In November, Georgia was ranked 4th in the nation for its pro-business environment by Site Selection magazine, which specializes in corporate relocations. The Georgia Department of Economic Development was understandably quick to seize on that happy news, giving it prominent play on the department’s website.
Such rankings appear to validate a concerted, decade-long effort by Georgia’s leadership to make the state as business-friendly as possible. Our state and local business tax burden, for example, ranks eighth lowest in the country, according to a 2012 analysis by Ernst & Young. And as Site Selection noted approvingly, the 2012 Legislature continued that effort by eliminating the sales tax on energy used in manufacturing, enhancing tax incentives and “strengthening” open records laws by delaying public release of economic development deals.
When the 2013 Georgia Legislature convenes Monday, it will no doubt attempt to continue that crusade. For example, while state legislators are likely to approve using tax money to help finance a new stadium for the Atlanta Falcons, they could balk at renewing a much-needed hospital tax that will help keep tens of thousands of poor Georgians covered by Medicaid.
You see, using tax money to help the Falcons and the NFL, the most profitable sports league on the planet, is “economic development”, while helping poor families get medical coverage is considered welfare.
The larger question, however, is whether the state’s strategy is achieving its goals. And that in turn depends on what you choose to measure. For example, here is how Site Selection has ranked Georgia’s business climate each year from 2002-2012:
2002: 4th
2003: 7th
2004: 4th
2005: 3rd
2006: 4th
2007: 2nd
2008: 10th
2009: 8th
2010: 6th
2011: 2nd
2012: 4th
For more than a decade, in other words, Georgia has never ranked out of the top 10 for business climate, and over that period it has averaged in the top five. That tells us that year after year, for an extended amount of time, our leaders have succeeded in crafting government policy to produce exactly the kind of regulatory and tax environment that business leaders say they need to produce growth and prosperity. So by that measure it has been a great success.
But what do we have to show for it?
— We have an unemployment rate of 8.5 percent, significantly higher than the 7.8 percent national average and the ninth highest rate in the country, tied with Mississippi. And it is not a short-term phenomenon. Our unemployment rate has exceeded the national average for each of the last 64 months.
— In 2001, Georgia had the 17th highest poverty rate in the country. By 2011 it had the nation’s sixth highest poverty rate. We are slipping and slipping fast.
— In 2001, the state ranked 25th in per capita income and was rising rapidly in that critically important category; today, it ranks 39th in per capita income. In fact, after adjusting for inflation, state per capita income has declined by 3.5 percent since 2001.
To make matters worse, while trying to create a diligently “pro-business” environment, state government has also attempted to shrink the social safety net substantially. In a piece headlined “Georgia’s Hunger Games,” Slate reported last month that thanks to aggressive government efforts to deny benefits, fewer than 7 percent of the 300,000 Georgia households in poverty collect benefits through Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, more commonly known as welfare. Nationally, the comparable number is 27 percent.
Is that punitive approach working? Not so you’d notice. We also have the nation’s fifth highest rate of those without health insurance, and the fourth highest differential between rich and poor.
In other words, there is no sign that pursuit of a narrowly defined “business-friendly” climate has resulted in a more people-friendly climate. And isn’t that the real goal?
1,198 comments Add your comment
JamVet
January 9th, 2013
6:14 pm
If I was a Republican, I could not be happier that the per capita income in Ga. has DECLINED 3.5% in the past 10 years or so.
You’re doing a heckuva job, connies…
Real Scootter
January 9th, 2013
6:15 pm
Dang JHM,you sure have a way of making me think a lot. My brain done got hot and I may have to pour some beer on it!
TBS
January 9th, 2013
6:19 pm
Real Scooter
Make that 2 or 3. Don’t want any embers to possibly cause a fire latter on.
Illyushin
January 9th, 2013
6:20 pm
I think the bar for college professors has been substantially lowered since I was a student many years ago.
http://blogs.ajc.com/political-insider-jim-galloway/2013/01/09/fau-prof-says-sandy-hook-massacre-may-have-been-gov%E2%80%99t-conspiracy/
Real Scootter
January 9th, 2013
6:27 pm
TBS
January 9th, 2013
6:19 pm
LOL TBS,I will take your advice and toss a few down the gulet also! (just in case)
F. Sinkwich
January 9th, 2013
6:30 pm
Been out of town but it’s always fun to check in to see what Jay and his amen choir of commie collectivists are opining about.
