Toggle open close Our Constitution places the ownership of private property at the very heart of our system of liberty.... The result of this business culture has been a prosperity that's unmatched in human history.... Our greatest asset has been our system of social organization, a system that for generations has encouraged constant innovation, individual initiative and the efficient allocation of resources. --Barack Obama, The Audacity of Hope.[1] President-elect Obama, you have been a strong and eloquent defender of property rights and the rule of law, recognizing that they undergird Americans' freedoms and protect us from unjust government actions. These protections may be most important to those of modest means, who are the disproportionate victims of government takings of property. As explained by the NAACP and other civil rights leaders, the poor are also affected more profoundly by takings that upset their communities and ways of life.[2] Any approach to governing that is premised, at least in part, on empathy for the weakest among us must therefore include strong protections for private property.