"Stinger" wrote in message
.. .
Different strokes for different folks, Frank.

In my view, I didn't give up anything when I built in a neighborhood
with
restrictive covenants. Instead, I gained the peace-of-mind that the
neighborhood wouldn't decay. I gained "rights" as I agreed to
covenants
that I would have followed anyway, because my neighbors will as well.

Your "public sector versus private sector" infringement of rights
arguments
isn't simply valid in this case because it is voluntary. My rights
are just
fine, thank you.

This probably doesn't have anything to do with anything, but it crossed
my mind some weeks ago, with all the controversy over the removal of
Judge Moore's monument to the Ten Commandments. After the removal, I
pretty much expected Judge Moore would put the monument on his front
lawn. It's his property, and he should be free to do so. Well, maybe
Judge Moore rents an apartment or lives in a condo and doesn't own a
front lawn. But wouldn't be ironic if Judge Moore negligently signed
onto a list of restrictions which effectively banned any such monument
on his own property?


However I do agree that there are plenty of cases where the public
sector
(government) does infringe on the rights of private property owners.
I am
vehemently against it. I believe it is unconstitutional for a city
government to use eminent domain laws to force an owner of private
property
to sell it (so the government can grant the land to a developer who
will
build a shopping center) because the government will make more tax
revenue
on a new shopping center. Yet this is happening time and again all
over the
United States. It' just plain wrong.

-- Stinger


If it's government using eminent domain to effectivly transfer private
property from one owner to another private owner, yeah, there's a big
problem there. Even if it's not a Constitutional problem, the voters
should be deeply skeptical of all the promises the politicians make
about these wasteful projects. But we have a long history of being
negligent with our votes, as well.

Frank Dresser