Tea Party organizing to block transportation tax
Since the state Legislature approved letting citizens vote on a one-penny regional transportation tax next year, the concept has been opposed by members of the Georgia tea party movement.
Tea party officials say they distrust a regional tax and regional system, fearing it might displace local government. They also oppose using the tax to build transit projects that won’t support themselves entirely through the fare box, which in effect means they oppose all transit systems anywhere in the region. But most of all, as tea party coordinator Debbie Dooley acknowledges, the group intends to fight the regional tax “as a matter of principle,” because it is a tax.
“We’re going to do a lot of the same things we did to defeat the trauma care tax,” Dooley said. “We’re going to use social media to get the word out, and we’re going to raise money to run radio ads. We spent no money on the trauma-care tax.”
I understand the role they’re trying to play. It is healthy and necessary to have citizens who are willing to challenge government spending plans. That’s essential if self-government is to work, and to the extent that they perform that function, the tea party and its members are to be commended.
However, it’s one thing to ask tough questions and demand answers about a proposed tax. That’s good citizenship. But it’s something else to oppose a tax regardless of how those questions are answered, and regardless of the circumstances. That is a long-term strategy for failure.
Good citizenship requires that the questions go deeper than “Is it a tax?”, with all taxes rejected “as a matter of principle.” We have to ask: Is it a necessary tax? Will it be used for the purpose claimed? Do we have viable alternatives to the tax? What are the consequences of rejecting the tax?
What are its costs? What are its benefits?
Georgia ranks 49th in the country in per-capita spending on transportation. Look around you: Is Georgia 49th in the country in transportation needs? Have we matched needs with resources?
As civic journalist Maria Saporta recently noted, Georgia also spends a whopping 63 cents per capita on public transit each year, lower than any state in the country other than Idaho, Wyoming and Montana.
Again, look around you. Metro Atlanta is not Idaho, Wyoming and Montana. Those three sprawling Western states, with hundreds of thousands of square miles of sagebrush, prairie and mountains, have a combined population equal to that of Cobb, Gwinnett, DeKalb and Fulton counties.
They literally have twice as many beef cattle as people. They probably put in more miles on the saddle of a horse each year than they do in riding mass transit.
Our situation is not theirs.
If metro Atlanta is to prosper, we have to be willing to invest in our future, just as earlier generations did in building the railroads, the interstates, MARTA and Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport. And somehow, we have to generate billions of dollars in revenue to make that investment.
It’s not going to come from the federal government. And state “leaders” have made it clear that they lack the guts to increase transportation revenue on their own. Even this baby step of allowing voters to make the decision on their own took years of arm-twisting and begging.
The original tea party colonists opposed taxation without representation, not taxation itself. The regional transportation tax takes it a step further and gives voters the power to tax themselves directly, rather than through elected officials.
So look at what happens if you say yes, and look at what happens if you say no, and decide accordingly.
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748 comments Add your comment
DebbieDoRight
August 9th, 2011
10:44 am
As a shill and lap dog for the Socialist Democrats
Don’t they ever think of anything new?
Bosch
August 9th, 2011
10:44 am
I pay most of my bills on-line (I know wingnuts! shocker, a lib who pays their bills) but there are a few places that haven’t come into the 21st century and I have to write out a check and mail it — and I HATE putting a pretty stamp on the envelope. I wish they had a stamp that was just plain and said in big letter, “BILL.” Pretty stamps shouldn’t be wasted on bills.
AmVet
August 9th, 2011
10:44 am
Yep, providing proof of the overly represented criminal element in American Christianity is now “attacking Christians”.
Gawdbless us all…
JKL2
August 9th, 2011
10:44 am
granny- Just tell Stevie that Tucker is on vaction so you are trolling somewhere else to fill your void.
PS: Did you see CT on O’Reilly yesterday? She was hysterical. She needs to change her picture since she hacked off and dyed her hair though…
Jay
August 9th, 2011
10:44 am
Engineer, metro Atlanta ships tax money to South Georgia, not the other way around. WE subsidize THEM.
kayaker 71
August 9th, 2011
10:45 am
The 30 arrive in Dover today. Said that they couldn’t be released to their families until positive ID was made. All in all, 40 children left without a father. This war is insane.
Doggone/GA
August 9th, 2011
10:45 am
“I wish they had a stamp that was just plain and said in big letter, “BILL.” Pretty stamps shouldn’t be wasted on bills”
check into your online bill paying system. Mine has an option to mail the payments to companies that don’t accept them electronically.
Billybob
August 9th, 2011
10:45 am
Bosch, 10:38
Cut cap and balance is waiting for reid to call it up and ryans was shot down by dems…..where is the dems budget?
