A modest proposal to transform HOPE
The deficit facing Gov.-elect Nathan Deal and the state Legislature is approaching $2 billion, and Deal is already warning that education budgets will once again be slashed. More teacher furloughs, more layoffs, more crowded classrooms, shorter school years … the list of impacts is lengthy and troublesome.
In the meantime, Deal is also insisting that the state corporate income tax — which generates $600 million a year — be eliminated to make the state more “business-friendly.” Yeah, that would require still more cuts in education, but hey, it’s all about jobs, you know.
In addition, the state tax-reform commission is expected to propose lowering the income tax and increasing the state’s reliance on sales-tax revenue, a move designed to shift still more of the tax burden onto the working and middle class and away from the wealthy. True, we’re already a low-tax state, but we ought to do anything we can do to help out the real producers.
But you know what I’m thinking? I’m thinking we should abandon the half measures and the pretending and really go for it. Our leaders should admit to the world and their constituents what they really think about the state of Georgia and its people, and I know just the way to do it.
Take the lottery-funded HOPE scholarship, which generates almost $1 billion for college tuition and pre-kindergarten programs. I mean that literally: Let’s take it.
Let’s stop wasting all that money on silly efforts to raise education levels in Georgia — we all know that’s hopeless anyway — and instead use it on things that really matter. Let’s impress them with just how far down this line we’re really willing to go.
So, if you’re a CEO and you bring 50 jobs to Georgia, we’ll cut you a personal check for $1 million. Five hundred jobs will net you $10 million deposited in the bank account of your choosing. With a billion dollars in the kitty, we could bring an additional 50,000 jobs to Georgia without breaking a sweat.
We could rename the program Helping Out Private Enterprise, or HOPE. It would be a public-private partnership that no other state could match. Think of the growth our new HOPE would bring! Think of the prosperity! It would be a marvel, I tell ya!
– Jay Bookman
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224 comments Add your comment
DWTOO
December 15th, 2010
1:10 pm
Sounds good to me. No, not really. Funds spent on education are an investment and if we continue to short change it for corporate tax breaks we won’t have the educated workforce needed in the future.
jm
December 15th, 2010
1:14 pm
I’m all for getting rid of the corporate and income tax rates and spreading the sales tax over a much larger base, inclusive of services. Would make sense and help us compete economically.
Taxes won’t matter if there aren’t any jobs.
But HOPE needs real reform. The last discussions I’ve heard from those in the legislature are stupid and fiddling at the margins. Shocker…..
jm
December 15th, 2010
1:16 pm
Its frustrating that Georgia isn’t leading. There are real opportunities to employ conservative principles and help people. And Georgia isn’t doing that in the most intelligent manner….
(ala HOPE, savings accounts, health care, tax policy, etc.)
atltrafficqueen
December 15th, 2010
1:19 pm
Jay, when I read the title, I thought you were going to say something about eating the pre-k kids and college students instead of giving them HOPE! LOL
Matti
December 15th, 2010
1:22 pm
Christ. How will you feel if Gov. Crooked Deal takes you up on your proposal, Mr. Bookman? It’s not like that idea is too far-fetched for them!
barking frog
December 15th, 2010
1:24 pm
The only scholarships that should be given are
athletics (cheerleaders included). Academics
have been replaced by high speed internet.
Lottery money is sin money and should be
spent on sinners.
jm
December 15th, 2010
1:24 pm
Fix #1 – Make HOPE need based again, and tie it to a combination of SAT and GPA, not just GPA.
Fix #2 – create mandatory savings accounts for every worker in GA, since SS is going down the toilet. Worker contributions would rise from 1% initially to 10% in 15 years. If SS was converted to a private savings plan, this would go away.
Fix #3 – Get rid of corp and inc taxes as proposed. But spread sales taxes over all goods and services, no exemptions
Fix #4 – Take 20% of HOPE funds and allocate them for special “bonuses” for STEM majors.
Fix #5 – Provide tax rebates for anyone that installs rainwater cistern systems for their home, since AL and FL hate us.
Fix #6 – Phase in vouchers, but only for schools with blind admissions that submit to state testing and accept that funding can be yanked if students perform poorly.
Fix #7 – Alternative to 6, ramp up Charter Schools big time.
Fix #8 – Build a massive new docking system somewhere on the Georgia Coast with a naturally deeper bay, instead of dredging the Savannah River deeper and deeper.
Fix #0 – Have the State take over MARTA. Expand rail transit around Atlanta, and then the state.
That would get the ball rolling. Back to work instead of lala land.
Jay
December 15th, 2010
1:25 pm
I don’t know why they wouldn’t, Matti.
Union
December 15th, 2010
1:25 pm
georgia leads the nation in ppl that dont graduate after starting college.. least we are number one in something.. so i guess my question is this.. out of all these kids that dont complete school that we spent money on.. how bout we go after them for the money back?
Union
December 15th, 2010
1:27 pm
fix #11.. turn ATL over to someone that knew what they are doing.. instead of buddy contracts for relatives that cost us billions..
jm
December 15th, 2010
1:29 pm
Union 1:27 – current mayor doesn’t play that game. Campbell obviously did….
ROBOCOP
December 15th, 2010
1:31 pm
Deal’s proposals to handle the deficit and corporate tax rates is typical of a so-called conservative’s view of what’s needed. We need to keep Georgia education right at the bottom of the heap — where it’s been for decades and decades, and take care of those who need help the least. Funny how that works. If you’re living at the poverty line and need a hand up, you get accused by the Right of being a lazy slacker who is a parasite on the taxpayer. However, if you’re already wealthy and really don’t need the help, you’re going to get it whether you need or want it at all. These folks are not viewed as slackers by the Right because they’re part of “the special group,” the “in crowd.”
Why don’t these Republican cowards just bite the bullet and tell us they want to raise taxes. That would be far more honest and more palatable than making up these BS stories about improving Georgia’s climate for corporate Anmerica. About the only thing left to do to make us more attractive to corporate America would be to force working people to work for nothing… a sort of return to a previous form of corporate welfare called slavery. We had money to buy half of our interest back for Oaky Woods and we had money to pay for $onny’s ridiculously stupid “Go Fish” program, and we had money to give more companies more tax credits and tax exemtptions (and not providing any jobs for it), but we don’t have money for educating our children.
Republicans have managed to turn the clock back 50 years on us. What’s amazing to me is how eager some very stupid Georgians are to agree to this.
Adam
December 15th, 2010
1:31 pm
No comment. Seriously.
barking frog
December 15th, 2010
1:33 pm
A simpler solution would be to mandate the use of
horse power. No more cars, trains or planes so
no more airports, railroads or highways. Full
employment picking up horse poop instead
of flinging bull poop on the internet.
jm
December 15th, 2010
1:35 pm
Robocop – on the bright side, to edit an old saying, “at least they’ll be our rich people”. I’d prefer rich Americans to rich Chinese.
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
December 15th, 2010
1:36 pm
Well, Bookman finally makes some sense. I was about to give up on him. You got to think, what’s more important, having a bunch of colledge-educated eggheads running around without jobs, or having all kind of jobs? Me, I got enough school after my senior year in the 5th grade. It was time to make some real money, seeing as how the school desk was way too small for a guy 16 years old. Just look at the evidence on this blog. We got bunches of people that’s been to colledge and can’t read or write any better than me.
Anyhow, I know people that need a job bad. My buddy Joe Bill, for instance. He’s been out of work for almost two years and living out there on that old farm. And he needs some real money. He’s getting dunned by hospitles and Drs. every day for the bills he run up after he fell off of the roof at his place a few months ago. He don’t have insurance and he refuses to buy any. Says nobody’s going to make him do it. Says it’s the public’s job to take care of things like his doctoring. Now they’re threatening to take his property. The most sacred thing a guy can have, and they want to take it. A job would bring in some income that would keep the bill collectors at bay.
Besides, we got enough educated idiots that do stuff that don’t do much for anybody. Some of them even work for newspapers. We could sure use that HOPE money to bring some jobs to GA.
Have a good p.m. everybody.
RB from Gwinnett
December 15th, 2010
1:37 pm
I find it interesting they hold the lottery up as a beacon to fix the “last in education” problem in Georgia, yet the money goes to college education and pre K, neither of which has any meaningful effect on the high school SAT scores which are used to determine the “last in education” ranking.
Union
December 15th, 2010
1:38 pm
jm.. thats good news about reed. i still think they should look at privatizing the airport. we will be paying for years to come over some of those contracts they put in place a few years ago.
we could use the extra money from the 400 tolls? or did we already blow that somewhere?
Common Sense isn't very Common
December 15th, 2010
1:39 pm
Ok. Give me the 10 million and I promise to really really create jobs this time.
I know I promised since 2003 to create jobs, but I had my fingers crossed.
This time if you give me the ten million, As I am flying to the airport in my new helicopter you will feel the trickle.
DebbieDoRight
December 15th, 2010
1:39 pm
Matti – comment for you downstairs.
jm: Fix #1 – Make HOPE need based again, and tie it to a combination of SAT and GPA, not just GPA.
jm when the Lotto was created, back in the 90s(?), it was with the provisional knowledge that ALL funds from the lotto (besides salaries, etc.) were to go to education. With a billion + dollars in the lotto now, Education should NOT be hurting in georgia. The reason it is hurting is because the politicians have been raiding the lotto/education fund and using the money for their pet projects (read – fish preserve).
Fix #2 – create mandatory savings accounts for every worker in GA, since SS is going down the toilet. Worker contributions would rise from 1% initially to 10% in 15 years. If SS was converted to a private savings plan, this would go away.
Hmmm that sounds “almost” like you’re proposing a healthcare-type bill like the Dems……… Weren’t the tea party people opposed to government mandates such as that? Just asking…….