Had the misfortune of having to traverse Reagan National this AM suffering the T-shirt displays “celebrating” the second immaculation of O’bozo. No lines there however.
So Jay posts another “Georgia sux” blog. Good for him.
Libs ilks love to bash the south. It seems to be a favorite pastime. Jay has elevated that bigot RC to HOF status on his blog.
The genius of our founders lies in the 10th. It’s our last best hope to save the country.
td
January 9th, 2013
6:34 pm
“In an interview with the Daily Times Herald in Caroll, Iowa, state Rep. Dan Muhlbauer said governments should start confiscating semi-automatic rifles and other firearms.
Muhlbauer, a Democrat from the western Iowa town of Manilla, is a cattleman and farmer. The newspaper reported that he owns a .410 shotgun, a .22 rifle and a .22 pistol.
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2013/01/09/iowa-lawmaker-calls-for-retroactive-gun-bans-confiscations-of-semi-automatic-weapons/#ixzz2HWZWARN9
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
January 9th, 2013
6:36 pm
10thers.
td
January 9th, 2013
6:37 pm
“U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal said he wants legislation that would require instant background checks for the sale of gun ammunition. He is expected to take up the proposal once Congress reconvenes.
“They can be done in 30 seconds,” he said. “The vast majority are, and they would prevent people who should not have ammunition or firearms from actually buying it.”
Thomas heyward Jr
January 9th, 2013
6:47 pm
Rednecks, Hillbillies, white trash…whatever.
.
I only hope that the mutt in the Whitehouse tries an executive order on the 2nd.
.
C’mom Mutthead……………………………..do it!
F. Sinkwich
January 9th, 2013
6:48 pm
“…that would require instant background checks for the sale of gun ammunition…”
What a moron.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
January 9th, 2013
6:48 pm
mutt in the Whitehouse
There’s your sign.
Fred ™
January 9th, 2013
6:52 pm
It surprises me not at all that the rabid, brain dead, right wingers will leap to criticize Jay for bringing them the truth. 10 Years of Republican rule here in Georgia has brought us 10 years of worse corruption…….
Fred ™
January 9th, 2013
6:59 pm
F. Sinkwich
January 9th, 2013
6:48 pm
“…that would require instant background checks for the sale of gun ammunition…”
What a moron.
+++++++++++++++++
LOL No kidding. What happens if you load your own? Are you supposed to check your own background before you do it?
Thomas
January 9th, 2013
7:07 pm
If I was a Republican, I could not be happier that the per capita income in Ga. has DECLINED 3.5% in the past 10 years or so
Actually pretty interesting to research. Pretty strong trend toward national- really low during Carter years.
hiram
January 9th, 2013
7:08 pm
td,
People famliar with the internets know how to Google for quotes that support their point of view, and how to cut and paste just those and ignore the links to counterpoints. It doesn’t require a lot of effort, or talent – anyone can do it. No one is impressed. Why do you do it 20 hours a day?
F. Sinkwich
January 9th, 2013
7:09 pm
“Are you supposed to check your own background before you do it?”
Well, I’ll sign off on yours if you return the favor!
Thomas heyward Jr
January 9th, 2013
7:12 pm
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
January 9th, 2013
6:48 pm
mutt in the Whitehouse
There’s your sign.
———————————————————-
.
Sorry.
I meant black trash mullatto.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
January 9th, 2013
7:14 pm
I meant black trash mullatto.
It’s painfully obvious what you meant, sport.
Soothsayer
January 9th, 2013
7:15 pm
Jay, I just got off the phone with Ann Cox Chambers. She says one thread per day just ain’t gonna cut it. “Not for what I’m paying him!” Those were her exact words. I’m not kidding!
Tundra Dude
January 9th, 2013
7:16 pm
LOL No kidding. What happens if you load your own? Are you supposed to check your own background before you do it?
LOLOL!!! Goood Wun!!
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
January 9th, 2013
7:17 pm
She says one thread per day just ain’t gonna cut it.
