Metro Atlanta needs tools to rethink itself
Unemployment in metro Atlanta fell by almost a full point between February 2011 and February 2012, declining from 9.9 to 9 percent. In more human terms, more than 60,000 of our friends, neighbors and relatives are now back to work.
That’s a welcome sign of progress, as was Thursday’s announcement of 1,500 jobs coming to a new medical-products plant to be built near Social Circle. After a difficult lag, metro Atlanta finally appears to be benefiting from the nation’s slow, awkward recovery, even if we still have a long way to go.
In fact, Atlanta has a lot farther to travel than many metro regions that we might think of as competitors. Almost every region got hit hard by the recession; as an economy highly dependent on home construction, Atlanta got hit worse than most. But if you look closely, this region’s economy had begun to stumble and falter long before the recession hit. The housing bubble merely made those problems harder to recognize.
Through the ’90s, for example, per capita income in metro Atlanta was increasing fast, more quickly than in most other metro areas. That was a sign of a vibrant regional economy attracting and creating wealth.
But around the turn of the century, that increase simply stopped. While per capita income continued to grow elsewhere, it simply flat-lined in metro Atlanta, and when the recession hit that number collapsed. In fact, when you look at what per capita income has done in the last 20 years, the performance of the 28-county metro Atlanta area closely mirrors that of metro Detroit.
The Brookings Institution, a Washington-based think tank, recently released its assessment of the economic performance of the top 200 metro areas in the world from 2010 to 2011. Metro Atlanta ranked 189th of 200, behind New Orleans, Memphis, Birmingham and other U.S. cities, and well behind Detroit. We even ranked one notch below Cairo, Egypt.
Those numbers suggest that merely riding the crest of a slowly improving national economy will not be enough for metro Atlanta. They also demonstrate the foolishness of trying to recreate the prosperity of a past that wasn’t as prosperous as we thought.
That prosperity had been driven by Atlanta’s success in reproducing the auto-centric, sprawling, decentralized development pattern that had characterized American cities for the prior half century. And while those auto-dependent suburbs will continue to be a great place to live and raise families for many, economic indicators, growth markers, investment patterns and social trends all tell us that’s not how future growth will occur.
A new survey by the National Association of Realtors, for example, found that “nearly six in ten adults would prefer to live in a neighborhood with a mix of houses and stores and other businesses within an easy walk” than in a more auto-dependent suburb. Even more telling, young people are not as enthralled with the automobile as their parents and grandparents had been. In 1983, 69 percent of American 17-year-olds had a driver’s license. By 2008, that had dropped to 50 percent, and I bet it has fallen still further since then.
The country is changing. The market is changing. And while a number of business and civic leaders in the metro Atlanta region understand that reality, I don’t believe that our political leaders at the state level, particularly at the Legislature, fully grasp the necessity of reinventing ourselves and reinvesting in ourselves, and of giving us the transit, planning and governance tools to make those changes.
– Jay Bookman
Source: Brookings Institution
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349 comments Add your comment
Matti
April 23rd, 2012
11:23 am
Jersey gal Snookie stopped in Savannah on her way to “Jersey Shore Miami.” A local boy at the restaurant tried to make nice with her. Without any direct knowledge to support her assertion, she said to her friend with cameras rolling, “He sleeps with his sister!”
Bruno
April 23rd, 2012
11:25 am
Yes we have some to be sure, but if I have only visited at different times in my life and can see the same in several northern states, why can’t the northerners see it as well?
TBS–I’ve always stated that there are Rednecks everywhere, it’s not an exclusively Southern quality. However, I believe the degree of unfriendliness toward “outsiders” is much higher in the South than in any other part of the country. It appears that suspicion and hatred are handed down from generation to generation.
Jm
April 23rd, 2012
11:25 am
A. Jay mustve been at rotary
B. I agree Atlanta needs more transit
C. The tools are already available to Marta to solve the problem
D. It will take more than transit to get Atlanta back on the path to prosperity. Much more.
Bruno
April 23rd, 2012
11:28 am
From where I sit, you could have made your entire post and not kicked sh*t in people’s faces had you left that last sentence off.
Brosephus–My comments this AM were specifically directed toward the Rednecks on this blog who were mouthing off about “Yankees”, not toward every single person who lives in the South. In case you didn’t know, the “Y” word is held in less esteem than even the “N” word in the South.
Perhaps it is you who is suffering from a bit of Southern Myopia this morning.