Jay: We could rename the program Helping Out Private Enterprise, or HOPE. It would be a public-private partnership that no other state could match. Think of the growth our new HOPE would bring! Think of the prosperity! It would be a marvel, I tell ya!
Too funny!!!
Jimmy62
December 15th, 2010
1:40 pm
Sounds a lot like Obama’s stimulus. Let’s take tons of money from one place, and spend tons of it to create like 10 jobs!
Mick
December 15th, 2010
1:41 pm
Ever notice that in georgia and florida what’s the first item brought up for cuts? Why its education of course, as if that’s not the single most important responsibility of the state. All these many years we have survived but now education is the number one target on the chopping block. Yet, the people wonder why we are so far behind….
Kamchak
December 15th, 2010
1:43 pm
Fix #3 – Get rid of corp and inc taxes as proposed. But spread sales taxes over all goods and services, no exemptions
Good luck getting 14 year old girls to fork over any part of their baby-sitting money
what if
December 15th, 2010
1:44 pm
Transferring revenue generation from income to sales puts the revenue burden directly on those who can afford it least, while creating an enormous tax break for those who can in fact most afford the tax burden. Barnum was certainly right. You really can fool just about everybody all the time. Was @Robocop the only one in here who has the cognitive capacity to figure this out?
Jay has a plan. Those ivory tower eggheads who have been getting handouts to coddle all those worthless kids all these years shouldn’t be trusted anyway, and everybody knows all that research about early childhood ed is a lie anyway. Take those bux and just hand ‘em over to Deal’s hunting buddies. They have the knowhow to keep Georgia on the bottom.
Union
December 15th, 2010
1:47 pm
@ Mick – ga & fl are not the only places to do this.. in lausd they have laid off over 6000 people this year alone.
@ kam.. stop hanging around 14 yr old girls.
TaxPayer
December 15th, 2010
1:47 pm
That’s the spirit, Jay.
Five hundred jobs will net you $10 million deposited in the bank account of your choosing.
I’m gettin’ kinda partial to Swiss bank accounts myself.
Kamchak
December 15th, 2010
1:48 pm
Was @Robocop the only one in here who has the cognitive capacity to figure this out?
Good heavens no, the FairTax horse has been beaten countless times.
jm
December 15th, 2010
1:49 pm
Union 1:38 – no doubt the international terminal was a poorly executed, and contracted, idea. But there aren’t exactly buyers for an airport that is worth 10’s of Billions of dollars. Literally. So its going to stay an ATL entity.
Well, the 400 tolls is kind of a complicated story. The state 400 people kind of screwed Buckhead and some other spots when they didn’t finish the construction of the I-85 interchange. So it still needs to be finished. I obviously don’t, and couldn’t, know the whole story. You do have to wonder if the State DOT people are idiots, or didn’t finish the project so they’d have an excuse to extend the tolls. Either way, the state gov’t wasn’t, and isn’t, serving us terribly well…..
jm
December 15th, 2010
1:50 pm
DDR “The reason it is hurting is because the politicians have been raiding the lotto/education fund and using the money for their pet projects (read – fish preserve).”
Not true. But they have messed up HOPE….
Mick
December 15th, 2010
1:50 pm
union
Where is lausd?
Ragnar Danneskjöld
December 15th, 2010
1:51 pm
Maybe, after seeing the results of 10 years of HOPE, it is time to pull the plug on HOPE entirely. While I recognize the virtues of setting up a welfare program to suburban white and Asian kids, to be funded almost entirely by HOPEless black denizens of the inner city, there is also a down-side. I cannot think what it is, but I know there must be one.
TaxPayer
December 15th, 2010
1:52 pm
Hey, if you expect to pull them jobs back here from Ireland, the number to beat today is 12.5%. Once everybody has brought their corporate tax rate down to zero in order to be attractive to business, then we can start on the next round of cuts to stay competitive. It’s the Republican way.
DannyX
December 15th, 2010
1:52 pm
“jm.. thats good news about reed. i still think they should look at privatizing the airport. ”
The airport was on Sonny’s do list but he ran out of time. He had plans to start his own airline after leaving office, “Sonny Airlines.” He’s pretty happy with his Ports Authority loot. And his mysterious loans, Sonny highways, Sonny tax breaks and Sonny land deals.
Deal will probably make a run for the airport. The airport has “no-bid Deal” written all over it.
Btw, this will be a big week for Georgia Power. More goodies headed their way. Gotta love a “free market” company that’s allowed to charge its customers for future power plants. Investors? Who needs them? Oh yeah, someone has to be there to take in their guaranteed, almost 13% profit.
In Georgia Republican politics there is always HOPE for a short skirted lobbyist, or a deaf school children fund.
Happy face lifts! And HOPEy for all.
jm
December 15th, 2010
1:53 pm
Ragnar 1:51
I still laughed. But I may have to pull a “Boehner” about it later.
detritusUSA
December 15th, 2010
1:53 pm
Wonderful sarcasm! Uh, it really was sarcasm, wasn’t it?
Union
December 15th, 2010
1:55 pm
@ mick.. la unified school district..
@ jm.. not buy the airport.. but run the airports day to day including contracts, etc. there was a study several years ago that showed the revenue generated by the privatization of the airport could bring in so much money that property taxes could have been eliminated for the city of atlanta residents.
@jay.. do you remember when all of those studies were done? you have better search abilities than us.. every time i find something.. it wants me to buy it from the ajc archives.
stands for decibels
December 15th, 2010
1:56 pm
a welfare program to suburban white and Asian kids, to be funded almost entirely by HOPEless black denizens of the inner city
Rags, sometimes you’re almost tolerable.
deegee
December 15th, 2010
1:56 pm
Let’s create jobs that no one educated in Georgia is qualified to fill.
Has anyone else detected “I’m in over my head” in Nathan Steal’s body language? I’ll bet he gets advice before he takes a whiz in the morning.
stands for decibels
December 15th, 2010
1:58 pm
If it’s been awhile since you’ve read it…the original version of Jay’s piece.
DebbieDoRight
December 15th, 2010
2:00 pm
jm if the politicians didn’t raid the money from HOPE, then HOW did they “mess it up”? Just asking…….
Union
December 15th, 2010
2:00 pm
taxpayer.. ireland is an example of how well it worked.. revenues shot up.. the govt spending when into frenzy mode.. when the global economy started to decline.. so did the revenue.. what did the irish govt do? decrease spending? cut back? no.. they spent even more money..
http://www.cato-at-liberty.org/dont-blame-irelands-mess-on-low-corporate-tax-rates/
DebbieDoRight
December 15th, 2010
2:00 pm
that should be raid the “coffers” of HOPE.
Lil' Barry Bailout
December 15th, 2010
2:01 pm
Wow, all that loathing of people who aren’t like him finally came spewing out of Jay.
JDW
December 15th, 2010
2:01 pm
@jm…”Either way, the state gov’t wasn’t, and isn’t, serving us terribly well…..”
AMEN, AMEN and AMEN
However Sonny made a bundle and Deal is just itching for his share.
#1 Foxy Lady
December 15th, 2010
2:01 pm
To make up for the decades of racists exclusion from state-supported Georgia Universities followed by decades of overt white favoritism through “legacy” admissions policies, the HOPE scholarship should go exclusively to African-American students.
DebbieDoRight
December 15th, 2010
2:05 pm
Union: @ jm.. not buy the airport.. but run the airports day to day including contracts, etc. there was a study several years ago that showed the revenue generated by the privatization of the airport could bring in so much money that property taxes could have been eliminated for the city of atlanta residents
Funny!! Unfortunately, the money from Fulton County (where the airport predominantly sits) is dispersed to every rural county in the state. It was amazing to me when Sandy Springs wanted to suceede from Fulton County because of taxes, etc.; yet no one mentioned the fact that their taxes are so high because the money made from them help fund the poorer regions of the state. But, shhhhhhh, don’t tell anyone…….I think that’s supposed to be a big secret…………
JDW
December 15th, 2010
2:05 pm
Ragnar Danneskjöld
December 15th, 2010
1:51 pm
“Maybe, after seeing the results of 10 years of HOPE, it is time to pull the plug on HOPE entirely. While I recognize the virtues of setting up a welfare program to suburban white and Asian kids, to be funded almost entirely by HOPEless black denizens of the inner city, there is also a down-side. I cannot think what it is, but I know there must be one.”
Never thought of it that way but true enough.
Jack
December 15th, 2010
2:05 pm
We could do this: We could discourage industries from locating in Georgia. According to liberals, that’d just about fix everything.
jm
December 15th, 2010
2:06 pm
DDR 2:00 – they didn’t raid the funds. They expanded the program. There used to be a needs based metric that disappeared. Once everyone could get it, it was bound to drive up tuition costs, driving up the funds to be soaked out of HOPE. It’s a little complicated, but the short story is, they blew it up by basically enabling almost anyone to get HOPE.
Mick
December 15th, 2010
2:09 pm
For your info: (off topic)
Here’s a holiday surprise that only the dictionary can provide. Do you find the word “Xmas,” as an abbreviation for Christmas, offensive? Many people do.
You won’t find Xmas in church songbooks or even on many greeting cards. Xmas is popularly associated with a trend towards materialism, and sometimes the target of people who decry the emergence of general “holiday” observance instead of particular cultural and religious ritual.
But the history of the word “Xmas” is actually more respectable — and fascinating — than you might suspect.
First of all, the abbreviation predates by centuries its use in gaudy advertisements. It was first used in the mid 1500s.
X is the Greek letter “chi,” the initial letter in the word Χριστός. And here’s the kicker: Χριστός means “Christ.” X has been an acceptable representation of the word “Christ” for hundreds of years. This device is known as a Christogram.
The “mas” in Xmas is the Old English word for “mass.” The thought-provoking etymology of “mass” can be found here.