I’m thinking something along the same lines.
What say we all meet an Manuel’s, run up a tab and put it all in Jay’s name.
Georgia
January 9th, 2013
7:18 pm
Pay no attention to the despised 47% behind the curtain.
Tundra Dude
January 9th, 2013
7:19 pm
Jay, I just got off the phone with Ann Cox Chambers. She says one thread per day just ain’t gonna cut it. “Not for what I’m paying him!” Those were her exact words. I’m not kidding!
What did she have these Opinionaters doing before the blogs were invented….sweeping the floor…??
Soothsayer
January 9th, 2013
7:20 pm
She also said “who does he think he is — Kyle Wingfield or somebody?!”
F. Sinkwich
January 9th, 2013
7:24 pm
“For more than a decade, in other words, Georgia has never ranked out of the top 10 for business climate, and over that period it has averaged in the top five.”
Bummer.
Lib ilks like Jay would much prefer that GA ranked in the 40’s apparently…
Skip
January 9th, 2013
7:25 pm
Kyle shut down yet?
Skip
January 9th, 2013
7:26 pm
Georgia wishes it could be top 40.
JamVet
January 9th, 2013
7:29 pm
Heyward, you always struck me as the Klan type,
Hiding behind your libertarian claptrap cannot cover the stench of your racial bigotry…
F. Sinkwich
January 9th, 2013
7:33 pm
Take it easy on Jay, will ya?
I have it on good authority he had a meeting with his parole officer.
Steve-USA
January 9th, 2013
7:36 pm
I see it the same old gang with the same old posts still hanging around.
Doggone/GA
January 9th, 2013
7:39 pm
“I see it the same old gang with the same old posts still hanging around.”
And we thank you for your banal contribution
Atlas Shrugging
January 9th, 2013
7:40 pm
I never seen the pride of Shower U at Manuels and I doubt they would let him carry a tab.Howeevvvvaaaaaa, my flight lands in a hour and I’m willing to drink with DEM-wits and REP-ugants on anybodys tab. Hell I might even put it on my tab..
Steve-USA
January 9th, 2013
7:42 pm
Doggone – “And we thank you for your banal contribution”
The irony is that it is more than you contributed all day…or the day before…or the day before that.
Doggone/GA
January 9th, 2013
7:45 pm
“The irony is that it is more than you contributed all day…or the day before…or the day before that”
Or the day before that…or last week, last month, last year even…how far back should I go?
Swamp Thang
January 9th, 2013
7:45 pm
Jay, if GA is so bad then please explain why businesses are leaving states like Ohio etc and moving south? I just laugh at you and your pathetic attempt at trashing GA every chance that you get. If things are so damn bad in GA please move back to that awful trash state know as Pennsylvania where they rape little kids in their universities.
Atlas Shrugging
January 9th, 2013
7:45 pm
Make that I;ve…
Swamp Thang
January 9th, 2013
7:47 pm
“So Jay posts another “Georgia sux” blog. Good for him.
Libs ilks love to bash the south. It seems to be a favorite pastime. Jay has elevated that bigot RC to HOF status on his blog.
I call it the “southern penis envy syndrome.” Sort of like SEC penis envy syndrome where fans from other conferences show their jealousy over the dominance of the SEC. Jay is a sad sack who went to a university with the worst reputation in the history of universities. He doesn’t have a whole lot to be happy about so he trashes the state that he chooses to reside in.
Atlas Shrugging
January 9th, 2013
7:47 pm
Sorry. west coast to ATL typo.
Swamp Thang
January 9th, 2013
7:49 pm
” We also have the nation’s fifth highest rate of those without health insurance, and the fourth highest differential between rich and poor.
WTF does that health insurance have ANYTHING to do with growing businesses? Geez Jay, no wonder you write for the AJC. You know NOTHING about growing a business. The fact that you use words such as “rich and poor” shows how ignorant you really are.
Please tell me what business you’ve ever run.
Thanks
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
January 9th, 2013
7:50 pm
The irony is that it is more than you contributed all day…or the day before…or the day before that.
The real irony is that you “getter” the concept of irony.
