Putting a Costco in Your Living Room

You may not realize this, but there are communities across the country where local political leaders are so anxious to increase tax revenue that they're trying to take away people's homes and replace them with big businesses. The process is called "eminent domain", and while legal in certain circumstances, there are cities that are stretching the law. Timothy Sandefur writes about the problem in Pittsburghlive.com.

You may not know it, but your home is for sale.

Across America, government and big business are teaming up to condemn people's homes and replace them with shopping centers and megastores such as Costco, Ikea and Home Depot. In fact, from just 1998 to 2003, there were 10,000 reported cases of cities and states condemning or threatening to condemn homes and businesses to make way for private companies to expand.

Eminent domain is usually used when it's deemed in the public interest to improve public facilities like roads and schools. In those cases homes may be condemned (the proper compensation) to make way for these public facilities.

However some cities are trying a new approach to increase local tax revenue. They've tried taking homes and small businesses, or in a recent case in Cerritos a church property, and then have given that land to large tax-generating businesses like Costco. Don't get me wrong - I love Costco, but I do not think that taking other homes, churches, or businesses to make way for a Costco is what the founders intended when they created the concept of eminent domain. It's one thing to take land to make way for public uses, totally another to make way for private businesses.

The Supreme Court will be hearing a case that should clear this up, and will hopefully stop the misuse of eminent domain.