In the same vein, the dignified terms “Xpian” and “Xtian” have been used in place of the word “Christian.”
As lovers of the alphabet, we are transfixed by the flexibility of “X.” The same letter can represent the sacred, the profane (“rated X”), and the unknown (“X-ray.”) What does the “X” in Xbox stand for?
Guy Incognito
December 15th, 2010
2:09 pm
Am I the only one who has a chocolate fantasy involving #1 Foxy Lady?
Mick
December 15th, 2010
2:09 pm
Merry Xmas all!!!
Granny Godzilla
December 15th, 2010
2:12 pm
Jay
So proud to have introduced the concept of incentivising job creation on this blog a while back.
USMC dawg
December 15th, 2010
2:12 pm
“To make up for the decades of racists exclusion from state-supported Georgia Universities followed by decades of overt white favoritism through “legacy” admissions policies, the HOPE scholarship should go exclusively to African-American students.”-#1FoxyLady
Racism Much?
DannyX
December 15th, 2010
2:13 pm
Bill Campbell’s biggest mistake was not being a white Republican.
Or maybe the electorate has changed that much in 9 years. I think Campbell should switch parties and run for Governor in 4 years. He has a proven track record of corruption. He may not be able to keep up with Sonny and Deal, but I’m sure he would make all Republicans very proud.
Bill Campbell (R)…For Governor!
jm
December 15th, 2010
2:13 pm
DannyX – LOL that first line was good
jm
December 15th, 2010
2:15 pm
DannyX – you should meet Bada. Unless you are Bada.
TaxPayer
December 15th, 2010
2:15 pm
Union,
rather than get into a meaningless discussion of whom to blame what on with regard to Ireland’s corporate tax rate, I decided to take a more pragmatic route in the post of mine that you referenced and simply conduct a little palm reading exercise. I mean the obvious extension of the argument that lower corporate tax rates are needed in order to attract business is that ultimately everyone must follow suit in order to remain equally attractive since all we are talking about doing here is taking a fixed number of jobs and shuffling them from country to country and state to state in search of the greener grass. There is no job creation involved with these sorts of sleights of hand, only more profits to pocket by those with the vested interests.
TaxPayer
December 15th, 2010
2:17 pm
Bill Campbell’s biggest mistake was not being a white Republican
I don’t know about that one. I hear black Republicans are in even higher demand.
jm
December 15th, 2010
2:18 pm
TaxPayer – actually, there are more jobs for everyone through trade. However, it has to be fair trade (a foreign concept to China) and free trade (also foreign to China).
Jobs are being lost in the US primarily due to technological innovation, and lack of keeping up with modern educational standards. China and trade deserves some blame for some jobs being lost. But on balance, trade is a very good thing….. and tax competition is also a good thing.
DannyX
December 15th, 2010
2:20 pm
Mick, your type of people are what is destroying America. The war against Christianity is real.
Already the war on next years Christmas has started.
I asked my boss for the week of May 21 off so I could enjoy Christmas with my family. My boss is one of them Chinese food eaters, he hates us, he said I can’t have that week off.
WHY ME!
jm
December 15th, 2010
2:20 pm
Bond vigilantes. On a tear….
http://www.google.com/finance?client=ig&q=NYSE:TBT
carlosgvv
December 15th, 2010
2:20 pm
Since the Republican Party is completely owned by Big Business, it’s no suprise that Nathan Deal’s number one priority is serving the Corporations. Education and the people are a distant second on the list and may or may not get any crumbs from the table.
#1 Foxy Lady
December 15th, 2010
2:20 pm
Guy,
I’ll scoop in some extra metamucil with you in mind.
stands for decibels
December 15th, 2010
2:22 pm
Bond vigilantes.
They have to be slow-cooked for hours in order to be rendered edible, but, ok.
Mick
December 15th, 2010
2:24 pm
dannyx
I don’t get it?? By the way, what does your X represent?
jm
December 15th, 2010
2:28 pm
Just a reminder folks. Jobs come from businesses and companies….. lower taxes, more business. More business, more jobs. More jobs, everyone happier….
Bosch
December 15th, 2010
2:28 pm
HOPE needs to be tweaked and left alone.
Bosch
December 15th, 2010
2:29 pm
Well, that made absolutely no sense — but it does need some tweaking — I think that cough syrup I took is taking its toll.
Jay
December 15th, 2010
2:29 pm
So you like my idea, then, jm?
Union
December 15th, 2010
2:31 pm
taxpayer.. i understand that you cannot argue the facts regarding ireland.. it all speaks for itself.. i guess tax cuts and incentives are a bad thing.. i mean.. look at that whole kia nonsense.. they have only added a few thousand jobs and expanding to add more.. plus all the businesses and companies popping up around the new location.. sheesh.. what a total failure..
jm
December 15th, 2010
2:32 pm
Jay – of course, I actually think your idea, such as it was crafted as a sarcastic idea, was very comical. If it were a serious suggestion, I would, of course, think it is ridiculous.
You may justifiably ask: well, if we’re not going to give HOPE money to corporations and instead put it into education, then why does it make less sense to take money from corporations and put it into education?
But there is a difference.
USMC dawg
December 15th, 2010
2:34 pm
“Just a reminder folks. Jobs come from businesses and companies….. lower taxes, more business. More business, more jobs. More jobs, everyone happier….”
Amen, thank you jm! And Go Fair Tax! (sorry jay:)
jm
December 15th, 2010
2:37 pm
As an economist on NPR the other day pointed out, the government should only be involved in those things that fit under the “lighthouses and autopsies” category. Or said another way, government should insert itself when there is a tragedy of the commons kind of issue.
Education, in its simplest form, is a private benefit. Those that invest the most in their education reap the benefit. Ergo, education should be subsidized to the least extent possible.
But of course most people can’t pay the up front cost. But there are better mechanisms for facilitating education than just giving it away to anyone that can pull of a 3.0 from a GA school.
TaxPayer
December 15th, 2010
2:38 pm
jm,
how low can taxes go. It seems like reality would have to overwhelm faith at some point in time regarding the law of diminishing returns. But just to go ahead and put the issue to rest once and for all, as Jay, I believe, is suggesting here as well, let’s just skip ahead to the logical next step and next step and next step and be done with it instead of going through this death of a thousand cuts. Just get rid of all the damn taxes and regulations and trade barriers and whatever else Republicans and Libertarians and whomever have dreamed up as the savior of all saviors and implement it so we can all get on with our end times. How ’bout it. Maybe if we all picked a date and time to sign a form letter and e-mail it off to our respective “leaders”… what do you say.
Kamchak
December 15th, 2010
2:39 pm
Jobs come from businesses and companies….. lower taxes, more business. More business, more jobs. More jobs, everyone happier…
The Bush tax cuts are still in effect, businesses are sitting on record profits and the unemployment rate is still near 10%.
That strategy clearly hasn’t worked.
Doggone/GA
December 15th, 2010
2:39 pm
Jay – I would add an additional requirement that the people hired have to have been residents of GA for some specified period of time. It’s not going to help much if the company brings in people from other states or countries.
jm
December 15th, 2010
2:39 pm
Jay, see also
http://freakonomics.blogs.nytimes.com/tag/deadweight-loss/
Every kid that flunks out after their first year (or any year prior to graduation) is a deadweight loss. Every kid that graduates and goes to work in any of the other 49 states is mostly a deadweight loss. Every kid whose parents never played the lottery and makes a fortune is a deadweight loss.
There is a real problem with public education, financially, as currently crafted. There are fixes, none of them likely to be very popular.
Jay
December 15th, 2010
2:40 pm
There you go again, Doggone, adding regulations to an already overregulated business community.
BADA BING
December 15th, 2010
2:40 pm
jm…….BADA BING watches…..waits……
Jay
December 15th, 2010
2:40 pm
I mean, what part of “giveaway” don’t you understand?
jm
December 15th, 2010
2:43 pm
Kamchack “That strategy clearly hasn’t worked.” Not possible to know. I don’t think physicists were running a higher tax version of the US in one of the alternate universes, enabling economists to know the tax cuts failed. Just like it is impossible to know for sure how much, or how little, benefit the stimulus created.
Doggone/GA
December 15th, 2010
2:47 pm
“There you go again, Doggone, adding regulations to an already overregulated business community.”
yeah, well…it’s not really an issue for me. I’d estimate the lottery has made, MAYBE $25 from me since it’s inception!
DebbieDoRight
December 15th, 2010
2:48 pm
jm HOPE should/could be self sustaining. With a billion + in the budget, HOPE has more money in its coffers than the Georgia Education Fund; with said coffers growing monthly. So, if they have all this money vested away, why SHOULD it, HOPE, need an overhaul, and not just any overhaul an IMMEDIATE overhaul? Not say, in 5 years this or that is going to have to happen, but a we need this done right now urgency?
IMO it’s because the money in HOPE has been allotted to things outside of its intended function. And those things are NOT education.
jm
December 15th, 2010
2:50 pm
DDR – there are no more HOPE reserve funds…. they’ve already drained them.
jm
December 15th, 2010
2:51 pm
DDR – and HOPE is going to get revamped. In one way or another. For the reason stated above – the reserve be all gone. Though it wasn’t looted.
TaxPayer
December 15th, 2010
2:53 pm
i understand that you cannot argue the facts regarding ireland..
What facts would you care to present in support of your argument, Union. How about their 11.8% unemployment rate. Or perhaps their progressive personal income tax rates of 20 and 40%. Or maybe their income tax levy. Or how about their plan to introduce a property tax on top of all else. Or maybe their nation’s near bankruptcy. I mean, I know you Republicans are in love with the notion of no corporate taxes but how can you look to Ireland as your Utopia given their outrageous personal income tax rates and their current economic condition. They’re on hand and knee begging for anyone to loan them money as long as they do not have to raise corporate tax rates to the same levels as in countries that they would beg for money from.
