Your Chance to Vote on Eminent Domain Abuse

In the run-up to the November elections, right at the end of the cycle, WNYC’s Brian Lehrer Show has regularly provided some excellent coverage in the form of “Thirty Issues In Thirty Days.” “Thirty Issues In Thirty Days” is a series of excellently produced and thoughtful discussions on topics pertinent to the unfolding elections.

This year the Lehrer show has solicited the public to help “produce” the program by nominating and voting on topics for discussion.

The nominations are now in and according to the show’s site “Soon, you’ll vote for and rank your favorites from the list, which will help craft the series.”

One of the topics now nominated, courtesy of yours truly here at Noticing New York, is the subject of eminent domain abuse.

So, if you are interested in what will surely be a very well-produced event get ready to go to the Brian Lehrer show site to vote for its discussion.

The nomination (currently # 102 submitted September 04, 2008 at10:56AM) says:

Topic: Eminent Domain Abuse

To which national party do we go to address this issue? According to polls up to 90% of Americans disagree with the Kelo decision but protections are not in place in New York, on the federal level or many other places. Abuse usually involves big corporations trampling on individual rights in pursuit of profit, the kind of thing for which we often instinctively blame Republicans but Democrats seem to have largely ceded this emotional issue to Libertarian and Republican candidates and, ironically, it is the conservative Republican judicial appointees who have been willing to uphold individual constitutional rights- The same justices who might overturn Roe v. Wade. It is a federal as well as a state issue because federal funding could require no abuse. Ratner is spending hundreds of millions lobbying against this.