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Donald Trump Uses Government to Take House From a Grandma
Donald Trump announced on June 16th that he will be running for President of the United States. Trump is a billionaire who runs Trump Organization and was the founder of Trump Entertainment Resorts. He is well known for his role in the reality show, “The Apprentice”, where he coined his catchphrase, “You’re Fired!” A story that is not well known is how Donald Trump tried to use the government to take the home of Vera Coking.
In 1961, Vera and her husband bought a small inner city home in Atlantic City, New Jersey. Fast forward 32 years, Vera has is a grandmother and widow. Donald Trump has just purchased all the land around her home. The plans are to turn the property into a parking lot for his limousines. He came to Vera offering a low price for the property. She, of course, refused. Instead of bargaining, Trump decided that he would go to the government and have her house forcibly taken from her.
In 1994, Trump went to the New Jersey Casino Reinvestment Development Authority (CRDA) and lobbied them to take the land from Vera. They agreed and sent her a letter that the government was going to take her property through eminent domain.
Vera received a letter that said, “You may be required to move within 90 days after you receive this notice. If you remain in possession of the property after that time, CRDA may be able to have you and your belongings removed by the sheriff.” (Napolitano, 74)
Vera spent the next two years of her life fighting to keep her property. The case went all the way to the New Jersey Supreme Court. The judges came to Vera’s defense and claimed that the Takings Clause of New Jersey Constitution had been abused. They concluded that billionaires do not have the right to take a person’s property for their own private use.
Donald Trump in his announcement speech talked about how America has failed. He said, “The American Dream is dead!” That might very well be true, but he is not the solution; he is the problem. This is an example of crony capitalism. Billionaires, corporations, and government working together to line each others pockets, all while hurting the little people. America needs a leader that will end crony capitalism, not a billionaire who uses government to take houses from little old widows.
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Tom Liberman June 17, 2015 , 12:19 pm Vote3
Donald Trump in reference to using bankruptcy to get out of debt of failed businesses (which he’s done four times). Classic example of Crony Capitalism. Run a business into the ground making hundreds of millions for yourself and then refuse to pay debts via magic wand of Chapter 11.
“I’ve used the laws of this country to pare debt. … We’ll have the company. We’ll throw it into a chapter. We’ll negotiate with the banks. We’ll make a fantastic deal. You know, it’s like on ‘The Apprentice.’ It’s not personal. It’s just business.”
Mike Reid June 17, 2015 , 3:14 pm Vote1
I can’t believe that woman stood in the way of progress. Couldn’t she understand the importance of parking Trump’s limousines?
Joseph Perrelli June 17, 2015 , 4:21 pm Vote0
I doubt he will actually run this is ether the 3rd or 4th time he has SAID he would run, He never actually has and does this basically every presidential election.
Nullus Maximus June 17, 2015 , 4:54 pm Vote5
Crony capitalism? Call it what it is: fascism.
Jack Feka June 18, 2015 , 5:36 am Vote0
My first thought on hearing his announcement is that he might stand a good chance at getting elected because so many people are unhappy with the current state of affairs. This is very much the same as what happened in Chile in 2010 when Piñera was elected president there. Piñera was a highly successful businessman much as Trump is and was elected because a significant number of voters felt that someone who was successful in business would be what the country needed to lift itself out of its problems. In his 4 year term as President , Piñera was unable to effect the changes which many people had hoped for and he was replaced by the Socialistic President who preceded him rather than someone who he supported (Chile’s constitution does not allow a president to hold two consecutive terms). I’d lay odds that that if Trump is elected, he would not survive a second term and would be replaced by a Democrat because he will be unable to effect the changes which people hope for.