DannyX
December 15th, 2010
2:56 pm
I like Jay’s idea, I think the new name can be worked on though.
It needs to be fresh, up to date. A name that represents our values and the Republican super majority we live in.
How about CASH? Christian Angels Spreading Hope
Nice Guy
December 15th, 2010
2:58 pm
Kamchak – “That strategy clearly hasn’t worked.”
There’s your sign.
Kamchak
December 15th, 2010
2:59 pm
I don’t think physicists were running a higher tax version of the US in one of the alternate universes, enabling economists to know the tax cuts failed.
The tax cuts were enacted in 2001 and 2003, sport.
Why would inter-dimensional travel be necessary since we have more than enough evidence in this one?
Dusty
December 15th, 2010
3:00 pm
Aww don’t you folks see the real problem that Jay has found here? Forget HOPE!! Georgia has a REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR ! That to Jay is an enormous problem which he must attack vigorously if not in straight forward manner.!
As to HOPE which is supposed to be for passing grade high school “scholars”, why did they add remedial studies? Why not just say we are letting every child In Georgia go to college because it is the right thing to do?
When you turn academics into welfare you get no winners, just people with a piece of paper indicating nothing. That is why HOPE is not successful.
Doggone/GA
December 15th, 2010
3:08 pm
“How about CASH? Christian Angels Spreading Hope”
How about this: since a “money person” for stage productions is called an “angel” – I think “Corporate Angels Spreading Hope” is more appropriate
JDW
December 15th, 2010
3:08 pm
Dusty
December 15th, 2010
3:00 pm
“Aww don’t you folks see the real problem that Jay has found here? Forget HOPE!! Georgia has a REPUBLICAN GOVERNOR ! That to Jay is an enormous problem which he must attack vigorously if not in straight forward manner.!”
Actually I think the issue is we have a crook for a governor now and just elected another…
DannyX
December 15th, 2010
3:10 pm
“Corporate Angels Spreading Hope”
Much better. I like it.
jm
December 15th, 2010
3:15 pm
Kamchack “The tax cuts were enacted in 2001 and 2003, sport.” I know. Channeling Scotty?
stands for decibels
December 15th, 2010
3:17 pm
The tax cuts were enacted in 2001 and 2003, sport.
and, as my favorite “recovering economist” put it earlier today…
The idea that the personal income tax rate has anything to do with whether corporations sitting on tons of cash might hire people is about as logical as the Chewbacca Defense, but since Republicans keep saying it we must take the idea seriously.
But, for the record, what kind of awesome job creation did those Bush tax cuts give us?
Total nonfarm employment increased from 132,469,000 in January of 2001 to 133,549,000 in January 2009. Just over one million jobs in 8 years, or 11,250 per month.
stands for decibels
December 15th, 2010
3:17 pm
“Angels Spreading” just sounds wrong.
Dusty
December 15th, 2010
3:17 pm
JDW…spoken like a good Democratic Bookman “brat”.. Gov. Elect Deal has not even been installed and you have already passed a “verdict” on him. What you like to tell me all the indictments made against him? Nor have I heard any indictments against Gov. Perdue.
Perhaps you would also like to tell me about perfect Democratic governors around the USA. Start with Illinois. Try being fair for a change.
Kamchak
December 15th, 2010
3:18 pm
Channeling Scotty?
No, laddie.
Lil' Barry Bailout
December 15th, 2010
3:19 pm
Hey libbtards, since you claim tax cuts don’t create jobs, go ahead and tell us what does.
Higher taxes? More regulation? Trade barriers? More unfunded mandates? More business-bashing from your Idiot Messiah?
Kamchak
December 15th, 2010
3:22 pm
…go ahead and tell us what does.
In a consumer based society, that would be “demand” for goods/services.
jm
December 15th, 2010
3:23 pm
sfd 3:17 – that is completely selective data mining. And you know it. Or should.
Dusty
December 15th, 2010
3:23 pm
Corporate Angels Spreading Hope IS all wrong. I doubt that any corporate angels are buying lottery tickets. From what I have read, people with low incomes who cannot afford it are the larger population wasting their money. When I read how much the people running the lottery are making, I realize it is not all going to HOPE. That was just a start.
Lil' Barry Bailout
December 15th, 2010
3:23 pm
Thank you mister obvious
Doggone/GA
December 15th, 2010
3:25 pm
“go ahead and tell us what does”
Buyers
Doggone/GA
December 15th, 2010
3:26 pm
“corporate angels”
You missed the example. A “stage angel” is who GIVES the money to the stage production. So “CASH” would be the “corporate angel” who GIVES the money to the corporations
jm
December 15th, 2010
3:27 pm
Dusty – not true. You’d be amazed how stupid some wealthy people are. A&B attorney won a million dollars playing the lottery once. My wife (despite the fact she was a math major in college, go figure, I still don’t get it) likes to play it every so often.
Lil' Barry Bailout
December 15th, 2010
3:27 pm
I wasn’t actually expecting intelligent answers from libbtards, so I’m not surprised at the moronic responses so far.
Kamchak
December 15th, 2010
3:27 pm
Thank you mister obvious
Clearly not so “obvious” to you, else you would have included in that puerile rant at 3:19.
jm
December 15th, 2010
3:28 pm
Oh, and the retards I used to work for, that were associated with Lehman Brothers, liked to play the lottery fairly frequently. That at least made more sense…. stupid people doing stupid things repeatedly….
popeye
December 15th, 2010
3:30 pm
Both of my kids graduated Summa Cum Laude from UGA with the assistance of their HOPE scholarships, still cost me a bundle, but without the HOPE I would still be in debt over my ears, and would not have had the capital to spend on their continuing education.
stands for decibels
December 15th, 2010
3:30 pm
completely selective data mining.
what, pray tell, is selective about tallying up the net job growth during two terms of a President’s administration?
Common Sense isn't very Common
December 15th, 2010
3:36 pm
Jobs come from businesses and companies….. lower taxes, more business. More business, more jobs. More jobs, everyone happier…
But demand creates jobs as we have seen since 2003, NO DEMAND = NO JOBS, NO MATTER what the tax rate is cut to it seems
Hillbilly Deluxe
December 15th, 2010
3:36 pm
I haven’t read through the comments so I may be repeating some of what’s been said.
In my opinion, there are quite a few topics here, rolled into one.
One the subject of the corporate tax, Sonny lowered all kinds of business taxes and I don’t see that that has benefitted the state, as a whole. Sonny himself seems to have made out pretty well, though.
As for raising the sales tax, first of all it’s a regressive tax and second of all, we are already paying 7% in most areas. True, not all of that goes to the state but we still pay it when we buy something. I remember when the state sales tax in Georgia was 3%. Yes we spend a lot more money than we did then but we also have a whole lot more people, buying a whole lot more goods, at much higher prices than then, as well. Any way you look at it, we pay twice the sales tax that we once did.
On the subject of Hope, as long as there is enough money there to fund the program, it’s not a big problem. If however, lottery receipts drop to where, not everything can be funded, then I have no problem with some sort of means testing. Bill Shipp made a good point once, that the lottery is “poor people paying to send middle class kids to college”. There is a lot of truth in that. And Bill wasn’t exactly a right wing conservative, for anybody who isn’t familiar with his writings.
jm
December 15th, 2010
3:37 pm
sfd – well, let me put it this way. it would be more accurate, since you think Presidents are the sole job creators and actual magicians behind the curtain, to say Bush created 5.4 million jobs through March of 2008 and then got really stupid his last year in office and decided to fire 4.3 million of them before he left office.
Dusty
December 15th, 2010
3:37 pm
jm 3:27
How many millionaires have you see in the news who won the lottery? Everybody I’ve seen was a hard working class man or someone almost in poverty (like the man who was murdered for his winnings by some lady who was “helping” him after he got rich). I think you have found the rare example. Why don’t you give your wife enough money so she won’t be gambling?? (smile!) Did she go to school on a Hope “scholarship”?
The idea that rich people are playing the lottery is almost ludicrous.
Mary Elizabeth
December 15th, 2010
3:39 pm
Thanks much for this impacting article. In its devastatingly ironic hyperbole, it shows just how far our value for business for business sake has evolved. even to the point that, now, we wish to make education a business machine model. One just can’t do that to the human soul. The soul will find a way out!
Let us remember Ebenezer Scrooge at this time of year and remember where his priorities were, until he saw the Light by being led (-duc) out (e-) of himself through the “education” of his soul by Christmas spirits past, present and future – from his small egocentric world of accruing money for himself into a greater understanding of humanity what we are, or at least should be, about while we inhabit this planet – the expansion of our consciousness and souls by loving and serving others.
