PROPERTY RIGHTS MEAN NOTHING IN AMERICA ANYMORE

H/T SHTF

What in the hell is the matter with the governments in this country. Why can't they just leave us all well enough alone? This guy lives in a rural area and I'd be willing to bet that his neighbors don't care about how he lives. The place looks neat enough and there aren't any signs of meth labs or junk yards, the two major nuisances out here in the country.

The problem for this guy is that he's not lining the pockets of the county by improving his property so they can charge more taxes. He's not paying electricians and plumbers and carpenters to do work he doesn't want or need done. He's just living as cheaply and honestly as he can.

And he's not following the rules some elected official decided he should follow. And that just bugs the hell out of the kind of people that run for office, the power grubbing busy body types that are generally attracted to such an enterprise.

Here's an example for you. Pacific, Mo., a town about 10 miles from where I live has decided that its resident should be forced to clean up their property and paint up their houses.

Now I suppose that the idea might have some merit. Pacific is not exactly the neatest town in the world. It's residents are mostly working class, making their living at the Chrysler plant, construction and manufacturing jobs, a good many of which were related to that same Chrysler plant.

Well, as our economy imploded the Chrysler plant was shut down and is in the process of being demolished and the construction business is pretty much in a state of depression throughout the St. Louis area. The high paying manufacturing jobs that were part of the supply chain for Chrysler have disappeared and the ones that are left are more of the $8-$14 an hour type.

Needless to say, a lot of people in Pacific aren't exactly rollin' in the dough. So the city, in all its wisdom decided that this would be the perfect time to force, not persuade, the citizens of their community to come up with money better spent to pay the light bill and instead spend it on paint and flowers for their houses. And when I say force I do mean force.

Local blogger B.J. Lawrence has posted an article on her website describing a bill that will brought before the Board of Alderman on December 21, sponsored by Mayor Herb Adams and supported by the Missouri Municipal League that will allow the City Court to issue Administrative Warrants that would allow code enforcement officers, police officers and even the City Attorney to apply for a warrant to enter private property in search of code violations without the owners approval.

If someone is breaking the law, a real law like cooking meth or running a prostitution ring out of the house, well then fine. That could be endangering someone else's life. But if you don't have batteries in a smoke detector or your plumbing isn't exactly right or maybe the paint's peeling on the walls? Really? The law can invade my property simply because I'm not living up to someone else's standards for beauty?

So let's say I don't have a job and I can't afford a couple grand in plumbing repairs. Now what? Are you going to get a warrant when I won't let you in my house, arrest me or give me a citation, haul my broke ass to court, fine me and tell me I have to get the repairs done or else? OR ELSE WHAT??!! Am I going to go to jail because you don't like the way I built a set of stairs out the back door and I really need to spend my money on food, not wood?.

WHAT IN THE HELL IS WRONG WITH THESE DAMNED POLITICIANS!!!???

They have got to get this through their thick heads, one way or the other. We know they have jobs because we're paying 'em money we don't have to come and harass us along with, in many cases, paying for their retirements to live like kings while we spend our golden years greeting people at Walmart. The thing they need to understand, and they need to figure this out quick; somebody is going to get shot if they keep pushing! And it's likely to be one of them.

This isn't a threat and I don't want to see it happen but it will because it already has. Just look at the school board shooting in Florida this week or the killings in Kirkwood City Hall a few years back.

This country is in a financial meltdown yet the politicians from D.C. to Pacific just don't see it. They had better open their eyes to reality before they open them to a gun barrel.