Who will be the ‘transportation governor’?
Jay Bookman’s column will be updated Thursday, June 18
Sonny Perdue has been governor since January 2002. In all that time, $87 million in federal money has been ready to finance a commuter rail line from Atlanta south to Lovejoy.
But year after year, even as traffic backed up and the economy boomed, Perdue never requested the estimated $15 million in state matching funds needed to make that rail line happen. The money sat there, unused.
So it was kind of surprising last week to see that with just 18 months left as governor, Perdue was up in Washington expressing enthusiasm for bringing intercity high-speed rail service to Georgia. All of a sudden, a state that won’t cough up $15 million for a single 26-mile commuter rail line is ready to invest hundreds of millions as its share in a multibillion-dollar high-speed rail project? I don’t buy it.
Unfortunately, that’s a pretty good case study of what’s wrong with transportation in Georgia: We don’t have a rational, coherent strategy; we don’t have the money to implement a rational, coherent strategy; and we don’t have leadership capable of delivering either a rational strategy or the money to implement it.
We do, however, have a governor’s race coming up. And with the entry of Roy Barnes last week, we now have a pretty good idea of who the major candidates will be (although I suspect the field will shrink a bit once the realities of fund-raising and poll numbers become clearer).
In announcing their candidacies, all the major hopefuls have paid lip service to the issue of transportation. Clearly, they understand how important the issue will be in wooing the votes of metro Atlanta commuters and the campaign donations of the metro business community.
It’s still early —- the candidates haven’t fleshed out their rhetoric with actual detailed proposals. But any serious, full-fledged transportation platform must address three critical areas:
Finance: Until the recession hit, Georgia was one of the fastest-growing states in the country. It was also near the bottom in per capita spending on transportation. That combination had inevitably begun to compromise both our quality of life and our economic competitiveness.
So every candidate for governor should be asked the same questions: Are you willing to accept and even champion passage of a tax increase to finance additional transportation infrastructure? Do you understand that the economic cost of gridlock far exceeds the increased taxes needed to address the problem, and are you willing to lead on that basis?
If a candidate can’t make that commitment, look elsewhere.
Governance: Depending on how you look at it, Georgia’s transportation decision-making system is either broken or performing well. If you believe that insider politics should dictate how limited transportation dollars are distributed, it works pretty well. If you think your tax money should instead be used to build a modern transportation system designed by professionals, it flunks that test.
A new law giving the governor and Legislature additional influence over transportation spending can only compound that problem.
Georgia needs a reformist governor committed to bringing professionalism and transparency to transportation planning. If a candidate can’t convince you that she or he is willing to tackle that problem, vote for someone else.
Policy: Transportation policy in Georgia has never outgrown the anti-urban, pro-sprawl attitudes of 40 years ago. You do see signs of progress —- earlier this year, the chairman of the state Transportation Board acknowledged that the era of major road-building in metro Atlanta has ended, and that transit will dominate investment in the region.
But Charlotte, Dallas, Phoenix, Salt Lake City and other regions are not just talking the talk, they’re taking action. We’re 10 years behind in a race we can’t afford to lose.
A candidate who comprehends that fact, and who gets elected on that message, will have the political power to change things. Find that person.
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172 comments Add your comment
RW-(the original)
June 9th, 2009
10:13 am
Maybe an error occurred while processing his directive.
And in case Jay B fixes his post rendering my comment meaningless here’s an excerpt from the original posting.
The money sat there, unused.
[an error occurred while processing this directive] [an error occurred while processing this directive] [an error occurred while processing this directive]
ty webb
June 9th, 2009
10:14 am
The more pressing question is who is going to be our “Sunday Sales Governor”?
Sonny with a chance of Showers
June 9th, 2009
10:21 am
Let us prey.
I Report :-)/You Whine :-(
June 9th, 2009
10:21 am
How about a secession governor?
Now there’s a vote getter for me.
I Got Mine
June 9th, 2009
10:22 am
Go fish.
Kamchak
June 9th, 2009
10:25 am
The power of Ga. DOT was brought into sharp relief when then Gov. Joe Frank Harris tried to fire Tom Moreland. Tom ignored Joe Frank, and continued doing what he wanted. Ever since the Governor’s office has coveted that power. Sonny finally managed to make a political mess of it.
Handel with Care
June 9th, 2009
10:26 am
I’ll see your carbon credits and raise you a voter ID.
Shawny
June 9th, 2009
10:26 am
Every candidate for Gov in GA pays homage to traffic. It is politics. Kind of like every presidential candidate since Carter talking about how we will some day be free of imported oil, but here we are. blah blah blah. Where’s the beef?
jewcowboy
June 9th, 2009
10:26 am
I Report
/You Whine 
,
Don’t you live in Chicago?
