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Friday, June 24, 2005

Silver Lining to the Kelo decision?

While I continue to believe that the Kelo decision was a mistake, it does occur to me that there may be a bright side to it. I have long felt that by and large we don't pay enough attention to local politics, certainly I am guilty of this myself, and that that lack of attention manifests as a problem all the way up to the national level. First off, the majority of politicians get their start at the local or state level. Since we seldom pay much attention to these races, they are largely controled by party machinery. This both impacts negatively on the quality of our 'stable' of politicians for higher offices, and creates politicians who 'owe' a lot to the party. Greater involvement and interest by the electorate could certainly help alleviate these issues. Greater involvement by the citizens hopefully will also help improve areas that otherwise often get relegated to the Federal Government such as education. The Supreme Court has created a powerful incentive for being involved with local politics for all homeowners.