JamVet
January 9th, 2013
7:50 pm
Swampy, we are just here to claim what is rightfully ours.
You traitors lost, we run the show, deal with it, loser.
Swamp Thang
January 9th, 2013
7:52 pm
“If I was a Republican, I could not be happier that the per capita income in Ga. has DECLINED 3.5% in the past 10 years or so.”
The entire country has declined in the last 4 years but please, continue to blame the GOP.
Ignorance is bliss and the poster who posted that is full of it.
Swamp Thang
January 9th, 2013
7:54 pm
“Swampy, we are just here to claim what is rightfully ours.”
Nothing is rightfully yours, Gommer.
“You traitors lost, we run the show, deal with it, loser.”
Neanderthal, the only thing that you run is your mouth.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
January 9th, 2013
7:54 pm
The entire country has declined in the last 4 years but please, continue to blame the GOP.
I haven’t “declined” but please, continue to speak for others without their permission.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
January 9th, 2013
7:55 pm
Sport.
Soothsayer
January 9th, 2013
7:56 pm
[P]lease explain why businesses are leaving states like Ohio etc and moving south.”
Because people who live in the south don’t mind living in trailers instead of houses?
JamVet
January 9th, 2013
7:56 pm
The entire country has declined in the last 4 years.
Too bad you can’t make a living writing such stupidity.
You are very good at it…
Swamp Thang
January 9th, 2013
7:56 pm
“I haven’t “declined” but please, continue to speak for others without their permission.”
I’ll speak when and how I want, sport.
JamVet
January 9th, 2013
7:57 pm
Watch out for your first graders, Swampy is going to go postal.
Cherokee
January 9th, 2013
7:58 pm
“He doesn’t have a whole lot to be happy about so he trashes the state that he chooses to reside in.”
Or maybe, just maybe, like me, he would like his kids to be able to grow up and stay here with decent jobs.
Swamp Thang
January 9th, 2013
7:58 pm
“Too bad you can’t make a living writing such stupidity.”
Looks like someone needs to get laid. Jamvet, you need a life, a girlfriend(or in your case a blow up doll) and a bottle of Prozac.
Soothsayer
January 9th, 2013
7:58 pm
Penis fixation?
JamVet
January 9th, 2013
7:58 pm
Hey Twink, even the cons at Kyle’s think you’re a nutjob. That takes real talent…
Swamp Thang
January 9th, 2013
7:59 pm
“e would like his kids to be able to grow up and stay here with decent jobs.
That would make sense if his kids actually lived in GA.
Swamp Thang
January 9th, 2013
7:59 pm
“Watch out for your first graders, Swampy is going to go postal.”
Oh look, the resident angry old man is trying to get a rise out of me. How cute.
TaxPayer
January 9th, 2013
8:00 pm
The GOP is in control in Georgia and that is why Georgia is still in decline while the nation is not.
Cherokee
January 9th, 2013
8:00 pm
’sigh’
so maybe he wants them to move here…
Swamp Thang
January 9th, 2013
8:01 pm
“so maybe he wants them to move here…
The only way that’ll happen is if they can’t find jobs because of the horrible Obama economy.
Doggone/GA
January 9th, 2013
8:01 pm
“Jay, if GA is so bad then please explain why businesses are leaving states like Ohio etc and moving south?”
If businesses are leaving states like Ohio etc and moving south…why aren’t they moving to GEORGIA? (Which, in case you missed it…is more or less the point of Jay’s piece)
JamVet
January 9th, 2013
8:01 pm
Twink, if that was an overture, I don’t do Republicans or animals, or in your case, both!
Are you buddies with Neal Horsley?
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
January 9th, 2013
8:01 pm
I’ll speak when and how I want, sport.
Tick…tick…tick….
I’ll bet this isn’t your first time with the countdown.
What do you think is a good over/under for your remaining time here?
Soothsayer
January 9th, 2013
8:02 pm
Oh noes! Kyle’s is shut down for the night. Now all the nutjobs like Swampathang (is that you, Little Davy?) are coming out of the woodwork!
Swamp Thang
January 9th, 2013
8:02 pm
“The GOP is in control in Georgia and that is why Georgia is still in decline while the nation is not.”