Wyld Byll Hyltnyr
June 9th, 2009
10:26 am
Light rail; interesting that Seattle’s light rail has hard cost of $166 million per mile and, when projected operating deficits are capitalized, the number exceeds $250 millin per mile – THAT IS 1/4 OF A BILLION DOLLARS PER MILE.
Wyld Byll Hyltnyr
June 9th, 2009
10:28 am
Light rail; interesting that an environmental study found that light rail projects, at projected loads, are more damaging to the environment that individuals in SUV.
USinUK
June 9th, 2009
10:29 am
Light rail to Athens or BUST!!!
Wyld Byll Hyltnyr
June 9th, 2009
10:30 am
Light rail, the apple of the liberal eye is a STUPID IDEA.
A metro entity could run buses for a fraction of the interest carry on light rail and traffic could be greatly reduced by taxing (I learnt that idea from Barney F and Chocolate Blunder) overnight parking within the perimter so as to make it impossible fer yer average liberal to own a car.
ty webb
June 9th, 2009
10:31 am
USinUK,
yes!
jewcowboy
June 9th, 2009
10:32 am
Corporate HQ’s are already eschewing Atlanta in favor of places that handle their transportation, such as North Carolina and Virginia. If transportation is not brought under control, the time will come when mainstay Atlanta corporations start looking elsewhere.
When that day comes, the GA “leadership” will scratch its collective head and wonder how they are going to pay for those empty 4 – lane highways in rural GA.
professional skeptic
June 9th, 2009
10:33 am
It doesn’t surprise me in the least that ol’ Gubbner Per-Do-Nothing jumped all over the chance to appear that he’s pro-transit at that high-profile meeting with the Veep. Every single year, he’ll attend a meeting or issue a statement or rustle up a task force or propose a study RE: the issue of transportation. All to APPEAR that he’s pro-transit.
And yet, time after time, year after year, all we get is more paving, more lanes added to the Connector, more traffic congestion and worse air pollution. And, as any idiot could have predicted, Downtown Atlanta is now just as jam-packed with commuter buses as it once was with automobiles.
Empty lip-service, short-term thinking and spineless, gutless inaction. That’s the best you can expect from Republican leadership on the issue of transportation. Unless, of course, you are one of our Georgia’s road-builder puppetmasters that have our Republican politicians on a short leash– THEN you might see some favorable action.
I have witnessed it time and time again over the last decade that I’ve lived in Atlanta. Elect another gutless Republican to the office of Governor, and we’ll just have more of the same. LITERALLY, more traffic, more congestion, more pollution, more time out of our precious lives spent wasted in gridlock traffic.
JLK
June 9th, 2009
10:34 am
Secession is treason. I think we need a new wing at Gitmo for people who speak of it — Ig’nint redneck Governors, especially. I am an American of Southern (confederate) lineage, and am ashamed to still be surrounded by rubes clinging to the nostalgic fantasy that somehow this state will fare better if the United States of America fail to remain unified. (HELLO? Georgia’s at or near the bottom of nearly every good list!)
How many hundreds of thousands of American soldiers died over the centuries to preserve our nation? The word secession spits in their faces, a–holes. “Support the troops,” indeed. Traitors.
jewcowboy
June 9th, 2009
10:35 am
Wyld Byll Hyltnyr,
“Light rail, the apple of the liberal eye is a STUPID IDEA”
For once you and I agree. Light rail only works in dense areas. Light rail to Athens would take forever to get there, and cost almost as much as heavy rail.
TnGelding
June 9th, 2009
10:36 am
We don’t have money for transportation because we’re spending (wasting?) too much on education, $6 million in this “poor” county alone just to transport the children to school. Schooling them at home and telecommuting would greatly relieve the traffic congestion. We’re simply going to have to beome a less mobile society. Mother Earth can’t support our insanity.
ty webb
June 9th, 2009
10:36 am
JLK,
Congrats, you took the bait.
USinUK
June 9th, 2009
10:36 am
I take light rail everyday (granted, it’s a kick-a$$ system in the UK) – nothing beats it! you can read the paper, catch a snooze, listen to your iPod and NOT start the workday with your blood pressure at vein-throbbing-in-the-middle-of-your-forehead levels
getalife
June 9th, 2009
10:37 am
Typical con.
Do nothing.
Fight change.
Pray.
