With all its flaws, regional T-SPLOST still needed
The Georgia chapter of the Sierra Club released its assessment of the proposed regional transportation sales tax this week. It was harsh, damning and unfortunately all too accurate.
In brief, the report explains:
– The $7.2 billion metro Atlanta project list is weighted too heavily to highway construction, with too little investment in transit. Furthermore, the state has provided no mechanism for maintaining and operating transit assets once the 10-year special sales tax expires.
– State leaders have refused to give the metro region control of its transit future, yet still balk at providing that leadership themselves. Without a governing mechanism, a regional system is a pipedream. And commuter rail, one of the most promising options available to both ease congestion and reorient development patterns, is ignored in the plan.
– MARTA is treated with disdain and contempt, when it should be embraced as the core of a regional transit system. As the report notes, “MARTA is the sole target of an egregious provision that forbids any T-SPLOST revenues from being spent on MARTA’s operations, the agency’s most pressing financial need. No other transportation provider is singled out in such a manner.”
Most of the indictment is correct; I agree with it. And yet, when the time comes in July, I plan to vote in favor of the proposal anyway. Why?
Well, because politics is the art of the possible.
The harsh truth is that it is impossible to correct a lot of the problems identified by the Sierra Club, at least in an acceptable time frame. They are part of a larger, more fundamental debate that has still to be won. Consider the funding imbalance between transit and highways. Even if voters reject the T-SPLOST in July, and even if some other transportation-funding mechanism is created to replace it, the notion that transit would be given greater prominence in a new plan is fantasy.
While public attitudes toward transit are changing in the metro region, we’re probably still a decade away from a political climate in which transit can be funded at the levels that the Sierra Club would find acceptable.
I don’t think we can wait those 10 years. It’s time to take what we can now, and build upon it.
It’s also important to think through what’s possible and not possible should voters reject the July ballot question. In its analysis, the Sierra Club argues that “lower-than-expected support for the T-SPLOST in Fulton and DeKalb — where proponents are counting on their strongest support — would send a message to state and regional leaders that continued political gamesmanship on MARTA and related issues will not be tolerated.”
That’s one potential outcome of a July defeat, but it assumes a level of analysis by state leaders that history says is unlikely. In addition, I just don’t think that those with the power to make such decisions under the Gold Dome are all that concerned about what pro-MARTA voters in Fulton and DeKalb will or will not tolerate.
More likely, state legislators will draw the conclusion that is easiest on themselves. They’ll note that voters rejected a tax increase for transportation and rejected investment in regional transit, and they’ll use that as an excuse for several more years of dithering.
Again, I don’t think we can wait.
So what is possible? Well, some of the problems identified in the club’s analysis can still be addressed and resolved. Gov. Nathan Deal and House Speaker David Ralston understand that some form of regional transit governance will be essential if the sales tax is approved, even if they don’t yet know how to build enough political support to create it. The system is unworkable without it; necessity will force its creation.
Admittedly, things shouldn’t be so difficult. The evidence is overwhelming that metro Atlanta’s transportation infrastructure, its governance and the vision behind it have become outdated. But changing that course will require changing minds and ideas, and that’s going to be a slow, lurching process.
In the meantime, an opportunity for progress should be embraced rather than rejected.
– Jay Bookman
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648 comments Add your comment
kayaker 71
May 2nd, 2012
4:11 pm
getalife, 4:02,
“The war on terror ends in 14″…… that’s almost as funny as “Mission Accomplished”. Does that mean that we can stop all those pesky TSA inspections at the airport or stop flying those F-16s up and down the coast or abolish the Dept of Homeland Security? Unfortunately, probably not. But with Bozo’s vision of nirvana in the Islamic world you would think that we can all invite those poor innocent and peace loving Muslims to the local Baptist and ask them to bring their prayer rugs. Your man’s vision of Islam is so naive that even though he attended Muslim schools in Indonesia, he obviously didn’t learn much. It ain’t over, my naive friend,…. not by a long shot.
godless heathen
May 2nd, 2012
4:12 pm
getalife: Don’t hold your breath for Peace and Prosperity in Afghan land. Or is that like “Hope & Change”. American service persons will be there fighting until at least 2024. Obama’s children will have the opportunity to fight there, because they aren’t going to be chickhawks like the children of privileged Republicans.
