Hating the poor, a Left-wing pasttime.

Politicians were given the green light to steal private property and give it to other private individuals for the good of the people to whom it is given. That is what the US Supreme Court effectively, and wrongly, ruled. Under that decision government could confiscate the land of one person and give it to another just because the politicians liked the recipient better. The US Constitution says eminent domain can only be used to take land for "public" purposes. But this decision basically made all decisions public ones thus allowing theftof private property for any reason politicians want.

Now the politicians in Hercules, California have decided to steal land not because they want the land for any specific purpose at all but only to prevent the private owners from using it. Wal-Mart had purchased 17 acres of land for a shopping complex. The politicians don't like Wal-Mart because it is too big and too successful. So they have voted to confiscate the land in order to stop Wal-Mart from building. There is no "public" purpose for the land at all.

In the Surpreme Court ruling they streatched logic to say that if land is confiscated and turned over to a "higher" use that will generate more taxes that counts as a "public" purpose. Now the politicians are trying to twist the ruling even further. In this case the land is currently empty and the shopping mall would generate more revenue. Even by the Supreme Court's bad logic this confiscation is just pure theft. Local politicians justified the theft saying that they have the right to stop businesses that people don't like -- meaning the organized forces of resentment and envy. One such hateful local, Jeri Wilgus, said she was glad the council stopped this "big corporation' from opening a store. If the newspaper quoting her is correct her only reason from this view is because it is a big corporation. She is the political equivalent to a vandal who chucks rocks merely to destroy what others own. In this case she used political force, or supports it, to stop a company for no other reason than they are successful.

A few residents noted that Wal-Mart offers products at good prices and that this helpful to those on limited budgets. The chic Lefties in town said they want the land used for up-market boutiques that "attract affluent" consumers. Scratch a Leftist and you find someone who hates the poor.