Normal
August 9th, 2011
10:46 am
Del,
Come on now…
I’ve had issues with President Obama for a while now, but given what I’ve seen the GOP offer, he will get my vote by default…unless Hillary steps up and runs.
As to “Attacking Christians”…It’s a hobby, is all…
Mighty Righty
August 9th, 2011
10:47 am
I ask again. Where is our money? I am talking about the money paid back by GM Chrysler, the Banks and Financial Institutions. Where is it? Did did the bungler give it to his union friends? Where is our money? Billions and billions of dollars are missing. There is money left over from TARP. What happened to it?
Granny Godzilla
August 9th, 2011
10:47 am
Stevie Ray
There are of course exceptions to that general feeling of “community”.
See JKL2 at 10:44.
Sad isn’t he?
JKL2
August 9th, 2011
10:48 am
AmVet- How dare you mention religion as politically correct. You better duck before all those left wing kinives (sic) hit you in the back. You mean like this “knife”?
Actually, it would be knives. See granny to get your “spelling police” gold star.
AmVet
August 9th, 2011
10:48 am
YIPPEE!!! George Jr. is the new war President!!! (And the cowardly chickenhawks won’t eve salute him.)
We warned it was coming. We’ve mobilized against it. But, it’s here. This week, the Iraqi government and American government are expected to start hammering out an agreement which would keep US Troops in Iraq for at least another two years, past our end-of-year deadline to leave. Meanwhile, Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr has promised more violence against US troops, if they stay. June already had been the most deadly month for US Troops in Iraq in two years. Sadr said, “They [US Troops] will be treated as anyone who stays in Iraq, as a tyrannical occupier that must be resisted by military means.”
CALL ON CONGRESS TO STAND AGAINST FURTHER MILITARY INVOLVEMENT IN IRAQ
We need you to step up again, and write your Senators and Member of Congress, urging them to oppose further US military involvement in Iraq. We have lost thousands of lives in Iraq, already, and spent billions of dollars. We cannot afford to lose any more.
Should we stay in Iraq past our deadline, it is clear that violent attacks will further increase, leading to more American deaths. The United States will then be forced to either endure the attacks or send in more troops to protect our forces. There is simply no outcome from staying past the end-of-year deadline that is acceptable or desirable.
WRITE CONGRESS AND URGE AND END TO MILITARY INVOLVEMENT IN IRAQ
Please spread the word about this campaign, and get your friends and family to also use our website to write to their Senators and Members of Congress. This is urgent, and we need to make a strong stand now.
Thanks for your support.
Sincerely,
Ashwin Madia
Iraq War Veteran
Interim Chairman, VoteVets.org
Jackson5
August 9th, 2011
10:49 am
Jay, you stated the Tea Partty solution in your blog: “Georgia ranks 49th in the country in per-capita spending on transportation. Look around you: Is Georgia 49th in the country in transportation needs? Have we matched needs with resources?”
As someone else already said, shift the resources we already have to where they are needed. We are already taxed at about 50% of income when all taxes, direct and indirect are included. Half of all income is enough; No New Taxes!
And, just for the record, in Georgia the vast majority of funding for State roads and bridges comes from taxes on motor fuel, so roads and bridges do pay for themselves. Let transit do the same.
Left wing management
August 9th, 2011
10:51 am
Recon: “The lib’s need to get used to the Tea Party.”
Oh don’t worry, I think the libs are quite aware of how persistent the TP has the potential to be. That’s not the question. The real question is: how prepared is the GOP/Wall St. corporate establishment for the fact that it might be here to stay?
As I said yesterday, the TP poses a threat to the assumptions (debt, stimulus spending) on which current world capitalism runs and exposes a potentially explosive contradiction within the GOP coalition. In other words, the TP is a bigger threat ultimately to the GOP than to the “libs”.
BWS
August 9th, 2011
10:51 am
I have never and will never vote myself a tax increase. We vote for and elect representatives to propose budgets, to let us,the electorate know what is needed. If the elected officials do not have the nerve to stand by their convictions and vote on and pass tax increases for transportation or anything else then that official should be voted out. Lest we forget this is a representative form of government and not mob rule.
AmVet
August 9th, 2011
10:51 am
2, I made no reference to who misspelled it, just the misspelling itself.
But that is ALL your reply entails?
Nothing whatsoever pertinent to those damning (get it?) facts?
Duck, dodge, dip, dive and dodge.
Niiice…
JKL2
August 9th, 2011
10:52 am
debbie- I don’t know — what do you guys call tea peaers?
