Property Rights in the Presidential Primary
January 24, 2008

Any candidate's public support for private property rights - or lack thereof - is generally indicative of two key facets of their personal belief system:

1) Whether they believe your individual human rights and freedoms are inherently yours, or are mere permissions granted by government officials, and,

2) Whether they understand that the opportunity and aspiration of individuals to own and build up property assets is the most critical, driving force in the American economy.

To assist property owners in assessing candidates in the upcoming Presidential Primary, CPR is providing the following summary of their public statements relative to private property rights and regulation. (Please note that candidates' names are listed in alphabetical order.)

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HILLARY CLINTON:

CPR could find no direct statements regarding private property rights on Hillary Clinton's official campaign website, and no mention of de-regulation in the sections of the site addressing key issues, the economy, or government reform.

JOHN EDWARDS:

Despite the fact that John Edwards' official website begins with the phrase, "In America, everyone should have a fair opportunity to realize their dreams, no matter where they came from. John Edwards is running for president to build One America where every American can work hard and build a better life," CPR could find no direct statements regarding his support for the domestic protection of private property rights and no mention of de-regulation in the sections of his site addressing key issues, the economy, or government reform.

Interestingly enough, in a section labeled "Restoring America's Moral Leadership by Fighting Worldwide Poverty" we did find the following:

"Creating Economic and Political Opportunity"

"Political and organizing rights enable poor citizens to force their countries to create progressive laws, reduce oppression, and increase economic stability. The right to own property-barred for many citizens in some developing countries-reduces poverty and increases stability.

As president, Edwards will...- Promote Labor and Property Rights: Edwards will property law reform in the Millennium Challenge Account, encouraging nations to give their citizens the right to invest in property."

RUDY GIULIANI:

CPR could find no direct statements regarding private property rights on Rudy Giuliani's official campaign website. However, on the regulatory front, he is promises several measures aimed at reducing government bureaucracy, including:

* Require mandatory sunset clauses for all Federal programs.

* Require Congressional Budget Office cost estimates for all legislation before it is voted upon.

* Reduce the Federal Civilian Workforce by 20% through Attrition and Retirement: Within the next decade, 42% of the Federal Civilian Workforce

*Require Agencies to identify at Least 5% to 20% in Spending Reductions: Requiring agency heads to identify savings and increased efficiencies in each annual budget as a management tool that will lead to constant streamlining and more cost-effective government spending.

* Use GAPStat to Evaluate the Effectiveness of Federal Agencies & Eliminate Wasteful Spending: Rudy's plan establishes a Government-wide Accountability Program ["GAPStat"] based on New York's successful CompStat program to better evaluate each agency, analyze the effectiveness of Federal programs, and identify those that are wasteful, failing or duplicative.

MIKE HUCKABEE:

CPR could find no direct statements regarding private property rights on Mike Huckabee's campaign website, but did find several statements relative to the federal judiciary and the Constitution worth noting:

One of the greatest ongoing threats to our constitutional republic is the ever-increasing politicization of the federal judiciary. Instead of interpreting the law according to its plain or original meaning, many judges are using the Constitution and statutes passed by Congress as a mere pretense for imposing their policy preferences on the American people. This is unacceptable. The role of a judge is to interpret the law, not to legislate from the bench; and as president, I will only appoint men and women who share this view.

I firmly believe that the Constitution must be interpreted according to its original meaning, and flatly reject the notion of a "living Constitution." The meaning of the Constitution cannot be changed by judicial fiat. The powers delegated to the federal government by the Constitution come from "We the People," and judges have no right to prohibit the people from passing democratically-enacted laws unless we have explicitly authorized them to do so. Nor can vaguely-worded language in the Constitution be used by judges to give them power over subjects the framers never intended our founding document to address. As such, any interpretation of the Constitution that is based on "evolving standards of decency," penumbras, or any other judicial fiction, is antithetical to the rule of law, and must be forcefully challenged.

As president, I will appoint justices and judges who not only share my judicial philosophy ( e.g., Chief Justice John Roberts, Justice Antonin Scalia, Justice Clarence Thomas, and Justice Samuel Alito), but who also have established themselves within the conservative legal community as faithful adherents of originalism and textualism. The stakes are simply too high to do otherwise.

Finally, I wholeheartedly believe "that the state exists to preserve freedom, that the separation of governmental powers is central to our Constitution, and that it is emphatically the province and duty of the judiciary to say what the law is, not what it should be"; and I will do everything in my power as president to promote these cherished principles.

JOHN MCCAIN:

John McCain is talking about private property rights on the campaign trail.Several statements given by McCain include:

"All people have a God-given right to be free, and that right is not subject to the whims and interests and authority of another person, government or culture. And central to our ideals is the sanctity of property rights. Without private property there can be no freedom, and without freedom there can be no America."