(ir)Rational
May 2nd, 2012
4:12 pm
Thulsa – If that’s what I have to do, I’ll pass, thanks though. However, if you would like to discuss Vince Foster and how Hilary had him knocked off, then I could be here for hours.
josef
May 2nd, 2012
4:13 pm
BOTH
True, they do. They also come from miles around to go to the King Center and Stone Mountain…but the city simply doesn’t know how to promote it…but, Pride is a once a year event, eh?
And as for a Southerner from any state…yes, they would lie…but they are not decent people, now are they? And they are NOT, I repeat, NOT gentlemen…
Thulsa Doom
May 2nd, 2012
4:16 pm
They BOTh suck,
Yeah. Gennifer Flowers was hot. Doomy woulda got on that.
Irrational,
Now I know ya’ll gonna laugh at what I ‘m about this but back in 92 Hillary wasn’t a bad looking woman and I’m sure that in her prime in her 20s and 30s she was probably a decent looking gal.
josef
May 2nd, 2012
4:16 pm
BOTH
By the way, when I said that part of the country, I wasn’t referring specifically to the South, but the French Colonial Lower Mississippi Valley.
They BOTH suck
May 2nd, 2012
4:16 pm
josef
Well let me take that back to a certain extent…… Donald Leebern, owner of Crown Distributing and from my hometown of Columbus, GA……….. not only had his side piece but bought a home for her outside of Athens while still being married………….. “Her” was the gymnastics coach at the time for UGA……… They even mentioned his name in the AJC onetime about him being married but living with Yoclan
Not sure if I would call him “decent” , but more honest about his situation maybe?
JamVet
May 2nd, 2012
4:20 pm
“Everyone keeps referring to “other industrialized countries” like they are the standard.”
I’m almost shocked that you even broach the fact that there are at least 31 other industrialized nations.
ALL as in in EVERY SINGLE ONE of them provide universal healthcare for their citizens. Excluding………………… the United States of America.
And you cons defend that as a paragon of American exceptionalism.
Disgraceful.
(ir)Rational
May 2nd, 2012
4:20 pm
Thulsa – You’re right, I do laugh at that.
Thulsa Doom
May 2nd, 2012
4:20 pm
Irrational,
There was a book written on Vince Foster’s death and some serious inconsistencies on his death as a suicide according to the book. I actually had the book and read about half of it before I got bored and put it away and never read any more. There were some funny things about it but ultimately I would chalk it up to as nothing more than suicide. Doomy not big on conspiracy crap.
They BOTH suck
May 2nd, 2012
4:21 pm
josef
Not sure if I would call someone who is cheating on their wife “decent” just because they are open about it……………
I would have to know more about the individual to make that judgment
___________________
Tourism: While there is much more tourism in the Atlanta region than people realize; I was just messing with you about Pride……
Atlanta isn’t a “top tier” destination and to Doom’s point it is a regional destination where people come for 1 to 3 days and in most cases not a week or so
barking frog
May 2nd, 2012
4:22 pm
JamVet
Perfidious nation.
JamVet
May 2nd, 2012
4:22 pm
71, hell I’d settle for our Fascists in Charge to just bring back habeus corpus. with NO BS exclusions.
And you would think that we can all invite those poor innocent and peace loving Baptists to the local Muslim and ask them to bring their grape juice.
It cuts both ways…
Bryan -- MARTA supporter
May 2nd, 2012
4:22 pm
Thulsa Doom May 2nd, 2012 11:19 am
Sorry that’s not a good argument. If that’s the case Metro rail in DC wouldn’t be in the suburbs there because outside of the city the DC suburbs are no denser than Cobb or Gwinnett. If that’s the case then transit wouldn’t work in a lot of cities outside of New York and Chicago. ATL has the population and that’s what’s more important. If trains didn’t work why are they full during most times? I was on a train at 9 p.m. on a Saturday night and it was jam packed; barely any standing room. Only those who don’t ride continue to critize and say ATL isn’t dense enough for transit or that it doesn’t work or there is an element that will come with transit. Is MARTA perfect for everyone, No. But it works for some and will only get better the more it is supported by the region.
They BOTH suck
May 2nd, 2012
4:23 pm
“but the French Colonial Lower Mississippi Valley.”
No offense but I would include that area as well to what I have already mentioned
Bryan -- MARTA supporter
May 2nd, 2012
4:24 pm
And I see this blog has gotten WAY off topic.
