Saturday, February 6, 2016

Ethanol & Eminent Domain

From: David McIntosh, President | Club for Growth 2/6/16

There are key economic policy issues that have not received the kind of attention they deserve during the presidential campaign. The Club for Growth, through its White Paper series, has led the way in addressing the candidates’ positions on taxes, spending, trade, and entitlement reform. But, in many of the GOP debates, economic policy questions have been few and far between.

With two notable exceptions: ethanol and eminent domain.

Coming out of Iowa there was a lot of discussion about ethanol, and the federal government’s mandate that requires a blend of corn ethanol in gasoline. The Club for Growth opposes this mandate, known as the Renewable Fuel Standard (RFS), because it is a blatant example of the government picking winners and losers, and forcing Americans to buy a particular product, rather than leaving that product subject to the free market.

Iowa’s Governor made the RFS a central focus of the Republican presidential campaign, going so far as to take the rare step of urging voters to reject Senator Ted Cruz because he called for a phase out of the RFS.

In Iowa newspapers I weighed in on behalf of the Club, urging an end to market-distorting subsidies and mandates. And, if the outcome of the Iowa Caucus is a signal, voters in the Hawkeye State may be ready and willing to let go of this government perk.

Turning to New Hampshire, voters may not be as concerned about ethanol, but they do care about eminent domain. Under the Fifth Amendment to the Constitution, government has some allowance to take private property, but only “for public use” and with “just compensation.”

Unfortunately, the boundaries of “public use” have been torched, pushing far beyond the need for roads or bridges, to include private developers who claim they can replace people’s homes and businesses with a development that will generate even greater tax revenue. They simply need local officials to condemn the private property, sometimes for rock bottom prices, and turn them over to the developer. It’s a clear abuse of eminent domain and private property rights.

The Club has long argued against efforts by developers to get bargain basement deals on people’s homes and businesses for projects that largely benefit the developers.

Source: Club for Growth email

Comments

I agree with Club for Growth on these two issues, but I still support Trump.  These are issues Congress can deal with on their own.  Excessive immigration is the root cause of US citizen real unemployment and Trump is able to kill “political correctness” on the spot, like Roundup.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader


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