USMC
April 23rd, 2012
11:30 am
“Metro Atlanta needs tools to rethink itself”–Jay
Not to worry, The Obama administration is now pivoting to jobs, jobs, jobs…
carlosgvv
April 23rd, 2012
11:31 am
Matti
Snookie simply represents the gutter level reality TV has sunk to. The fact this show is still on the air is a testament to the dumbing down of America. And we wonder how those crazed Tea Party loons ever got elected?
UNCLE SAMANTHA
April 23rd, 2012
11:33 am
hey jay
states losing congressional seats for populations leaving those states
OHIO
NEW YORK
ILLINOIS
IOWA
LOUISIANNA
MASS.
MICHIGAN
MISSOURI
NEW JERSEY
PENNSYLVANIA
GEORGIA GAINED 1 SEAT
Brosephus™
April 23rd, 2012
11:34 am
In case you didn’t know, the “Y” word is held in less esteem than even the “N” word in the South.
I can’t seem to recall a single body hanging from a tree, a cross burning in a yard, or other acts of vandalism based on the “Y” word, but otherwise you could be right. I’m a born and raised Southerner, and I have seen the difference in treatment of “Y’s” vs “N’s” and I can guarantee there are thousands of dead people who would have loved to get the Y treatment over the N treatment. I understand what you’re trying to say, but I just don’t agree with you on that one.
I still think that stirring up the divisiveness does nothing towards ending it. Your last sentence did nothing but stir things up. My original intent was to point that out to you, and I don’t think you can change my mind that it did otherwise.
TaxPayer
April 23rd, 2012
11:35 am
And why does MARTA label lines The North Line and The South Line if not to propagate that US versus Them mentality.
What can I say. It just seemed to fit right in with the degradation of the topic.
UNCLE SAMANTHA
April 23rd, 2012
11:38 am
taxpayer
dont forget about the snobby elitist ITP people who look down on the OTP people
barking frog
April 23rd, 2012
11:40 am
Yankee is a word created by
New Yorkers to label the
dutch farmers who brought
dairy products to the city.
Yan Kees or John Cheese.
USinUK
April 23rd, 2012
11:40 am
I just think it’s interesting / amusing that people who are rejoicing at people migrating to red states from blue states seem to think that means that they’ll turn Republican.
Bruno
April 23rd, 2012
11:41 am
I still think that stirring up the divisiveness does nothing towards ending it. Your last sentence did nothing but stir things up. My original intent was to point that out to you, and I don’t think you can change my mind that it did otherwise.
Brosephus–I’m curious as to why you are choosing to single me out for criticism, with nary a word for the Yankee-haters who started the ball rolling this AM. I rarely make anti-South comments here, or anywhere, but sometimes it gets a bit much. I love the South, and have chosen to make it my home. I’ve been a good citizen and a good neighbor the entire time I’ve lived here. As such, I don’t react well to being treated poorly simply due to my origin of birth.
You’re probably right that the N treatment has been worse than the Y treatment historically, but in the end it’s based on the same fear and prejudice, and no fun being on the receiving end.
Matti
April 23rd, 2012
11:43 am
What northern transplants don’t seem to get, is that southerners will “mess with you” before we let you into our inner circle. Why? Because we want to see what you’re made of, and whether you can take a joke, or if you take yourself too seriously. It doesn’t mean we don’t like you, but rather, we’re giving you a chance. Trust: If we don’t like you, we don’t speak to you or acknowledge your existence.
UNCLE SAMANTHA
April 23rd, 2012
11:44 am
Georgia ranks 50th in education…………
It appears we have been importing the dumbest of the dumb who can’t make it in their own state and move here………… then the state that they left see their ranks go up since their dumbest have left and move our ranking further in the cellar……….. and i am talking about the bama/ ms. / louisanna dummies as well as the northerners
Bruno
April 23rd, 2012
11:44 am
What northern transplants don’t seem to get, is that southerners will “mess with you” before we let you into our inner circle.
F your “inner circle”, Matti. Could you possibly be more arrogant??
liberalefty
April 23rd, 2012
11:44 am
@bruno
u poor soul u mean well but u dont get it. theirs no comparison as to how blacks were treated and how yankees were treated. get a clue
They BOTH suck
April 23rd, 2012
11:45 am
Bruno
Thanks for the reply. I have met and got to know nice people everywhere I have traveled and have met @ssholes in many places as well.
In both cases it was the person and how they interacted with me and me with them………. It wasn’t regional
I was just merely pointing out that “red necks” are not confined to the south……… they are everywhere.