N-GA
June 9th, 2009
10:38 am
If the candidates are asked to increase taxes for anything, they will all have similar responses:
“No, I will not raise property/income/sales (pick one or more) taxes. I will find the money elsewhere.” We will get the money from:
1. cigarette taxes
2. liquor taxes
3. taxes on social services
4. fines from illegal immigrants
5. taxing carpetbaggers
6. anti-secessionist taxes
7. a tax on registered democrat(ic)s
8. poll taxes (but we won’t call it a poll tax)
9. taxes on foreign autos
10. Sara Palin bathing suit posters
11. Nancy Pelosi bathing suit posters
12. Rush Limbaugh bathing suit posters
omg….
Doggone/GA
June 9th, 2009
10:40 am
I can see the need for a better transportation system…but speaking personally: light rail, buses, rental bikes, commuter cars, hybrids…NONE of those are of any use to ME whatsoever. I don’t commute to Atlanta and to take buses from my home to where I work would add at least another hour to an already hour long trip.
I won’t hold my breath waiting for a “commuter system” that will be of any use to me and others like me.
jewcowboy
June 9th, 2009
10:40 am
USinUK,
Light rail does have some great applications, such as highly dense areas. Light rail from Atlanta to Athens does the density to support it. BRT would be a more cost effective and quicker solution.
Mrs. Godzilla
June 9th, 2009
10:40 am
Some interesting reading on the subject:
New Study Confirms That Trains Are Green, But It’s More Fun to Say it Says Something Else
http://yglesias.thinkprogress.org/archives/2009/06/new-study-confirms-that-trains-are-green-but-its-more-fun-to-say-it-says-something-else.php
AmVet
June 9th, 2009
10:42 am
The most pressing question is when do we get to vote on Sunday prostitution?
jewcowboy
June 9th, 2009
10:42 am
Doggone/GA,
“NONE of those are of any use to ME whatsoever.”
Having hundreds of thousands of cars out from in front of you is no use to you? Better air quality for the entire region is no use to you?
You do not have to take transit to benefit from it.
Disney Envy
June 9th, 2009
10:43 am
Heated tube travel. Powered by the one thing that the GOP will never run out of.
jewcowboy
June 9th, 2009
10:43 am
AmVet,
“The most pressing question is when do we get to vote on Sunday prostitution?”
I’m still waiting to get to vote on whether straight people can get married.
ty webb
June 9th, 2009
10:44 am
Amvet,
why just Sunday? why not all week?
DannyX
June 9th, 2009
10:45 am
It doesn’t matter what they say. 6 years ago Sonny sure sounded like he was going to be the transportation governor if elected. In fact one of the best proposals came from Gov Perdue.
He kept promising a high tech traffic light modernization plan that could cut travel time by at least 10%, which would also result in lower fuel costs and lower levels of pollution.
I don’t think the road builders were keen on spending money on transportation that didn’t line their pockets with gold. After his election never again would Perdue mention this plan.Major cities across the nation with traffic problems have implemented hi-tech solutions with great success. Metro-Atlanta is of course left with a traffic light system that ranks with the best 3rd world countries.
In the mean-time Georgia is about to hand of the chairmanship of the transportation board to one of the good ol’ boys that got us into the mess we’re in, Rep. Vance Smith. We also have state Senators and Reps that are competing against each other. Then there is the rest of Georgia that thinks they have an entitlement to 35% of all tax dollars collected in metro-Atlanta.
Our only hope is to out source transportation to another state.
USinUK
June 9th, 2009
10:45 am
J-man –
“BRT would be a more cost effective and quicker solution”
I agree that buses are definitely a solution that would be faster to implement – but, let’s face it, people will only use buses if they see an added benefit. to most people, not driving isn’t the added benefit – getting there faster by not sitting in traffic would be the added benefit, and BRT wouldn’t do that.
jewcowboy
June 9th, 2009
10:46 am
DannyX,
“Our only hope is to out source transportation to another state.”
Can we do that with the Executive and Legislature as well?
RB from Gwinnett
June 9th, 2009
10:47 am
Gee, Jay, I thought the governor was responsible for the entire state of GA, not just Atlanta’s traffic problems. Seems to me most of Georgia really doesn’t care of we have traffic problems here and they sure as heck don’t want to pay for rail in Atlanta when they don’t live here. The governor needs to help get this problem solved, but the Atlanta area and the cities/counties HERE need to figure out a way to work together to solve this collective problem. I don’t think the good people of Tifton care. Nor should they.
Joey
June 9th, 2009
10:48 am
Kamchak: Not pretending to defend Purdue, he is not my man, but ….
More than 12 years passed between the Harris/Moreland confrontation and Purdue’s arrival. As I recall we were already on Moreland’s third successor by the time Sonny was elected.
booger
June 9th, 2009
10:49 am
Light rail to Lovejoy was a stupid idea no matter how much money the Feds. were willing to give. That being said, we are now in an era of spending billions on every stupid idea that comes along, so why not jump on the band wagon.
