This land is my land...

Owning your home takes on a whole new meaning with this weeks decision by the Supreme Court.

Start with this overview of Kelo v. New London, read the final opinion and then spend a bit of time reading the comments on Hit and Run (always interesting): What's Yours is Mine and Shorter Lefty Blogosphere Reaction to Kelo.

I can't say that I'm really surprised (although Souter and Kennedy surprised me collectively; who knows what they're thinking!?) It's humorous to find the answer in They Can't Take That Away From Me... Unless They Can to be nomination of conservative judges. Same old, same old. How about nominating judges who believe in the rights of the individual?

Corporate entities wield enormous powers through their lobbying efforts and the tax burdens they assume (sans loopholes). They've also found ingenious ways to pose as individuals, patron organizations and even community saviors (pose being the operative word) when it fits their needs. Politicians have been known to perform amazing feats of self censorship in order to keep their corporate benefactors happy.

We've always had to deal with the idea that any schlep who works for the city you live in can build a case to take over the land you live on in order to do something "in the public interest". With this ruling, "public interest" was thrown overboard with a brick around its neck and all that's needed is a local government promise of profit. Like that promise doesn't happen all the time.

All it takes is a city on the make for new corporate money. If they think they can raze and renovate the land you live on while enriching the city coffers in some way... you're out of luck (home and options too).

It'll be very interesting to follow this though in New London, a city which had already fallen on hard times and recently had a huge curveball tossed its way. The federal government decision to shut down one of the cities profitable enterprises (support for the U.S. Navy) by closing the base and moving the subs and training base elsewhere is a significant blow (Kings Bay seems reasonable, but where are all the bubble heads going to go for the basics, like escape hatch training?) Can Pfizer help soften the blow? In this environment, will they even stay? It should make for fascinating politics.