Peadawg
May 2nd, 2012
4:26 pm
So sad…we’re not going to get our moon colony any time soon!
Joe Hussein Mama
May 2nd, 2012
4:28 pm
Doom — “It gets worse. I’m going to start giving you false tertiarys as oppposed to just binarys.”
Rockin! That means I have to work harder!
It’s like when your personal trainer increases your weight or your reps.
Shawny
May 2nd, 2012
4:29 pm
The positions above are mostly from the Sierra Club. Take that for what it is worth. From the position of a taxpayer that commutes into Atlanta daily and has taken the time to read through the proposed projects that I am supposed to pay even more taxes to fund, it is a crock of poo.
It is laden with many, many projects that will do little if anything to improve the overall problems and little to truly drive people to seek commute alternatives to single rider cars. People will only choose alternatives when it is in their best interest, and not before.
(ir)Rational
May 2nd, 2012
4:29 pm
Thulsa – I read that book. There are enough inconsistencies that it makes for an interesting theory. Oddly enough, that is the only conspiracy that I think there is anything to. For instance, you don’t blow off the back of your head without it going somewhere, where did it go? You don’t walk through a wooded park without getting dirt/grass/woodsy stuff on your shoes. You don’t shoot yourself with the gun in your mouth without getting some tooth damage and blow-back. Simple things that make one go “hmmm?”
josef
May 2nd, 2012
4:31 pm
BOTH
You gotta remember that down that way and in that cultural milieu among a certain class of people, marriage is very much a “bidness arrangement.” A man is allowed the mistress so long as he provides for his “legal” family and keeps the mistress in the style befitting his own social standing…he recognizes any children born of that alliance, sees to their education, pulls strings for them along the way and is a part of their lives and upbringing.
It has a lot in common with the Latin world along those lines. Now, remember, I said “decent,” I didn’t say it made them “good.”
And women aren’t excluded from this freedom. They’re not supposed to be so open and it’s not proper until her childbearing is complete.
As my dad’s family always put it, the wife (husband) is for duty, the mistress/toy boy is for romance.
barking frog
May 2nd, 2012
4:31 pm
Peadawg
Newt is negotiating with
Obama and Romney for
a moonbase in exchange
for his support. But that
is only if he and Ron Paul
don’t run together independent.
Joe Hussein Mama
May 2nd, 2012
4:34 pm
TBS — “Flowers had a MILFy and naughty look to her”
I think Bill just likes ‘em trashy. All the women he was allegedly linked to — with the possible exception of Lewinsky — looked ‘naughty’ to me in a trashy kind of way.
And not ‘naughty’ in the sense of the well-dressed hooker sitting at the $100 table in a Vegas casino, but ‘naughty’ in the sense of being able to picture them stopping by the convenience store for a six-pack of PBR.
And I say this as the descendant of pure Appalachian hillbillies, so I know from trashy.
Brosephus™
May 2nd, 2012
4:35 pm
If raising taxes were such a big issue they could have done so back when the Ds held both houses of Congress and the potus. And in case you’ve forgotten Obamacare is a tax…
If the ACA was a tax increase, I think you’ve proven that it IS a big issue. Congress had far more moderate voices in the 90’s than there are now. The level of jackassery is too high for any semblance of compromise to happen.
They BOTH suck
May 2nd, 2012
4:39 pm
josef
I clearly understood what you were saying, however I do not see it as regional or even sub regional….. Those things go on world wide………..
To the extent it is accepted / tolerated or not, I would say transcends location, race, religion, economic status, etc. etc.
Your overall point…….. I agree for the most part, just not the part about location having much to do with it
Maybe I read into the location thing more than it was intended to be focused on
(ir)Rational
May 2nd, 2012
4:40 pm
JHM – You do learn a good bit about “trashy” back in the hills. I never knew anything about the women Bill was running around with, but from the pictures I’ve seen, I’m thinking you’re probably right.
josef
May 2nd, 2012
4:42 pm
JHM
I’ll have to agree with you on that summation of Bill and his wimmin. Half Hillbilly myself, I know from trashy, too…and most of them reeked of it…he just wasn’t decent and didn’t treat them right…I hold it against him.