FrankLeeDarling
June 9th, 2009
10:49 am
A rail from Atlanta to anywhere on the coast of Georgia would be excelent.
The governors race should be real interesting, a chance to get rid of sorry perdue.
Doggone/GA
June 9th, 2009
10:50 am
“Having hundreds of thousands of cars out from in front of you is no use to you? Better air quality for the entire region is no use to you?”
No, it isn’t. My commute is quick, and easy, and only VERY seldom involves traffic tie ups. I’m completely out of the metro area, my county doesn’t even HAVE emmissions inspections.
I’m not against better transportaion systems, I just don’t see any direct benefit to me or others like me. It won’t make my commute any shorter, any faster, or any cleaner.
jewcowboy
June 9th, 2009
10:51 am
USinUK,
“BRT wouldn’t do that.”
Dedicated bus lanes with limited stops, and signal prioritization would solve that problem, and the construction fees would be miniscule in comparison. It would be a cost effective interim solution that would have a cheaper solution quicker, building the system and paving the way for rail.
“people will only use buses if they see an added benefit.”
The GRTA bus system is bursting at the seams, with standing room only on many routes. It’s about changing perception.
Redneck Convert
June 9th, 2009
10:53 am
Well, we need a tax cut, not a increase. Taxes is already sky high. The guvmint steals my money every paycheck.
Anyhow, I’m doing pretty good with the roads up here in Forsyth County. I don’t want a bunch of trains that will bring the thugs and homos from downtown Atlanta up here to steal our property and turn us into Sodom and Gonorrhea.
So I’ll vote for the canadate that promises a big tax cut and no trains and to get us out of the U.S. of A. so we can have the Southren States of America. That’s the Conservative way of doing things. If people want their trains they can just fork over their own money to pay for them.
And that’s why I’m leaning toward this Ray McBerry. Anybody that says the income tax is illegal and we got the right to break off from the U.S. of A. is off to a great start. It’s for sure he’s got the redneck vote sewed up.
Have a good day everybody.
jewcowboy
June 9th, 2009
10:53 am
Doggone/GA,
And everything is about you? What about the projected 7 MILLION people in the mero area by 2030?
USinUK
June 9th, 2009
10:54 am
FrankLD –
the only weakness in your idea – there wouldn’t be the opportunity to stop and have some kick-butt barbecue at the cinder-block joints at the side of the road
(or boiled peanuts!)
find a way to integrate the two and I think you’re onto a winner.
I Report :-)/You Whine :-(
June 9th, 2009
10:55 am
June 9 (Bloomberg) — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said President Barack Obama’s plan to fix the economy through stimulus spending and government intervention to boost companies like General Motors Corp. has “already failed.”
Indeed it has.
Doggone/GA
June 9th, 2009
10:55 am
“It’s about changing perception”
More than that, it’s about having routes that go where you need to go. When I worked in downtown Atlanta, the MARTA train stopped UNDER my building. Which was great. What wasn’t so great was that I still had to drive 30 minutes just to GET to the train station, then I had to wait for the train – coming and going.
The ONLY reasons I rode MARTA at all was that my company subsidized the MARTA pass, and there was – essentially – no affordable parking near my building. On a good day it took me an 2 hours to get to work. If there had been parking I could have done it in less than an hour.
Doggone/GA
June 9th, 2009
10:56 am
“And everything is about you? What about the projected 7 MILLION people in the mero area by 2030?”
Yep, it’s all about me. I’m like the millions of others who DON’T work in Atlanta and don’t live in Atlanta. I would prefer that SOME money be spent to help MY commute. Atlantans aren’t the only ones who commute.
AmVet
June 9th, 2009
10:56 am
ty, great question! LOL!
If I were King (and were a spiteful King) I would immediately issue a new edict/signing statement.
No church going on Sundays. Any other day of the week would be fine.
If you wanted to bring your church home on Sunday, great. But going to church would only be legal Monday through Saturday.
N-GA
June 9th, 2009
10:57 am
I’ve enjoyed riding European high-speed rail and it is worth every penny. It is fast, comfortable, and convenient. Europeans tend to analyze the routes before building. A high-speed rail line between Savannah and Atlanta would likely benefit both cities. But Lovejoy……???
professional skeptic
June 9th, 2009
10:57 am
RB from Gwinnett @ 10:47 am–
Oh, believe me, the Atlanta Metro counties would like very much to have the chance to vote on and self-fund transportation solutions that make sense for our region.
