Why Ga. has so little to show for being so ‘business friendly’
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?
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1,198 comments Add your comment
GB
January 9th, 2013
9:25 am
For Just Sayin
Same comment for you are for Skip. I am not “blaming” anybody or any group. If you think my explanation is faulty, you may want to explain why. Or just continue making snide remarks devoid of any real thought. Whatever you prefer.
USinUK - not very ladylike (and former Girl Scout)
January 9th, 2013
9:25 am
“It’s the GOP way. Give corporations a free ride, then stick to the taxpaying citizens”
… well, not the rich ones, anyway …
TaxPayer
January 9th, 2013
9:25 am
What are we going to do about it(them)?
We gots to give the Republicans 130 years to sort thangs out.
Cheesy Grits is gone but not forgotten
January 9th, 2013
9:26 am
Cheesy grits do like his race card with the hillbillies comment he do.
Yassir. Just callsen em likes I sees em.
JamVet
January 9th, 2013
9:26 am
…all these ga repubs were dems for the most part.
That one inescapable fact seems to………….. escape………….. our so-called conservatives…
Segregation yesterday! Segregation tomorrow! Segregation forever!
And to SBinF’s point, it so damn bad that we’ve got uppity blah people in the White House! (grin!)
Oscar
January 9th, 2013
9:26 am
Don’t insult hillbillbies by compring them to the people running this state. Insult to hillbillies everywhere.
Thulsa Doom
January 9th, 2013
9:26 am
42-14. Moral of the story- Don’t bring a leprechaun to an elephant fight!
TaxPayer
January 9th, 2013
9:27 am
Well every con knows that the blahs here in Georgia are the only ones that are unemployed and that is so because of their lack of a proper education and work ethic.
Adam
January 9th, 2013
9:27 am
LOL
But in a Tuesday phone interview with TheDC, Armey insisted that even though Strupp properly identified himself, it wasn’t until “somebody busted my chops on Facebook” that he realized spoke to a left-wing group.
“I wouldn’t know Media Matters from a hole in the wall,” the 72-year-old told TheDC. “That was a major, big screw up on my part. I thought they were somebody else.”
When asked who he thought Media Matters was, Armey replied, “Who’s the guy with the red beard that always does the show where he points out how biased the press is?”
Read more: http://dailycaller.com/2013/01/09/dick-armey-on-why-he-gave-that-interview-to-media-matters/#ixzz2HULT26B7
Apparently he thought he was talking to the Media Research Center. DOH!
File under: “Adam doesn’t just read left wing sites.” ATTN: Fred and TBG
jarvis
January 9th, 2013
9:28 am
My goal is to grow in my career and work for solid organizations. I’ve prepared myself and am reaping the benefits of said preparations. I applaud the state.
Clearly my goals are different from Jay’s.
TaxPayer
January 9th, 2013
9:28 am
Hillbillies is a race!
Tundra Dude
January 9th, 2013
9:28 am
Doug wrote:
You misunderstand the goal, Jay. It’s not to reduce unemployment or raise per capita income. It’s to make the rich richer. We’re doing just fine in that metric.
Aww bummer! (stole my thunder)
Adam
January 9th, 2013
9:28 am
Peadawg: Back to AIG: I really REALLY hope that the board doesn’t agree to join in. That’s a big “FU” after that ad campaign they ran.
Cheesy Grits is gone but not forgotten
January 9th, 2013
9:28 am
One thing you an count on and is universal in our politics today.
The poorer and dumber a state.
The redder it is.
All “moocher” states.
Id put it at about 50/50 whether the South would even have electricity today without the Federal Government.
tiredofIT
January 9th, 2013
9:29 am
mm
January 9th, 2013
9:21 am
It’s the GOP way. Give corporations a free ride, then stick to the taxpaying citizens.
++
Yes, corporations love to privatize profits and socialize losses.
Thomas Heyward Jr
January 9th, 2013
9:29 am
clem
January 9th, 2013
9:16 am
heyward, you are a dumarse, all these ga repubs were dems for the most part.
———————————————————————————————————–
.
I know.
That’s why it takes time to get them out.
One can still smell the residue when one is around the capital.
That’s also why one should be extremely hesitant in voting for republicans.(probably a good idea just not to).
And NEVER vote for a lawyer.(lawschool bleaches the ethics AND decency out of them..somehow).
