From Susan Kniep, President
The Federation of Connecticut Taxpayer Organizations, Inc.
Website: http://ctact.org/
email: fctopresident@ctact.org
860-524-6501
July 27, 2006
WELCOME TO THE 84th EDITION OF
TAX TALK
NEWS ALERT
EMINENT DOMAIN VICTORY IN OHIO!!!
***See Articles Below****
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TWO IMPORTANT MEETINGS TODAY
Derby
Eminent Domain Rally: Today, Thursday, July 27, 2006, from 5 PM to
7 PM, 176 Main Street
(RT 34) Derby. Join with those who are trying to keep their
homes and businesses from being taken by eminent domain!
Rocky Hill Business Meeting initiated by
Scott Coleman:
From Susan Kniep, President of FCTO: Our hat
is off to Scott Coleman who has fought for our rights in the State legislature
for greater access to government information through a reform to Freedom of
Information Statutes. Scott has brought
together business leaders, government officials, and property owners throughout
his area to join in a dialogue to improve his community! The following is on Scott’s meeting planned
for today, Thursday, July 27th, at 6:30 pm at Elizabeth's Restaurant, 825 Cromwell Ave, Rocky Hill for a KickOff Meeting.
Food and Drink will be available.
Guests include: Tony Guerrera, Rocky Hill/Wethersfield State Representative;
Paul Doyle, Wethersfield
State Representative;
Rocky Hill Mayor Tony LaRosa; Economic Development
Coordinator, Ray Carpentino. Their next meeting is scheduled for August
24, 2006. Scott can be reached at Scott@RH-BA.com.
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Governor Rell
Announces Final Monthly Estimate of Fiscal 2006 Budget Surplus Tops $940
Million
http://www.ct.gov/governorrell/cwp/view.asp?A=2425&Q=317900
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NEWS ALERT – EMINENT DOMAIN VICTORY
From the Institute for Justice re Eminent Domain, Arlington, VA 22203
(703) 682-9320, www.ij.org , www.castlecoalition.org
Ohio
Supreme Court Rules Unanimously To Protect Property
From Eminent Domain Abuse - Legislation Still Needed To Stop
Rampant Abuse of Eminent Domain in Ohio, July 26, 2006
Arlington, Va. - Today, in an historic ruling, the Ohio
Supreme Court unanimously held that the City of Norwood could not use eminent
domain to take Carl and Joy Gamble’s home of 35 years, as well as the rental
home of Joe Horney and tutoring center owned by
Matthew Burton and Sanae Ichikawa Burton, for private
development-specifically, a complex of chain stores, condominiums and office
space planned by millionaire developer Jeffrey Anderson and his Rookwood Partners.
In a unanimous and lengthy decision, the Court laid out a
series of important legal opinions. The Ohio
Supreme Court explicitly rejected the U.S. Supreme Court’s infamous Kelo decision of June 2005, in which that Court held that
local governments can take property from one person and transfer it to another
because the new owner might produce more taxes or more jobs than the current
one-so-called “economic development.” Second, the Ohio
Supreme Court ruled that state courts must apply “heightened scrutiny” to uses
of eminent domain, especially when the property is being taken for use by
another private party; according to the Court, lower Ohio courts should not simply rubber-stamp
decisions by local government to take property. Next, the Court held that
statutes authorizing the taking of property cannot be vague. The
“deteriorating” standard used by Norwood
“is a standardless standard,” and the Court rejected
it. Finally, the Court struck down Ohio’s statute that allowed property
to be taken even before an appeals court ruled that the taking was legal.`` “This decision is a complete and total victory for
Carl and Joy Gamble, Joe Horney, the Burtons and
every home and business owner in the State of Ohio,” said Institute for Justice
Senior Attorney Dana Berliner, who argued the case before the Ohio Supreme
Court. “The Court stopped the abuse of eminent domain by Norwood
and told Ohio
courts that it is their job to enforce the Constitution and make sure that
eminent domain really is for public use. Ohio has a terrible history of
its cities abusing eminent domain for private development,
and that abuse would have increased exponentially if the Court had ruled in
favor of Norwood.”
