In 1998, the city of New London, CT was being wooed by the pharmaceutical giant Pfizer, who promised to bring in a $3oo million R&D center that would bring new jobs – and more importantly, perhaps – tax revenues to the city. If only room could be found.
Standing in the city’s way were a group of residents uninterested in selling out, led by Susette Kelo. The case wound it’s way all the way up to the Supreme Court, which in a 5-4 decision agreed that the city could exercise “eminent domain” over private property owners for the public good, even if that meant privileging another private party – Pfizer in this case – over the existing property owner.
Despite a wave of public criticism – one ought to feel safe in one’s one home, after all and property rights are fundamental to our Constitution – in the wake of the decision, numerous states and municipalities busily re-wrote their laws to encourage similar expropriations.
Pfizer recently announced that they would be leaving Connecticut. The lot where Susette Kelo once made her home stands empty and razed. The hoped-for tax revenues never materialized.
And all those laws are still on the books – for the public good – mute testimony to the inability of heavy-handed government to create jobs.
The funny thing about the Kelo decission was all the leftys blaming the conservative court for the decission. When it was the liberal side of the bench that voted for big goverment and against the little guy.
Few, if any, local goverments will learn from this episode. In my community they rushed a project through before the state law restricting the use of eminent domain in this fashion took effect. The results of 3 buildings planned one was completed and sits mostly empty. The rest is dirt field with weeds.
From another angle; The RHINO governor who makes it unprofitable to keep a large corp in CT gets her shame of the blaim. If people are made to suffer for the “greater good” there should be a real reason why. At least she isnt running for re-election.
Much of the trouble we have as a country is caused by the government making this country very unfriendly to business. Much our industry has left because of that. Of course the left makes out that the evil right are all to blame. People may be waking up to that form of idiocy, given what we see with the tea parties and such. We can sure hope so at least. That a local government would screw its own people should be remembered.
I’m confused. Wouldn’t this be a story about local governement being too friendly to business?
The Kelo story is about being anti-constitutional. The story about Pfizer leaving is about the loads the locals place on those industries while trying to buy them off in other ways. Frankly, that has pretty much reached it’s limits.
It’s staring to happen in the south as well. Briggs and Stratton has now sent some production to China (my son lost his job at the Rolla, MO plant as a result) and most of North Carolina’s renown furniture manufacturing is also now in China.
B&S did start production in China. The latest I’ve seen is that those engines/products are only for use outside of the US. Something about the QA not being quite up to par.
I’m with you, a little confused. Didn’t local government bend over backwards?
More importantly, does not the principal party in this – Pfzier -have some significant culpability in all this? Or is this again giving a major corporation carte blanche while blaming others?
If Pfizer had any morals they would have rejected it. Corporatism is part of parcel of leftwing activity. Corporatism is how fascism came here, and, while it as bad as under the Nazi regime, it can still be quite nasty.
Heard about some whack job (I’m sure that is how they will be characterized) group that is having what is billed as the “Third Continental Congress” meeting coming up in South Carolina. That seems like a good place to start raising hell even it didn’t work out so good for the home team in the 1860s.
Stated purpose is to draft with Petition of Grievances as was drafted to George III back in the day. This time its to the Federal Government and the idea is to actually ask the Government to live by the Constitution.
This Kelo case struck me as just as wrong as King George wanting the house Redcoats in some private house. But all gets blurred in the eyes of government looking for new tax dollars that will be able to bribe, I mean spend on, the voters the better to be re-elected.
The more I think of it maybe South Carolina is a nice place to visit about now and maybe I’m a whack job after all believing the government shouldn’t take someone’s home no matter what. Last time we fought the world’s then superpower over a tax on tea. Maybe we need a little of that Spirit of ‘76 back again.
Pfizer isn’t moving out of CT entirely. They have a large facility across the river from the New London property. They are closing their R&D facility only.
It’s a small point in a larger story of course. Kelo was wrong all the way around and this shows just why. Fortune and strategy is a fickle friend when the economic winds change. Not just state economics but national and international ones as well.
Rob: there are plenty of large corporations that remain in CT – I work for one of them.
How much longer will they remain is the large question.
CT isn’t the only place this has happened with Pfizer. My sister works for their R&D dept at the Chesterfield, MO location. They gave their employees 30 days notice that they’re closing the campus. There are buildings still being built. I’m sure that Chesterfield (and surrounding areas) are going to be hit hard, especially after all the wrangling the city and state did to make the room and deal with those pesky tax issues.
In the meantime, my sister, a PHD-abd, cannot find a job anywhere in the Midwest or East Coast.
Just happened here in NC at the (formerly) Wyeth plant in Sanford.
I stopped at the site this weekend to chat with the Security Officers to get directions to a local area I wanted to see. As usual with M&A activity, they were subject to the infamous Mushroom Effect. I know a few people at the plant, and they are on tenterhooks. Hopefully the negative impact will be minimal.
I’ve been pretty much laid up with a cold/flu/something unpleasant since Tuesday. I am going to blame it on my flight back from San Diego.
Very much enjoyed the free time I had, which I spent in riding on the trolley, train, and tram up to Balboa Park (scenic route, did not really care where I went as long as I ended up at Balboa). Walked back from the Park to the hotel in the Gaslight District. Had the choice of golfing or going to the Zoo. I chose to be environmentally unfriendly and contributed a few small white balls to, well, somewhere that I couldn’t find them.
