Elected Officials Threatening Property Rights
September 4,
2006
http://www.house.gov/paul/tst/tst2006/tst090406.htm
In recent weeks I've
written about the threat of rising property taxes posed by state
and local governments hungry for more and more of your money;
and the threat of widespread eminent domain actions posed by a
planned North American superhighway running straight through
Texas. It's clear that many political and business interests
are only too willing to drive people literally out of their
homes to make way for the grand schemes of those in power.
This is why
every American needs to understand that
property rights are the foundation of a free society. Without
property rights, all citizens live subject to the whims of
government officials. When government can seize your property
without your consent, all of your other rights are negated.
Our founders would roll over in their graves if they
knew that the takings clause in the Fifth Amendment was being
used to justify unholy alliances between private developers and
tax-hungry local governments.
Now one year removed
from the notorious Kelo decision by the Supreme Court, Americans
are still reeling from the shock of having our nation's highest
tribunal endorse using government power to condemn private homes
to benefit a property developer. The silver lining, however, is
that many Americans have been stirred to action and are
demanding new state laws to prohibit the Kelo scenario from
repeating itself in their cities.
The Kelo case demonstrates that local
government can be as tyrannical as centralized government.
Decentralized power is always preferable, of course, since it's
easier to fight city hall than Congress. But government power
is ever and always dangerous, and must be zealously guarded
against. Most people in New London, Connecticut, like most
people in America, would rather not involve themselves in
politics. The reality is that politics involves itself with us
whether we like it or not. We can bury our heads in the sand
and hope things don't get too bad, or we can fight back when
government treats us as its servant rather than its master.
Congress can and should act to prevent the federal
government from seizing private property. I've
introduced and cosponsored several bills that prohibit or
severely limit the power of Washington agencies to seize private
property in locations around the nation. But the
primary fight against local eminent domain actions must take
place at the local level. The
people of New London, Connecticut, like the people of
Texas, could start by removing from office local officials
who have so little respect for property rights.