They BOTH suck
May 2nd, 2012
4:43 pm
JHM
Lewinsky………….not my type
Flowers……………. I would have attempted to make a few “home films” with her
josef: based on the above comment……. you might have to have more knowledge of me before you can decide if I am “decent” , “good” or neither one
getalife
May 2nd, 2012
4:45 pm
kay,
Yes we decrease the size of the mic in peace time.
They made enough of your money.
getalife
May 2nd, 2012
4:46 pm
The newt was doing the same thing with open marriage .
Thulsa Doom
May 2nd, 2012
4:46 pm
Getting boomed by getalife, It just doesn’t git any more humiliating it don’t.
There are always moments of liberal venting that make me laugh. One is when brocephus invariably complains about all around political jackassery. That and the famed facepalm. Then there would be JamVet calling some poor con “meat”. JamVet has had a slow day today.
Joe mama,
keep your crack research team honed and ready for my upcoming salvos of tertiarys and then the dreaded quadrupulary. They are a coming.
kayaker 71
May 2nd, 2012
4:47 pm
Joe, 4:34,
What the hecks wrong with a little trashy. Even better with a few pounds on ‘em.
josef
May 2nd, 2012
4:48 pm
BOTH
I agree that it is a world wide phenominon…the reason I make the point I do about the Lower Mississippi Valley is that there is a code by which one does it unique to the area…much less tight a33ed than the more Protestant, more hypocritical areas. I say that from the perspective of being a half-breed between the two milieux. It’s not as though Mom’s folks were any less prone to it, it’s just that by playing sssshhhh about it, there were no “rules” to play by. Thus such things as the puritanical scandals we keep indulging in (Cartagena?)
I’m reminded of what Edwin Edwards said, “the only way I won’t get reelected is if I’m caught in bed with a dead woman or a live boy…” I can’t see an Earl Long coming from another place in English speaking North America…
getalife
May 2nd, 2012
4:49 pm
President Clinton redeemed himself and has been good.
He is a human male and we are lying dawgs.
Genetic thingy.
Doggone/GA
May 2nd, 2012
4:50 pm
Trust me on this, Lewinsky could match Clinton trash for trash…but it IS funny to watch her rejecting the “poor deceived little me” roll that some R Senators (Representatives? Can’t remember) tried to talk her into taking. She was proud of the affair and not fraid to tell them so. Sent them home with a flea in their collective ear.
getalife
May 2nd, 2012
4:52 pm
Devil with a blue dress on.
monica kissed and told.
Towncrier
May 2nd, 2012
4:52 pm
I was driving around today and heard John Hofmeister (CEO of Citizens for AFFordable Energy). Sounded like he has some interesting ideas, but I haven’t researched it all yet. Any opinions on him or his organization?
Joe Hussein Mama
May 2nd, 2012
4:52 pm
TBS — “Lewinsky………….not my type”
“Flowers……………. I would have attempted to make a few “home films” with her”
None of Bill’s ‘dates’ really did it for me, but I thought that Chandra Levy (the one connected to Congressman Gary Condit) was built nicely. Shame what happened to her.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chandra_Levy
Thulsa Doom
May 2nd, 2012
4:53 pm
Bryan,
Marta loses money consistently. I’ve riden it plenty of times and I’m not sure what you mean when you say the trains are consistently full. We must be riding 2 different martas. And you being on a jam packed train on Sat night at 9 pm doesn’t mean anything. That’s just anecdotal and it was probably packed due to a nearby festival or sporting event or concert. Atl metro is only 4.5 million and that’s spread out over 16 counties. Bottom line I just don’t think according to traditional standards that we have enough density to command more rail. It would be nice if we did but I just don’t see that we do.
Towncrier
May 2nd, 2012
4:55 pm
“Marta loses money consistently. I’ve riden it plenty of times and I’m not sure what you mean when you say the trains are consistently full. We must be riding 2 different martas. ”
Micheal Medved make a compelling argument against rail systems in America I think. Few2 are profitable and most have to be subsidized.
They BOTH suck
May 2nd, 2012
4:55 pm
JHM
That Levy case was very sad
josef
May 2nd, 2012
4:55 pm
Doggone
“…poor deceived little me” roll that some R Senators (Representatives? Can’t remember) tried to talk her into taking…”
Given our previous exchanges about those typo-slip thingies…was this intentional or Freudian…
*******
And I agree with you on Lewinsky…but, hell, if I’d given the Leader of the Free World a BJ in the Oval Office, I think I might’ve been kind proud of it, too…
Joe Hussein Mama
May 2nd, 2012
4:55 pm
Doom — “keep your crack research team honed and ready for my upcoming salvos of tertiarys and then the dreaded quadrupulary. They are a coming.”
