More Kelo Fallout

Maia at House of the Dog brings another local eminent domain seizure probability to our attention. This time, Ventnor, New Jersey - a shore community that wants those pesky working class folks OUT DAMMIT!! Especially if they happen to look different. Don't they know this is the damn shore? They can't live here next to my million dollar condo.

So, if you want a bunch of pesky poor folk out, what do you do? Well, thanks to the wisdom of Supreme Court justices Stevens, Kennedy, Ginsburg, Souter, and Breyer, you just invoke your right as a municipal government to seize property as you see fit and hand it over to whoever might bribe more, bribe their friends to vote for you, get you Stones tickets, or have access to really good pot. Of course there is that pesky thing about "just compensation", but really, if it was all that just, would we be taking it by force? You didn't fall for that bit, did you?

So, off go the poor minorities, their houses siezed for demolition, and lets bring in the rich folk. Upscale vacation condos.... now we're talking!

But... but... "what about the good of the community? What about bringing prsperity to all?", asks the silly, naive Inquirer columnist:

As mayor, Kreischer had a number of options to solve Ventnor's so-called quality-of-life problems.
He could have sent in the cops and code-enforcement officers.
He could ride absentee landlords and offer programs to help renters buy and live the American dream.
Instead, he's bringing in bulldozers.

Mad props to Monica Yant Kinney for bringing this stuff to light. Welcome to the new America, Monica. Sure hope you don't live anywhere they could want to put up a WalMart.