I grew up in the south. My mom is from Panama. With my darker completion and southern accent, I have received some strange looks in my life when I have had initial contact with people. You can almost heat them thinking…… “He sounds like he is from the south, but he sure doesn’t look like it”………..
It might be that same look that Sinkwich said he got from the gas station guy at Kroger when he pinned him up and started discussing alternative fuels………..
Don
April 23rd, 2012
11:46 am
The problem has absolutely nothing to do with North or South, Yankees or Rednecks or anything else. It is because Atlanta as a region has outgrown the ability of the government structure to care for it.
Unlike most other states, Georgia has many, many small counties, so where a typical US city with several million people would have less than a dozen local county governments, Atlanta has nearly three dozen. This makes it nearly impossible to get together on regional transportation projects, etc.
That leaves the care and feeding of Metro Atlanta to the totally dysfunctional state government which appears to have mastered the art of legislating “solutions” to “non-problems”. Every year, it’s a whole lot of nothing.
Attacking hard problems (like transportation in Atlanta) or things that might actually effect the legislators (like ethics reform) never happen. Instead, they wind up taking all their time talking about and passing laws that have nearly zero effect on anything. “Should college kids be allowed carry permits?” Who cares? How many actually would? Some probably are, already, anyway. “Should welfare recipients be tested for drugs?” Any tax savings here? Nope.
I suppose it makes the folks back home think they are really standing up for things. Might as well pass legislation defining what Brunswick Stew really is…..
Doggone/GA
April 23rd, 2012
11:46 am
“What northern transplants don’t seem to get, is that southerners will “mess with you” before we let you into our inner circle”
Don’t kid mess with YOURSELF. We “get it” – we just ignore it. We wouldn’t want to be “in” a circle like that anyway.
Hmmmmmmm
April 23rd, 2012
11:47 am
@carlosgvv
That’s precisely how we got Obama as a President… The ignorance of the American idol mentality speaks, in the 2008 presidential election… They elected their American Idol…. and look at what we have….. Kinda Sad….
Peadawg
April 23rd, 2012
11:48 am
Looks like ‘ol Buckwheat is back running for Congress under the Green Party banner. Poor Dekalb County….
Doggone/GA
April 23rd, 2012
11:48 am
Having grown up in the North, but moved to the South…I can give first-hand stories of a big difference between them. I’ve acquired a Southern accent and when I go back North I constantly hear “I just LOVE your accent” But I haven’t completely lost some of my Northern accent, and in the South I hear “You’re not from around here, are you”
Mick
April 23rd, 2012
11:49 am
steve
I live in miami, my folks lived in palm beach for years, loxahatchee to be specific. Never liked palm beach county, the politics are abysmal…
Brosephus™
April 23rd, 2012
11:50 am
Bruno
In case you haven’t noticed, the person who posted that yankee garbage doesn’t get much of a response from me anyway. I generally scroll past that person’s posts because I don’t value that person’s opinion much. You, on the other hand, are somebody I consider level headed. If you notice, I didn’t say much of anything about your overall post as I know what you were responding to. I only thought that last sentence went overboard. As far as I’m concerned, the only Yankees that I personally don’t care for is the New York Yankees. That’s all because of a few World Series run-ins with the Braves though.
I can’t answer for others here, as people have their own mindsets and ways of thinking. I don’t give a sh*t where somebody comes from. If they’re American, then they are American. That other crap is nothing but a means to divide and set people against each other. As a former POTUS once wisely noted, “A house divided against itself will not stand.”
liberalefty
April 23rd, 2012
11:52 am
hmmm11:47
OSAMA WOULD AGREE WITH YOU
Peadawg
April 23rd, 2012
11:53 am
“I’ve acquired a Southern accent and when I go back North I constantly hear “I just LOVE your accent” But I haven’t completely lost some of my Northern accent, and in the South I hear “You’re not from around here, are you””
Yeah most people from the South (including me) cringe when they a Northern accent (pak the ca, anyone?). But when my mom and dad visited New York…cops loved hearing my dad talk when asking for direction.
They BOTH suck
April 23rd, 2012
11:53 am
“Looks like ‘ol Buckwheat is back running for Congress under the Green Party banner. Poor Dekalb County”
Really? That is the name you call her
I think McKinney is divisive and she would never get my vote if I lived in her district, but “buckwheat”?