????? So GA is the only state in the entire nation that is in decline? WHo knew?
TaxPayer
January 9th, 2013
8:04 pm
We got us a genuine swamp thang for entertainment tonight.
Swamp Thang
January 9th, 2013
8:05 pm
“I don’t do Republicans or animals, or in your case, both!”
It must really suck to be you, JamVet. The anger, the loneliness. Just damn dude. I’d hate to be you.
Swamp Thang
January 9th, 2013
8:06 pm
If GA sucks so much why did they finish at number 9 in best states to do business in?
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100016697
TaxPayer
January 9th, 2013
8:08 pm
Why doesn’t this number 9 best state to do business in have an unemployment rate to match.
Swamp Thang
January 9th, 2013
8:08 pm
Soothsayer
Like I told the resident angry old lonely man, it must suck to be you. I mean, you guys sit here all day everyday and argue with each other. I mean damn. DAMN. I’d hate to be as angry and lonely as you all are.
Soothsayer
January 9th, 2013
8:08 pm
Companies are leaving states like Ohio and moving south so that they can admire the penises of those Alabama football players (especially them 300+ lb offensive linemen) and so they can hire workers who live in trailers (no offense, Redneck).
JamVet
January 9th, 2013
8:09 pm
Honey Boo Boo Twink, first you would have had to graduate from high school. Then you would have had to drag your fat ass down to the local AFEES. (Ask someone, because you sure as hell have no idea what that stands for.)
Just keep trying to be the worst you you can be. You are well on your way…
Swamp Thang
January 9th, 2013
8:09 pm
“Why doesn’t this number 9 best state to do business in have an unemployment rate to match.
Gee I don’t know. HORRIBLE NATIONAL ECONOMY, MAYBE?
TaxPayer
January 9th, 2013
8:09 pm
How many swamp thangs are there.
Swamp Thang
January 9th, 2013
8:10 pm
“Companies are leaving states like Ohio and moving south so that they can admire the penises of those Alabama football players’
Now THAT is funny.
TaxPayer
January 9th, 2013
8:11 pm
Gee I don’t know. HORRIBLE NATIONAL ECONOMY, MAYBE?
So being number 9 best state and $1.50 will buy you a cup of coffee.
Swamp Thang
January 9th, 2013
8:12 pm
“first you would have had to graduate from high school. Then you would have had to drag your fat ass down to the local AFEES. ”
The anger is getting sadder and sadder to watch. You don’t have a lot of loved ones in your life do you, AngerVet? If you have to sink so low as to call me a “fat ass” and then state that I don’t have a high school diploma then you really are a sad little man.
Like I said, sucks to be you.
Swamp Thang
January 9th, 2013
8:13 pm
“(Ask someone, because you sure as hell have no idea what that stands for.)”
Ah, so now we have an angry man who thinks he speaks for the military because he was drafted in the Vietnam War? PRICELESS!!!!!!!!!!!
F. Sinkwich
January 9th, 2013
8:14 pm
In lib ilk world Georgia sux ’cause it ain’t California, New York, New Jersey and other scabs on the nation politik. And such ilk-dom won’t rest until every state in the nation sux as much as those do.
Swamp Thang
January 9th, 2013
8:15 pm
TaxPayer
Like I tell all those who trash talk GA. If you don’t like it then move. There are 56 other states you can move to. Well, according to the smartestest president in the world there are 56 other states.
Swamp Thang
January 9th, 2013
8:15 pm
F. Sinkwich
Most of the left wingers who hang out on this blog couldn’t afford to live in any of those states.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
January 9th, 2013
8:17 pm
Like I tell all those who trash talk GA. If you don’t like it then move.
Like I told you before, I was born on Peachtree St., sport.
Swamp Thang
January 9th, 2013
8:19 pm
“You see, using tax money to help the Falcons and the NFL, the most profitable sports league on the planet, is “economic development”, while helping poor families get medical coverage is considered welfare.
So Arthur Blank is the government now? Who knew?
Poor people can go to the ER if they need care and they will never be turned down. What’s funny is the libs leave out the fact that doctors are leaving the medical world for good because of Obamacare. Medical residency numbers are at an all-time low.
