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June 24, 2005
A Greater New Castle, a Greater Delaware
When I first learned that the Delaware Air National Guard would be losing its base at the New Castle County Airport due to budget cuts and general force realignment, I thought that the best course of action for the airfield would be a plan to aggressivly expand its capacity. A regional airport situated halfway between Baltimore and Philadelphia International could be a lucrative deal for the city and county of New Castle as well as the state of Delaware. Given the favorable laws for business in the state and the inevitable tax incentives that would entail, I felt certain airlines would be drawn to it. There was only one problem: no room to expand.
The airport is bounded by Route 13 to the East and residential neiborhoods to the North and West. Although not an affluent area, the homes are well kept and no signs of blight can be discerned. It is unlikely that the city would have been able to condemn these lands in order to expand the airport even though it would be for a public use. But now, thanks to the Supreme Courts decision in Kelo v. City of New London, all that has changed. Now that tax revenues are no longer "to be used for the public good" but are a public good unto themselves, it is possible to create an airport that can rival the best in the world and put BWI and PHI to shame. Because the revenue generated for the community by a major airport would easily outmatch those by property taxes, there is no reason to confine the airport expansion to the area around the existing airfield. A whole new state of the art facility can be built over the razed neighborhoods that lie to the east of Route 13. Ladies and gentlemen, I give you my well thought out and comprehensive plan for a greater New Castle: Delaware International Airport!
Airport code: DEI (see how far ahead the thinking for this plan is!) Notice how we keep the county airport as it is in order to accomodate lighter aircraft and also support equipment for it's larger brother. Right there you have major cost saver! Reasonable people may ask what will become of the families and small business owners who will be forced out because of this project. Well, the Supreme Court's decision cleary states, "Fuck 'em!" Besides, I'm sure they will be paid a fair price for their property. After all, why would a developer lowball a condemned property? Business owners will have the option of having a store within one of the terminals; if they can afford it, of course. If they can't, Au Bon Pain or TGI Friday's is just waiting in the wings to scoop up the prime locations. Yes, a Friday's already exists in New Castle, but imagine one in each of the three terminals. By God, it would be grand! Now sure, this plan effectively erases New Castle as any kind of residential city but think of the money and jobs that will be created. That is clearly a greater public good than anything like a nice neighborhood. Besides, most of the people living there are either minorities or poor white trash so in removing them, the city also reduces crime and poverty. You may need to read that again in case you thought your eyes were decieving you. They were not. By building this airport, jobs will be created, revenue will be increased for the city, county, and state; plus crime and poverty will be eradicated. How much public good could you ask for? This plan is indeed so comprehensive, so well thought out, and just so damn wise I'm amazing myself, which is no small feat in of itself. And satisfying my ego is perhaps the greatest public good there is. Eminent Domain: All your home are belong to us! EDIT: I take no credit for the last line, someone else said it first. UPDATE: It has been pointed out to me that my plan does not take full advantage of the Kelo decision. To redress this oversight, I have returned to the drawing board and have come up with an even more comprehensive plan. If there were to be any left after I'm through, I'm sure that a school would have been named after me. I will present my magnum opus for the state of Delaware later this evening.
Posted by Skayhan at June 24, 2005 11:55 AM
Comments
I approve! *BIG RED STAMP*
God Bless America!!!1
Posted by: Dalton at June 25, 2005 05:33 PM
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