BUT–
The Rethuglicon state senators prevented us from doing it in 2008, and the Rethugs in the state House voted down a similar provision this year.
Just another example of how rural Republicans favor big government. Big, centralized state government: preventing local regions and communities from enacting their own self-funded transit solutions.
jewcowboy
June 9th, 2009
10:57 am
Doggone/GA,
Air quality is state concern, not just an Atlanta concern.
GA state non-attainment areas for air quality standards set by the EPA:
Barrow
Bartow
Carroll
Cherokee
Clayton
Cobb
Coweta
DeKalb
Douglas
Fayette
Forsyth
Fulton
Gwinnett
Hall
Heard
Henry
Newton
Paulding
Putnam
Rockdale
Spalding
Walton
Bibb
Monroe
Catoosa
Walker
Floyd
Frederick von Hindenberg
June 9th, 2009
10:57 am
Need a lift?
I Report :-)/You Whine :-(
June 9th, 2009
10:57 am
According to Long Range Expert Joe Bastardi, areas from the northern Plains into the Northeast will have a “year without a summer.” The jet stream, which is suppressed abnormally south this spring, is also suppressing the number of thunderstorms that can form. The ones that do form in areas of the Ohio Valley and West are forming in places with very cold temperatures, which can lead to more electrified thunderstorms than normal this year.
“Global warming,” eh?
jewcowboy
June 9th, 2009
10:58 am
Doggone/GA,
“My commute is quick, and easy, and only VERY seldom involves traffic tie ups.”
“I would prefer that SOME money be spent to help MY commute”
So why exactly do you need money spent on you?
Doggone/GA
June 9th, 2009
11:02 am
“So why exactly do you need money spent on you?”
And others like me.
jewcowboy
June 9th, 2009
11:03 am
Doggone/GA,
“If there had been parking I could have done it in less than an hour.”
But there was not, so what was the logical choice? How much more would you have appreciated extending rail closer to you and increasing the frequency of service rather that widening a road on your way that you cannot use, because there is no where to park once you got there?
Bosch
June 9th, 2009
11:03 am
Jay,
Seriously, when has any state leader been able to put together a coherent plan for anything? Those yahoos wouldn’t know how to put together a coherent plan for a golf outing.
I Report :-)/You Whine :-(
June 9th, 2009
11:04 am
Obama, however — like some Hollywood actress seeking sympathy and public approbation with her tell-all biography detailing how she was abused by her father — trolls for popularity with America’s adversaries by reciting for the benefit of the world all the sins his country has allegedly committed.
When did this become the duty of the president of the United States?
eewwww
TnGelding
June 9th, 2009
11:04 am
AmVet
June 9th, 2009
10:42 am
NEVER ON SUNDAY! Paid for or otherwise!
jewcowboy
June 9th, 2009
11:04 am
Doggone/GA,
Even if there are thousands like you that have a quick, easy commute with only very seldom traffic problems, why should money be diverted from those who do not have a quick and easy commute?
@@
June 9th, 2009
11:05 am
So everyone is gonna be rapidly transporting themselves to Clayton County?
Well come on down!
Just watch out for all those moving vans on their way out.
We have more than enough “affordable” housing to accomodate. That is, if you don’t mind the musty smells of mildew.
jewcowboy
June 9th, 2009
11:06 am
Bosch,
“Those yahoos wouldn’t know how to put together a coherent plan for a golf outing.”
They do know how to go fishin thanks to Mr. Perdue.
TnGelding
June 9th, 2009
11:07 am
I Report
/You Whine 
June 9th, 2009
10:55 am
YOU AND NEWT SHOULD KNOW ABOUT FAILURE, BUT THE STIMULUS HASN’T EVEN KICKED IN YET. It was never intended to be a cure all, just a little help to ease the pain.
Doggone/GA
June 9th, 2009
11:11 am
“But there was not, so what was the logical choice? How much more would you have appreciated extending rail closer to you and increasing the frequency of service rather that widening a road on your way that you cannot use, because there is no where to park once you got there?”
Well, widening the road made my commute to the rail station faster. I still had to drive to GET TO the MARTA train.
AmVet
June 9th, 2009
11:12 am
Sonny “Dirty Land Deal” Perdue ha been the only Republican governor since Reconstruction.
And in the vein of George W. Bush, has been a cataclysmic clown that has done nothing but reinforce the image of Georgia as just another fake conservative breeding ground and laughingstock.