“This decision will set an example for the entire country,”
explained Scott Bullock, an IJ senior attorney. “Other states will look
to Ohio’s
well-reasoned opinion in setting their own constitutional standards. The
decision also will affect future legislation in Ohio. The Court has just told the
Legislature that it cannot use the kinds of vague and standardless
definitions that are so common under current Ohio law. Today’s decision starts the
reform of Ohio’s
terrible eminent domain laws, but it is up to the Legislature to complete the
task.” “Our home is ours again!”
exclaimed Joy Gamble. “The Ohio
Supreme Court has stopped this piracy. Now all Ohioans are safe from the
scourge of eminent domain for private profit.”
“The Ohio
Supreme Court finally made us Americans again,” Carl Gamble added. “We
haven’t had the heart or the will to see our home of more than 35 years since
the City and the developer forced us out and fenced it off, but I’m sure we’ll
be taking a ride back up there today. This is just terrific!”
Joy continued, “Our state Supreme Court did what the U.S. Supreme Court did not do; it
protected our home. The Ohio
Supreme Court protected small property owners from the overpowering and
overbearing city governments and the greedy developers.”
Joy added, “We stuck this fight out, but this victory would
not have been possible without the Institute for Justice. We can’t thank
them enough for winning us back our home and our rights.” For the time being, Carl and Joy will remain
in their newly rented apartment in Kentucky,
on which they have a lease for the next six months. Joy concluded, “We’re
just going to let this decision settle in. But finally, our nightmare is
over.” “The Gambles deserved to win
today and to get back what’s rightfully theirs-their home,” said Bert Gall,
staff attorney at the Institute for Justice. “They’ve won this battle not
just for themselves, but for every single person who owns a home or business in
Ohio.
They and all our clients are true American heroes.” “Almost one year after the U.S. Supreme
Court’s universally despised Kelo decision, the
battle between ordinary Americans and the abusers of eminent domain-tax-hungry
officials and land-hungry developers-continues,” said Chip Mellor, president
and general counsel of the Institute. “Today’s decision by the Court
marks an historic victory for home and business owners across the
country. But this fight has to continue. The Institute for Justice
and our Castle Coalition are dedicated to making sure that owners throughout
the country are protected from eminent abuse.”
The Kelo case has touched off a revolution not
only in state supreme courts, like Ohio’s,
but in state legislatures throughout the country. Thus far, 30 state
legislatures have passed laws giving greater protections for home and small
business owners.
Other news
story on this subject: http://www.sconet.state.oh.us/Communications_office/summaries/2006/0726/050227.asp
Eminent
domain
Arkansas Times - Little Rock,AR,USA
An Ohio
Supreme Court decision shows clearly how state constitutions can bar the taking
of private property for private projects. ...
Justices block eminent domain
Chicago
Tribune - United States
... Norwood wanted to use its
power of eminent domain, the authority to buy and take
private property for public projects, to seize properties. ...
See all
stories on this topic
Homeowners win eminent domain fight in Norwood
Bizjournals.com
- Charlotte,NC,USA
... won a major
victory Wednesday, when the Ohio
Supreme Court overruled an appellate court and declared that a portion of the
state's eminent domain statute is ...
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Coalition Lobbies for Eminent Domain Restrictions
The Heartland Institute - Chicago,IL,USA
Frustrated by slow progress in the US Senate on eminent domain
reform, 53 national and state organizations have banded together to pressure
the Senate to ...
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Editorial from Norwich
Bulletin:
Our view: Eminent domain inappropriate for private gain. http://www.norwichbulletin.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060726/OPINION01/607260343/1014/OPINION
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Connecticut Legislature - Eminent Domain
(New Reports Added 7/11/06) Click
Report Number to view in entirety
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Reform ideas touted as lawmakers prepare to
tackle property taxes
By TOM HESTER Jr., Associated Press Writer
July 26, 2006, 4:16 PM EDT, TRENTON, N.J. -- As legislators and the governor
get ready to try to tackle the state's highest-in-the-nation property taxes, a
regional planning group suggested increasing income taxes to reduce the state's
reliance on property taxes. The Regional
Plan Association (RPA), in a report released Wednesday, said shifting county,
municipal government and school costs from local property taxes to statewide
taxes would be the best way to cut into the state's property tax burden. http://www.newsday.com/news/local/wire/newjersey/ny-bc-nj--propertytaxes0726jul26,0,3273596.story?coll=ny-region-apnewjersey
Corzine to focus on property
taxes
Asbury Park Press - Asbury Park,NJ,USA
... behind him — the Legislature
approved a $30.9 billion budget and 45,000 state workers went back to work —
the governor wants to lower property
taxes. ...
