Not clear on the concept of public use
In a bit of irony, it appears that actual public use isn’t the best use. In New Jersey, the Asbury Park Board of Education is getting kicked out of its offices (where they no doubt reside tax free) to make way for townhouses and condominiums. Heartless Libertarian notes:
When even government agencies aren’t safe from other government agencies rapacious appetites, it should scare everyone. This particular case should especially scare non-profit entities such as churches, who don’t pay any property taxes.
April 10th, 2006 at 10:54 am
Like the “scandal” of the President being accused of “leaking” information he had every right to de-classify, this eminent domain abuse debate is taking a turn that can only be described as surreal. Since when do libertarians, heartful or otherwise, give a rat’s patoot about government taking property away from itself?
April 10th, 2006 at 10:57 am
Well, I tend to think a board of education has quite a bit more of a public use flavor than, you know, privately owened condos. Besides, I’m amused by the irony if nothing else.
April 10th, 2006 at 1:46 pm
So what? Government only needs a “public use” to take property from private developers. It doesn’t need it in order to give property to them.
So am I, but I think you may be misreading what is so ironic about this. Here’s the irony: after a court battle between two consistutionally insignificant divisions of the State of New Jersey, a New Jersey court has effectively upheld the right of New Jersey to do precisely what libertarians have long argued it should do – namely, to privatize some of the land it already owns – and two self-described libertarians are actually complaining about that. I knew “privatization” was a bad word among socialists, but when did it fall out of favor among libertarians?
April 11th, 2006 at 10:26 am
shouldn’t the land be returned to it’s rightful owners, they they could sell it to the private developers…..
April 11th, 2006 at 1:25 pm
Its rightful owner was the state. And yes, the state could sell it to the private developers, which is essentially what it did. Move along, people, nothing to see here.