Donald Trump Is A Property-Thieving Thug (Trying To Use The Cover Of Law, Of Course)
David Boaz of Cato Institute writes in The Guardian of Trump's disgusting attempts to use eminent domain to separate lawful owners from their property:
For more than 30 years Vera Coking lived in a three-story house just off the Boardwalk in Atlantic City. Donald Trump built his 22-story Trump Plaza next door. In the mid-1990s Trump wanted to build a limousine parking lot for the hotel, so he bought several nearby properties. But three owners, including the by then elderly and widowed Ms Coking, refused to sell.As his daughter Ivanka said in introducing him at his campaign announcement, Donald Trump doesn't take no for an answer.
Trump turned to a government agency - the Casino Reinvestment Development Authority (CRDA) - to take Coking's property....
Peter Banin and his brother owned another building on the block. A few months after they paid $500,000 to purchase the building for a pawn shop, CRDA offered them $174,000 and told them to leave the property. A Russian immigrant, Banin said: "I knew they could do this in Russia, but not here. I would understand if they needed it for an airport runway, but for a casino?"
Luckily, Trump was thwarted in his attempt. He and the vile CRDA ended up losing in court. And it wasn't his only time trying to use eminent domain to slime people out of their lawfully-owned land. He tried to do it to five business owners in Bridgeport, CT, in 1994.
Ilya Somin writes at Volokh/WaPo:
On this issue, unlike most others, Trump has been consistent over time. When the Supreme Court narrowly upheld "economic development" takings that transfer property to private parties in the 2005 Kelo case, the ruling was widely denounced on both left and right. But Trump defended it stating that "I happen to agree with it 100%. if you have a person living in an area that's not even necessarily a good area, and ... government wants to build a tremendous economic development, where a lot of people are going to be put to work and ... create thousands upon thousands of jobs and beautification and lots of other things, I think it happens to be good." The feral cats who currently occupy the condemned land probably agree. Trump did not merely claim that the decision was legally correct; he argued that it was "good" to give government the power to forcibly displace homeowners and small businesses and transfer their property to influential developers on the theory that doing so might promote "economic development."Both the Kelo case and Trump's efforts to benefit from eminent domain exemplify a longstanding pattern under which that power is used to take land away from the political weak and transfer it to influential private interests. In the long run, as cities like Detroit have learned, such assaults on property rights undermine development far more than they promote it.
A thug in an expensive suit is still a thug.
Trump a thug? Of course he is, that's not news.
It's entertaining to hear him be so open about just how corrupt the government is. Talking about that out in public will at least raise public awareness of the problem.
Who would want Hillary, or Jeb, or any of the other mainstream politicians? I wouldn't trust any of them to wash my car without stealing the change in the ashtray. Trump might steal the whole car; on the other hand, he might not. He already has a car, so maybe he'll actually do something about all the petty thieves.
You've heard the saying: "Why vote for the lesser evil - vote Cthulu"? It applies perfectly to Trump, and I'm perfectly serious about the idea of voting for him.
a_random_guy at August 23, 2015 4:21 AM
Trump is playing openly by the rules. Don't like the rules (and I don't in this case) then work to change 'em.
Everything is political, especially local politics.
Bob in Texas at August 23, 2015 5:28 AM
I've described Trump as a rent seeking, single-payer health care loving, big government Democrat. He's managed to tap into the rage in Republican circles against the status quo big government Republican establishment who wants lots of low skill, no skill immigrants so Big Business can get cheap labor.
Trump won't do anything about the petty thieves if they give him the vig he's due. If they don't, he'll make an example of them. As a reminder: pay Trump his vig or you'll get crushed.
I R A Darth Aggie at August 23, 2015 8:03 AM
One of my many hobbies is finding old photographs and comparing the location to how it appears today. There are many, many postcards on the Internet of Atlantic City as it appeared during its heyday as a resort town.
