February 03, 2006

Corporate Courage

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By: Walter Williams

We all remember last year's despicable U.S. Supreme Court 5-4 Kelo v. City of New London, Conn., decision that held as constitutional that the rightful property of one American can be taken and transferred to another American so long as some public purpose is served. The Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states, "Nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation." The key term is "public use," not "public purpose." That means that the powers of eminent domain can be used only to take property, with just compensation, to build public projects such as roads, forts or schools.

City of New London officials used the law of eminent domain to condemn the property of 15 homeowners and transfer it to private developers to build a luxury hotel, high-rent condominiums and office buildings. The city justified its actions by saying that taking the property away from the homeowners, and replacing it with a hotel, condos and office buildings, would generate jobs and more tax revenue. In a scathing dissent, Justice Sandra Day O'Connor said, "The specter of condemnation hangs over all property. Nothing is to prevent the state from replacing any Motel 6 with a Ritz-Carlton, any home with a shopping mall, or any farm with a factory." In other words, government officials can take your private property and transfer it to another private person, based on any flimsy claim that it will serve a better public purpose such as job creation and greater tax revenues.

This kind of government tyranny should be disavowed by every decent American. Stepping up to the plate is Branch Banking and Trust Company (BB&T), headquartered in Winston-Salem, N.C. BB&T is a full-service bank with 1,100 offices throughout the Southeast. On Jan. 25, BB&T announced that it will not lend to commercial developers that plan to build condominiums, shopping malls and other private projects on land taken from private citizens by government entities using eminent domain. On behalf of its board of directors, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer John Allison explained, "The idea that a citizen's property can be taken by the government solely for private use is extremely misguided, in fact, it's just plain wrong." Mr. Allison added, "One of the most basic rights of every citizen is to keep what they own. As an institution dedicated to helping our clients achieve economic success and financial security, we won't help any entity or company that would undermine that mission and threaten the hard-earned American dream of property ownership."

We all should applaud the directors and officers of Branch Banking and Trust Company for their courage. While boards of directors have a duty to maximize shareholder value, BB&T has shown that maximizing shareholder value is not solely a monetary phenomenon but has a moral component as well. As such they have chosen not to be accessories to last year's despicable U.S. Supreme Court decision.

Branch Banking and Trust Company directors have set the example for other financial institutions. It would make my day if the boards of directors of other financial institutions followed suit. If they don't, shareholders could supply them with a bit of backbone at annual meetings with a shareholder initiative that not lending to developers who have acquired private property through eminent domain law become corporate policy.

Congress has responded to the Kelo decision with the bipartisan Private Property Rights Protection Act of 2005 that "prohibits any state or political subdivision from exercising its power of eminent domain for economic development if that state or political subdivision receives federal economic development funds during the fiscal year." This measure demonstrates Congress' lack of courage. Why not start impeachment proceedings against justices who flagrantly violate their oath of office to uphold and defend the Constitution?

Posted by redguy at February 3, 2006 11:29 PM

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Comments

You are absolutely right!!!

The High Court, so emboldened by its unchecked, and unchallenged, binge of Judicial Activism, has suddenly decided that Corporate Slavery is now AOK.

Some people see this ruling as ruthless Capitalism. But when the State starts engaging in this kind of 'economic planning', we are looking at Centralist Socialism all dressed up as Capitalism. Take a very close look at socialist Britain and the EU to see this mentality at work.

It's not bad enough that we engage in Corporate Welfare without letting them sieze our property on some politician's whim ... and guess who's getting the payoff in the back room?

This is just one more assault on the Contitution in prelude to dragging the U.S. into a socialist NWO where the very concepts of private rights and private ownership are non-existant.

How do we get those traitors off the bench and out of the system when our gutless wonder politicians won't even stand up and call treason for what it is?

I swore an oath when I entered the military to defend this country against enemies foreign and domestic .. I put my life on the line routinely to uphold that oath ... why should we expect less from our political leadership?

Posted by: Athling [TypeKey Profile Page] at February 4, 2006 01:57 PM

This is why we need to press Congress for a bill to overturn all the flagrantly inappropriate court decisions we have suffered. We can start with Roe but Kelo v. City of New London, CT should also be added to the list. This will require a national campaign but its one to fight hard for. Today's conservative activists are burning out from all the leftist garbage we must clean up. Every time they make an illegal decision, we must run around like idiots to mitigate the damages. That's dumb. We need to organize around the Big Package philosopy. It's far more cost-effective. That is, if we are going to invest our time in reform, let us all put our eggs in one very large basket and present said basket with great fanfare. If we don't, then activist judges will just trump the legislature, and everything great about the American system, until we become slaves. That a small band of robed tyrants can exert such power is a monumental tragedy. We can end it with smart packaging of our own activism.

Posted by: Virginian [TypeKey Profile Page] at February 5, 2006 06:52 AM

The Kelo vs. New London decision by the Supreme Court can be compared to the Boss of an organized crime family taking someone else's house and giving it to one of his buddies, who pays him a large kickback for the deal. The government is the Mafia boss, who is too powerful for the small person to fight. Jail or prison may not be the same as a "hit," but it is still intimidation of an innocent, law abiding citizen.

I fear that the so-called Private Property Rights Protection Act of 2005 (that Dr. Williams describes as a law that "prohibits any state or political subdivision from exercising its power of eminent domain for economic development if that state or political subdivision receives federal economic development funds during the fiscal year.") will allow a government to engage in the same type of behavior, but the government will just forego tax revenue till the next fiscal year, thereby nullifying the desired effect of the law. Don't be fooled, the government will do whatever is necessary to obtain more money.

We should impeach the judges and either impeach or otherwise remove those Mafia dons that steal their citizens' properties for their government's illegal profit. Too bad we cannot apply the RICO statutes to those officials....but, maybe we should try.

Posted by: Loser [TypeKey Profile Page] at February 5, 2006 09:54 PM

This is an issue we can all agree upon.

Simply the worst decision the Supreme Court has made in at least 32 years.

If redstates and bluestates can agree on anything, it is THIS issue.

O'Connor's minority opinion was superb; Williams' article is terrific.

Posted by: SoxSweepAgain [TypeKey Profile Page] at February 5, 2006 10:15 PM

This is dangerous ground for both parties.

During the Civil War, the Confederates were protesting the breech of Magna Charta as it applied to the original colonial charters and later the State articles pertaining to private ownership. The Federalists rightfully stated that the abuses of slavery abused the Magna Charta colonial and state charter provisions and discredited slavery all around.

The ugly truth was that the big plantations, the ones that were run like death camps, were financed by big money out of the New York banks.

Most people don't realize that New York was the financial capital of 'ALL' of the Colonies, and later 'ALL' of the States. So why should we surprised that the New York City 'Copperheads' were pro slavery?

Now we are seeing the same principles being violated again by big money. This time the target is 'all' private ownership, and even churches are no longer safe.

It's hard to blame the Commie-crats for all of this when the Republicans should be screaming bloody murder to have those traitors on the bench impeached.

If Bush really wants to improve his ratings, this is one war he can win ... and go down in history for it.

Posted by: Athling [TypeKey Profile Page] at February 7, 2006 01:23 AM

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