In [dis]honor of the 140th anniversary since pinko pin-up Vladimir Ilyich Lenin spawned, I’d like to present the Lenin Prize for the Reification of Destructive Ideologies to ACORN CEO Bertha Lewis. Ms. Lewis has taken a lot of heat since the ACORN-appearing-to-aid-and-abet-child-prostitution scandal broke, but remains incredibly committed to her organization–one based on a particularly vile and inane form of bureaucratic socialism. As the leader of a group that can claim more credit (excluding government) for perpetuating urban poverty than any other, the following should not be surprising.
Earlier today, Reason‘s Damon Root posted an e-mail authored by Lewis disparaging a Brooklyn man whose home was condemned through eminent domain:
Finally, the itch that was Daniel Goldstein has been scratched and scratched out. After almost seven years of flawed strategies, smear campaigns, stupid tactics, disingenuous rhetoric and total disregard for people who have lived in the downtown Brooklyn community for years before he even thought about coming here; finally he got what he really wanted. A Deal. Not for the community he claimed to love so much, but for the only beneficiary of his community of one, himself, Double Dealing Danny Goldstein.
Her cranky little missive is in response to Goldstein’s announcement that he has agreed to vacate his home next month. Goldstein lives/lived in the Atlantic Yards area of Brooklyn, which is currently undergoing forced redevelopment. Naturally, as with most comprehensive redevelopment plans, this one entails kicking many low- and middle-income residents and business owners to the curb in order to transfer the property to a wealthy private developer.
But why, you might ask, would ACORN, an organization with a stated mission to “[help] those who have historically been locked out,” support wealthy private developer Bruce Ratner’s land grab over the rights of residents? Because even for committed socialist dupes, money talks. Ratner quietly funneled money into the group in 2008 following a funding panic in the wake of a multi-million dollar embezzlement scandal involving high-ranking ACORN officials. It is also alleged by a former ACORN official-turned-whistle-blower that ACORN and Lewis were promised kickbacks from Ratner in the form of control of new affordable housing units, an arrangement that could net the organization tens of millions of dollars in the coming years.
For more on Atlantic Yards, the state’s land grab, and the Ratner plan, visit Develop Don’t Destroy Brooklyn.
In Springfield, Missouri, the city-owned utility provider–City Utilities–recently attempted to seize a parcel of downtown property in order to build a bus terminal. The owner, Becky Spence, planned to build a luxury hotel that would have been the tallest building in Springfield if completed. KOLR/KSFX reports:
Spence says when CU made it known it wanted to take her land, she tried to compromise. She says she met with CU managers, offering a portion of the land for the bus terminal. The rest would be for her hotel.
Spence says City Utilities rejected the offer. She says she was surprised when CU brought up eminent domain because a study commissioned by CU to find an ideal piece of land ranked her property pretty low on the list. That’s because the land sits 22 feet below street level. The bus station is required to be on street level.
Spence says she declared bankruptcy as a last resort, knowing that eminent domain cannot touch a land protected by bankruptcy.
“It provides one more legal step that they have to go through, one more hoop that they have to jump, before they take my land,” says Spence.
It is a sad state of affairs when property owners must declare bankruptcy in order to prevent government theft. Adding insult to injury, her property–being 22 feet below street level–is completely inadequate for the “public purpose” of the proposed project. However, things may be looking up for Ms. Spence. The Springfield City Council has taken an interest in her case, and City Utilities has announced it is now considering building on land already owned by the city.
UPDATE 1:15pm ET: Myron reports – “House narrowly defeats omnibus land grab bill under suspension. 282 yes to 144 no. Two thirds needed under suspension. Two votes short.” Huzzah!
The Republican Study Committee sent out this alert about the what I’m call the Federal Land Grab Act of 2009:
This legislation is more than 1,000 pages and would generally designate new wilderness areas, wild and scenic rivers, codify a National Landscape Conservation System (NLCS), and expand the National Park system. Conservatives may have concerns with many different provisions in the bill.
New Spending: The bill authorizes $5.5 billion of new discretionary spending and $900 million in new entitlement spending.
Blocks Millions of Acres for Energy Development: Some conservatives have expressed concerns that the bill blocks millions of acres from new oil and gas leasing, logging, mining, and all other business activity in designated areas. The bill eliminates 1.2 million acres from mineral leasing in and energy exploration in Wyoming alone—withdrawing 331 million barrels of recoverable oil and 8.8 trillion cubic feet of natural gas from domestic energy supply. The bill would also eliminate a proposed terminal site for importing liquefied natural gas (LNG) in Massachusetts by designating a river that runs through an urban city as “wild and scenic.”
Pork Projects: $3.5 million to the city of St. Augustine (FL) for a birthday party, $200,000 for a tropical botanical garden in Hawaii, $250,000 to study the birthplace of Alexander Hamilton in the U.S. Virgin Islands, and $37 million for a park in New Jersey that the National Park Service does not want. The bill also codifies the National Landscape Conservation System (NLCS) within the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which creates a duplicative agency without a clear mission or structure.
Process: The bill is more than 1,000 pages, and contains many controversial provisions. Yet it is reportedly coming to the floor under suspension of the rules, which means that no amendments will be in order. Many conservatives believe that the process of bringing a bill to the floor under suspension of the rules should be reserved for noncontroversial measures.
My colleague R.J. Smith, who holds portfolios with both CEI and NCPPR, also weighed in on the bill on Amy Ridenour’s blog here. The legal threats posed to geologists and paleontologists is described by John Berlau here and Myron Ebell provides more details on the energy development impact here.
UPDATE: Myron reports – “House narrowly defeats omnibus land grab bill under suspension. 282 yes to 144 no. Two thirds needed under suspension. Two votes short.” Huzzah!
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