Lucid and Lickety-Split Links (072709, Morning)
Lucid Link (just one):
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From the New London Day in Connecticut — “Coast Guard museum plan on hold; Shelving of project disappoints city officials still looking for Fort Trumbull springboard”:
Citing lackluster fundraising figures and a stagnant economy, the National Coast Guard Museum Association and the Coast Guard Foundation voted unanimously Thursday to postpone the $65 million project.
…. This doesn’t mean we’ve given up on the project, it means we’ll put it on the shelf until the economic climate improves,” said Anne Brengle, foundation president. “The idea that this can be accomplished purely on private individuals’ dollars is just not a viable reality.”
For what it’s worth, I actually think that a Coast Guard Museum could be a rare example where the use of public funds might be appropriate, consistent with the other military related monuments and museums that already exist.
But that’s beside the immediate point. The Day’s subheadline indicates that there is officially nothing relating to property development going on in the area that was the subject of the Kelo v. New London ruling four years ago. The final settlement agreement between the City, the New London Development Corporation, and the two final holdouts, the Cristofaros and Susette Kelo, happened three years ago.
The Supreme Court’s decision was heavily influenced by the existence of a so-called “(master) development plan,” as this key paragraph from the ruling illustrates:
The city’s determination that the area at issue was sufficiently distressed to justify a program of economic rejuvenation is entitled to deference. The city has carefully formulated a development plan that it believes will provide appreciable benefits to the community, including, but not limited to, new jobs and increased tax revenue. As with other exercises in urban planning and development, the city is trying to coordinate a variety of commercial, residential, and recreational land uses, with the hope that they will form a whole greater than the sum of its parts. To effectuate this plan, the city has invoked a state statute that specifically authorizes the use of eminent domain to promote economic development. Given the plan’s comprehensive character, the thorough deliberation that preceded its adoption, and the limited scope of this Court’s review in such cases, it is appropriate here …. to resolve the challenges of the individual owners, not on a piecemeal basis, but rather in light of the entire plan. Because that plan unquestionably serves a public purpose, the takings challenged here satisfy the Fifth Amendment.
Do you laugh or cry? The answer is laugh at the stupidity, cry at the results of said stupidity.
The Court’s majority was scammed. The ruling remains a national embarrassment and disgrace.
Meanwhile, the politically-connected, high-powered Italian Dramatic Club, which was allowed to stand while all homes in Fort Trumbull were condemned, remains. The IDC’s continued presence mocks the very idea that there was any justice in this matter.
Maybe someone ought to ask Kelo-supporting Supreme Court nominee Judge Sotomayor if the fact that absolutely nothing has been done in New London, with little near-term prospect for anything else positive occurring, might make her think differently in future rulings. There are strong indications from previous rulings that the answer is “no.”
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Lickety-Split Links:
- From a week ago, in case you missed it — “Remember Obama’s Promise to Cut $100 Million in 90 Days?”
- Gee, ya think? (HT Riehl World View — “Daley Scolds Obama: Get The Facts First.” I used Dan Riehl’s headline, which is better than the attempt by the Chicago Sun-Times.
- From Doug Ross — “The Pre-Post-Racial President.”
- Even if her demonstrated overt racism doesn’t suffice as a reason to vote against the Sonia Sotomayer Supreme Court nomination, perhaps this alleged criminal behavior (”The Florida Homestead Exemption”; HT Riehl World View) or this alleged criminal behavior (”Sotomayor is involved in a bankruptcy fraud scheme and she lied through omission on the questionnaire to the Senate Judiciary Committee to cover it up.”) — if verified — should. Right?