Further expansion of my remarks from yesterday’s blog about former the Prime Minister of England Gordon Brown’s words regarding the globalization of the economic interrelatedness of all nations (See his new book, “Beyond the Crash.”):
When Brown said he wanted to see America take the lead in emphasizing the need for expansion of education, especially in the areas of technological skills, he was not speaking of just education of Americans to this end; he was speaking of America taking the lead as a model for all the nations of the world to put a priority on educating their populations, also. He said even though all nations need to curtail their expenses because of the worldwide Recession (as a result of, or the first by-product of, globalization of the worldwide economic market), the ONE area that does NOT need to be curtailed is education, so says Brown, and he wants America to show this and emphasize this to r ALL of the nations of the world. Education of the young people is the one area that needs investment for the world’s economic future, so says Brown, in his book.
josef nix
December 15th, 2010
3:40 pm
Oh, hell, let’s just go ahead and close the public schools K-PhD and be done with it…I’ve got mine, I don’t give a sh*t and the jobs they’re likely to lure into Georgia don’t requite a whole lot of learning…
“We’ll give them enough education to read our road signs…”
Dusty
December 15th, 2010
3:42 pm
jm. 3:37 You are all out of date. “Bush did it!” has now been changed to “OOH my goodness!Obama”!!! Try and keep up.
jm
December 15th, 2010
3:44 pm
Dusty 3:37 – no, she didn’t go to school in Georgia. Obviously the majority of people playing are poor. I don’t deny that. But there are probably more wealthy people playing than one would think. For whatever reason….
stands for decibels
December 15th, 2010
3:45 pm
it would be more accurate, since you think Presidents are the sole job creators and actual magicians behind the curtain
If you really think I think that, there’s little point in continuing this.
popeye
December 15th, 2010
3:47 pm
Dusty….True story, back in the late 80’s or early 90’s the winner of the lottery didn’t come forward for months. The reason, he had been in jail. He had been incarcerated for robbing his MOTHER for some nickels and dimes at her trailer down in south Georgia. It takes all kinds to make this world go round!
Common Sense isn't very Common
December 15th, 2010
3:47 pm
Anybody remember the bumper stickers about the lottery? ‘Didn’t vote for it, Won’t play it’
They should have added something to it. ‘But my kids will DAMN sure use the money from it’.
Hypocrites
jm
December 15th, 2010
3:47 pm
sfd – then what was your earlier point?
josef nix
December 15th, 2010
3:48 pm
jm
Lottery tickets? Lucky Seven scratch off! Immediate gratification… and I’m still ahead on that one…
jm
December 15th, 2010
3:49 pm
sfd – let’s not rehash this. I think Bush deserves some blame for some bad management and some stupid decisions. I don’t think he was as bad as people think. But that’s neither here nor there at this point. We can either make some stupid, or smart, decisions going forward. We’ll see what happens.
Dusty
December 15th, 2010
3:50 pm
JOSEF,
Where do you want us to cut expenses? HOPE is broke because it has been twisted into a giveaway fund that lost its purpose. Are we not cutting $$ in almost every program in the state? I believe in education in all forms It is top of the line but it is NOT the only important thing in the state.
jm
December 15th, 2010
3:51 pm
josef nix – yeah, every road trip, my wife loves to play. Comes bounding out of the gas station with something like that. I just roll my eyes and thank the lord she agreed that I can do the work managing our savings.
stands for decibels
December 15th, 2010
3:54 pm
One other thing and I gots to go…
Bush created 5.4 million jobs through March of 2008
even if we charitably set the cutoff point right there, that’d be pretty anemic number–that comes to ~ 63K jobs per month, which I’m pretty sure doesn’t even cover the replacement rate you need with normal population growth.
I point this out because a day doesn’t go by that some rightie doesn’t say some variant of “we had 4-5 percent unemployment under Bush and we have 9.8 percent unemployment under your Messiah!” – how the [bleep] do these guys thing we GOT to that 10 percent figure? It happened with catastrophic job losses, obviously, and I think it’s fair to say that the America shaped by the governance of a Republican President and Congress (and SCOTUS, while we’re at it) was ill equipped to weather an economic storm.
stands for decibels
December 15th, 2010
3:57 pm
well, on mo’ thing:
josef nix – yeah, every road trip, my wife loves to play.
you have my deepest sympathies.
(but I’m sure she has many, many other lovely and redeeming qualities.)
paleo-neo-Carlinist (the artist also known as Joe the Plutocrat)
December 15th, 2010
3:59 pm
I was going to comment, but what’s the point? Unemployed people don’t have “income” to tax and they “consume” far less than those with a paycheck. Reducing corporate taxes doesn’t create jobs, it creates weatlh (for business owners).
jm
December 15th, 2010
4:00 pm
sfd
yes she does…..
Matti
December 15th, 2010
4:01 pm
Although I’m normally eager to make helpful suggestions (heh…) or offer enlightenment, I find myself at a loss for words when faced with people who cannot grasp the simple logic that education matters, and that the precept of educating every citizen to his or her potential and capacity is a benefit, not a liability, to us all.
JDW
December 15th, 2010
4:02 pm
Dusty
December 15th, 2010
3:17 pm
“JDW…spoken like a good Democratic Bookman “brat”.. Gov. Elect Deal has not even been installed and you have already passed a “verdict” on him. What you like to tell me all the indictments made against him? Nor have I heard any indictments against Gov. Perdue.
Perhaps you would also like to tell me about perfect Democratic governors around the USA. Start with Illinois. Try being fair for a change.”
I base my “verdict” of Raw Deal on the facts….
Member Most Corrupt Congressmen Club
At least three outright major lies on his financial filings
Lied on loan documents by not disclosing prior bankruptcy of a principal
Abused office on countless occasions by using government resources to lobby for state business
As for Democratic crooks…didn’t vote for them either.
The real question is how you can support Deal and look yourself in the mirror?
josef nix
December 15th, 2010
4:04 pm
DUSTY–
Cut anything BUT education. HOPE was the best thing Georgia ever did. The Pre-K program was a beacon and the college scholarships made it possible to send OUR kids to get that stupid piece of paper demanded by those corporations we seek to bring in. Instead, we’re going to wind up with yet another geneation unprepared progeny and those companies lured in will be bringing in yet another generation of Carpetbaggers to fill those positions…Is that what you want?
jm
Cheap thrills are hard to find these days…tell you wife she and I know how to be happy…
plus ça change, plus c’est la même chose
carlosgvv
December 15th, 2010
4:05 pm
paleo-neo-Carlinist
Don’t confuse all these Tea Party lug nuts with the facts. The Republicans and Corporations have already made up their minds for them.
jm
December 15th, 2010
4:09 pm
josef nix – you can change HOPE without cutting the knees off of education spending. It needs to be needs based again, for starters. Partially SAT score driven, second. Heaven only knows we need to invest mroe money in extending the school year through summer and having longer school hours for K-12… but that’s another, but related, issue.
Yeah, she seems to enjoy it. Thank heavens she only does it when we’re on road trips. Probably says more about the monotony of my company than the thrill of the lottery….
Dusty
December 15th, 2010
4:10 pm
Popeye,
Good example. I wonder how he got out of jail to buy lottery tickets?
Mary Elizabeth,
Yep, Scrooge was a meanie with a lot of money he hated to give away. But Georgia is not Scrooge and only trying to make a budget. Perhaps you should read the story about the man who thought he had found someone who could make gold out of hay. Rumplestilkin, wasn’t it? Liberals seem to think that person is still out there to be found in Democratic headquarters. Unfortuately it did not work and Georgia can’t make gold out of hay either. Sometimes reality does hit home.
Common Sense is not very Common
Not everybody depends on government giveaways. My five children have earned seven college degrees (mostly science, accounting and electronics)and not on the internet. They got support from home but not a lot of money. They managed to pay for most of it by their own choice. One, just out of the army, used a Pell grant but they ran out before he finished.
Now don’t blame our children for the “sins” of adults. That US deficit was not run up by our children. But of course they will be stuck with it. We MUST start cutting now and that calls for cuts we do not like to make..
jack bull
December 15th, 2010
4:13 pm
do away with the state income tax and the ‘birthday’ tax.. sounds good to me.. if the state of Texas can do away with both, why can’t we?
popeye
December 15th, 2010
4:14 pm
Dusty … In response, he had purchased the tickets before he stuck his hand underneath his mothers mattress…ergo while he sat in jail he already had the winner in his pocket!
Pogo
December 15th, 2010
4:14 pm
I love it when liberals scream “we need to spend more money on education”. New York, which spends an average of $13,500 dollars per student, has graduation rates as low or lower than Georgia. Even with those states that have high graduation rates one must wonder, just because their graduation rates are high did they really do a better job or did they learn to cheat the system? It just may mean that they have learned how to cheat the system (by manipulating test scores) to keep the taxpayer money coming in.
Money will not fix education. I hate to sound cliche but education truly does begin in the home. As long as we have “disposable” kids our education system will turn out morons. Decent parents are a hard thing to find nowadays and most treat their childrens education as something the “government” should be in charge of. The last thing anybody should want is the government in charge of educating their children. The government can’t even handle its own affairs, much less Americas childrens education. And, as long as we treat the educational system as a job entitlement program and we can’t get rid of sorry @$$ teachers and administrators we will turn out morons. It doesn’t look real good for America’s future, does it?
josef nix
December 15th, 2010
4:18 pm
jm
I understand your point about needs based. However, I am a proponent of FREE public education and that extends to the state supported colleges/training schools. A BA/BS today carries the value of a high school diploma of just a few decades ago. If we are running schools to prepare our future to meet its basic needs and that piece of paper is a requirement therefor, then it should be free.
jm
I buy them as the fancy strikes…by no means a fanatic, but it does, as you say, break the monotony…
Dusty
December 15th, 2010
4:22 pm
JDW
Most corrupt congressmen club? Now that has to be a Democratic organization and Deal is a Republican.
You did not list any Deal indictments. Strange. Nor did you mention that many of his financial dealings that failed were loans to his daughter. Yeah, evil man. Helping his daughter!!
Anyway, he is busy getting things lined up and cutting expenses much to the dismay of Democrats. Let us hope he will help Georgia not make some of the mistakes he made in giveaways.
popeye
December 15th, 2010
4:26 pm
Pogo, that old logic “education begins at home” does not withstand the smell test.
A good example you have a horse (Secretariat for example) and I have a mule (we’ll call him Ole’ Rivers) and, from the day Ole Rivers is born I feed him the best food money can buy, and take him to the track everyday with the finest trainers in the world….Well, you know at the end of the day whose going to win the race….and, it ain’t going to be Ole Rivers.
Moral of the story….Some kids are faster than others!
