. After much outcry across the state, the GOP tabled the idea. Then came the controversy Supreme Court ruling last summer, which gave local communities the authority to seize land under the auspices of eminent domain and turn it over to private developers.

According to the Supreme Court, boosting tax revenue could be considered a “public use” insofar as it relates to the subject of eminent domain. After that decision was handed down, local communities and states around the country pledged to enact legislation to circumvent the ruling, thus protecting the property rights of citizens across the country. Not everyone, it seems, got the memo. GOP legislators have sponsored a bill that bears a resemblance to the same bill they tried to push through last year. Once again the provision was buried in the bill, but its intent is crystal clear. The fact that the GOP would try to push through this blatant anti-American piece of legislation highlights their questionable loyalties.

Property rights are one of the fundamental hallmarks of our American society. Even in communist China the government is taking steps to secure the property rights of citizens, while our own government is underhandedly trying to steal that property. Once the fit hit the shan, the GOP went out of their way to assure the public that language in the bill authorizing land condemnation was a mistake. The only mistake, however, was in giving the GOP control of both houses of the state legislature. If these corrupt politicians can’t recognize that their paramount duty is to protect the rights of citizens and uphold the constitution then it is time that they be shown the door. Corporations and developers do not elect representatives to government, citizens, however, do and hopefully those citizens will take the appropriate steps next fall to correct this oversight.
http://www.ajc.com/opinion/content/opinion/stories/0105edeminent.html
http://www.11alive.com/news/news_article.aspx?storyid=74703