It was a happening place. Many locally owned bars and nightclubs. Hundreds of restaurants and cafes serving a variety of good food. Dozens and dozens of small hotels, many in converted homes, for the visiting tourists. Bathing and swimming pools. A genuine sense of a refuge for the working class from the East Coast cities; it appears to have been a wonderful and fun place to vacation and have some fun.
All gone. I've checked literally dozens and dozens of locations from old postcards and other imagery only to find huge, soulless casinos, parking lots for those casinos and behind Atlantic and Pacific Avenues, a tired worn-out urban area riddled with crime, graffiti and abandoned buildings. Nearer the beach it's as hough a giant broom came along and swept the area clean, and then rebuilt the casino district. It's soulless and charmless and it's not a place I'd want to spend any down time at all.
As an aside, if someone wants a good sense of what a faded resort city looks like today, they could do far worse than Galveston, which still gives a strong sense of how it felt in the 40's and 50's. The fact that casino gambling is still illegal in Texas means Sauron, er, Donald Trump hasn't yet cast his eye upon it.
roadgeek at August 23, 2015 9:42 AM
It's entertaining to hear him be so open about just how corrupt the government is. Talking about that out in public will at least raise public awareness of the problem.
I think the public is well aware how corrupt the government is. Awareness isn't the issue.
The key word here is 'entertaining,' and that he is. People, with some justification, have yearned for a Howard Beale ever since Network came out, and Trump is the closest thing to that in 40 years.
But almost none of his policies (such as they are) line up with anything he's ever espoused before, and the new ones are moronic (an impregnable wall along the Mexican border, paid for by Mexico?) -- so I assume people are fine with that and support an entertainer for president.
Kevin at August 23, 2015 9:52 AM
Sorry about the repeating comments -- not roadgeek's fault. I might have to rebuild my blog (a mechanized process) to get rid of them.
Amy Alkon at August 23, 2015 9:57 AM
"One lawyer with a briefcase can steal more than a hundred men with guns...." ~ Mario Puzo
Conan the Grammarian at August 23, 2015 9:59 AM
Roadgeek, I remember what AC was like before they allowed casinos.
Yes, waaay back in its heyday (before my time) it was a destination resort - a lot of the Jersey shore was (I'm sure you may have found some postcards of Asbury Park as well).
But, after WWII things started to go down. Air travel became more affordable for the middle and working class. Trips to Europe (12 countries in 10 days!) became the summer vacation instead.
Here on the East Coast (NYC area, specifically), a lot of folks no longer rented a cabin in the Catskills or a summer house on the shore. The world became so much wider and the resort areas of the Catskills and the Jersey shore faded. And AC being so much more remote from NYC it faded even worse. (Cape May faired better; as it is the farthest south in New Jersey it became the destination for those who truly wanted to get away; but AC ain't no Cape May. Niagara Falls, another destination resort from the same time period has also faired okay; mainly because it has something unique - the falls)
By the 70s (the time I remember), the area "behind" the casinos as you describe it: "a tired worn-out urban area riddled with crime, graffiti and abandoned buildings" was not far off the mark with how the area near the boardwalk was too.
I remember that the justifications put out by proponents for AC gambling (it was put on the ballot in 1974 as a Public Question). Their reasons included: revitalization of the Jersey Shore, create good-paying jobs in AC (casino dealer jobs for the unemployed in AC), make AC once again a destination resort (yes, they actually claimed that it would become Las Vegas of the East Coast), and of course, they also claimed that money the state took in from taxing the gambling revenue would be used for "the children's education" and "the elderly."
All lies, of course; AC isn't a destination resort - most folks are day trippers from Philly or New York. Why spend the money for a hotel when you can drive or take the bus back home?
The whole notion of it being the "Las Vegas of the East" is not only laughable, but, pathetic. There are no shows on the same scale or level of Las Vegas; no major headliners (sorry, Don Rickles might be funny; but, he is NOT a major headliner). There is no year-round desert air. Winters on the Jersey shore are still winters; who the hell wants to "get away" during a NYC winter only to go down to the freezing Jersey shore? What do I do; sit beside the ice-cover pool in my scarf and parka while sipping my frozen Mai-Tai? The City and the Casinos can plant all the real palm trees they like; it might make you feel that you are in south Florida during the Summer months; but, the palm trees die during the winter.