Sorry. Don’t shoot the messenger…
USinUK
June 9th, 2009
11:15 am
J-man –
I see where you’re coming from – and think you’re idea is definitely the right step forward (and beats the nuttin’ that GA has now) … I just think that rail is the better long-term plan (once you build those bus lanes, you provide a disincentive to build rail)
El Jefe
June 9th, 2009
11:15 am
First thing Atlanta needs is a rapid transit plan. Marta isn’t it.
Expand the present system and make it self supporting without government moneis. In other words, find a company that can do the job and make it a private sector transit company. As long as government funds are involved, Marta will go no where useful.
FrankLeeDarling
June 9th, 2009
11:16 am
Ok doggone/Ga since metro atlanta generates most of the taxes in the state how about we keep it all for ourselves why should in care about the pig farmers of rural ga. you can take your dirt road all the way up to the perimeter.
Doggone/GA
June 9th, 2009
11:16 am
“Even if there are thousands like you that have a quick, easy commute with only very seldom traffic problems, why should money be diverted from those who do not have a quick and easy commute?”
Why should MY money, and that of others like me, be diverted to pay for transportation uses I don’t have access to? I’m not advocating for not improving the transportation system…I’m advocating for making it useful to MORE PEOPLE.
Just like the original MARTA rail plan…which was stupid in the extreme and always has been, because it does not go around the Perimeter – thus leaving out all the neighborhoods and shopping areas outside the Metro Atlanta area.
What it boils down to is: I have no faith whatsoever that ANY “transportaion Governor” will do any better a job than has already been done. Call it cynical if you like…I won’t object.
Doggone/GA
June 9th, 2009
11:17 am
“Ok doggone/Ga since metro atlanta generates most of the taxes in the state how about we keep it all for ourselves why should in care about the pig farmers of rural ga. you can take your dirt road all the way up to the perimeter”
We’ve got dirt roads way out here that are WAY better than some of the streets in Atlanta.
Palin Supporter
June 9th, 2009
11:19 am
TNGelding:
You wrote “BUT THE STIMULUS HASN’T EVEN KICKED IN YET” as though no one thought it would have or should have kicked in yet.
When should we expect the stimulus?
SC Birdflyte
June 9th, 2009
11:22 am
While we’re on the topic of transportation, how about working GA working with SC and NC to increase regional train frequency to Atlanta? Atlanta has one northbound and one southbound train per day. Charlotte has two northbound trains to Raleigh, two northbound to NYC, and one southbound to Atlanta per day. H-3-l-l, Florence, SC has more Amtrak service than Atlanta.
FrankLeeDarling
June 9th, 2009
11:23 am
marta is a private company
@@
June 9th, 2009
11:24 am
N-GA’s But Lovejoy……???
booger’s Light rail to Lovejoy was a stupid idea no matter how much money the Feds. were willing to give.
I’m crushed.
I’ll wait for the enthusiasm I was expecting.
We’ve got a slew of pawn shops, novelty shops (adult entertainment), check-cashing centers, strip malls and clubs…the malls are mostly abandoned, the strip clubs are doing great though. Our school system is on probation. Our car dealerships are shutting down from the north end to the south as are most of our businesses.
What more could people want? It’s paradise!
FrankLeeDarling
June 9th, 2009
11:25 am
Well i can agree with you on that doggone /ga
Normal
June 9th, 2009
11:31 am
So every candidate for governor should be asked the same questions: Are you willing to accept and even champion passage of a tax increase to finance additional transportation infrastructure? Do you understand that the economic cost of gridlock far exceeds the increased taxes needed to address the problem, and are you willing to lead on that basis?
———————
Are there going to be no Republicans in the race then?
USinUK
June 9th, 2009
11:33 am
“When should we expect the stimulus?”
you’re soaking in it.
the very first effect of the stimulus bill’s passage was the stabilization of the equity markets – the S&P has risen steadily, increasing 38.7%, the Dow has risen steadily, increasing 33.5%, the FTSE has increased steadily, increasing 25.1%, the EAFE index has risen steadily, increasing 43.15%.
additionally, last month people saw an increase in their incomes, as well.
the larger effects will take time, but the bill IS making a difference.
Normal
June 9th, 2009
11:35 am
Whiner, try to stay on subjest. You talk about President Obama so much I’m beginning to believe you really are in love with him, but like a 10 year old boy, the only way you know to show your love is to hit him.
Just sayin’…
Fly-On-The-Wall
June 9th, 2009
11:38 am
Did anyone notice if IR/YW said anything today? Ok, didn’t think so.
Gandalf, the White! (!)
June 9th, 2009
11:44 am
No one rides MARTA, at least no one who can avoid it. No one will ride light rail. As long as Americans can afford to drive they will. No light rail makes money, they are tax payers nightmares, only liberal idiots advocate light rail. It’s a pipedream that will not come to pass. Even the most used light rail in the country, the NYC subway loses money. Dumb ideal for dumb people.