Hillbilly Deluxe
December 15th, 2010
4:34 pm
I’ve had dealings with Nathan Deal; I’[ve had dealings with his business partner. Grandma always said if you don’t have anything good to say………………………
JDW
December 15th, 2010
4:36 pm
Dusty
December 15th, 2010
4:22 pm
JDW
“Most corrupt congressmen club? Now that has to be a Democratic organization and Deal is a Republican.
You did not list any Deal indictments. Strange. Nor did you mention that many of his financial dealings that failed were loans to his daughter. Yeah, evil man. Helping his daughter!!
Anyway, he is busy getting things lined up and cutting expenses much to the dismay of Democrats. Let us hope he will help Georgia not make some of the mistakes he made in giveaways.”
Most Corrupt Congressmen, nice bipartisan list including 16 Republicans and 10 Democrats.
As Deal has the bank that made the loans in his pocket he may repeat may escape indictment. Grand Jury is still out.
I did not criticize his financial dealings merely his attempts to avoid disclosure as required by law.
As for cutting…I see he wants lower taxes and less for education…real visionary that guy
Dusty
December 15th, 2010
4:37 pm
JOSEF,
Sometimes your heart gets bigger than your head.! We cannot have free education, free medical care, almost free homes, free tranportation,and free food. The same argument has been made for most of those things such as saying that everybody will be stupid, undernourished and no busines will come etc. etc. etc. Business will not come to acquire high taxes either.
Somebody is going to have to pay for something. Are you suggesting that our TAXES (total income) will cover all needs? That would mean total government control.
I am dead set against that. Don’t want to lose my independence You should hear me try to sing “America the beautiful!”
BADA BING
December 15th, 2010
4:38 pm
To hear tell it, everybody wins or ‘breaks even’ on the lottery. Vegas knows the old saying about everybody breaking even, then how come the casinos make millions of dollars? Most people lose, a few win big.That being said, I drop a few bucks on the lottery. You spend $3 dollars in Starbucks for something you really don’t need, but won’t put a dollar on a $100 million lottery?
Kamchak
December 15th, 2010
4:40 pm
You spend $3 dollars in Starbucks…
Not in this lifetime.
jm
December 15th, 2010
4:40 pm
What a joke. As if there isn’t a quid pro quo already as soon as she went to work for GS after being the CA Treasurer. Dirty Democrats…. someone should go to jail for this.
Goldman Sachs Moves Kathleen Brown to Midwest Role (Update1)
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By Christine Harper and Michael B. Marois
Dec. 15 (Bloomberg) — Kathleen Brown, who runs the West Coast municipal finance team at Goldman Sachs Group Inc., will move to a newly created post in Chicago after her brother Jerry Brown was elected California’s next governor.
Brown, 65, will become chairman of investment banking for the Midwest, New York-based Goldman Sachs said in an internal memo today. The former California state treasurer joined Goldman Sachs as a managing director in 2001. Michael DuVally, a spokesman for the firm, confirmed the contents of the memo, which was signed by David Solomon and John S. Weinberg, co-heads of investment banking.
“Kathleen is taking on this new role because it broadens her client focus,” DuVally said. “Had she continued to work with California municipalities, it might have created the perception of a conflict of interest.”
Goldman Sachs, the most profitable securities firm in Wall Street history, lent the state $1.5 billion in November as part of a syndicate of six banks. The arrangement provided California with a $6.7 billion bridge loan to help pay bills after a budget impasse left the state short on cash. Goldman Sachs was also the lead underwriter on $4.93 billion in bonds sold by the state since Jan. 1, 2009.
BADA BING
December 15th, 2010
4:41 pm
Kamchak, I don’t go to Starbucks either.
JDW
December 15th, 2010
4:42 pm
Dusty
December 15th, 2010
4:37 pm
“Somebody is going to have to pay for something.”
First thing you said that made sense…maybe we should start with tax cuts that make no sense and go from there.
paleo-neo-Carlinist a/k/a Joe the Plutocrat
December 15th, 2010
4:45 pm
we need to come to an agreement on the value of education in terms of the values imparted via education. know what I mean? it’s great to acquire knowledge, but skill is better. let’s face it, folks, (most of) the people making the REAL money are morally/ethically challenged, soul-less, parasites and pimps. seems to me we need to determine if we “value” intelligence, ethics, and altruistism, or if the “he who has the most toys wins” (remember this 1980’s bumper sticker?) ethos is what’s best. and please, all you free market wags and wanna-be wealthy types, spare me the lectures.
jm
December 15th, 2010
4:45 pm
Your tax dollars. Hard at work paying government workers and contractors…..
http://noir.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601010&sid=apvu1fEpzwBU
The Washington metropolitan area emerged as the wealthiest and most educated region of the past five years. The only three communities with median household incomes higher than $100,000 are in suburban counties in Virginia. Maryland, which also borders the nation’s capital, saw income levels in Howard County increase at the eighth-fastest pace in the U.S. since 2000.
Dusty
December 15th, 2010
4:46 pm
HillBilly Deluxe,
My neighbor is from north Georgia and her granny says GOOD things about Nathan Deal. Seems to think his problems were more a family kerfootle than anything. But, the thought of another term with that ! that ! that! former governor was enough to turn folks to almost anyone, say Mickey Mouse.
I’m willing to give Deal a chance. (It IS Christmas.)
Kamchak
December 15th, 2010
4:48 pm
and please, all you free market wags and wanna-be wealthy types, spare me the lectures.
You really don’t believe that’s gonna happen, do you?
Dusty
December 15th, 2010
4:51 pm
JDW 4:42
I always make sense. That is why my children are so smart! (and why I am a Republican!!!!) Thought you would like that one.
JDW
December 15th, 2010
4:52 pm
Dusty
December 15th, 2010
4:46 pm
“I’m willing to give Deal a chance. (It IS Christmas.)”
Deal is just like the scorpion…
The Scorpion and the Frog
A scorpion and a frog meet on the bank of a stream and the
scorpion asks the frog to carry him across on its back. The
frog asks, “How do I know you won’t sting me?” The scorpion
says, “Because if I do, I will die too.”
The frog is satisfied, and they set out, but in midstream,
the scorpion stings the frog. The frog feels the onset of
paralysis and starts to sink, knowing they both will drown,
but has just enough time to gasp “Why?”
Replies the scorpion: “Its my nature…”
Deal’s nature is to pad his pockets and damn the consequences for the state.
JDW
December 15th, 2010
4:55 pm
Dusty
December 15th, 2010
4:51 pm
JDW 4:42
“I always make sense. That is why my children are so smart! (and why I am a Republican!!!!) Thought you would like that one.”
Take heart, there is hope for them yet…I voted consistently Republican until 1996 and then I learned.
egerddy
December 15th, 2010
4:55 pm
Spend more money on education……….can anyone spell APS…Atlanta Public Schools. We don’t need no edumacation. We needs big erasers! Don’cha just love it when a plan comes together!!! Cheat so we can compete for HOPE so that we can take remedial courses in college that we’ll still flunk! Can I supersize that order, sir!!! Sad but true….
Trusslady
December 15th, 2010
4:56 pm
Here’s what they’ll do – cut Corporate taxes to entice businesses to start/relocate in Georgia. Cut education so that there is no available workforce. Corporations will complain they can’t get the workforce they need; they’ll bring in H1-B visa workers from India at a fraction of the cost of hiring Americans. Voila! Corporations are happy. And if the uneducated masses who keep voting these yahoo’s into office can’t find employment, well then they must be lazy slackers!
Matti
December 15th, 2010
4:57 pm
JDW @ 4:52,
Fitting parable.
Mary Elizabeth
December 15th, 2010
4:58 pm
Dusty 4:10
Generally speaking, you would be right. However, there are more factors than meets the eye when observing a little closer. Funds for education have been cut by 7 billion dollars over the last decade and the cuts began well before the Recession hit. Remember, Republican ideological mantra is to cut government as much as possible and they played this out even when funds were available. Boils down to choice it seems when we have such a strong ideological impact in this state: Do we want the masses of children educated by for-profit private schools or by non-profit public schools. Thomas Jefferson was a strong public “common good” school advocate. Watch out for private schools being used for personal finanacial gain if the pendulum swings too far right.
Thanks for writing me. Got to run for more Christmas shopping. Check you later – maybe in the next day or two. Merry Christmas! And Happy Holidays to all!
josef nix
December 15th, 2010
5:00 pm
DUSTY
Why not? We can have free enterprise…
Seriously, though, you miss the point that it is in our social best interest to provide these things…nobody is saying that the private institutions cannot exist and prosper, but NOT at the expense of the general welfare…an educated, healthy, well fed, well clothed and well housed society is a productive one.
Civilization owes its very genesis to that mutual assistance aimed at providing those fundamentals. It is that Divine Spark that brought us from the trees to the stars…
DannyX
December 15th, 2010
5:01 pm
My neighbor knows Deal also. His grandpa said Nathan Deal got a cushy no-bid government contract. He then started charging twice the normal rate. Says Deal is always polite. Says “Merry Christmas.” Even uses his blinkers.
josef nix
December 15th, 2010
5:04 pm
TRUSSLADY
Much truth, but where is the choice that’s NOT a yahoo…?
jm
December 15th, 2010
5:04 pm
josef nix “Civilization owes its very genesis to that mutual assistance aimed at providing those fundamentals. It is that Divine Spark that brought us from the trees to the stars…”
But not for free. Trade, specialization, and enterprise built our civilization. Not giving away things for free…..
thomas
December 15th, 2010
5:07 pm
JDW
December 15th, 2010
4:52 pm
A little bird was flying south for the winter. It was so cold; the bird froze up and fell to the ground in a large field. While it was lying there, a cow came by and dropped some dung on it. As the frozen bird lay there in the pile of cow dung, it began to realize how warm it was. The dung was actually thawing him out! He lay there all warm and happy, and soon began to sing for joy.
