Donald Trump: Property Rights & Eminent Domain

While the outspoken Donald Trump is bringing a refreshing flavor to the GOP presidential jockeying for 2012, a respect of property rights over a plundering of property rights through the use of state-sponsored eminent domain for his projects should raise some questions....

From NRO --

In a free market, there’s a pretty simple process for dealing with the situation that arises when one person covets another’s belongings: The coveter makes an offer to purchase them. If the offer is rebuffed, the coveter can make a new proposal, but he cannot simply take what he wants. It’s an effective way of recognizing the impracticality of the Tenth Commandment while enforcing the Eighth.

Donald Trump’s covetous nature is not in dispute, but what many may forget is that he’s no great respecter of the admonition not to steal, either: The man has a track record of using the government as a hired thug to take other people’s property.

This is called, of course, “eminent domain.” The Constitution’s Fifth Amendment allows the government to take private property for “public use,” so long as “just compensation” is paid. In the infamous 2005 Kelo decision, the Supreme Court held that “public use” could include, well, private use, so long as the new property owner paid more in taxes than the previous one. In other words, it allowed developers and the government to gang up on homeowners. The developer gets more land, the government gets more tax money. The only losers are the original owner and his property rights.

A decade and a half ago, it was fresh on everyone’s mind that Donald Trump is one of the leading users of this form of state-sanctioned thievery. It was all over the news. In perhaps the most-remembered example, John Stossel got the toupéed one to sputter about how, if he wasn’t allowed to steal an elderly widow’s house to expand an Atlantic City casino, the government would get less tax money, and seniors like her would get less “this and that.” Today, however, it takes a push from the Club for Growth to remind us of Trump’s lack of respect for property rights. More....

Obama Appoints Former SEIU Official to Investigate Union Corruption

Hat tip to Weasel Zippers (via Big Government) --

Former SEIU Official appointed by Obama to investigate Union Corruption, Cuts number of Investigators (Big Government)

Ryan's Budget Passes House

From National Review Online --

The House has adopted Rep. Paul Ryan’s 2012 budget resolution, which would cut $6 trillion in spending over the next 10 years, on a 235-193 vote. No Democrats voted for the plan.

Here’s Ryan in advance of the vote on the House floor:

OH Senate Passes Bill Eliminating Death Tax

From the Columbus Dispatch --

A bill to eliminate Ohio's estate tax in 2013 passed a Senate committee yesterday, a move local governments see as another potential blow to their already strained budgets.

But supporters say it's time for Ohio to eliminate a tax that they say drives wealthy seniors out of the state.

"Repealing Ohio's death tax will help keep more of our family farms in business, and it will also help keep more of our small business owners and the jobs they create here in Ohio," said Sen. Kris Jordan, R-Powell, the sponsor of Senate Bill 90.

An identical bill passed a House committee in mid-February but has not yet come up for a full House vote. GOP leaders in the House and Senate say they want to eliminate the estate tax, but they first want to finish up the two-year budget to get a clear understanding of the cuts that governments will face. More....

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Congress & the Monkey Theory

From Politically Incorrect Gazette --

If you start with a cage containing five monkeys and inside the cage, hang a banana on a string from the top and then you place a set of stairs under the banana, before long a monkey will go to the stairs and climb toward the banana.

As soon as he touches the stairs, you spray all the other monkeys with cold water. After a while another monkey makes an attempt with same result... all the other monkeys are sprayed with cold water. Pretty soon when another monkey tries to climb the stairs, the other monkeys will try to prevent it.

Now, put the cold water away. Remove one monkey from the cage and replace it with a new one. The new monkey sees the banana and attempts to climb the stairs. To his shock, all of the other monkeys beat the crap out of him. After another attempt and attack, he knows that if he tries to climb the stairs he will be assaulted.

Next, remove another of the original five monkeys, replacing it with a new one. The newcomer goes to the stairs and is attacked. The previous newcomer takes part in the punishment... with enthusiasm.

Then, replace a third original monkey with a new one, followed by a fourth, then the fifth. Every time the newest monkey takes to the stairs he is attacked. Most of the monkeys that are beating him up have no idea why they were not permitted to climb the stairs. Neither do they know why they are participating in the beating of the newest monkey.

Finally, having replaced all of the original monkeys, none of the remaining monkeys will have ever been sprayed with cold water. Nevertheless, none of the monkeys will try to climb the stairway for the banana.

Why, you ask? Because in their minds... that is the way it has always been!