I can dig it.
K71 — “What the hecks wrong with a little trashy. Even better with a few pounds on ‘em.”
Trashy’s for chasin’ and catchin’ only. Not for keepin’.
Doggone/GA
May 2nd, 2012
4:57 pm
“Given our previous exchanges about those typo-slip thingies…was this intentional or Freudian”
Must have been Freudian!
Bryan -- MARTA supporter
May 2nd, 2012
4:58 pm
@ Jm May 2nd, 2012 11:37 am
“Sales taxes are the most stable form of tax revenue”
That comment is completely incorrect because if people don’t spend then the amount of money changes. MARTA had to cut service because of that. User fees and the feds (cause we know Georgia ain’t giving up any money) aren’t going to cover the entire costs just like they don’t cover the entire costs of roads. Everything is subsidized, except roads get way more money in the state of Georgia!
Thulsa Doom
May 2nd, 2012
4:59 pm
Towncrier,
Hofmeister is an interesting guy. He is a registered Democrat but a former shell oil exec who is constantly on C-span and is basically an advocate of developing our oil and resources. I’ve watched him several times on C-span and he is invariably a far better resource for real talk on oil and pricing,drilling,demand, etc. than Fox news or abc or whoever. I wish more peopl ewould give this guy a fair hearing on what he has to say. On here he has been derided a couple times as the shell guy. But he knows his shyte on oil better than anybody and certainly better than any news correspondnet or god forbid any politician.
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
May 2nd, 2012
5:00 pm
Well, just wait and see if I try and get any more tourists to visit Atlanta! Hmmph!
And I always wondered why a guy would take up with a gymnastics coach. She’d probly leave him in knots and he’d be useless for months.
Well, time to head home for Fox News. Have a good night everybody.
Towncrier
May 2nd, 2012
5:06 pm
Thanks, TD.
josef
May 2nd, 2012
5:07 pm
irRational
Foster conspiracy? From the looks of things, our expert in the field of conspiracies should be in shortly.
Grasshopper
May 2nd, 2012
5:08 pm
“Everything is subsidized, except roads get way more money in the state of Georgia!”
That’s because people actually use them.
TaxPayer
May 2nd, 2012
5:10 pm
The Georgia GOP might make for a good tourist attraction when they’re in session. We could even sell tourists peanuts to throw to them. The possibilities…
josef
May 2nd, 2012
5:11 pm
Taxi
I hadn’t thought of that…it might just work…
Doggone/GA
May 2nd, 2012
5:13 pm
“We could even sell tourists peanuts to throw to them. The possibilities…”
Nah, don’t waste good peanuts. Find some nice rotten fruit and vegetables…makes a much bigger mess.
paulo 977
May 2nd, 2012
5:13 pm
Jam Vet
ALL as in in EVERY SINGLE ONE of them provide universal healthcare for their citizens. Excluding………………… the United States of America.
___________________________________________
We are not even embarrassed about it !!! As far as i can gather, we are completely unmoved by it .Many of us are proud about it!!
Bryan -- MARTA supporter
May 2nd, 2012
5:14 pm
@ Thulsa Doom May 2nd, 2012 4:53 pm
It wasn’t a special event. Just regular people using the service that was here. And it means a lot because it shows people use MARTA. Even with your population argument in the big 5 (Fulton, Dekalb, Clayton, Gwinnett, and Cobb) there is about 3.5 million which is plenty to support a rail/bus system on top of the 2.5 to 3 million that can commute to stations at the ends of the lines and commute into the city. But you are right, TRADITIONAL standards say ATL can’t support rail but ATL is far from a traditional city. With TODs (similar to Lindberg)close to every station and feeder bus service to the stations there will be no problem supporting the current and expanded rail. The problem is that the suburbs are choosing not to support MARTA yet still have the convenience of using it. Unlike in Washington DC where both the city and ‘burbs pay in and support it. Hence, one of the reasons MARTA loses money, on top of having the 50/50 restriction on the sales tax to even allocate money where it is needed.