.
Georgia has one of the highest vote-getting Libertrian Party in the nation…therefore, our state is bound to keep improving.
.
Forward Decency!
Thulsa Doom
January 9th, 2013
9:29 am
“The poor rankings are largely a reflection of Georgia’s demographics. Our population is about 30% black, close to three times the % of the nation as a whole. Blacks everywhere in the US have higher rates of unemployment and lower income. Any analysis that does not take demographics into account is incomplete.”- GB
Speaking of race and demographics it looked like GB opened up the proverbial can of worms.
GB
January 9th, 2013
9:30 am
SBinF
I see you share Skip’s and Just Sayin’s disapproval of my comment, but like them you have no facts to present or arguments to make. You just imply that my comment was racist. You may want to check out some facts and do some critical thinking. Or you can just call people racists. Doesn’t really matter to me.
tiredofIT
January 9th, 2013
9:30 am
Georgia has one of the highest vote-getting Libertrian Party in the nation…therefore, our state is bound to keep improving.
++
Where has this ever worked. Another slot party.
Oscar
January 9th, 2013
9:31 am
Hillbillies are people who live in the southern mountains. Not a race.
Adam
January 9th, 2013
9:31 am
Cheesey Grits: The poorer and dumber a state.
The redder it is.
Cue the same people who argue that climate change isn’t real to say something about how “not ALL red states are like that.” They need it to be 100% true. No, scratch that. Even then they would still argue with you about it.
Cheesy Grits is gone but not forgotten
January 9th, 2013
9:32 am
Next they’ll be telling us Climate Change isn’t real
Oh wait…..
Oscar
January 9th, 2013
9:33 am
FDRand the New Deal brought electricity to the rual souht and midwest and west.
Patrick
January 9th, 2013
9:33 am
Apparently Jay has never even been exposed to a Logic course let alone completed one. This is one of the most convoluted column he has ever produced and painful to read.
Joe Hussein Mama
January 9th, 2013
9:33 am
Taxpayer — “Hillbillies is a race!”
It was hillbillies racin’ what gave NASCAR its start.
Thulsa Doom
January 9th, 2013
9:33 am
“The poorer and dumber a state.
The redder it is.
All “moocher” states”
Demographics son. Demographics. And about 150 years of Democratic blue state rule while the Red state north advanced. Only in the past few decades have the roles reversed and the south become red with the north becoming blue. And only in the past few decades have those now blue northern states begun to decline, decay, and stagnate while the now red Southern states are gaining in population and jobs. Funny how that happens.
USinUK - not very ladylike (and former Girl Scout)
January 9th, 2013
9:34 am
“Don’t insult hillbillbies by compring them to the people running this state. Insult to hillbillies everywhere.”
yay-hoos, then?
Mike
January 9th, 2013
9:34 am
Jay, the assumption, or belief that the national unemployment rate being stated is really 7.8% is probably questionable. Just as any government claim and it’s true accuracy can be questioned. The fact that our federal government decided to exclude people who just gave up and quit looking for work, were left off this total, makes the number questionable. I think the true unemployment rate, if those people were actually counted, would be more in the 12-14% range.
LR
January 9th, 2013
9:34 am
What would the economic picture look like if were not business friendly and the jobs went elsewhere?
TaxPayer
January 9th, 2013
9:34 am
Hillbilly Racers! Ohhhh! I get it.
Brosephus™
January 9th, 2013
9:35 am
Doom
GB played the race card. You don’t see it that way because you agree with him instead of disagreeing.
Cheesy Grits is gone but not forgotten
January 9th, 2013
9:35 am
LOL.
You beat me to it Adam.
jarvis
January 9th, 2013
9:36 am
Yet the poorest and dumbest areas of our red state are the blue districts. Perplexing.
TaxPayer
January 9th, 2013
9:36 am
Now the cons have done upped the ante. The problem here in Georgia is now the “fact” that we was ruled by Democrats for 150 years. That gives the Republicans another 20 years on top of the 130 that they done claimed to need to turn thangs around.
Adam
January 9th, 2013
9:37 am
Cheesy: Did I call it or what?