Fourteen hour days took their toll I guess. Business trips: expense accounts, social activities, get to stay in a hotel. Joy, joy.
Have to say that watching the fog bank roll in was pretty cool.
North Carolina may be in trouble in the long run. It has the highest taxes in the southeast, and a liberal establishment with it’s stronghold in the down east area of the state. The state bureaucracy is quite heavy in the Raleigh area, and disconnected from the reality in much of the rest of the state. One meeting I was at when I was still with NCDOT, brought 9 people from Raleigh with costs for travel and lodging for each one. It was all over a local design project that should be handled by Engineers in the local Division, but the suits want control centralized in Raleigh, and all the expense that causes. As a Result, NCDOT is wildly overemployed. By contrast, Florida DOT has fewer than 200, last I looked, in their central office. NCDOT has two huge office buildings, that resemble rabbit warrens, with a huge central staff.
The future is not bright for NC.
I cannot disagree QM. Source of great concern to myself and many others.
Chose this this state deliberately when I moved from MI, and as long as the rest of the family stays here, I will.
Corruption on the State level is rampant, and rather than make systemic, meaningful changes, only a handful (one hand) are made an example of.
NCDOT has been a joke, though not a funny one, for quite awhile. No changes though.
A number of good changes were made in the recent elections; 2010 will be the telling tale.
Highway pavements in NC are pretty bad. here on US 74, which I take to work every day, the pavement is showing severe signs of stress, and little has been done this year. OHDOT would rather have committed hara kiri than allow a pavement to get this bad off. They simply aren’t taking care of the system and it is sad to see.
QM, and I do believe that NC was once known as the “Good Roads State”, or was that the “Good Education State”.
I am hoping that between the recent elections, and next years, that we can get back on the right track (fingers crossed, and making myself a pain in the derriere in reminding friends to vote at EVERY election, not just the one held every four years). Though apparently the boy genius Clay Aiken disagrees with the recent Wake County results.
Regards,
You know when it is all said and done here in the US? You still have a legal right to buy a gun. One can’t do that most places.
Curtis,
you may have the right to blow away the rapist that breaks in your home but you ain’t going to stop the thieves in the local government that will throw you out of your home who will give it away to the highest bidder. So much for Constitutional protection for the individual citizen. It ain’t going to stop the socialist bastards who will legally take as much of your income as they deem fit. About the only thing that you can do with it is shoot yourself with it and they are about to make that legal too. If you are a republican and conservative they even give you tax incentives to do it and give your estate to ACORN.
(sarcastic satire switch off)
Dust brings up an interesting point, even though he doesn’t touch upon it.
Wealth vs. income, and taxes.
We pay taxes on income, but our homes are wealth. If I’ve enough wealth I can earn no income and live off my savings account for a year, pay no taxes, kind of like Lee Iaccoca did at Chrysler while earning a dollar a year as chairman building the K-car series.
On the other hand, when I retire if I have to pay $10K/year in local taxes for a home I own free and clear pretty soon the taxes eat up what I’m living on with savings, social security, pension.
We’re being taxed out of our income, and we’re being taxed out of our wealth, by a government that considers private property a source of income. Let’s say your property taxes are 4% of the value of your home. You’ll pay the mortgage company off in 30 years, you’ll pay the purchase price to the state in 25.
Our Declaration states that people have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. It is generally accepted that property rights follow from this declaration. But what right can one have to property if it can be siphoned off at 4% per year?
Ponder, then toss in the Social Security fund that most seem to think will fund their retirement is bankrupt.
We’re being made wards of the state, they’re taxing what we own away and promising us future income that cannot be met. Eventually this leads to the state taking our property and promising income that there’s not enough people to pay for.
We are so screwed…
– Max
Yep Max,
But you can still legally buy a gun and ammo. Oh SHIT. Color me conflicted.
Don’t go all postal on us now.
Not me.
Shooting tax collectors may be a very satisfying hobby, but it’s probably not one that leads to a quiet retirement of fishing and playing with the grandkids.
My favorite fantasy is that the Department of the Treasury would have to collect taxes on April 15th in person. From each taxpayer. None of this withholding, they send their minions and we pay as we see fit. Which, in a fiefdom or kingdom had a certain feedback loop built in, if you sent five guys to collect taxes from 200 folks the amount of tax requested tended to be much more reasonable.
We’re now at the point were it’s almost a 50-50 split on those who pay Federal taxes vs. those who do not in the taxation system, and we’re rapidly approaching that point in the number of people who work for government vs those who work for private employers. The chances of tipping the balance back towards the private and tax-paying are becoming remote. The good news is that the implosion should be both spectacular and quick. The bad news is we may not remain as a capitalist, socially-mobile system which was the essence of the American experiment.
– Max
I can’t believe that we the consumer have less power than most government or even major cooperation’s do over how we spend out money and what they can do to take our money it’s just ridiculous and something should be done about the situation.
Tragic, to say the least. It is actually kind of good this happened. Now maybe they can reign in eminent domain.
I was at a continuing education seminar a couple of weeks ago so I can keep up my Surveying licensure. The man teaching is a Surveyor and an Attorney, and the Kelo mess came up in one part of his presentation. It seems an effort in North Carolina is being made to amend the state constitution to specifically forbid the sort of thing that happened with Kelo.
So, if you are a NC voter, watch for it. They hope to bring it up within the next two years.