I Was All Set to Agree....I saw a post somewhere earlier today about "pushback on Kelo". Somebody raised an interesting argument. Since we Republicans (especially neocons) believe that the government doesn't do much right, we should actually support Kelo since it takes the property and hands it over to a private entity to develop, rather than the city doing the development itself.
But then... I read this
post by Daffyd over at CQ. Prepare to be completely and utterly outraged.
The original
article is here. Some of the details seem a little suspicious, like this:
An NLDC estimate assessed Dery for $6,100 per month since the takeover, a debt of more than $300K. One of his neighbors, case namesake Susette Kelo, who owns a single-family house with her husband, learned she would owe in the ballpark of 57 grand. "I'd leave here broke," says Kelo. "I wouldn't have a home or any money to get one. I could probably get a large-size refrigerator box and live under the bridge."Pretty obvious question. How much was the property worth if the NDLC thought they could rent it out for $6,100 per month? That would be a rather high rent in Manhattan; I can't imagine that it's a single-family residence. I don't know what other markets are like, but as a general rule, you cannot get in rent what you'd pay on a 30-year mortgage payment. Which means that it's unlikely, despite the tone of the story that they're going to lose more that about 1/6th of the value of their house. That could be a problem for some folks who may not have much equity, but for the folks who've been living in a house that's been paid off years ago it shouldn't represent a terrific hardship.