Really?
carlosgvv
April 23rd, 2012
11:53 am
Brosephus
It has been many long years since any lynchings have occured in the South. Even though you’re a born and raised Southerner, I doubt any lynchings have occured in your lifetime. However, the tone of your posts suggests they are as recent as cross burnings, and throwing in “thousands of dead people” makes it sound like you are the one being divisive.
Doggone/GA
April 23rd, 2012
11:53 am
“Yeah most people from the South (including me) cringe when they a Northern accent (pak the ca, anyone?). ”
And I’m from mid-state PA and my Northern accent is NOWHERE near that flat.
Matti
April 23rd, 2012
11:55 am
Bruno: F your “inner circle”, Matti. Could you possibly be more arrogant??
Uh…. Excuse me? I suppose I should just let you — or any stranger — right on in because…. because… WHY should I let you right in? Do you think if I moved to Boston, the people there would just let ME right in to their inner circle? Not Italian. Not Irish. How long would THAT take? Geebus.
I’m sorry Bruno, but I don’t trust you as far as I can spit, and that has nothing to do with your state of origin, but everything to do with what you’ve shown me about yourself since you came to these here forums. What you just said to me was ugly, childish, and completely uncalled for. I hope you’ll understand that I have nothing more to say to you.
barking frog
April 23rd, 2012
11:56 am
Bruno
Consider that traits other
than birthplace or accent
may create some of your
conflicts.
Peadawg
April 23rd, 2012
11:57 am
“Really? That is the name you call her”
Do you even know who Buckwheat is? Look at this picture and tell me they don’t look alike: http://www.strangecosmos.com/images/content/115223.jpg
Bruno
April 23rd, 2012
11:57 am
In case you haven’t noticed, the person who posted that yankee garbage doesn’t get much of a response from me anyway.
If only it were one person chiming in this morning, Bro, then maybe it would simply be a matter of scrolling past one offensive blog. I will say that Matti’s posts likely disturb me the most, since she is the very first person to cry “victim” whenever she feels that she has been disrespected in life due to her status as a woman or as a liberal. Yet, when the shoe is on the other foot, she’s right there leading the parade with the anti-Yankee comments.
I don’t give a sh*t where somebody comes from. If they’re American, then they are American. That other crap is nothing but a means to divide and set people against each other.
Like I keep saying, the Big Tent is ready whenever you are.
DawgDad
April 23rd, 2012
11:58 am
“And Jon Hunstman is one of a tiny handful of men with the moral courage to dare even broach the subject. But tragically, his brand of moderate, reasoned and reasonable statesmanship and governance has no place at all in the rabid right wing that controls the Once Grand Old Party.”
Just WHERE is there any evidence the “rabid right wing” controls the GOP? Almost impossible to make a case for that with Romney as the inevitable nominee, he of party-insider status and Mass-care infamy.
Of course, this assumes you would include the Tea Party, Gingrich, and Ron Paul libertarians as part of the “rabid right wing”, as it would appear by reading this blog on pretty much a daily basis. They certainly don’t “control” the GOP, and if they aren’t the “rabid right wing”, then just who is?
They BOTH suck
April 23rd, 2012
11:58 am
I know who Buckwheat is and I also know that the name of the person attempting to get reelected to Congress is Cynthia McKinney………
USinUK
April 23rd, 2012
11:59 am
“Excuse me? I suppose I should just let you — or any stranger — right on in because…. because… WHY should I let you right in?”
ohfercryingoutloud, Matti – get off your high horse.
people moved to a new place – you should open your door to them AND your heart!! unless you’ve packed up and moved someplace new where you know no one or have any idea where anything is, you don’t know what isolated is.
your “inner circle” isn’t THAT special.
Peadawg
April 23rd, 2012
12:00 pm
“I know who Buckwheat is” – Ok, just making sure. Then I don’t know what your poutrage is about me calling her Buckwheat since they look just alike.
Brosephus™
April 23rd, 2012
12:00 pm
carlos
The last recorded lynching happened on March 20, 1981 in Mobile, Alabama. The result of that lynching was that a lawsuit was brought against the United Klans of America that bankrupted that organization.
http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/case-docket/donald-v-united-klans-of-america
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Michael_Donald
It doesn’t matter how many took place during my lifetime. The shame is that it HAS taken place in my lifetime. Crosses still get burned nowadays, so don’t think it’s some relic of the past. Instead of burying your head in the sand as though things are okey dokey nowadays, you need to pay attention to what goes on around you. Just because it’s not right in your face does not mean that it’s not happening.