A passing cat heard the bird singing and came to investigate. Following the sound, the cat discovered the bird under the pile of cow dung, and promptly dug him out and ate him!
The morals of this story are:
Not everyone who drops $h*t on you is your enemy.
Not everyone who gets you out of $h*t is your friend.
And when you’re in deep $h*t, keep your mouth shut
Dusty
December 15th, 2010
5:10 pm
JDW, 4:52
Good story there . Never trust a scorpion. which reminds me. Aren’t you ready to return to your proper Republican status? I mean there are broken promises scattered all over the Obama White House. You can’t move without stepping on one. Not to mention that Bush looks like a diamond in the rough of rowdy spendthrift Democrats?
Welcome back to the fold. As you said, there’s always hope (just not the same old style HOPE)…
Kamchak
December 15th, 2010
5:15 pm
A woman in a hot air balloon realized she was lost. She lowered her altitude and spotted a man in a boat below. She shouted to him, “Excuse me, can you help me? I promised a friend I would meet him an hour ago, but I don’t know where I am.”
The man consulted his portable GPS and replied, “You’re in a hot air balloon, approximately 30 feet above ground elevation of 2,346 feet above sea level. You are at 31 degrees, 14.97 minutes north latitude and 100 degrees, 49.09 minutes west longitude.
“She rolled her eyes and said, “You must be an Obama Democrat.”
“I am,” replied the man. “How did you know?”
“Well,” answered the balloonist, “everything you told me is technically correct. But I have no idea what to do with your information, and I’m still lost. Frankly, you’ve not been much help to me.”
The man smiled and responded, “You must be a Republican.”
“I am,” replied the balloonist. “How did you know?”
“Well,” said the man, “you don’t know where you are or where you are going. You’ve risen to where you are due to a large quantity of hot air. You made a promise you have no idea how to keep, and you expect me to solve your problem. You’re in exactly the same position you were in before we met, but somehow, now it’s my fault.”
JDW
December 15th, 2010
5:15 pm
@jm, she has a bad premise:
“Over the last 60 years, federal government receipts have averaged 18 percent of gross domestic product. Whether the top marginal income tax rate was 92 percent, as it was during the 1950s, or 28 percent, as it was for a short spell in the late 1980s, the government can’t manage to snag a bigger share of the pie.”
in recent history we have had two years where the federal government brought in more than they spent…1999 & 2000. 1998 & 2001 were within shouting distance. Respectively tax revenues as a % of GDP were 20%, 20%, 20.9% and 19.8%.
I believe the reason for that was the following:
–We did not deficit spend forcing more money into the pot available to fund new businesses which are the ones that create the jobs leading to more tax collections.
–The Administration raised taxes in 1993 to an appropriate level.
–The PayGo principle was enforced requiring any new spending to be funded.
The first thing the Bush Administration did was lower taxes to an unsupportable level. Then they overturned PayGo and started deficit spending again…i.e. Medicare Part D, wars, etc….
The end result of those decisions led us to today.
I think the recent formula put for the by the Deficit Reduction Commission where spending and revenue equals about 21% is the way back…we have been there and it works.
JDW
December 15th, 2010
5:17 pm
@Thomas…that one is good too…especially with all the $hit flying around here.
josef nix
December 15th, 2010
5:18 pm
jm
I would make the argument that it owes its very genesis thereto. but in its development, to use your words, it was built on precisely what you say. The structure must be maintained or it collapses and, if we do not maintain that structure through providing the tools to do so, all we will be left with are some spectacular ruins for some more rational civilization from out somewhere near Alpha Centauri to come visit and shake their heads in bemused wonder of “what were they thinking?”
Jackie
December 15th, 2010
5:23 pm
Free public education is what has propelled the United States to the front of the world economic order. It is still the one single thing that has kept the USA at the top of the list for companies to do their business.
Did you ever notice how many of the foreign auto, electronics manufacturers and drug companies have a major portion of their industrial capacity in the USA?
BMW announced a few weeks past it was moving most of its industrial production to its Spartanburg/Greenville, SC facilities because the level of education is superior to any of their other world locations and the cost of labor and benefits are close to some of the lowest in the world.
A cost / benefit analysis would clearly show why the American worker is the most productive in the world.
Low-information voters only see the numbers the equate to “cuts” in all segments of society if it means not cutting their pay or benefits.
popeye
December 15th, 2010
5:23 pm
As we speak the vote in the house for the repeal of DADT is 259 yeas 176 Nays…..
This is a good thing, and about time!
JDW
December 15th, 2010
5:23 pm
Dusty
December 15th, 2010
5:10 pm
JDW, 4:52
“Aren’t you ready to return to your proper Republican status? I mean there are broken promises”
You mean like Reagan:
–Deficits don’t matter
–Trickle down economics
–We would never sell arms to Iran
Or Duhbya:
–We don’t torture
–Mission accomplished
–We only need 50,000 troops to secure Iraq
–Pay no attention to actually counting the votes…my state party chairman says I won
No I shall remain blissfully independent…a fiscal conservative and possessing a heart.
While the current Administration is not my ideal, they are far far better than either their predecessor or the other option.
JDW
December 15th, 2010
5:25 pm
@Kamchak 5:15 Now thats funny
josef nix
December 15th, 2010
5:27 pm
Jackie…
And what Spartanburg/Greenville schools did in that process is a little known story…they went, asked the German companies what they needed, got the money to rolling in and provided a work force educated to the needs of the community…
Another one to look at is Dalton, Georgia…
popeye
December 15th, 2010
5:28 pm
Kamchak … Everytime I hear that joke it get’s funnier. Perhaps because it’s sooooo true!
Jackie
December 15th, 2010
5:33 pm
@josef nix
Many of those that only believe a tax cut is the solution to all problems do not know or do not care to know what education does for society.
josef nix
December 15th, 2010
5:38 pm
Jackie
I made mention of Spartanburg/Greenville and what happened there…something almost its opposite happened in Dalton…the carpet company was faced with having to consider relocation because its workforce pool was not educated to their standards…but they went and asked the schools “what do YOU need” and working together they put together a plan that is well worth looking at…and its working…
popeye
December 15th, 2010
5:39 pm
Hey Jackie
Glad to see you hear tonight.
First Team all the way!
Dusty
December 15th, 2010
5:40 pm
JOSEF,
You are such a sweetheart with your head in the clouds. I do hope Unmentionable is tending the finances in the family. I would hate to see you flat broke from generosity and selling pencils to buy a bite to eat.
I do not believe giving away money that is not there is a humanitarian project. Placing a burden on generations is not an asset even with everybody in the higher echelons of good education.
I have nothing against public or private schools. I even expect government to provide public schools.along with the military, firefighters, police and even basic medical care for the impoverished. (Grady). but I expect them to be managed in an efficient financial way. They are basics but even basics go when there is nothing to pay for them. (Southerners in past history knew that too well.)
As to the human spark, efficiency does not kill it. In fact, I think it is more enlighened to see that debt for future generations is not a move from the heart. Nor do I see that taking from the rich by taxation is a heartfetl move either. Ah so…let me remove the picture of Scrooge from the mantelpiece..
PS: Is Mary Elizabeth your sister???
Jefferson
December 15th, 2010
5:44 pm
I don’t know if Deal is very good at money, look at the shape he’s in. 1917 ain’t far away.
jm
December 15th, 2010
5:44 pm
Well this is funny. In the context of the earlier discussions of evolution, gravity, etc.
In 1994, Anderson received an email out of the blue from Michael Martin Nieto, a cosmologist at Los Alamos National Laboratory near Santa Fe, NM. Nieto had lately become interested in alternatives to Newton’s inverse square law for gravity, including a new theory called MOND (modified Newtonian dynamics), and so he contacted Anderson to find out how sure NASA was about the strength of gravity based on their observations of the motions of spacecraft. Anderson replied that, as a matter of fact, gravity didn’t seem to be working right for the Pioneers.
http://www.popsci.com/pioneeranomaly
josef nix
December 15th, 2010
5:46 pm
DUSTY
Actually, I tend the finances…
And, yes, Mary Elizabeth is my sister…
And I would not argue in the least that it’s not a problem of husbandry, but giving the profligates a free hand to rape and pillage at will simply leaves us trapped in Reconstruction…
Skipp Serrano
December 15th, 2010
5:48 pm
Here’s a novel idea to help fill the gap between revenues and expenditures in the new budget. Since it was the legilators reckless spending that has caused the problem ; let them now belly-up to the table and go without pay and allowances for the new session. And, let Crooked Deal pass on that money to the school boards so that we can have some quality education in Georgia.
Dusty
December 15th, 2010
5:56 pm
Oh dear, KamChak is telling hot air stories. I figured he knew a lot about it, him huffing & puffing so much.
JDW…Reagan’s been dead a long time, honey. Don’t you worry your head about him. and…
Have you noticed that the USA has not had any major terrorists attacks since 9/11? Somebody did somjething about that. Now’s the time to say “Bush did it!”
WHAT??? Foreign companies came here and THEN told the schools what they needed? Smart companies. Come to the USA if you want good workers. (But sometimes they only want cheap.)
Jackie
December 15th, 2010
6:01 pm
@popeye
SALUTE!!
First Team!
How is the Pacific Northwest?
Normal
December 15th, 2010
6:03 pm
DADT Repeal just passed in the House!
josef nix
December 15th, 2010
6:05 pm
Normal
“DADT Repeal just passed in the House!”
So?
Got that one at St. Elsewhere…
Jackie
December 15th, 2010
6:06 pm
Foreign companies came to the USA because of the quality of the education, work force and stability of the country.