This, my friends, is how Congress operates and is why, from time to time, all of the monkeys need to be REPLACED AT THE SAME TIME!

RSC Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan (OH-4) to Oppose Spending Deal

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE			Contact: Brian Straessle
April 12, 2011				(202) 226-9717

RSC Chairman Jordan to

Oppose FY 2011 Spending Deal

Washington, DC – Republican Study Committee (RSC) Chairman Rep. Jim Jordan issued the following statement expressing opposition to the compromise spending deal struck for the remainder of FY 2011.

“I thank the Republican leadership for their efforts to cut spending and rein in Washington.  In January, the RSC launched an effort to cut a full $100 billion from President Obama’s budget, and nearly every Republican voted in favor of making those fiscally-responsible cuts.  By contrast, the tax-and-spend Democrats failed to pass their own budget last year, failed to take action on our spending plan this year, and never came up with a plan of their own.”

“While I respect that some of my Republican colleagues will ultimately support this spending deal, I believe voters are asking us to set our sights higher.  The debate is now turning to next year’s budget and the debt ceiling, both of which offer real opportunities to chart a better future than the one toward which the country is currently headed.  Making a real impact will require the discipline to do the right thing even when it’s the hard thing.  Americans want us to reach higher, act bolder, and remember the job we were sent here to do.”

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RPCC to Choose New Member For Cuyahoga County Board of Elections

There will soon be a new face on the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections. Republican Party of Cuyahoga County (RPCC) Chairman Rob Frost, citing professional and political reasons, has stepped down from his post on the this past Monday.

From the PD --

Rob Frost, one of two Republican members on the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections, resigned Monday.


"I went over there reluctantly and a job needed to be done, and I feel we really have gotten the agency running better," Frost, who was appointed in May 2007, said.

Frost, a lawyer and paid chairman of the county's Republican Party, said the timing is driven by "professional and political reasons." His last day is April 15.

Frost's replacement on the BOE will be determined by a vote of the Republican Party of Cuyahoga County Executive Committee.  After this process, Secretary of State John Husted will confirm or reject the recommendation.

The troubling thing is that the political gamesmanship & chicanery started in full force almost simultaneously with Frost's announcement.  If we didn't know any better (sarcasm), it almost appeared choreographed. 

RPCC favorite, Bay Village Mayor Debbie Sutherland, with tacit RPCC approval, began contacting members of the RPCC Executive Committee immediately after Frosts resignation.  Sutherland, while maybe a 'nice' lady, falls far short of the free-thinking person willing to stand for the right thing when it is needed. 

To back this up , we would submit the following;

In 2007, when an Interchange was to be built in Avon at I-90, Sutherland who supported the interchange, which at that time would have been funded mostly by the developers, in siding with the Cuyahoga County Democrats, she threatened to pull her support unless there was a 'tax-sharing' plan....

Earlier this week, Cleveland Mayor Frank Jackson, Cuyahoga County Commissioner Tim Hagan and Bay Village Mayor Deborah Sutherland all said they would vote against the interchange unless Avon agreed to share revenues from the site ...

This interchange is now the topic of great dissent in Avon, as the City, after the original deal falling through, is now trying to force a select few residents and businesses to bear a $9 million portion of the project.

Mayor Sutherland, in her role as Mayor of Bay Village and President of the Cuyahoga County Mayors & City Managers Association, was a staunch supporter and cheerleader for the forced sales tax increase imposed by Cuyahoga County to pay for the Med Mart, a Greater Cleveland Partnership and then County Commissioner Taxin' Tim Hagan driven project. 

At the time there was strong support within the RPCC Central & Executive Committee to put this corporate welfare tax on the ballot -- Sutherland REFUSED to support the initiative to put this tax on the ballot. 

It was only after 1 year of this forced sales tax increase imposed against the will of the people that Sutherland, unhappy with the lack of progress, flip-flopped and called for a "tax timeout." 

Mayor Sutherland has shown she will make decisions just to get along and/or to further her political career and partisan standing.  Sutherland's actions have shown her initial decisions, because they are based not on good policy but on self-interest, are short sighted and can cause irreparable effects on citizens, businesses and the community as a whole.

Now that the Cuyahoga County Board of Elections has been vastly improved, can we afford having it turn back into the Cuyahoga County 'Bored" of Elections?

With the responsibility of being on the Board of Elections, and with the Unions and hardcore ACORN type activities we can expect in the 2011 & 2012 elections, we cannot afford someone that will compromise the integrity of the election process - just to get along with the Cuyahoga County Democrats or further their political career at the expense of voting integrity.