Peadawg
April 23rd, 2012
12:01 pm
And God help Dekalb if they re-elect that idiot.
Doggone/GA
April 23rd, 2012
12:01 pm
“Ok, just making sure. Then I don’t know what your poutrage is about me calling her Buckwheat since they look just alike.”
Overt bigotry is always preferable. Then everyone knows where they stand with that particular bigot.
Matti
April 23rd, 2012
12:01 pm
Doggone: We wouldn’t want to be “in” a circle like that anyway.
What I said goes for any newbie, not just yankees, but I’m glad to know you wouldn’t want to be my friend because you don’t agree with our way of seeing if we can trust people before we actually trust them. I’d rather be with people who know how to laugh at themselves anyway. I’m glad we’re having this frank discussion. GOSH, I’d feel silly thinking I could trust “you people.” Thanks for the honesty.
stands for decibels
April 23rd, 2012
12:02 pm
Jersey gal Snookie
not that I’m an expert on such matters, but a cursory check reveals that she was actually born in Chile, and grew up in upstate NY.
Peadawg
April 23rd, 2012
12:02 pm
“Overt bigotry”
Brosephus™
April 23rd, 2012
12:03 pm
Bruno
Do as I do… My scroll wheel has a 454 V-8 matched to a 6-speed tranny.
USinUK
April 23rd, 2012
12:04 pm
“Overt bigotry is always preferable. Then everyone knows where they stand with that particular bigot.”
exactly.
Peadawg – the shoe fits … despite your rollypoly eyes
They BOTH suck
April 23rd, 2012
12:04 pm
Peadawg
There have been times when I have got heated with people on here depending on the topic, etc……. however, you will find it hard pressed to find where I call people names and that goes for bloggers, politicians, etc.
There was one time that I did that in retaliation for being called a name and once I did it… I knew I was being just as stupid
One can get their point across without doing that
That is all I’m saying……….. but I digress, if it makes you feel good about yourself have at it
stands for decibels
April 23rd, 2012
12:04 pm
I’ve always stated that there are Rednecks everywhere
Including Redneck Avenue, in Teterboro, NJ of course.
liberalefty
April 23rd, 2012
12:04 pm
predawg
cynthia is no worse than the racist PEE PARTY…no shes not worse than those rabid racists are
liberalefty
April 23rd, 2012
12:04 pm
predawg
cynthia is no worse than the racist PEE PARTY…no shes not worse than those rabid racists are
Matti
April 23rd, 2012
12:06 pm
USinUK,
Thanks for presuming, but I do indeed know about isolation in a new place. I’ve also made close friendships with at least a dozen transplants (natives being in the minority around here), most of whom got tired of Atlanta or had better opportunities, and moved away again, leaving me to miss them terribly. I’m sorry you think vetting the inner circle is an arrogant thing to do, but I’ve been toasted enough trusting the wrong people. Thanks so much for your concern.
Peadawg
April 23rd, 2012
12:07 pm
I’m not even going to ask how y’all made the leap to me being a bigot b/c I said one (idiot and most people out outside of Dekalb know it) person looks like another….wow.
Doggone/GA
April 23rd, 2012
12:08 pm
“but I’m glad to know you wouldn’t want to be my friend”
But I never said that. I said I wouldn’t want to be in your “inner circle” – but your reaction just confirms that.
Jefferson
April 23rd, 2012
12:09 pm
will the circle be unbroken ?
Peadawg
April 23rd, 2012
12:09 pm
liberallefty @ 12:04, comparing one idiot to another idiot, trying to figure out who’s the bigger idiot..that’d your argument?
barking frog
April 23rd, 2012
12:10 pm
How many racial and
bigoted pejoratives have
been defined? How limited
will our PC speech become?
Redneck is not a pejorative
as proven by Jeff Foxworthy.
They BOTH suck
April 23rd, 2012
12:10 pm
Peadawg……… I didn’t call you anything.
I just said the lady has a name. Any inferences made on your part are on you…….
Bruno
April 23rd, 2012
12:11 pm
people moved to a new place – you should open your door to them AND your heart!! unless you’ve packed up and moved someplace new where you know no one or have any idea where anything is, you don’t know what isolated is.
USinUK–I remember when we were young, a friend of my mother had a “special needs” child. Because kids are prone to ask questions about schoolwork and stuff, she cautioned us to be careful with such questions so as not to make the other child feel “different” from us. In the way that only my Mom could do, she explained to us that we’re all the same in God’s eyes. It’s a philosophy which I’ve carried in my heart as well. As such, I’ve always attracted a very diverse crowd to me professionally, with an over-representation of gay, minority and foreign-born clients.