I know you like to believe all those scary stories made up by the mass media, but thy to put a little truth into the matter. Tea party events have caused no violence or destroyed anything. Feel free to google away if you don’t believe me.
Look at the aftermath of one of your demwit rallies in Washington and you’ll begin to understand why they are trying to stop demonstrations on the plaza now.
Aquagirl
August 9th, 2011
10:56 am
Engineer, metro Atlanta ships tax money to South Georgia, not the other way around. WE subsidize THEM.
I told you, letting these people vote is not a good idea. Too much direct power for the proudly ignorant. This person sincerely believes 80-90% of their money goes directly to Gay Pride parade subsidies in the godless big city. Or something.
WOODSTOCK MIKE
August 9th, 2011
10:56 am
It’s so funny how everyone just listens to the media and lets themselves get brainwashed. I stayed up late last night watching CNBC to follow the markets and they had a panel of US economists. They made a great point. The debt situation is a long term issue that does need to be addressed. However, the short term issues causing all the pain are 2 things, economic growth and employment. The deficit has very little to do with either.
JKL2
August 9th, 2011
10:56 am
Keep- why would there have been the record recall elections with recall petition signatures in some cases exceeding by 7 or 8x the required number of voters to obtain the recall?
They are called paid union organizers. If you can pay people to be bussed in to protest at the capitol, you can pay more people to go get signatures. Really easy to do when you pay people in the welfare state of Milwaukee to sign something.
DebbieDoRight
August 9th, 2011
10:56 am
This was exactly what the governor was elected to do.
He was
paidelected to bust up the Unions in his state?Engineer: I know folks in South Georgia are backing the TSPLOST, because it guarantees that our regions will actually get some money back instead of 80-90% of it going to the Atlanta metro area/North Georgia like it usually does.
Oy vay. Stooopid is as stooopid does…..
Tommy Maddox
August 9th, 2011
10:56 am
Hey but we are getting a tram line from Centennial Park to the King Center. You won’t find that in Wyoming.
Mighty Righty
August 9th, 2011
10:58 am
Left wing management
August 9th, 2011
10:51 am
You couldn’t be more wrong about the tea party. The tea party is in favor of paying our debt. In fact, they favor paying the debt off. They oppose increasing the debt! There policy is easy to undrstand. Don’t borrow money.
WOODSTOCK MIKE
August 9th, 2011
11:00 am
“YIPPEE!!! George Jr. is the new war President!!! (And the cowardly chickenhawks won’t eve salute him.”
So let me get this straight, this week the Iraqi and American governments are devising a plan for American troops to stay in Iraq longer. Is Obama the president of the US or did I miss something? Are you saying he doesn’t have any say in these talks? Hilarious…
JKL2
August 9th, 2011
11:00 am
doggone- Elected to exagerate the damages, or to DO the damages?
No, that was the Democrats who hired people to do the damage. They also elected their officials to go hang out at the Holiday Inn in Burr Ridge, IL. Have to at least give obama props for showing up to vote “present” when compared to the great state of WI.
Brosephus
August 9th, 2011
11:01 am
I know folks in South Georgia are backing the TSPLOST, because it guarantees that our regions will actually get some money back instead of 80-90% of it going to the Atlanta metro area/North Georgia like it usually does.
Isn’t that like playing a record in reverse? I hope you just didn’t conjure up satan…
TaxPayer
August 9th, 2011
11:02 am
S&P maintained its AAA rating on the U.S. during George W. Bush’s presidency as the national debt grew to pay for wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, tax cuts in 2001 and 2003, Medicare prescription drug benefits and the bailout of Wall Street. Together, those costs added $3.4 trillion to the national debt, according to data compiled by Bloomberg.
Obama’s stimulus package will total $830 billion by 2019, according to a May 2011 Congressional Budget Office report, half the cost of the Bush tax cuts and less than two-thirds of what has been spent on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The U.S. went from budget surpluses averaging $139.7 billion from 1998 through 2001 to a deficit of $1.29 trillion last year, Bloomberg data show. The shortfall peaked at $1.42 trillion in 2009, the first year of Obama’s presidency.
WOODSTOCK MIKE
August 9th, 2011
11:03 am
“This week, the Iraqi government and American government are expected to start hammering out an agreement which would keep US Troops in Iraq for at least another two years, past our end-of-year deadline to leave.”
Way to bring em home Obama!! You guys are so gullible… It doesn’t matter what Obama does, he’s accountable for nothing.
carlosgvv
August 9th, 2011
11:03 am
There are times when a tax increase is not only useful but necessary if we are to maintain our current way of life. Unfortunately, politicans have become our own worst enemys by utterly mismanaging the tax revenues we currently pay. Through pork, duplication and outright fraud, they have shown total incompetence and, because of this, few of us are willing to trust them with any additional revenues. As to the charge that it’s all our fault for electing them, when competent people show up on the ballot we will be glad to vote them into office. Untill then, we can either vote for the bad and worse currently running, or, just not vote at all.