Sam
June 9th, 2009
11:46 am
Anybody but Oxendine!
Gandalf, the White! (!)
June 9th, 2009
11:46 am
Normal: Barry, like you is a fool who likes to feel good by the way he thinks. He, like you can never accomplish anything worthwhile because you have a mental disease (Liberalism is a mental disorder). just sayin…
Chris Salzmann
June 9th, 2009
11:47 am
I Report
/You Whine 
June 9th, 2009 10:55 am SAID: June 9 (Bloomberg) — Former House Speaker Newt Gingrich said President Barack Obama’s plan to fix the economy through stimulus spending and government intervention to boost companies like General Motors Corp. has “already failed.”
Indeed it has.
CHRIS SAYS: Wow!!! Look everyone: Newt, our own homegrown economic EXPERT has rendered his VERDICT!!! And the ditto heads AGREE!!!!
ROFLMAO………………Thanks for the laughs.
On a serious note, anyone with any sense knows that a national economy is more like a super tanker and not a tricycle that you can turn around on a dime. In fact, it takes a super tanker several miles to effect a turn. Heck, George Bush was handed a surplus and it even took him a while to run the economy off the cliff.
BUT…..who am I to say. NEWT HAS RENDERED HIS VERDICT!!!!!!!!
Gandalf, the White! (!)
June 9th, 2009
11:47 am
FRANK! “marta is a private company” THAT LOSES MONEY!
USinUK
June 9th, 2009
11:48 am
GtG –
when I lived and worked in ATL, I was able to park and ride with Marta everyday – beat the heck out of traffic and paying out the wazzoo to park near the capitol!
meanwhile … do a youtube search and see if you can find something about Ross Kemp and pirates … Sky1 is doing a 3-part series on piracy off the Somalian coast, in the China sea and somewhere else – thought you might find it interesting. the first part aired last night – wasn’t bad – definitely showed what the coalition navies are up against.
DB, Gwinnettian
June 9th, 2009
11:51 am
How about a governor with an R after his name?
Now there’s a vote getter for me.
Fixed Andy’s typo.
Chris Salzmann
June 9th, 2009
11:53 am
Gandalf, the White! (!) June 9th, 2009 11:44 am SAID: No one rides MARTA, at least no one who can avoid it. No one will ride light rail. As long as Americans can afford to drive they will.
CHRIS SAYS: Obviously, this idiot has never gotten on a MARTA train. Try catching a train from the Buckhead/Sandy Springs/Lenox station in the morning or going back there in the afternoon. Afford? Its more about convenience. Do I want to face the gridlock on GA400 and then pay $90 every month to park at work or take the train??? But then the clueless would rather sit in gridlock for a couple of hours everyday.
AmVet
June 9th, 2009
11:54 am
Fake wizard, “No one rides MARTA…”
You’re nuts.
A $10 cab ride and I’m on the train in Doraville.
45 hassle-free minutes later I’m walking up to the ticketing counter.
I haven’t driven to the airport and been extorted for parking in many years…
And if the damn thing followed the Northern Arc and up into Cobb and Gwinnett, you’d need people to beat the riders off the trains.
But the “conservative” crackers in Cobb and Duluth are still living in Jim Crow town…
N.J,
June 9th, 2009
11:54 am
The United States has always taken “temporary” solutions without planning for the long term. Which is why we dont make much anymore, and export less. We went with roads and private cars, Europe went with mass transit in any number of forms.Though now they buy cars at a higher rate, they alternatives were there first.
And so rather than make our own cars, Americans are all for letting the last of its major manufacturing industries collapse. With no alternative but buying from someone else. Which is a bad idea in the long run. If the petroleum producing countries have us by the short hairs because we need their petroleum, the automobile creates that need, and soon, we will be dependent on foreign powers for those as well. Bad long term planning to ensure a lot of short term profits. No looking ahead at all.
Gandalf, the White! (!)
June 9th, 2009
11:54 am
We like to call MARTA a “public authority”, but you can call it anything you like. Fascism is fascism, anyway you look at it, the Bard on Avon said “What’s in a name? that which we call a rose, By any other name would smell as sweet” He was good at calling a Spade a Spade!
I rule Andy
June 9th, 2009
11:57 am
Why don’t we use existing tax money for this instead of raising taxes? I think the GA 400 toll should’ve expired by now, since they won’t stop collecting it, they should use that for transportation initiatives…
getalife
June 9th, 2009
11:58 am
Hot Air’s registration is open if you want to have fun with cons.
http://hotair.com/archives/2009/06/09/comment-registration-open/
They are still talking about me over there. LOL.