Good luck with that one, libs. Maybe Obama can give you an Obamaphone and a pill to help with the pain.
Swamp Thang
January 9th, 2013
8:20 pm
“Like I told you before, I was born on Peachtree St., sport.
Looks like you were born on another planet to me.
td
January 9th, 2013
8:21 pm
Jay,
Your whole story is based on comparing apples and oranges. You can not compare wages in the south vs wages in the north without also comparing cost of living and taxes.
A job making $30,000 a year in Atlanta is equivalent to a job making $56,000 per year in NYC. A 2000 square foot house in Metro Atlanta today will cost you between $30,000 to $40,000 in Dekalb or Clayton or Between $80,000 and $120,000 in North metro. The equivalent house is $200 to $300,000 in the metro NYC area. Cost more for food and even alcohol in NYC then in ATL.
http://money.cnn.com/calculator/pf/cost-of-living/
Swamp Thang
January 9th, 2013
8:21 pm
Reality sucks for libs.
One-Third of Doctors to Leave Medicine Within Next Decade
http://www.prweb.com/releases/2012/7/prweb9716487.htm
JamVet
January 9th, 2013
8:22 pm
Wow, look at Twinkie. The kid is actually trying to string sentences together to make paragraphs!
His content is still gibberish, of course, but baby steps for Honey Boo Boo.
You go girl!
td
January 9th, 2013
8:23 pm
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
January 9th, 2013
8:17 pm
Like I tell all those who trash talk GA. If you don’t like it then move.
Like I told you before, I was born on Peachtree St., sport.
Then you just have to suffer as we Conservatives tell you how to live your life.
Swamp Thang
January 9th, 2013
8:23 pm
td
Jay doesn’t live in reality. He chooses to live in a red state with cheaper taxes than to live in a blue state and pay higher taxes. He doesn’t practice what he preaches.
Doggone/GA
January 9th, 2013
8:23 pm
“Most of the left wingers who hang out on this blog couldn’t afford to live in any of those states”
Got proof?
Swamp Thang
January 9th, 2013
8:24 pm
“Wow, look at Twinkie. The kid is actually trying to string sentences together to make paragraphs!’
JamVet, one day you’re gonna have a heart attack from your anger. The fact that you act like a litte kid is amazing to me. It really does suck to be you.
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
January 9th, 2013
8:26 pm
Looks like you were born on another planet to me.
Looks like you were born in LA.
Or was It GrandForks?
WOW
Soothsayer
January 9th, 2013
8:26 pm
Sorry, Swampathang, I was just reviewing some of your blog posts on CummingHome.com. Seems like blogging is sort of a second “career” for you. Or is it your “first” career?
Swamp Thang
January 9th, 2013
8:26 pm
“Got proof?
Yep, you’re posting an Atlanta blog which means you either live in GA or you live in the south. Otherwise, you wouldn’t give two $hits about the AJC.
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
January 9th, 2013
8:27 pm
Well, I get the same nightmare every night. I’ve passed on to the Great Reward and I’m standing in front of the Judgment Table. I look and see this Frank Sinkus on the left and josef on the right. That’s when I look at the Big Guy in the middle and say, “Just show me to the Hot Place.”
Swamp Thang
January 9th, 2013
8:27 pm
td
The irony of these left wing loon rants is that most of these freaks live in GA. I love how they complain about all things Republican yet they live here. Amazing ain’t it?
Swamp Thang
January 9th, 2013
8:28 pm
Kamchack, did you forget to take your meds or something?
Doggone/GA
January 9th, 2013
8:29 pm
“Yep, you’re posting an Atlanta blog which means you either live in GA or you live in the south”
What does that have to do with your assertion “Most of the left wingers who hang out on this blog couldn’t afford to live in any of those states””
Don’t strain anything moving those goal posts
Kamchak ~ Thug from the Steppes
January 9th, 2013
8:30 pm
Swamp Thang
Did you forget to stop beating your wife or something?
Swamp Thang
January 9th, 2013
8:31 pm
“What does that have to do with your assertion”
Because you live here and not there. DUH.
Swamp Thang
January 9th, 2013
8:32 pm
Kamchak
Sport, there’s your sign, drudgeyspam…
Find a new schtick.