Brosephus
August 9th, 2011
11:03 am
I ask again. Where is our money?
I’ll answer again… In how many different languages can you say Afghanistan? Or should I just put it in braille for you?
AmVet
August 9th, 2011
11:04 am
“Tea party events have caused no violence or destroyed anything. arty love for ya…”
Incorrect.
Rightwing Troll
August 9th, 2011
11:04 am
Tea Party == Moral Majority redux
Where’s the MM now?
Aquagirl
August 9th, 2011
11:05 am
in Georgia the vast majority of funding for State roads and bridges comes from taxes on motor fuel, so roads and bridges do pay for themselves.
BULLCRAP. Another of the proudly ignorant capering around, Georgia never runs short on these people. It would be funny if they didn’t drag their ignorance into the voting booth and run things into their swamp ‘o ignorance.
AmVet
August 9th, 2011
11:05 am
Lemme try that again.
“Tea party events have caused no violence or destroyed anything.”
Patently fallacious (Incorrect seems too tepid. grin)
Brosephus
August 9th, 2011
11:06 am
And, just for the record, in Georgia the vast majority of funding for State roads and bridges comes from taxes on motor fuel, so roads and bridges do pay for themselves.
So that explains why Georgia’s roads and bridges are failing by leaps and bounds. Ok, I get it now. I just hope nobody I know happens to get it from a falling bridge.
Rightwing Troll
August 9th, 2011
11:06 am
Where are the jobs we were promised once the beast was unleashed?
Adam
August 9th, 2011
11:07 am
Obozonomics: Borrow and spend = loser left
Hey now, I thought that the left was TAX and Spend, and the right was Borrow and Spend (Also known as Tax Cut and Spend)? What a difference a recession makes.
poison pen: i>Adam, I lived in Detroit for many years, and that’s all I’ll say about their transit.
I think you’ve helped to identify the problem. The problem isn’t transit, it’s local culture, which is being blamed on everything possible except for the real root cause. Mass transit isn’t bad, people just have perceptions based on culture that infect everything around them, including aspects of public programs.
puddin'
August 9th, 2011
11:07 am
lance off florida and california…
md
August 9th, 2011
11:07 am
Have to say Buffet hit the nail on the head yesterday……….the agencies are supposed to determine our ability to pay our debt, not the attitude in DC……..politics will always exist…….it is exclusive of the actual numbers. We still have the ability to pay………S&P based their decision on politics and essentially are playing politics themselves.
Shame on them
WOODSTOCK MIKE
August 9th, 2011
11:08 am
Taxpayer, you are just getting bad info, you may want to dig a little deeper… Hopefully nobody believes what you post…
“Obama’s stimulus, passed in his first month in office, will cost more than the entire Iraq War — more than $100 billion (15%) more.
* Just the first two years of Obama’s stimulus cost more than the entire cost of the Iraq War under President Bush, or six years of that war.
* Iraq War spending accounted for just 3.2% of all federal spending while it lasted.
* Iraq War spending was not even one quarter of what we spent on Medicare in the same time frame.
* Iraq War spending was not even 15% of the total deficit spending in that time frame. The cumulative deficit, 2003-2010, would have been four-point-something trillion dollars with or without the Iraq War.
* The Iraq War accounts for less than 8% of the federal debt held by the public at the end of 2010 ($9.031 trillion).
* During Bush’s Iraq years, 2003-2008, the federal government spent more on education that it did on the Iraq War. (State and local governments spent about ten times more.)”
AmVet
August 9th, 2011
11:08 am
“Are you saying he doesn’t have any say in these talks?”
I know this is rude, but it sure fits – Mike, how can you be so dense?
I referred to him as George, Jr.
Forget gullible, try basic mastery of standard written English.
JKL2
August 9th, 2011
11:12 am
AmVet- Nothing whatsoever pertinent to those damning (get it?) facts? Duck, dodge, dip, dive and dodge.
Didn’t know you wanted a comment as it was directed to someone else. Most people in prison are religious. Thanks for that earth shattering tip. Next you’re probably going to tell me their American too?
Feel free to comment on how I’m a racist when I point out there is a supermajority of blacks there and most come from single parent households.
WOODSTOCK MIKE
August 9th, 2011
11:13 am
AMVET
Sorry, I didn’t put that one together!! I thought you really meant George Jr. My bad…
getalife
August 9th, 2011
11:14 am
USinUK okay?
