Last week I had a chance to sit down with Gubernatorial hopeful Meg Whitman for the better part of an hour. Our interview covered a number of policy areas including global warming/AB32, eminent 
domain, gun control, abortion, and philosophy about government. Because we had the handy FlashReport digital recorder along, we’ll be able to bring you some direct excerpts from the interview.
THIS IS THE SECOND INSTALLMENT OF THIS INTERVIEW. YOU CAN READ PART ONE (ON THE ENVIRONMENT, GLOBAL WARMING, AND AB 32) CLICK HERE.
Because of the location at which we met in Menlo Park on the San Francisco Peninsula,
we’re calling these "Excerpts From The Peet’s Coffee Interview" — and here is a segment where we discuss the topic of eminent domain. From the exchange, you will see that Whitman takes a very conservative position on this subject, and opposes use of eminent domain by governments for economic gain. Enjoy! Flash.
Flash: What is your thought about when eminent domain is appropriate? What are appropriate uses for government’s ability to take property forcibly versus what would be abusive?
**There is more – click the link**
October 7th, 2009 at 12:00 am
Any discussion of property rights should include the burdens foisted on housing providers in rent controlled jurisdictions. Among other things, there is no means testing of tenants. The housing providers are forced to subsidies tenants that, in many cases, have higher incomes than the housing provider. And, annual rental increases are well below the area annual cost of living increases.
October 10th, 2009 at 12:00 am
Asking Whitman pithy questions is amusing…..Me thinks Jon is doing a Katie Couric here…..never met anyone working in a swap meet who knows a nit about public policy!