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Judy Aron, imjfaron@sbcglobal.net
West Hartford Taxpayers Group
Major Education Victory in the Sunshine State
The Florida
legislature took a firm step toward restoring some factual accuracy into
the current perversion of teaching our nation's history.
Judging from the reaction of the education elites, you would think these
founding principles were downright subversive.
The new Florida requirements (pdf
pp. 22-23) state: Members of the instructional staff of the public schools
shall teach ... the following: (a) The history and content of the Declaration
of Independence, including national sovereignty, natural law, self evident truth,
equality of all persons, limited government, popular sovereignty, and
inalienable rights of life, liberty, and property, and how it forms the
philosophical foundation of our government.
Florida schools are now also required to teach: The
history, meaning, significance, and effect of the provisions of the
Constitution of the United States and amendments thereto, with emphasis on each
of the 10 amendments that make up the Bill of Rights and how the constitution
provides the structure of our government.
and The
nature and importance of free enterprise to the United States economy.
Most parents believe teaching these foundational principles
is a staple of U.S.
history and civics. As Minnesotans discovered when their social studies
standards were rewritten in 2004, however, the universities and schools of
education have joined with the political left to censor these fundamental
cornerstones of our free nation from the classroom, and they won't willingly
restore them.
Florida, however, has enacted language similar to the Minnesota
citizen standards that were denounced by University profs
and by every major Minnesota
media outlet. (The Minnesota
battle can be reviewed here.) In so doing, Florida provided a
valuable model for other states to emulate.
The Florida
law has so threatened the educational left that the Sunday edition of the New
York Times has taken up the cause. In "History
Under Construction" (July 2, 2006), Professor Mary Beth Norton of Cornell University (who
specializes in women's history, gendered power and Salem witch trials) went
after Florida's elected body. What riled her most was this statement from the
new Florida law: American history shall be viewed as factual, not as
constructed, shall be viewed as knowable, teachable, and testable, and shall be
defined as the creation of a new nation based largely on the universal
principles stated in the Declaration of Independence.
The LA Times and numerous other MSM ran her column,
and leftist blogs across the
country rent their garments over the prospect that
history would be taught as something other than their personal opinions. National
Review Online answered back within 24 hours (" Construction Deconstructed: Facts and snippy academics,"
Matthew Franck). Franck stated: ...postmodern social theory has been
invading the historical profession, reducing “the belief that there are ‘facts’
about history” to the status of “an ideological position” with no privileged
status over the competing view that “history is nothing more than a form of
literature.” Perhaps Norton, who declares that she “love[s] facts,” hasn’t
heard of this crisis in her own discipline. But someone in Florida seems to have heard of it. And that
“not as constructed” language in the new state law was surely aimed at such
fashions of postmodernism, with the intent of keeping the state’s history
teachers from donning those new clothes.
"Constructing meaning" conveniently leaves the
educational elites in total control of redefining history. As the Minnesota battle for
social studies standards demonstrated, the university crowd and high-placed
politicos have censured our founding principles out of our
history, despite what parents clearly want their kids to know.
For example, the Minnesota Senate Education
Committee Chair, now running for state-wide office, actually said on a
radio interview, "I'm not sure it's accurate, legally or
historically, to call the Declaration of Independence
a 'founding document'." In a party-line
vote, the Minnesota
Democratic-dominated Senate defeated an amendment to teach national sovereignty
and the "self evident truth" as stated in the
Declaration. On another vote they refused to even agree to teach kids that
Abraham Lincoln considered that the principles of the Declaration were believed
by the founders to be true for all people at all time, as he stated in his
speech at Gettysburg.
In Florida,
their legislature appropriately stepped in. Their law is a first step toward
confronting the federally subsidized curriculum from the Center for Civic
Education, which states on its website that current curriculum should be
transformed to "globally accepted and internationally transcendent
principles." America already has genuine universal principles, but the
left isn't interested in them.
The left's paranoid fear of the Declaration of Independence is focused on its clear statement
of national sovereignty, without which the Constitution is meaningless. The
goal of the New Civics (and history, and literature, and science) is to
transfer the student's allegiance to the UN.
Julie M. Quist
EdWatch www.edwatch.org
For more information on the subject, see:
Fed Ed: The
New Federal Curriculum and How It’s Enforced , Transformational
Education , Traditional v. Radical: Two Competing Worldviews
, Securing the Unalienable Rights vs. Promoting the Common
Good.
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