When do the riots start here?
Brosephus
August 9th, 2011
11:14 am
md
Have you seen Erickson’s commentary on Obama and S&P? Taking off his partisaned hat, he can actually make sense…
http://www.cnn.com/2011/OPINION/08/09/obama.right/index.html?hpt=hp_t1
JKL2
August 9th, 2011
11:15 am
Debbie- He was paid elected to bust up the Unions in his state?
Balance the budget. Sorry if expecting the unions to pay 1/2 the national average for their healthcare was more than they could handle and caused rioting.
Hasta luego ATL
August 9th, 2011
11:16 am
The supposed $6 billion over 10 years this tax would raise is just a drop in the bucket in solving ATL problems. But with no jobs, more people moving out (like me), companies relocating elsewhere then maybe it will help as there will less population trying to get around. But the larger issue is that ATL has so few options to deal with its problems and the state hates Atlanta and MARTA will never get funding, And with no transit expanded to outlying areas, growth is limited at best. Quality of life in ATL with crime, corruption will erode further and people will not want to live in town. Dallas, Charlotte, Pheonix, Denver all have or will in Phoenix’s case mass transit in place that is easily expandable, far ahead of ATL. This is what will (in part) attract the creative class who has a mentality of lowering their carbon footprint
.
DebbieDoRight
August 9th, 2011
11:16 am
AmVet – RE: Your post on Iraq.
Say it ain’t so, AmVet, say it ain’t so! How stupid can our country be to retain a war, rebuild Iraq, and still scream about deficits and spending? What is Iraq turning into – a jobs program?
JKL2:They are called paid union organizers. If you can pay people to be bussed in to protest at the capitol, you can pay more people to go get signatures. Really easy to do when you pay people in the welfare state of Milwaukee to sign something
Where DO you come up with this stuff?
Aquagirl: Another of the proudly ignorant capering around, Georgia never runs short on these people. It would be funny if they didn’t drag their ignorance into the voting booth and run things into their swamp ‘o ignorance.
Voting heck – they BREED!!!
getalife
August 9th, 2011
11:17 am
md,
Who owns the S&P?
Granny Godzilla
August 9th, 2011
11:19 am
A brief musical interlude
Rah Rah Rah!
Gator Joe
August 9th, 2011
11:19 am
Jay,
Regarding : “Good citizenship requires that the questions go deeper than “Is it a tax?”, with all taxes rejected “as a matter of principle.” We have to ask: Is it a necessary tax? Will it be used for the purpose claimed? Do we have viable alternatives to the tax? What are the consequences of rejecting the tax?”
“What are its costs? What are its benefits?”
The above requires thinking, reasoning, and then arriving at a reasoned decision. Tea Party types, easily manipulated by propaganda, are not capable of this. I am tempted to vote for the tax simply because the Tea Party types oppose it, instead I’ll balance the benefits against the negatives and then make my decision.
DebbieDoRight
August 9th, 2011
11:20 am
Feel free to comment on how I’m a racist when I point out there is a supermajority of blacks there and most come from single parent households
Oh myyy GAAWD………. must we start with the anti-anything-black-rhetoric AGAIN? Can’t we put it off until AFTER lunch?
Keep Up the Good Fight!
August 9th, 2011
11:20 am
JKL — so far you’ve blown a lot of smoke but you have yet to present any facts or substance to back your claims. Guess its because you know its been discredited.
Left wing management
August 9th, 2011
11:20 am
Mighty Righty: “The tea party is in favor of paying our debt. In fact, they favor paying the debt off. They oppose increasing the debt! There policy is easy to undrstand. Don’t borrow money.”
But as I said, a dogmatic opposition to debt — if it were allowed to direct policy too much — threatens to grind the wheels of capitalism to a halt. And Wall St. can’t have that.
JKL2
August 9th, 2011
11:20 am
AmVet- “Tea party events have caused no violence or destroyed anything.” Patently fallacious (Incorrect seems too tepid. grin)
Looking for any kind of proof. Google away. Even show me that picture of the black guy carrying the weapon where your news service cropped to avoid showing his skin color if you want. All the violence and damage comes from the Left. Tea parties have done nothing.
TaxPayer
August 9th, 2011
11:22 am
Woodstock,
Here’s is my source for the numbers I posted. Where are yours from or do I really want to know.
DebbieDoRight
August 9th, 2011
11:23 am
jkl2: Balance the budget. Sorry if expecting the unions to pay 1/2 the national average for their healthcare was more than they could handle and caused rioting.
No matter how many times you say it jkl2, it still doesn’t make it true. Sorry.
