Eminent Domain Abuse

During the last session of the Kansas legislature, we nearly got a state constitutional amendment through the house that would have ended the abuse of eminent domain in Kansas once and for all. It was a well written amendment that covered all the loopholes. You can look up the details on the state's website. Look for HCR 5025.

A 2/3 vote was required and we missed by 3 votes. Most of the Johnson County delegation voted against it, most particularly the incumbent for the 17th district. She did ultimately vote for a legislative version (S 323). It is ineffective.

Firstly it does not take effect for a year, giving the property thieves a full year to take property with no problem.

Secondly, it provided an override for the legislature to give permission to take property for private use.

Thirdly, and worst of all, it is really easy to amend. A constitutional amendment would need to go to the voters to undo. Already the opponents of private property protection are talking about amendments to the act to provide for more exceptions that would not need legislative approval. Even the dreaded word, BLIGHT, has been mentioned.

Blight is a terrible sounding word with no definition. If they allow cities and counties to take property by calling it blighted, we have lost the war. Around the nation, houses have been labeled as blighted because they have a 1 car garage in a 2 car garage neighborhood, because it is painted an unusual color, because the grass has bald spots and every other imaged issue.

They will probably have it amended to nothingness before it takes effect. The only way to stop that is to ensure that the state representative candidate you vote for understands the importance of property rights. Libertarians understand this by nature. It is in our political genes.

Just what does the war on terror mean?

Terrorism is a tactic. It can be used by anyone, anytime, when they feel themselves aggrieved and have no other good way to get revenge.

The president speaks of winning the war on terror. What does he mean? Does he think that there are a finite number of terrorists in the world and if we kill them all, we will have won the war? That is silly. No matter how many you kill, more are being created. All you have to do is violate some people's rights in such a way that they cannot fight back.

The one and only thing that we can do to stop the terrorists is to stop creating new terrorists with foreign policy abuse.

My issues

Like all good politicians, I have chosen three issues to concentrate on during the campaign. I assure you that I have opinions on many other issues. But here goes.

I am running for the Kansas House of Representatives for district 17. This covers parts of Lenexa and Shawnee in Johnson County.

As a Libertarian, my first value is individual freedom. Republicans and Democrats all promise you big government solutions to our problems. They are always telling us that if we give them just a little more in taxes everything will be great. History teaches us that big government solutions are expensive and don’t work.
If elected, I will be a voice for your rights, all your rights, all the time. I want to hand a free nation over to my kids and yours. Aren’t you disappointed in how poorly the other two parties have served your interests?

1. If you are interested in protecting your property rights, I am your man. Property rights are fundamental to securing all other rights. Eminent domain abuse has to be prevented in no uncertain terms. It cannot be left up to political decision making. This requires a state constitutional amendment. My opponent voted against such an amendment and voted instead for an ineffective substitute.

2. If you are interested in real improvements in educational opportunities for your kids, I have a novel idea for you to consider. In everything else we do, we depend on competition to get us the best quality at the lowest price. That is the right choice for education as well. I propose that every parent have the option to take their kid and the money for his education to the school of the parent’s choice-public, private, parochial or to cover home school expenses. No longer will you be locked into your assigned neighborhood school. They will have to compete for your business with a quality education. What recourse do you have now if your neighborhood school is doing a bad job? With my plan, you will have plenty of options. I don’t expect that this will be a permanent solution but rather a transition path to the ultimate separation of school and state. Many benefits will come from this including a huge monetary saving and the end to the fights over what is taught in public schools. Every parent will decide for their own kids.

3. If you are concerned about medical freedom, Libertarians are the only party that supports you all the way. We will support no interference in medical research such as the use of stem cells. You have no idea how many people you might be killing when you delay a medical discovery.

Patients that can derive medical benefits from marijuana should not have to fear arrest. We do not have the right to use the power and guns of government to interfere. It is a terrible evil to deny sick people a medicine that can help them deal with their problems.

If you want freedom, vote for freedom. Vote Libertarian!

Appeasement

Well, it seems that the newspaper letter calling me an appeaser in the tradition of Chamberlain was just the first inkling of a nationwide Rovian attack on anti-war folks. Anyone who wants to stop making enemies of innocent people in the Middle East is an appeaser.

Arguing to NOT drop bombs on people who never hurt us is suddenly the equivalent of offering Poland to Hitler so he would not attack England. I am sorry, all you Bushbots, that logic just does not pass the laugh test. Rove must be getting desperate.

If the Republicans lose control of either house of Congress in November, Washington will be flooded by subpoenas for hearings on the misuse of intelligence to start an unjust war. We might actually find out how the WMD scare story was born and survived the obvious evidence against it.

Here is hoping that happens and the whole sordid mess becomes general knowledge. There will be nothing better than the nation coming to realize how they were fooled. It might just prevent a recurrence for the next 20 or 30 years. Unfortunately, because of generational turn over, these lessons need to be relearned periodically. If that wasn't true, the lesson of Viet Nam would have prevented Iraq.