And, as for jobs: Ha! The dealer jobs were mostly filled by folks who had experience elsewhere; locals didn't get much in the way of work; not even hotel work since the hotels didn't have many overnight guests (bus day trips are still more the norm than overnight stays - you can catch a "Chinatown" bus from NYC for 20 bucks and that includes $10 in slots. Just think, pensioners can get out of town for the day for just 10 bucks; and they do nothing but eat at Friendly's and play the nickel slots. Not exactly big spenders, are they?).
As for tax money raised for the children's education and elderly - well, everyone knew then that was a lie. Since when does any politician claiming taxes raised for a specific purpose actually put that money towards that purpose?
And Trump isn't alone in being a thug in a suit. There were many small mom-and-pop businesses that were stolen by the use of eminent domain.
And, it wasn't just the land; sometimes it was the name of that business. "Caesar's Palace" is the name of the resort in Las Vegas. But, in AC it is "Caesar's Atlantic City" because they tried to close down a small pizza place owned by an Italian immigrant in AC who had named his pizzeria "Caesar's Palace." They didn't want his restaurant; they wanted his name! Caesar didn't want to sell his name; he was proud of his pizzeria and no amount of money was going to make him give it up. If I remember correctly, He fought the battle and won, mainly because he was there first (Strike one win for the little guy!)
Lastly, I've rambled on all this for a reason; Anyone with half a brain should have seen all this coming. So, Trump and the AC Casinos are like junk bonds; great on paper, but not worth shit.
If Trump is so great a business man; then why do so many casinos keep declaring bankruptcy? Why do so many keep closing? Why did he keep investing in such a failed, poorly-thought-out plan based on a bunch of lies?
Why does he, and the rest of the NJ Casino Reinvestment Development Authority have to resort to thuggery to get their way? (and still fail)
Will Trump do the same if elected? Yea, he is good for some sort of entertainment; but, I don't want him in the White House. He cannot say to congress "you're fired!" Politics doesn't work that way.
charles at August 23, 2015 2:54 PM
Charles nails it in his very good writeup. Casinos don't generally benefit the area economy all that much. There's a place in Mississippi, named Tunica, that aspires to be the "Las Vegas of the South". It's done better than Atlantic City has, but it's a long way from being a Las Vegas. People who advocate that sort of thing don't realize that Las Vegas is a unique set of circumstances. It wasn't centrally planned; it grew organically.
Cousin Dave at August 24, 2015 8:25 AM
Who wants to place bets on Trump's dropping out of the race by the end of the year? (If I were the betting type, I might.)
Now that John Bolton and Allen West have dropped out (Bolton in May, West in some other month, maybe - please tell me) and Bob Erlich is in, there are 18 candidates. So my guess is that at least 8 of them will drop out by the end of the year.
lenona at August 24, 2015 9:25 AM
I think Trump will last a bit longer than that. He probably won't win Iowa or New Hampshire. My guess is that if he doesn't win South Carolina, he's out.
The smart Republican candidates will be looking to pick up that ball when Trump drops it, and present themselves as holding the same basic positions, but saner. I see Cruz and Fiornia moving in that direction. Maybe Walker, although he seems to be a bit squishy on immigration. Carson will probably try too, but I just don't see him having enough backing to catch on outside of his fan club.
Cousin Dave at August 24, 2015 1:18 PM
Trump feels very Howard Deanish to me. I don't see him taking any of the early primaries and fading out when the media dumps him. Trump is really only in it for the media attention. Once the cameras go so will he.
Ben at August 24, 2015 7:37 PM
You meant to say "I don't see him taking any of the early primaries; I see him fading out when the media dumps him" - right?
lenona at August 25, 2015 9:29 AM
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