Granny Godzilla
August 9th, 2011
11:23 am
“All the violence and damage comes from the Left.”
I think I’ll ask Rep. Gabby Giffords her opinion of that.
AmVet
August 9th, 2011
11:23 am
“All the violence and damage comes from the Left. Tea parties have done nothing.”
Doubling down on the patently fallacious.
Niiice…
JKL2
August 9th, 2011
11:25 am
Debbie- Where DO you come up with this stuff?
Nine years of living in WI. Luckily my house is in the process of selling so I should only be a resident a little while longer. Then I’ll move back to IL on paper.
Keep Up the Good Fight!
August 9th, 2011
11:25 am
All the violence and damage comes from the Left. Tea parties have done nothing
Well there was the storm trooper stomp performed by Rand supporters/campaign workers in KY. Guess someone does not know what they are talking about.
Hmmmmmmmm
August 9th, 2011
11:26 am
Funny Article…. I find it equally funny that the Socially and educated Elite(USINUK) have labled the Tea Party Nit-wits…. If a Nit-Wit is someone who would like to hold our politicians accountable, then I’ll join! It still amazes me how gullable you people are with these taxes…. Republicans and Democrats are ONE in the SAME! Totally CORRUPT and devoid of any leadership qualities! And we continue to call each other names….. Pathetic!
AmVet
August 9th, 2011
11:26 am
Re, that prevarication – “All the violence and damage comes from the Left. Tea parties have done nothing.”
And on the very face of it, it is beyond ridiculous to the point of absurdity…
Bill Orvis White
August 9th, 2011
11:26 am
WE THE PEOPLE in the rightful Tea Party oppose all taxe$ because taxe$ inhibit economic growth. America is a free market and freedom-based society in which we choose the mode of transportation that we wish to use. With that fact in place, it is obvious that owning a car, truck or minivan has won in the free marketplace. Trains and buses lost, pure and simple. So, with those facts in place, why are WE THE PEOPLE expected to fund a Socialistic mass transit plan that is wasteful and frankly, unsafe. I drove over to Atlanta for one of your Tea Party rallies and thank the Lord that I took my F150 and did not have to depend on that incompetent, bloated MARTA. Sorry Liberal Jay, but more trains or those feminine-looking light trains aren’t the answer. Giving folks a choice is the only answer. Oh and if you want better roads, then loosen up the regulatory atmosphere by letting private companies build and maintain all of our road systems, sewers, water, gas and electricity. Mass transit reminds me of the trains that a guy named Adolph used to round of innocents over there in Europe a few years back. Forcing folk to use mass transit, live in urban centers and only eat vegetables is just plain Communistic and morally wrong.
Amen,
Bill
stands for decibels
August 9th, 2011
11:28 am
Taking off his partisaned hat, he can actually make sense…
Before I click that link, a practical question–does Erick Son-of-Erick refrain from calling Obama a “goat-####ing child molester” in this piece?
getalife
August 9th, 2011
11:28 am
I see the flash mob riots have started here.
Troops always stay after a war but Iraq will have to pay for them with oil money.
S&P used the rw strategy to get our President at all costs.
.
Aquagirl
August 9th, 2011
11:28 am
and the state hates Atlanta and MARTA will never get funding,
Substitute “Engineer @ 10:41″ and I’ll agree with your post. Somebody elects what you refer to as the state. Like dim bulbs who are soooooo angry 80-90% of their hard-earned agricultural subsidies are going to those liberals and f@gs in Atlanta.
Seriously, if you are ignorant, you aren’t part of the problem. You ARE the the problem.
Keep Up the Good Fight!
August 9th, 2011
11:28 am
And there’s the Hilter card for mass transit………..
Granny Godzilla
August 9th, 2011
11:29 am
feminine looking light trains?
good lord.
AmVet
August 9th, 2011
11:29 am
Keep, forget those jack-legged, Tea Party Stormtroopers in Kentucky.
For some real right wing love you’ve got to go to Knoxville.
Home of the right wing paragon of tolerance and compassion – James Adkisson…
stands for decibels
August 9th, 2011
11:30 am
“All the violence and damage comes from the Left.”
I think I’ll ask Rep. Gabby Giffords her opinion of that.
Wonder what George Tiller thinks of that, as well? Linda Kraeger and Greg McKendry might want to weigh in, too. Oh, wait…
WOODSTOCK MIKE
August 9th, 2011
11:30 am
“Where are yours from or do I really want to know.”
