Eminent Domain

The government's authority to take private property for public use is good in theory and moderation. However, the "general welfare" that it is supposed to promote has been stretched to cover some things that don't do much for the public. While hospitals and roads are necessary, bigger parking lots for a car dealership are not. Then there are things that fall into some kind of gray area, like plans to "improve" neighborhoods by building new houses and moving the former residents out. No matter how you phrase it, this particular use sounds pretty bad, but there are still some legitimate arguments in its favor. Anyway, I feel that emeinent domain should be kept, but with some revisions. For example, to prevent excessive uses like the parking lot example, something could be said about only being used for things that are public services. To me, at least, possibly helping out a business for taxes doesn';t count as a public service. Things like hospitals, schools, and roads do. If this cuts out other uses that are actually necessary, some alternate method of approving specific uses could be found, preferably one that involves the community in the process of approval. Standards for minimum repayment could be set, but this would probably end up failure. In the end, I think eminent domain should remain part of the government's powers, but it should have a few more restrictions placed on its use.