As for taking from the rich, the infrastructure had to be in place for them to make their millions. Wonder how many of us paid our taxes to build that needed infastructure?
Dusty
December 15th, 2010
6:06 pm
Josef,YOU tend the finances? How much do you charge for your pencils?
Mary Elizabeth is my sister too but I don’t think she will claim us. Well, I’m too mean for one thing.
Awww rape & pillage!! Are you writing a new book for TV? It happens there every night. I like “It’s a Good Life ” better. It is getting a little gray around the edges but still has “the spark”!!..
Off to feed the hungey…my own at the moment……..
Dusty
December 15th, 2010
6:09 pm
HUNGRY!!
josef nix
December 15th, 2010
6:10 pm
Jackie…
It wasn’t just taxes to build that infrastructure…but, sshhh, we don’t talk about restitution around here…
Jackie
December 15th, 2010
6:10 pm
DADT will now go the that legislative hell-hole that stops all meaningful legislation called the US Senate. Can you imagine some of the lies that will be spouted?
Jackie
December 15th, 2010
6:12 pm
@josef nix
The central theme of the low-information voters always seem to be tax centric. Putting “tax cuts” into any sentence confuses them.
josef nix
December 15th, 2010
6:13 pm
DUSTY
A tip…pencils…when the power goes off, they’ll be worth a fortune!
(Normal…and you and I can become Bookleggers, eh? Dug out Canticle again…hmmmm….)
josef nix
December 15th, 2010
6:14 pm
Jackie
Aw, now why would we be worried about the hell hole that stops all meaningful… when we’ve got such fierce advocacy…
Jackie
December 15th, 2010
6:18 pm
@josef nix
If it were not so sad, it would be something to laugh it.
L Dodd
December 15th, 2010
6:18 pm
Businesses now have the same speach rights as individuals and should each, therefore, have the same tax rates as individuals–except for tax breaks for profits reinvested in the business (here in USA only) that have the potential to create jobs.
Jackie
December 15th, 2010
6:25 pm
@ josef nix
should have read “something to laugh at.”
Lil' Barry Bailout
December 15th, 2010
7:00 pm
I love HOPE and the lottery. Parasites pay, and the middle class gets the benefits.
Now THAT is social justice.
Hillbilly Deluxe
December 15th, 2010
7:05 pm
I posted this earlier today at Kyle’s. I think we should start a movement of some sort.
I’m beginning to think the wise thing to do would be for every American to form their own corporation.
popeye
December 15th, 2010
7:08 pm
Jackie…Life on the Pacific Side of the nation is sweet. Ever been to Oregon?
I purchased a loft that looks over the Willamette River (called the Pearl District) Have a great view of the river the bridges, and Mt Hood.
My dogs love it here … My sister has a beach house at a place called Rockaway, and I take them there every other weekend where they can romp in the rain and sand.
I still come back to Georgia as I have a few real estate holdings that I have to overseer, as a matter of fact I’m here right now.
Good talking to you my brother in arms!
Jackie
December 15th, 2010
7:14 pm
@popeye
Have not been to Oregon, only to Washington state. One of my neighbors has lots of relatives in the Portland area. Found out The Whispers are from that area. One of the smoothest R&B groups going.
Lil' Barry Bailout
December 15th, 2010
7:15 pm
Congress’ Job Approval Rating Worst in Gallup History
Thirteen percent approve of the way Congress is handling its job
PRINCETON, NJ — Americans’ assessment of Congress has hit a new low, with 13% saying they approve of the way Congress is handling its job. The 83% disapproval rating is also the worst Gallup has measured in more than 30 years of tracking congressional job performance.
———————
Americans can’t WAIT to be rid of this fascist, power grabbing, obscene spending Democrat congress.
popeye
December 15th, 2010
7:18 pm
Josef….Reading your mindless posts one would draw the conclusion that WOE is me, I’m so prosecuted.
By the way have you found any of those supposed posts that I revealed myself to be an anti-semite?
Didn’t think so!
Perhaps your buddy Jay can help you in researching his data base….Guaranteed, he ain’t gonna find anything either.
You just don’t like me … too bad, I’m actually a nice guy and am in your camp. Like it or not!
N
December 15th, 2010
7:25 pm
What is needed in GA is more peasant labor so we can compete for sweatshop factories.
When our education levels and wages sink low enough, our workers should be happy to have whatever crumbs the multinationals feel like throwing to us…
While China and India are now pumping trillions into education, science, energy efficiency, biotechnology, space exploration, our modest goal is to dumb down our populace so we can attract their cast-off jobs.
Yessir, Gov. Deal. Education MUST take a back seat because we MUST attract low-paying jobs to GA.
.
popeye
December 15th, 2010
7:25 pm
Jackie … The music here is phenomenal, blues, jazz, piano bars….the only thing this city lacks is major league sports other than that hey who cares. When I lived in Atlanta the only time I would attend a sports venue is when someone would give me tickets,
Were you in Washington by choice or by the purview of the U.S. Gov’t I.E. Ft. Lewis?
JDW
December 15th, 2010
8:40 pm
@Dusty,
“JDW…Reagan’s been dead a long time, honey. Don’t you worry your head about him.”
Problem is he is the gift that keeps on giving. His “philosphy” has spawned the current generation of lower tax smaller government liars…even though he raised taxes in 1982(business), 1983(Payroll) and 1984(Energy)
http://www.forbes.com/2010/02/02/barack-obama-ronald-reagan-budget-taxes-opinions-contributors-rob-shapiro.html
and increased federal spending to 22% to 24% of GDP.
http://www.greatervoice.org/econ/data/OnBudget.html
Far above Carter, Bush 1, Clinton, and Bush 2. So far in fact that Reagan’s spending as a percent of GDP over his first four years may well be higher than Obama’s when we are done.
Yet the Republicans insist on telling us what a fiscal champion he was. When it comes to lies, damn lies and #$%damn lies he trails only Duhbya.
O’ by the way that economic “growth” he drove….not so much
GDP Growth Rates
Historical…1/1/47 to 1/31/81 GDP growth averaged 3.73%
Clinton…2/1/93 to 1/31/01 GDP growth averaged 3.81% or about the historical average
Reagan-Bush…2/1/81 to 1/31/93 GDP growth averaged 3.08% or about 17.5% below the historical average
Bush-Obama…2/1/01 to now GDP growth averaged 1.65% or more than 55% below the historical average
JDW
December 15th, 2010
8:45 pm
Lil’ Barry Bailout
December 15th, 2010
7:15 pm
“Americans can’t WAIT to be rid of this fascist, power grabbing, obscene spending Democrat congress.”
Psssst…Larry I think it is dissatisfaction with the Republicans that are driving the nums….
http://www.gallup.com/poll/145238/Congress-Job-Approval-Rating-Worst-Gallup-History.aspx
Lil' Barry Bailout
December 15th, 2010
8:54 pm
That’s funny, cuz the Republicans just whupped the Democrat party in the last election!
JDW
December 15th, 2010
9:02 pm
Lil’ Barry Bailout
December 15th, 2010
8:54 pm
“That’s funny, cuz the Republicans just whupped the Democrat party in the last election!”
Read the nums Dufus…
Rep positive 38%
Dem positive 37%
Tea Party positive 33%
http://msnbcmedia.msn.com/i/MSNBC/Sections/NEWS/A_Politics/___Politics_Today_Stories_Teases/101770%20Dec%20NBC-WSJ%20Filled%20inV1.pdf
You can read can’t you?
Lil' Barry Bailout
December 15th, 2010
9:22 pm
Sorry JDW, the Democrats still lost, big time. And the Democrat-led Congress has the lowest rating in history.
Lil' Barry Bailout
December 15th, 2010
9:29 pm
L Dodd: Businesses now have the same speach rights as individuals and should each, therefore, have the same tax rates as individuals
——————-
So 47% of businesses won’t have to pay any taxes?
TnGelding
December 15th, 2010
9:32 pm
“Crowded classrooms?” Come on Jay, get real. The classrooms won’t be crowded. There’ll just be a few more students in each one. What about just suspending public education for a year? Turn a deficit into a surplus instantly.
A whole $600 million! Do you think we can spare it? It could easily be made up elsewhere. We could save that much by legalizing drugs and using them as a revenue source instead..
Rivals the Pentagon:
http://www.georgiafrontpage.com/education/09/7-27-09_spending.html
http://www.gppf.org/default.asp?pt=newsdescr&RI=1421
Jay
December 15th, 2010
10:56 pm
Gentlemen, a few of you seem to be getting a bit carried away here. Let’s all just back it down and stick around, OK?
bilbo799
December 16th, 2010
6:07 am
Approximately 50% of HOPE recipients lose their scholarships due to academic performance their first year of college. I know dozens of HOPE recipients who lost theirs at UGA because they preferred drinking to studying and the stats suggest this isn’t exceptional. The real travesty, Jay, isn’t that Deal wants to cut corporate taxes–it’s that we’re spending tens of millions of dollars on students who have no business going to college, much less going to college for free on the state’s dime.
TnGelding
December 16th, 2010
8:50 am
Why can’t we change that rite of passage?
Adam
December 16th, 2010
10:05 am
bilbo: better to find out in the early years that kids can’t cut it than to give them no chance at all. 50% is a pretty good number for those that stay.
Adam
December 16th, 2010
1:54 pm
I’m waiting for the negative top-poster!
Oaky Woods= Good DEAL
December 16th, 2010
6:01 pm
If they axed HOPE today my kids would still go to college in state or out of state which ever they choose. Big DEAL, I’m totally ok with HOPE being income based again if it means kids without the access going to college for less. Their families are more likely than mine to be spending $ on lottery tix anyway.
Oaky Woods= Good DEAL
December 16th, 2010
6:03 pm
Sell liquor on Sundays= solution.