"Indeed, the America of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries has witnessed an explosion of government regulations that have jeopardized private ownership of property, often for questionable purposes that have little to do with the limited types of public use envisioned by the framers of our Constitution. Nowhere has this been truer than in the disastrous decision issued in 2005 by the U.S. Supreme Court in Kelo v. City of New London. In Kelo, the Supreme Court held that the Constitution allows governments to transfer land from one private land owner to another in the name of economic development."

Text of McCain Campaign Speech on the Subject of Property Rights http://www.johnmccain.com/Informing/News/Speeches/39779b4e-57e2-4eca-91b...

BARACK OBAMA:

CPR could find no direct statements regarding private property rights on Barack Obama's website, but did find a statement relative to economic policy worth noting:

"I believe that America's free market has been the engine of America's great progress. It's created a prosperity that is the envy of the world. It's led to a standard of living unmatched in history. And it has provided great rewards to the innovators and risk-takers who have made America a beacon for science, and technology, and discovery. We are all in this together. From CEOs to shareholders, from financiers to factory workers, we all have a stake in each other's success because the more Americans prosper, the more America prospers."

And on the creation of a "Universal Mortgage Credit":

"Owning a home is the culmination of the American dream for so many Americans. The tax code is supposed to encourage home ownership with a mortgage interest deduction, but it goes only to people who itemize their tax deductions. Like so much in our tax code, this tilts the scales toward the well-off. The current mortgage interest deduction excludes nearly two-thirds of Americans who do not itemize their taxes. Barack Obama will ensure that anyone with a mortgage, not just the well-off, can take advantage of this tax incentive for homeownership by creating a universal mortgage credit. This 10 percent credit will benefit an additional 10 million homeowners, the majority of whom earn less than $50,000 per year."

RON PAUL:

Ron Paul has a specific issues page on his website, titled, "Property Rights and Eminent Domain":

"We must stop special interests from violating property rights and literally driving families from their homes, farms and ranches.

Today, we face a new threat of widespread eminent domain actions as a result of powerful interests who want to build a NAFTA superhighway through the United States from Mexico to Canada.

We also face another danger in regulatory takings: Through excess regulation, governments deprive property owners of significant value and use of their properties - all without paying "just compensation."

Property rights are the foundation of all rights in a free society. Freedom of the press, for example, is meaningless without the right to own a printing press. Thus in our view the next president must vigorously resist the tendency of federal agencies to create schemes that deny property owners their constitutional rights to life, liberty, and property."

Ron Paul also directly addresses property rights on his issues page on the Environment:

The key to sound environmental policy is respect for private property rights.

Paul Article on Property Rights and Freedom http://www.ronpaul2008.com/articles/240/respect-for-property-rights-nece...

MITT ROMNEY:

Statements from Mitt Romney's official campaign site include:

"The American values that have been at the heart of our historic rise to world leadership are being challenged everyday. We must promote a culture of life, protect America's children, and stop the erosion of America's basic freedoms."

"Governor Romney Strongly Opposes The Taking Of Private Property For Private Development. Governor Romney believes that the Kelo property rights case was wrongly decided."

"You know, the Supreme Court made an error in judgment on this one. You know, I understand the purpose of eminent domain, to make sure that when roads need to be built, or public purposes are involved, that private property can be taken when there's fair compensation. But to basically say a mall developer could get eminent domain to take away peoples' homes; that is not a good idea. The liberals on the Court made a mistake on this, and we're going to have to get a Court that's willing to stand by the rights of property owners."

On the issue of regulatory relief, Romney has the following plank:

Provide Regulatory Relief. Eliminate cumbersome and unnecessary regulations and bureaucracies that hinder economic growth and job creation.

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Our American system of government has a system of checks and balances designed purposefully to prevent any branch of government from acquiring and asserting too much concerted power over the rights of individual citizens. Citizens were also provided with an important check on government, in the form of your right to vote.

CPR would like to encourage its members and readers to exercise this important right in the upcoming Presidential Primary.

Your choice and vote is a very important intellectual property right and will help to determine the level of protection provided for property rights in America during the next 4 years.

Reader responses always welcomed! saviak@proprights.com

To learn more about CPR or to join or support our work to promote and defend private property rights, please visit our website at http://www.proprights.com/, or call Don at 407-481-2289.
Carol Saviak
Executive Director
Coalition for Property Rights
2878 S. Osceola Avenue
Orlando, FL 32806
407-481-2289
http://www.proprights.com/

Original Story at : http://www.proprights.com/newsviews/display_newsletter.cfm?ID=753