Thanks for chiming in.
bookman parrot
April 23rd, 2012
12:11 pm
Jay,
continue with the pro-obama propaganda; but facts are facts; fuel is higher; food is higher; vehicles are higher; houses have lost; wages are even or down; but you keep shoveling in the hopes that something will grow.
USMC
April 23rd, 2012
12:12 pm
Poll: John Edwards 3% favorable rating
http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0412/75458.html
I wonder if Jay Bookman still favors John Edwards???
liberalefty
April 23rd, 2012
12:12 pm
MITT ROMNEYS vp will not be black…thats a fact
Thomas
April 23rd, 2012
12:13 pm
Alpharetta has 40% minority student body. (most would qualify for the acclaimed Penn State). Sounds like a successful recipe that the cracker jack team at the AJC should explore.
JB
April 23rd, 2012
12:14 pm
You could triple the budget and it wouldn’t help much….until the real root of the problem is fixed. The break up of the two parent home. Fatherless children in poverty face a real up hill battle. Talk to any teacher and she will tell you THEY get the blame, and little is done outside of the school to foster an environment of learning and accountability.
stands for decibels
April 23rd, 2012
12:14 pm
food is higher; vehicles are higher
gotta make the pie higher!
Peadawg
April 23rd, 2012
12:14 pm
“Peadawg……… I didn’t call you anything.
I just said the lady has a name.”
Oh f-off w/ the political correctness. The woman doesn’t belong anywhere near the Senate. I just hope Dekalb County residence aren’t dumb enough to vote for her.
They BOTH suck
April 23rd, 2012
12:15 pm
“MITT ROMNEYS vp will not be black…thats a fact”
While you are probably correct, I’m not sure if that has to be his main criteria or should be
Please note: I will not be voting for Romney regardless of who he picks as his running mate
Doggone/GA
April 23rd, 2012
12:15 pm
“MITT ROMNEYS vp will not be black…thats a fact”
Personally…I wouldn’t take either side of a bet on that.
barking frog
April 23rd, 2012
12:16 pm
MITT ROMNEYS vp will not be black…thats a fact
————-
and neither will BARACK
OBAMA’s.
USinUK
April 23rd, 2012
12:18 pm
“I’m sorry you think vetting the inner circle is an arrogant thing to do, but I’ve been toasted enough trusting the wrong people. Thanks so much for your concern.”
good grief – being nice to someone /= giving them your PIN or your mother’s maiden name.
be nice. be friendly. s’all I’m saying.
this whole “Bostonians wouldn’t do it if I moved there” is BS. So what if they wouldn’t – treat others as you would have them treat you.
(now, where did I hear that before???)
criminey, that’s why I was glad to see CT in my rear-view mirror … taciturn and cold, they didn’t want to get to know you unless they had to
Bruno
April 23rd, 2012
12:18 pm
Do as I do… My scroll wheel has a 454 V-8 matched to a 6-speed tranny.
For some reason, Bro, I’ve gotten sucked in to actually caring for Matti and hoping that she has a good life. Or even just a good day.
Brosephus™
April 23rd, 2012
12:18 pm
but facts are facts; fuel is higher
Facts are indeed facts, and they don’t change based on what people “think”.
http://www.ajc.com/news/gas-prices-down-15-1424037.html
After peaking at $3.87 a gallon earlier this month, metro Atlanta’s average price for a gallon of regular unleaded gasoline has dropped 15 cents.
Monday morning’s average of $3.72 a gallon is 9.5 cents cheaper than one week ago, according to atlantagasprices.com, a website that tracks how much Atlantans pay for gas.
The price has been steadily dropping since peaking on April 8…
Falling world oil prices and declining demand from U.S. drivers in response to high prices are two factors contributing to the lower prices, analysts say.
No matter how much people want to blame stuff on the person residing at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, he does not have that much sway over the entire world. It doesn’t matter whether that person has a (R) or a (D) behind their name.
liberalefty
April 23rd, 2012
12:18 pm
MITT ROMNEY knows that a black vp will definitely doom his presidential bid.,..and sorry BOBBY JINDAL, you’re a little too dark.