Let’s just put it this way. If you are trying to defend Obama’s spending there is no reason to even communicate with you, he has spent more in the first 2 1/2 years than any president by trillions of dollars, are you arguing that? It wouldn’t matter if the world was ending, you’d be defending Obama. And what’s really wierd is why do you love him so much, I mean, what has the guy done? I know you are a Democrat but why are you so obsessed?? Kind of strange, don’t you realize the trouble the country is in, sure, yes, he inherited some of it, but it’s been almost 3 years now, you need to let George Bush go…
stands for decibels
August 9th, 2011
11:31 am
And AmVet, get outa my head.
AmVet
August 9th, 2011
11:31 am
“WE…oppose all taxe$…”
And who exactly are in the mooching class in America?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CWpND8GhBuU
williebkind
August 9th, 2011
11:32 am
Should change the topic and talk about our great leader. Stocks are down, jobless rising, and the liberals are talking about raising taxes. Liberals sure are funny.
Brosephus
August 9th, 2011
11:33 am
dB
I was actually surprised by that piece he wrote. If I had not known he was the author, you probably couldn’t convince me that he was.
sam
August 9th, 2011
11:33 am
the tea party is not the problem, but they certainly aren’t the solution to any of our problems. all they’re doing is making them worse.
@@
August 9th, 2011
11:33 am
Only when my husband has used the car before me, do I hear Neal Boortz.
“Honkies for Herman”?????
Love it.
He (Boortz) had Herman on. jay’s name was mentioned….something about taking him to the woodshed on Fair Tax debates?
I’m in agreement with both when they say NOW IS THE TIME to give it a go
Fair Tax, Flat Tax, VAT in place of what we’re operating under. What we have now allows for too much social engineering.
“Ain’t no dollar sign on a peace of mind”—-ZBB
JKL2
August 9th, 2011
11:34 am
Debbie- No matter how many times you say it jkl2, it still doesn’t make it true. Sorry.
“Governor Walker expressed his reasons for “fighting in Wisconsin”. He started his message discussing a teacher from Milwaukee Public Schools, Megan Sampson, who was named Outstanding Teacher of the Year but then a week later received a layoff notice.[108] He stated that the collective-bargaining contract requires staffing decisions to be made based on seniority and got a layoff notice because the union leadership would not accept reasonable changes to their contract. Instead, according to Walker, they hid behind a collective-bargaining agreement that costs the taxpayers $101,091[109] per year for each teacher, protects a 0% contribution for health-insurance premiums, and forces schools to hire and fire based on seniority and union rules.”
Thanks for playing, try again.
Midori
August 9th, 2011
11:34 am
http://blogs.fredericksburg.com/toontalk/files/2011/08/cj080811_color.jpg
DebbieDoRight
August 9th, 2011
11:36 am
Nine years of living in WI. Luckily my house is in the process of selling so I should only be a resident a little while longer
I used to live in LaCrosse when my dad was in the army. Very beautiful in Wisconsin — stinks in places, but still beautiful.
AmVet
August 9th, 2011
11:36 am
stands, brilliant mind thinking alike?! (grin)
Actually it takes no brilliance at all to completely blow up many (most?) most of the right winger’s arguments here these days.
They do most of the work, albeit unwittingly, on their own…
Normal
August 9th, 2011
11:37 am
Granny Godzilla
August 9th, 2011
11:29 am
Granny G,
I don’t think the “good lord” has anything to do with it. I’ve come to the conclusion that Bill Orvis White is a writer of sarcasm, mush like Redneck…anything else is just too scary to contemplate…
TaxPayer
August 9th, 2011
11:38 am
Woodstock,
You do realize that the list you posted was nothing more than different ways of stating how much money George wasted in Iraq and that your list in no way shape or form refutes anything in my post that you claimed was something that you hoped people would ignore. Try again, Woodstock.
DebbieDoRight
August 9th, 2011
11:38 am
Yep, “they” (who the heck are “they?”)do! How would you like it listed? Categorically, Alphabetically, solialogically, of most importance, ad infinitum…???
Jethro — quick question, what does solialogically mean? Is it a new word that you Uncle Jed and Ellie Mae came up with to explain Mul-Tee-Plick-Kashun?
md
August 9th, 2011
11:38 am
soco,
He stole my analysis……..I need to change jobs. Love this part…….kinda shows folks don’t agree with S&P………wouldn’t hurt my feelings if they suffer huge cred problems from here on out……..they blew this one just like the last one…….at our expense.
“(By the way, to lend further credence to the idea that maybe the White House economic team is right and S&P screwed up, where did investor cash flee to during the market collapse of Friday and now, it seems, again today? Why, U.S. Treasuries, of course.)”
stands for decibels
August 9th, 2011
11:38 am
Bros, I saw Erick’s piece. You’re right, it is one of the more rational things I’ve seen on the topic this week.
