Free Republic

Obama: Constitution is 'Deeply Flawed' Monday, October 27, 2008 8:20 PM By: David A. Patten Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama described the U.S. Constitution as having “deep flaws” during a September 2001 Chicago public radio program, adding that the country’s Founding Fathers had “an enormous blind spot” when they wrote it. Obama also remarked that the Constitution “reflected the fundamental flaw of this country that continues to this day.” Obama’s statements came during a panel discussion that aired on Chicago’s WBEZ-FM on Sept. 6, 2001, titled “Slavery and the Constitution.” ...

Please forgive if this has already been pointed out. It just crossed my mind that politicians who have used gerrymandering and rezoning to alter the make-up of voting districts, now has a new way to manipulate the ratio of voters. that is, a corrupt council or board of city/county supervisors who is having problems with the voting tendencies of a neighborhood, can remove all those voters and replace them with non-voters by simply re-zoning after taking the property away from the voters who reside therein... This could be used to punish neighborhoods that do not tow the line and vote...

Utah Gov. Jon Huntsman Jr. (R) on March 17 signed into law Senate Bill 184, effectively preventing the exercise of eminent domain authority by redevelopment agencies, which otherwise had the power to transfer land from one private entity to another. Local governments may still use eminent domain for more traditionally defined and understood "public purposes." First State Legislature to Act Utah appears to be the first state to take legislative action to curb the use of eminent domain by local governments. The use of eminent domain by local governments has grown over the past 30 years as cities have taken...