Let The Market Work
April 23rd, 2012
12:19 pm
Most people do not realize that our ‘market-based economy’ is not a free market at all. The government is involved in every step of commerce from taxes to regulations. Since that is not likely to change, the goal should be to have goods and services reflect their true costs without hidden or direct subsidies. That way people vote with their wallets. If something is truly worth the cost, they will buy it. Otherwise they will spend their money on something more valuable to them. Energy is one area that is directly subsidized but also has many hidden costs such as protecting oil sources and mitigating environmental and health damage.
I am a conservative whose business is dependent on energy and yet I think the solution to many of our problems is to raise the energy tax. Higher energy prices, offset by lowering business and personal taxes, would put the market incentives in the right place so we don’t have to make piecemeal laws in an attempt to create an industrial policy.
Higher energy costs would:
- reduce dependence on oil imports from dangerous places
- improve trade deficit
- encourage people to live and work closer together, reducing urban sprawl
- lower congestion by encouraging rail transport and discouraging huge vehicles
- encourage mass transit
- lower pollution and greenhouse emissions
- encourage alternative energy and ‘green jobs’
- provide revenue for tax relief
They BOTH suck
April 23rd, 2012
12:19 pm
“Oh f-off w/ the political correctness. The woman doesn’t belong anywhere near the Senate. ”
Upset because you made inferences about yourself……….. hahahahahaha amazing
psst: if you want to call her whatever make you feel good and speak about her record at least know she is running for a seat in the House of Representative not to be a Senator
Do you know the difference and who is your Congressmen and Senators?
Hint: you have one Congressmen and two Senators
USinUK
April 23rd, 2012
12:19 pm
Bruno – 12:11 – are you saying Yankees = special needs kids???
Thomas
April 23rd, 2012
12:19 pm
Message truncated-
Less than 8% unemployment and top 15% in SAT scores
stands for decibels
April 23rd, 2012
12:19 pm
MITT ROMNEYS vp will not be black…
“boiled-potato-on-white-bread-with-Miracle-Whip-sandwich Rob Portman makes Mitt Romney look like Louis Farrakhan on a Red Bull & meth bender.
Get excited, Republican base. Get very excited…”
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
April 23rd, 2012
12:21 pm
Well, I see alot of folks are capitalizing redneck when they talk about it. That must mean I’m growing on people.
Have a good lunch everybody.
Shawny
April 23rd, 2012
12:22 pm
When did the metro area go from 13 to 28 counties. Where does it end now, Macon?
Peadawg
April 23rd, 2012
12:22 pm
“at least know she is running for a seat in the House of Representative not to be a Senator” – Meh, oh well. Either way she needs to go away. Far away.
USinUK
April 23rd, 2012
12:23 pm
“she is running for a seat in the House of Representative not to be a Senator”
well, the House chambers are right across the building from the Senate, so technically speaking she would be somewhere near the Senate …
Brosephus™
April 23rd, 2012
12:23 pm
Bruno
My scroll wheel is impervious to personal emotion. I’m thinking of upgrading the intake and exhaust on that sucker over this spring. I may even add a turbocharger.
Bruno
April 23rd, 2012
12:24 pm
criminey, that’s why I was glad to see CT in my rear-view mirror … taciturn and cold, they didn’t want to get to know you unless they had to
USinUK–There may be something to what you’re saying there. In the colder climes, people spend a lot more time indoors, and don’t tend to socialize as much. As such, the colder regions attract a more rugged, individualistic type of people. It wasn’t my cup of tea, so I left as soon as I could at age 17.
USinUK
April 23rd, 2012
12:24 pm
dB – 12:19 – oh, I so laughed at that description this morning …
liberalefty
April 23rd, 2012
12:24 pm
MITTS VP will not be black or a woman…
carlosgvv
April 23rd, 2012
12:24 pm
Bropsephus
Once again
I never said cross burnings don’t happen anymore.
I certainly never said things are okey dokey nowadays.
As for lynchings, two things are very different now as opposed from the past.
1. They seldom, if ever happen.
2. If one did happen, the actions of law enforcement would be quite different from those of the past.
I’m sure you remember, some years ago, three yahoos chained a black man to the their car and dragged him to death. This was in Texas. The State of Texas jumped on these three goons with both feet. Two got the death sentence and the third got life.
The Jews have a saying about the Holocast – “NEVER AGAIN”. That should be our attitude about racial murders like lynching. However, we can’t just keep looking at the past. We must study it, learn from it and move ahead.