And I’ll gladly answer his question:
If the White House is right and this is what happened, why the hell is David Axelrod out blaming the Tea Party Movement, a movement that at best has the support of a few dozen members of the United States House of Representatives and has only seen those members in office for six months?
That’s as irresponsible as S&P, and it also does not compute if S&P is the one that screwed up.
Because the “Tea Party movement” is as big or as small as its adherents want it to be. If the right wing wants to exploit or dispose of this silly name at will, why can’t our centrist, can’t-we-all-just-get-along Administration?
Bosch
August 9th, 2011
11:40 am
““All the violence and damage comes from the Left.”
And maybe we can ask the parents of those 80 dead children in Norway.
Brosephus
August 9th, 2011
11:40 am
Instead, according to Walker, they hid behind a collective-bargaining agreement that costs the taxpayers $101,091[109] per year for each teacher, protects a 0% contribution for health-insurance premiums, and forces schools to hire and fire based on seniority and union rules.
Is that any different than CEO’s in 2008-2009 hiding behind contractual agreements to reap millions after running companies and this country into the ground? Yet, the right was mostly adamant that their contracts be honored 100%.
getalife
August 9th, 2011
11:42 am
A tea party rally vs a flash mob is coming.
Better get back under your beds cons.
willie lynch
August 9th, 2011
11:42 am
The Koch financed, Armey led, “grassroots” movement known as the Tea Party, is a joke. Everything is given it’s fifteen minutes. Like Sarah Palin these clowns will soon be seen for what they are.
stands for decibels
August 9th, 2011
11:43 am
a collective-bargaining agreement that costs the taxpayers $101,091[109] per year for each teacher
oh the humanity and all of the passengers.
Bosch
August 9th, 2011
11:44 am
And these guys weren’t exactly violent unless you consider their language, but they certainly do range in the douchbag category:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6ik4f1dRbP8
Brosephus
August 9th, 2011
11:45 am
md
That one made me smile, one of the few times I’ve smiled all weekend. I haven’t read Buffet’s words yet, but judging from the headlines and bylines I’ve seen, he’s probably tracking along similar lines.
dB
All politics boils down to is exploiting one group over another. Axelrod’s actions on the left are no different than what we’ve seen here on the right trying to blame Obama. I’m beginning to believe the collective majority of partisans need to share a warm cup of shut the f**k up right about now.
stands for decibels
August 9th, 2011
11:45 am
And maybe we can ask the parents of those 80 dead children in Norway.
Has Rush taken to complaining about them sometimes being referred to as “children” yet?
DebbieDoRight
August 9th, 2011
11:48 am
Let’s just put it this way. If you are trying to defend Obama’s spending there is no reason to even communicate with you
In other words…….he can neither deny nor refute what you just said, so he’ll change the subject.
For jkl2 – RE: The Govenor of Wis.
If collective bargaining is one of the biggest problems the public sector in your state faces in managing its workers, then why exempt first responders like police officers and firefighters from the proposals? Shouldn’t he, (your gov.) be addressing bargaining for police and firefighters even before other workers, like teachers, because of the critical role first responders play every day?
In other words — his actions were speaking way louder than his words, and teachers aren’t stupid enough to fall for the old 3 card monty.
stands for decibels
August 9th, 2011
11:48 am
Axelrod’s actions on the left are no different than what we’ve seen here on the right trying to blame Obama.
Perhaps.
difference is (you knew there was a “difference is” coming, right? can’t help meself…) our unreasonable words are directed toward a goal of holding intact a functional Republic. Their unreasonable words are directed toward a goal of blowing it up if they don’t get their way; a threat that is utterly unprecedented in post-Civil War US history.
(and if that’s just hyperbole on my part, I’d love to know how.)
Mama Says
August 9th, 2011
11:51 am
Debbie
you said
“Too funny!! PS: I wonder who the tea peaers will blame when roads and bridges start collapsing (like they did in Minnesota) because of lack of funds to repair/replace them? I’m betting it’s gonna be Obama. Any takers?”
If you read the proposal being considered by the commission it dosen’t say we are using the money for road repair. The majority of it will go to 3 or 4 projects. That being the complete redesign of several interchanges and the Atlanta belt line.
What you guys cannot figure out is that you already pay taxes for “road improvement”. This new tax is not intended for repaving projects. Therefore you are already trying to do exactly what is wrong. You want to redirect money, intended to accomplish one thing, into another project that you think needs more money than has been allocated
FrankLeeDarling
August 9th, 2011
11:51 am
Tea party = freeloader