Jerome Horwitz
May 2nd, 2012
5:22 pm
Be kind to the Kam-man tonight. The Blues just took one on the chin (again) from New Castle United 2-0.
josef
May 2nd, 2012
5:22 pm
BRYAN
Scr*w that TOD/Lindbergh concept…destroyed one of Atlanta’s true treasures in neighborhoods…I got a list a mile long of people who can fry in h*ll as far as I’m concerned for THAT…
The Fresh Prince of Bill Ayers
May 2nd, 2012
5:27 pm
getalife
May 2nd, 2012
4:49 pm
President Clinton redeemed himself and has been good.
He is a human male and we are lying dawgs.
Genetic thingy.
Dude, you are such a mindless lemming. It’s a darn shame you can’t use crayons for your posts. I’m amazed that you can find your way to a voting booth…
Union
May 2nd, 2012
5:28 pm
as i am not in the atl currently.. are they still considering that trolley idea for downtown?
getalife
May 2nd, 2012
5:29 pm
bill,
It is not about me.
The Fresh Prince of Bill Ayers
May 2nd, 2012
5:30 pm
getalife
May 2nd, 2012
3:56 pm
godless,
In 14, mo more war.
Peace and prosperity.
Really? North Korea South Korea…. Iran and Israel, All the b.s. in the middle east…lmao.. go hit another doobie and kill the last 2 of your brain cells
josef
May 2nd, 2012
5:31 pm
Fight! Fight!
getalife
May 2nd, 2012
5:32 pm
bill,
The endless war on terror ends in 14.
No more war.
It is great news.
DebbieDoRight - A Do Right Woman
May 2nd, 2012
5:34 pm
Totally unrelated and out of left field post, but………
A biography of Obama goes on sale in June, in it an ex girlfriend talks about meeting him and dating him, (they met in America).
I’m surprised, I always thought Obama only came to America one day before he became a “community organizer”. Could’ve knocked me over with a feather………..:roll:
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/maraniss-excerpts-obama-ex-girlfriend-recalls-sexual-warmth-173445825.html
barking frog
May 2nd, 2012
5:36 pm
get a life
Grasshopper
May 2nd, 2012
5:38 pm
“as i am not in the atl currently.. are they still considering that trolley idea for downtown?”
You mean the trolley that will take BOTH of the daily tourists through one of the worst possible streetscapes in Atlanta – the Edgewood-Auburn corridor – to the King Center? The multi-million dollar boondoggle that had a chance of success if it had gone where people actually wanted to go – north on Peachtree to Midtown – instead of east into the crime ridden part of town where no one wants to go? The trolley that will have a modicum of success on it’s western route through 5 Points, the hotel district and Centennial Park? That trolley?
Yes, the PC politicos in the ATL have convinced everyone that it is a grand idea and it is under pre-construction.
Jm
May 2nd, 2012
5:38 pm
Josef
We need more density
It is the only way
getalife
May 2nd, 2012
5:39 pm
frog,
Just the facts frog.
markie mark
May 2nd, 2012
5:41 pm
Debbie, regarding Obama’s book….I heard today on the news that a reporter tried to track down some ex-girlfriends….and Obama explained that what he wrote about was a composite of many girls….I thought an autobiography talked about REAL people….didnt use literary illusions…waiting for a 2nd report for confirmation if this is true. If it is, seems kinda odd…..
josef
May 2nd, 2012
5:42 pm
Jm
We need more density? To hell with that when it’s me they’re densing in…we need fewer people…
DDR
Caught some of your exchanges last p.m. As always, very interesting…so’s how’s life with the low down good for nuthin colored girls?
getalife
May 2nd, 2012
5:43 pm
corporate media will attack these women.
Best they remain anonymous.
Silly distraction from the cons.
barking frog
May 2nd, 2012
5:43 pm
get a life
talking to the cell phone
and it prints the comment.
cool.
Jm
May 2nd, 2012
5:44 pm
Josef
Change happens
Embrace it
Or at least get used to it
getalife
May 2nd, 2012
5:45 pm
frog,
Sweet.
Oscar
May 2nd, 2012
5:45 pm
Vote No.
They BOTH suck
May 2nd, 2012
5:46 pm
“we need fewer people…”
That is the mantra in many places…….
