The Ballad of Eminent Domain

From the Star Ledger:

The eminent domain outlaws

Songwriter Woody Guthrie, who chronicled the injustices of the 1930s, wrote in "The Ballad of Pretty Boy Floyd": "Some will rob you with a six gun ... And some with a fountain pen ... And as through your life you travel ... You won't never see an outlaw drive a family from their home."

Those words embody the horror of eminent domain abuse. Under the guise of "economic redevelopment," politicians and their developer friends are stealing people's homes and businesses. These modern outlaws are armed with bogus "studies." Fast-talking politicians are promising communities riches, but they are abusing the law to enrich only themselves and their friends. Entire communities, from trailer-park residents in Bergen County to business owners in New Brunswick to families in Long Branch, are facing upheaval just so bankers and developers can make millions on property they have no right to own.

Politicians in Trenton are deaf to the pleas of people like the Halpers in Piscataway, who lost their farm, and Lou and Lil Anza lone, an 89-year-old couple in Long Branch who are losing the place they have called home for half a century.

In 70 years, apparently not much has changed in America.

-- Ed Mueller, New Brunswick

The writer's property in New Brunswick has been condemned.