Doggone/GA
June 9th, 2009
11:59 am
“And if the damn thing followed the Northern Arc and up into Cobb and Gwinnett, you’d need people to beat the riders off the trains”
Yes you would. Just check the Doraville station sometime…and the license plates on the cars there. But SOMEONE would have to reassure the fear-mongers in Gwinnett that bring MARTA won’t bring a flood of “those people from the hood” into THEIR county. That’s why it keeps getting voted down.
S GA dem
June 9th, 2009
12:00 pm
Those are fine questions to ask of anyone who’s a candidate for Governor, but the first question should be, has to be, “Are you one of the morons who wants Georgia to secede from the United States of America?” –
And twentyfirst century transportation?? In Georgia?? As much as I’d like to it happen, I’m pretty sure it ain’t.
Chris Salzmann
June 9th, 2009
12:00 pm
Gandalf, the White! (!) June 9th, 2009 11:47 am SAID: FRANK! “marta is a private company” THAT LOSES MONEY!
CHRIS SAYS: It makes money but is required, by law, to keep the majority of its revenue in reserve which is why its in bad shape. MARTA, in fact, is the only mass transit system in the civilized world that is NOT subsidized by state/federal government. Meanwhile, you have 5 lanes of interstate in both directions outside of cities in rural Georgia. Their rush hours are a sight to behold: 6 cars in either direction!
S GA dem
June 9th, 2009
12:04 pm
Gandalf, you must the grand wizard of your trailer park. Nice name.
BDAtlanta
June 9th, 2009
12:05 pm
I wonder if the banks returning the taxpayer money will pay some interest on it? At least 6-months worth?
Yeah, right
Gandalf, the White! (!)
June 9th, 2009
12:06 pm
Poor Chris can’t afford to park at work! I bet your company even subsidizes your MARTA Pass, now don’t they! So, who’s the idiot? Me driving my Honda and getting 35mpg or you standing next to that stinky guy! I don’t like the smell of urine on my way to work thank you!
AMVET an occasional trip to the airport is nice. How many a years? Think about the 1% MARTA special sales tax you pay each year, how much do you spend in the Metro Area each year? 50,000? Your $500 would buy a lot of days parking at the Airport!
Please keep your light rail out of Gwinnett thank you very much! Those of us who are lazy will continue to take the Gwinnett bus to MARTA and make the free transfer!
Dave R.
June 9th, 2009
12:06 pm
The problem is that Bookman and others think that not having high-speed rail, or buses or an efficient MARTA system is considered a lack of a coherent transportation strategy, when it couldn’t be further from the truth.
There are maybe two rail systems in the country that are even close to paying their own way: New York City and Boston, and even then, both burn more environmentally harmful enegry sources to operate than autos (coal-fired plants to generate electricity). Yet the MARTA model is what Government lovers wish to expand, even if it loses it’s shirt each and every year. Great idea.
Of course, then you get the Bookman’s of the world wanting more money to fix our transportation problems, when it isn’t the amount of money that is the problem. It is the ALLOCATION of the money that is.
Ever drive in South Georgia? They have some of the best 2+2 lane highways in the state, with nary a car on them at any time of day. That is because the state legislature, years ago, decided that it was best to take 80% of all the transportation money and evenly divide it between the Congressional districts, and leave 20% to target areas of opportunity. Basically, the Socialist model of what’s your’s is mine because we all have to be equal.
So now you get great, virtually unused roads in rural areas, and you get traffic gridlock in the metro area.
The solution to this lies with the LEGISLATURE. Write them and have them change the formula.
No new taxes needed. Just better use of what we have.
Doggone/GA
June 9th, 2009
12:09 pm
“I don’t like the smell of urine on my way to work thank you! ”
How long has it been since the last time you actually got on a MARTA train? When I did ride it, it was always clean and fresh. Yeah, idiots would drop things on the carpet some, but even in the afternoon…when I rode it to work, and after midnight…when I went home…there was never any urine smell.
Now the STATIONS, that’s a different matter.
DB, Gwinnettian
June 9th, 2009
12:11 pm
SOMEONE would have to reassure the fear-mongers in Gwinnett that bring MARTA won’t bring a flood of “those people from the hood” into THEIR county.
Actually, they’re also deathly afraid of their kids having easy access to the unGodly activities available to them via rail. Much better to have young, inexperienced drivers piloting their own vehicles.
Sure, they’re much more likely to die or be maimed that way, but at least none of The Gai or that jungle music’s gonna rub off.
(I exaggerate by as much as 15% here.)