People move in and the ole school folks say “we need less people”……. has more people move in. the ones who moved in a few years before say “we need less people”
stevie ray..Clowns to the Left and Jokers to the Right..here I am...
May 2nd, 2012
5:48 pm
Does anyone know if the Sierra club is a factor in all those shovel ready jobs promised several years back? Our infrastructure and electrical grid sure need herculian investments….seems we could also put many environmental contractors and designers to work….
Peter
May 2nd, 2012
5:51 pm
Heck Marta. we don’t need Marta, we don’t need water, we don’t need clean air….. we need more politicians stuffing money in their own pockets, and ripping off Georgia…….the GOP Way !
They BOTH suck
May 2nd, 2012
5:52 pm
” as more people………………”
josef
May 2nd, 2012
5:52 pm
Jm
Change happens…you now voting for Obama!
Embrace it? It’s sheer idiocy…the infrastructure of the IP has already reached maximum overload. The quality of life has plummeted…the regional resources (water for one) simply cannot sustain it…the problem with the”planning” is that it is for the rich, white folks from elsewhere and f the darker hued natives and/or those who chose to stay in the city when those bleached out floosies went running to the suburbs…
DebbieDoRight - A Do Right Woman
May 2nd, 2012
5:53 pm
mark – you can not use someone in a book without their consent (unless they are dead); and even then it’s tricky. Obama didn’t write this book, this is written by the same guy who wrote Clinton’s biography. i thought he was very insightful when he delved into Clinton’s past and drew upon his mother’s and grandmother’s angst filled relationship and how it shaped Clinton. I’m eager to see how he did with Obama; lots to work with there……
hi josef!! The colored girls, who are NOT thinking about suicide, (even though the rainbow will never be enough), are doing fine!! and how are you and the boa doing today?
stevie ray..Clowns to the Left and Jokers to the Right..here I am...
May 2nd, 2012
5:54 pm
AQUESTION,
That’s real classy. I don’t agree with Jay often but name calling is for children. Why don’t you move your genius to a site more fitting of your emotional capabilities…say Justin Beiber’s chat. Another example of a child left behind..
josef
May 2nd, 2012
5:54 pm
BOTH
There’s nothing wrong with growth…there’s plenty wrong with unfettered population increase when the environment cannot support it…
josef
May 2nd, 2012
5:56 pm
DDR
The boa and I are just fine, thank-you…glad to have it back where it belongs!
They BOTH suck
May 2nd, 2012
5:58 pm
josef
Take it easy……. Just a joke…….
There is truth to it, but still a joke
They BOTH suck
May 2nd, 2012
6:00 pm
josef
Your commentary at @ 5:52 is too funny………………
And I couldn’t have said it better……….
F. Sinkwich
May 2nd, 2012
6:01 pm
“Our infrastructure and electrical grid sure need herculian investments….seems we could also put many environmental contractors and designers to work…”
Let’s fire up the flux capacitor for a second.
Let’s say it’s the early 20th century, and we need to dam the Colorado to provide electricity and irrigation to California and Nevada.
Does anybody here actually believe that if the eco-weenie tree-hugging loonies we have today had existed back then the Hoover Dam would ever have seen the light of day???
Snail Darters anyone?
Jm
May 2nd, 2012
6:01 pm
Josef
Atl needs a growth boundary
Won’t happen tho
Jay
May 2nd, 2012
6:04 pm
Let’s say it’s the early 20th century, and we need to dam the Colorado to provide electricity and irrigation to California and Nevada.
Does anybody here actually believe that if the ANTI-GOVERNMENT loonies we have today had existed back then the Hoover Dam would ever have seen the light of day???
pogo
May 2nd, 2012
6:06 pm
Two white Virginia Pilot (a newspaper) reporters were recently severely beaten by a group of 30 blacks. Save for one brave journalist, a woman, the newspaper has totally ignored the story. The Pilot is a liberal newspaper much of the same ilk as the AJC. For fear of violating “political correctness” rules, these two people’s own employer would not even comment on it. Read the details. They are ugly. No-one has been charged and the charge issued by the police is pitiful. It was not judged as a hate crime. How much longer is America supposed to ignore the inequality in the media and accept these types of attacks? Again, if it would have been two black reporters attacked by a mob of white people, the headline would have been national. The woman that did comment on the crime is one brave individual and is probably in fear for her job. The mere fact that the newspaper allowed her piece to be published is incredible seeing that they (the editorial board) have chosen to totally turn their head to the crime. Are they scared of Sharpton or Jesse showing up or what? I can definitely see the same thing happening in Atlanta and AJC doing the same thing. If a city is comprised of mostly blacks the media are scared to death to print these “ugly truths” no matter the facts.
