Proposal 4
"A proposed constitutional amendment to prohibit government from taking private property by eminent domain for certain private purposes."
VOTE: YES!
Translation: The government can make you give your home up if they believe a business could make money off your land by placing their own buildings on it.
Second translation: If someone could benifit from a strip mall where you live-they can take away your property.
This proposal is EXTREMELY important. For anyone to be able to just lose their land that way-so that some stupid business can make a dollar is so sad and depressing. Do our rights not mean a thing? What about the homeowners, that pay constant land taxes and paid for the house? Do they not mean a thing? Often times-a business will approach a homeowner with an offer just over the retail price of the house-and then if the homeowner turns it down, they take it to the supreme court-in which case-the supreme court almost always says the business can have the property.
This is worst when it happens to farmers, or crop owners. They deserve their land more than anyone, after working it for so long. However-this should not happen to ANYONE. EVER.
Voting no on this proposal is so terrible...to allow the government to take over whatever land they want just to make more money.
I live in the boonies. But more and more it becomes less and less boonies. Why? Because the city keeps moving out. It is terrible, cities need to stop expanding outward by adding another mall, or just one more mcdonalds. Heck-let's put another wal*mart in! No! Let's not! Stop the government from taking all of our farm land! Stop the government from killing off the one of a kind nurture of a country living-blue collar worker!
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I'm a Michigander and I agree with you, this is a good proposal.
The idea that the government can take land for the public good is one I kind of question, but agree there are perhaps good circumstances. But taking one man's land for another man's personal profit is theft.
The sad truth of this is that the only land taken will be from the lower classes. A half million dollar McMansion will never be taken, but an older neighborhood of poor folks in the inner city could be taken to build other people's condos. As you mentioned too, farmland could be vulnerable to sprawl.
I have no doubt this measure will pass. The people who own or aspire to own property would like to know that their rightful ownership won't be taken away just so a developer with the local government in his pocket and turn a quick buck.
It is theft-I agree. And that was a good point-about how they will only take the lower class housing--that is DEFINATELY true.
I also have no doubt it will pass.
We don't need any more Walmarts. Ugh. We have too many as it is in my city with a grand total of two and they keep fighting to try and bring another one or two into our city even though the citizens don't want it. Can't they take a hint and take their unwanted supercenter somewhere else?
omgsh I know..wal*mart is definately at the top of my list of most hated land-takers. We have one in my town, as well as 2 others in the county-and now they want to put in 2 more. One in Hartland-RIGHT across from where they JUST opened a Target. And one in fowlerville-a small country/farm town. The one we have-is directly across the road from a Meijers.It is pathetic.