Sen. Rand Paul said at a recent Iowa town hall meeting that as president he would never let the government "take away private property and give it to somebody else" through eminent domain. The Kentucky senator said while he is in favor of creating energy independence by building domestic pipelines, he is opposed to any land being taken from private property owners without proper compensation.
"One of the worst powers, one of the most egregious powers you can give a government is the power to take your property," he said. "And we have a government that's grown too large in this sense." Paul said while he supported the Keystone XL pipeline, he said he voted against a bill that would allow the use of eminent domain to gain easements.
"I don't think it's a good idea to use eminent domain for private enterprises," Paul said. "Here in Iowa, (the Bakken pipeline) would have to go through a utility commission, but if I were on the utility commission I would vote that it doesn't sound like it's a utility to me, it sounds like it's a private enterprise."
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