They BOTH suck
May 2nd, 2012
6:07 pm
Jm
I think you are correct……… As the 80s and maybe even before ushered in huge migration to Atlanta, the developers / builders and municipalities did such a crappy job………..
build, build, build to meet demand with little or no plan………
And since we basically have no physical boundaries that even compounded the issue which we see today
Dumb and Dumber
May 2nd, 2012
6:07 pm
You bet Grasshopper — why should we build the King Center in the neighborhood where he lived and preached when it should have gone to Midtown? We could build a civil rights theme park and import black people from the south-side to give it a taste of realism. Brilliant
Perhaps if you went to the King Center you and historic district and saw the tourists from all over the world, maybe you’d understand why its an important attraction, but most likely you’d be afraid of all of the people who don’t look like you.
DebbieDoRight - A Do Right Woman
May 2nd, 2012
6:10 pm
well you only got the boa back josef, because of two things:
(a) it was yours and i had to give it back (drat!)
(b) it looked better on you, (barely…..meow!)
They BOTH suck
May 2nd, 2012
6:10 pm
“The Pilot is a liberal newspaper much of the same ilk as the AJC”
Pogo: With fact and validated information please point out the non editorial article in today’s AJC that is biased to the “left”
Thanks in advance……….. I’m sure a smart guy like you will have no problem producing within no time
Bloggers on the left, right or indifferent; please allow pogo to do his assignment without any assistance
They BOTH suck
May 2nd, 2012
6:15 pm
Pogo: I’m betting on you to produce
Knowledgeable man like yourself…………………… This bet is in the bag
DebbieDoRight - A Do Right Woman
May 2nd, 2012
6:17 pm
build, build, build to meet demand with little or no plan………
i’ve felt the same way about mostly ALL of the metro area. who thought o I-285? A crackhead? there are parts of 285 that are just plain scary. you have people merging, exiting, and coming on (400 merge after roswell road); all within a 300 ft. radius and ALL at the same time!!
Also, what about the naming convention and the fact that this has got to be the only major city that is not built on a grid. We have 22000 Peachtrees, and almost all of them end at a dead end!
Were the founding fathers getting a little too jiggy with mint juleps?
G Mare 71( got the living' the red state BLUES!)
May 2nd, 2012
6:19 pm
Yes, we have a myriad of problems here and all over the country, but I truly doubt that this tax will do more than increase the burden on people like me. PLEASE VOTE NO!
Thulsa Doom
May 2nd, 2012
6:19 pm
Kinda funny that Debbie mentions O’s previous girlfriend on the day in which the news breaks that O fabricated the girlfriend in his autobiography. And to think we thought autobios were supposed to be works of nonfiction.
Doggone/GA
May 2nd, 2012
6:23 pm
“Also, what about the naming convention and the fact that this has got to be the only major city that is not built on a grid.”
don’t bet your shirt on that. A LOT of major cities are conglomerations of a main town and lots and lots of surrounding villages that never had a clue they would once be part of a major metropolitan area. It’s really only a few places that were “planned” and even those generally have a planned city center and then quickly “degenerate” into the same unplanned pattern of gobbling up small villages in the surrounding area.
Just to take Atlanta, as an example…look at how small – really – that the city of Atlanta is as compared to the entire metro Atlanta area.
F. Sinkwich
May 2nd, 2012
6:23 pm
“Does anybody here actually believe that if the ANTI-GOVERNMENT loonies we have today had existed back then the Hoover Dam would ever have seen the light of day???”
Thanks for no answer, Jay.
You lib ilks for some reason believe that conservatives are anarchists, like the Occutards you champion. We believe that government has a vital role in our society, but it is not the fixer of all social problems.
The Hoover Dam is something all conservatives celebrate, like the interstate highway system, our ports, etc.
We just don’t like your esteemed all-knowing gubmint telling us how much salt we can have on our steaks, like that loonie lib in NYC.
Memo to big gubmint nanny staters: move to Europe.
You’ll feel better there.