The growing tentacles of government

Here are links to Biweekly Commentaries on our curtailed or fading rights

Put an end to eminent domain
Lost in all this "public use" controversy is a fundamental question: Why should government have the power of eminent domain anyway? If it needs a piece of property, why shouldn’t government officials be expected to negotiate for its purchase, just as everyone else does?

The overzealous integrationist court
One can envision these Supreme Social Engineers patting each other on their backs, as they outdo one another in enunciating their refusal to compromise on the sacred principle of integration. Meanwhile, back in the ugly reality of prison life, are the men who face the potential of greater brutality and unnecessary torment beyond that imposed by the loss of their freedom.

The enemies have already prevailed
Patriots to Restore Checks and Balances is made up of groups from across the political spectrum, and include the American Conservative Union, the Eagle Forum, the ACLU, the Second Amendment Foundation, and the Free Congress Foundation. Both liberals and conservatives see an urgent need to ally for greater effectiveness, since President Bush has requested Congress to make permanent the current temporary Patriot Act powers.

Children as fodder for the government-pharmaceutical cabal
Big Brother is on the march. A plan to subject all children to mental health screening is underway, and the pharmaceutical corporations are gearing up for bigger sales of antidepressant and psychostimulant drugs.

Eminent domain: Taking from Peter to give to Paul
Its notoriety stemmed from the massive scale and seeming callousness of Detroit’s use of eminent domain: destroying an entire neighborhood and condemning the homes of 4,200 people, as well as numerous businesses, churches, and schools, so the land could be transferred to General Motors for the construction of a new factory. Aside from the moral and humanitarian concerns at issue, Poletown raised the fear that if "economic development" could justify such massive dislocation, it could be used to rationalize almost any condemnation that benefited a private business in a way that might "bolster the economy."

Is it a Trojan Horse?
At the time, the Eagle Forum's Phyllis Schlafly observed that many of these proposed bills were not newly concocted ones, designed specifically to address the 9/11 crisis, but had long sat on musty shelves, as if their framers were awaiting the day when they could be sprung on the public.

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