Eminent Domain: Just face it Bruce Ratner is more important than you are

And the City’s politicians and bureaucrats just like him better.  And why shouldn’t they - he’s providing tax revenue that helps pay for their salaries and their pensions. Of course so does your tax money - but you have no choice and Bruce Ratner does.  Don’t like it? Who cares?  You are just an ordinary citizen.  Bruce has friend’s in the government.

Eminent Domain is no longer about replacing slums with hospitals (if it ever was). Admit it - It’ s now just the latest trick politicians use to feed their unquenchable thirst for more money and more power over every aspect of your life. 

Michael White has a great piece “Columbia Pulls a Kelo”in yesterday’s New York Sun (online version) that points out how there is money to be made in the business of seizing what you thought was your property.

A few actually seem to believe the process is moral or productive. Mayor Bloomberg once commented that potential federal limits on eminent domain would limit NYC’s ability to control it’s own future.  Our mayor seemed to miss the point that eminent domain rather limits property owner’s ability to control their futures.   Our mayor is famous for thinking he knows best how we all should live.
 
But even good soldiers in the war against personal freedom seem to admit that the process by which government seizes people’s homes and businesses is flawed at best.  In August, Supreme Court Justice Stevens lamented his Kelo position saying that “the free play of market forces is more likely to produce acceptable results in the long run than the best-intentioned plans of public officials.”   DUH!  Deputy Mayor for Economic Development Dan Doctoroff  - the guy that said the free market and the interests of the city were incompatible -  has now admitted that he never should have agreed to let Bruce Ratner’s Atlantic Yards project ignore the City’s ULURP process.   OOPS - None Killed.  A few people lost their homes but who’s counting? We have to assume the government knows best right?  If they don’t like the law - they can just get the Supreme Court to “clarify” it or ignore it altogether.
 
It almost looks as if they aren’t even trying to hide it anymore.  They will take your home or your business - because they can.  Big government costs big money.  Somebody has to sacrifice.  And you can bet it won’t be Bruce Ratner, or the New York Times, or Columbia or Michael Bloomberg or Dan Doctoroff.

Blimp in New York on Saturday… Maybe

The Ron Paul Blimp is “very tentatively” scheduled to fly over the New York City area on Saturday. Weather and $$$ are the big variables.

 

Andrew Napolitano as Ron Paul running mate ?

Great interview with Judge Andrew Napolitano .

Homeschooled Heisman Winner

Tim Tebow, the Florida Gators quarterback, is not only the first sophomore ever to win the Heisman trophy, he was also homeschooled his entire life. Congratulations, Tim!

Astounding Time Mag censorship of Ron Paul

I was so astounded , I just sent this letters@time.com :

Subject: The GOP Race: None of the Above
Date: Thu, 13 Dec 2007 13:32:32 -0700
From: Bob Armstrong
Organization: Coherent Systems
To: letters@time.com

I find 2 things astounding in this 2007/12/13 :

That you post articles with no feedback commentary mechanism .

Weak .

That this article bitching about the choice of GOP candidates never mentions even once the candidate that is stirring minds around the world , RON PAUL :
http://www.time.com/time/nation/article/0,8599,1694094-2,00.html

Talk about obvious intentional bias to the point of censorship !

Astounding !

Libertarian National Committee Resolution Urges Ron Paul to Seek LP Nomination

It’s no secret that many - probably most - Libertarians support Ron Paul’s Republican candidacy even though there is a large crop of candidates who plan to seek the LP Presidential nomination.  At least one prominent Libertarian candidate has said he will support Ron Paul even while he continues his own run.

Now it’s offical. The Libertarian National Committee yesterday resolved to congratulate Ron Paul for ” his success in spreading a message of peace, prosperity and freedom” and urged him to seek the LP nomination if he is not nominated by the Republicans.

Read the resolution here. 

Favorite Business Books of 2007

Dane Carlson at Business Opportunities Weblog is running down his Favorite Business Books of 2007. He’s up to his third pick, and it’s none other than The Walton Street Tycoons by yours truly!

I am honored, and honestly a bit surprised. I never really thought of The Walton Street Tycoons as a business book before (I always categorize it as young adult fiction), but it really is. As Dane notes in his review, my novel is “a juvenile, libertarian romp about a twelve-year old boy who single-handily revives the economy of a struggling upstate New York community by breaking every labor law, food service regulation and IRS dictation on the books.”

What, you still haven’t read one of the best business books of 2007 (not to mention “simply the best libertarian novel to come along in a quarter of a century or so,” according to L. Neil Smith)? What are you waiting for? And remember, The Walton Street Tycoons makes a terrific Christmas Hannukah holiday gift.

New York Is Ron Paul Country

So sayeth New York Magazine.