Matti
April 23rd, 2012
12:25 pm
USinUK,
I am friendly. I’m quite neighborly, in fact. You have no idea what I’ve done for my transplant neighbors. I never said I wasn’t. I referenced messing with someone to see if they can take a joke before letting then into the “inner circle” and got trounced all over by people who think that’s just not being friendly enough. People presume a lot, and pounce quicky and viciously, which only reinforces my instincts not to trust them. I was told about Boston from people I know who moved there who explained that — unlike here — folks just don’t chat up strangers the way we do. Did I get that wrong? SO sorry.
USinUK
April 23rd, 2012
12:26 pm
Bruno – 12:24 – born and raised in the shadow of the Big Chicken, so I happily chat with anyone in book stores, in line at the grocery, etc.
when I first moved to CT, I tried that there – people looked at me like I was “tetched in the head”
rugged and individualistic? Hartford??? no. New Hampshire and Maine? definitely, but Hartford – absotalutely not
DawgDad
April 23rd, 2012
12:26 pm
Let: “I am a conservative” Are you SURE? You sound like a Democrat.
FrankLeeDarling
April 23rd, 2012
12:26 pm
dont forget about the snobby elitist ITP people who look down on the OTP people
I don’t look down on them I just don’t want to live like them
Bruno
April 23rd, 2012
12:26 pm
Bruno – 12:11 – are you saying Yankees = special needs kids???
I should have seen that one coming……I can only imagine what your poor husband has to put up with!!
liberalefty
April 23rd, 2012
12:27 pm
these people ran HERMAN CAIN for president and theyre worried about MCKINNEY? CAIN was in to make the GOP not look raCIST…it didnt work but he shucked and jived and made racists feel comfortable with their racism..their was no way he was goinna win because hes black
They BOTH suck
April 23rd, 2012
12:28 pm
To the folks quoting Gallup polls over the last two weeks to indicate that Obama was done…….. I strongly suggest you now jump on the Rasmussen bandwagon because the Gallup numbers are heading the other way………..
Just thought I would provide that info as a public service announcement
USinUK
April 23rd, 2012
12:28 pm
Bruno – 12:26 – my poor husband??? he’s more persnikety than I am … I call him Barrister Bob when he’s being a particular pain in the patoot.
stands for decibels
April 23rd, 2012
12:29 pm
Doughy Pantload / Warmongering D-bag sheetz.
Erwin's cat
April 23rd, 2012
12:32 pm
liberialefty – your bigotry is showing
liberalefty
April 23rd, 2012
12:33 pm
@erwin
truth equals bigotry? u know MITT’S not gonna have a black vp, hes not crazy!
Bruno
April 23rd, 2012
12:39 pm
CAIN was in to make the GOP not look raCIST…it didnt work but he shucked and jived and made racists feel comfortable with their racism..their was no way he was goinna win because hes black
liberalefty–Unless people are flat-out lying on polls, more than 98% of both conservatives and liberals have stated that they would vote for someone who was of a different race from themselves. In fact, I would bet my bottom dollar that you likely predicted that there was no way that Obama would ever be elected. As a conservative, I would LOVE to see Condi Rice chosen for the VP slot, and not to assuage any feelings of “White Guilt” on my part.
Have a little more faith in your fellow humans.
Erwin's cat
April 23rd, 2012
12:40 pm
lefty – I’m sure Mitts choice won’t be directed by racial or gender issues…there are quality choices in every sector of the population…if he does pick a black you would say it was a token pick..so either way, you will disqualify it because you see the world only through the spectacles of bigotry…every comment you’ve made is related to race or gender.
Brosephus™
April 23rd, 2012
12:40 pm
carlos
I remember what happened in Jasper, Texas. I also remember what happened in Jackson, Mississippi last year. It appears that no matter how much we try to look back to study things, there are those who refuse to learn the lesson. How are we supposed to move ahead when we can’t agree to what the lessons of the past are supposed to teach us?
1. They seldom, if ever happen.
There are no longer people hanging from trees as things happened in the past. That does not mean that racially motivated killing does not occur in this country anymore. It doesn’t matter which race does the killing, if we don’t treat it as though it’s worth looking into, we will continue to make the same mistakes over and over which is exactly what we’re doing as a society.
2. If one did happen, the actions of law enforcement would be quite different from those of the past.
That’s not something that can be easily proven. Look at the most recent example coming from Sanford, Florida as an example. Some in law enforcement wanted to pursue a case in that shooting from the start. Others did not. We do not live in a corruption-free society, and therefore I don’t put 100% trust in anything. The most you can do is hope that people do what is good and right.