"Federal Govt taking a ladys home to make a strip mall hit me in the gut."
Actually it was a local government that took a whole residential neighborhood to convert to a mall for the sole purpose of increasing tax revenues. And the Supreme Court said it was OK!!
For me though, this is about a bigger issue OTC, and you touch on it in mentioning the ever increasing demands that are placed on our ever growing government.
It really comes down to the balance of Capitalism vs Socialism. Not to get into a political science debate, but I think this is really going to be a big question for us in the near future, and I have to admit that I dont really know what is the best approach.
In a purely capitalistic society, it's ok to kick grandma to the curb to help increase tax revenues and allow for new economic growth. As long as granny gets fair value for her home of course. The community will prosper from new business, and new jobs, etc. etc.
But the point still remains that we have now ripped up the roots of a settled community. What is the impact of that on our society? What is the impact of total commercialization? I dont think its good myself.
So I think we need a balance. There are simply too many people on the planet these days to not be semi-socialistic. Any statistician can tell you that as society grows, so do the poor and the needy. It's just a fact of life.
Health care is one of the next big issues we face as a country. I have always been against government sponsered health care... until now. I'm starting to see, that simply may be no other way to avoid becoming a total class society where only the rich have access to medicine, healthcare, good food, and the other benefits of wealth.
Just ramblin...
"Give me Liberty, or give me... deathtotaxes"