Stevie Ray
January 9th, 2013
9:38 am
JAY
Comparison to 2001 is not remotely credible. You appear to submitting another attack on the idiots controlling the state but this dog clearly won’t hunt…I’m finding that the top five states for business climate only one (Texas) is in the top 20 of unemployment. Of course Texas has the Gas, Oil and Energy sectors which shield it somewhat compared to other states. All the others TN, FL GA, and NC don’t even make it in the top 30.
So I’m thinking that general business conditions across the country as well as demand shortage make it difficult for any business to risk capital toward moving employees to any state..
Also, you can’t hide the education problem…
Thulsa Doom
January 9th, 2013
9:38 am
“This is one of the most convoluted column he has ever produced and painful to read.”
The simpleton libs do love they simpleton answers. The reality and explanations behind the stats Jay posed are much lengthier in explanation than just to say its the Rs fault in a few hundred words. And plus the livlibs do love they raw red meat in the morning. Jay’s got em frothing and whipped into a frenzy already.
GB
January 9th, 2013
9:38 am
Has anyone noticed how cumbersome it is to report offensive language? All the posts with “hillbillies” should be eliminated, but (1) it takes too much effort to flag them and (2) the AJC censors don’t care. Only certain ethnic slurs and insults are permitted. And we know which one is not! The one that starts with the 14th letter of the English language and is less likely to appear in print the vulgar word starting with the sixth letter.
JamVet
January 9th, 2013
9:39 am
This is one of the most convoluted column he has ever produced and painful to read.
And your plethora of well stated and thought out counter-points are extremely compelling, Patrick.
Kudos, sir!
Redcoat
January 9th, 2013
9:39 am
Running a profitable company is easy to do, anyone can do it……..just ask Jay, he’s knows how.
Cheesy Grits is gone but not forgotten
January 9th, 2013
9:39 am
FDRand the New Deal brought electricity to the rual souht and midwest and west.
Right. The Federal government.
Thank God they did. This is not something the South could do on its own.
Not even today.
Adam
January 9th, 2013
9:40 am
Mike: The BLS measures exactly what you said:
http://www.bls.gov/webapps/legacy/cpsatab15.htm
If you pay attention to the numbers, you’ll notice that each and every metric has declined at pretty much the same rate as the “official” U-3 unemployment rate.
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
January 9th, 2013
9:40 am
“When the 2013 Georgia Legislature convenes Monday, it will no doubt attempt to continue that crusade.”
I can’t believe Jay used the word “crusade”. That is so sensitive and could offend some people.
Oh well ………………………
St Simons - aboriginal Bootakook 2014
January 9th, 2013
9:40 am
well, there’s a lot more Republican politicians golfing, yachting,
and sippin mint juleps down heah at the Cloister. so there, mr man
Stevie Ray
January 9th, 2013
9:41 am
TaxPayer
January 9th, 2013
9:36 am
I think it matters not which party is in control…global competition, lack of demand and no small amount of uncertainty keep companies from investing in new facilities and/or moving from one state (where they may very well be getting preferential treatment) to another. The general business climate sucks and neither party can do jack about it..
Tony
January 9th, 2013
9:41 am
We may be ranked high…but not for internet retailers. I just moved my business from Georgia to Delaware because of the new Nexus law. Sorry Georgia, no more revenue for you.
Adam
January 9th, 2013
9:41 am
Mike: Tick the “Include graphs” checkbox if you need a visual representation.
GB
January 9th, 2013
9:42 am
Brosephus
I am not playing the race card. You are doing what my other critics have done. But I am wrong in any way? Do blacks nationally NOT have a higher unemployment rate than whites? Are they NOT more likely to be poor? Does Ga NOT have a larger % of blacks than the nation as a whole? Are you capable of rational discussion? Or in your world is calling someone a racist an acceptable substitute for thought?
DannyX
January 9th, 2013
9:42 am
“Georgia has one of the highest vote-getting Libertrian Party in the nation…therefore, our state is bound to keep improving.”
Was that a joke? Georgia, the capitol of Red State America, should have a strong Tea Party. Georgia Republicans have proven just how phony the Tea Party really is. Unless of course the Tea Party stands for sitting at the lobby trough gobbling down lobby pork.
Republicans to Tea Party: You are not welcome here.
Jm
January 9th, 2013
9:42 am
Jay
Domestic Migration, by State and Region
New Data
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887323482504578230082916437000.html?mod=WSJ_hpp_LEFTTopStories
FL, TX, NC doing very well. GA, not so much…..
Christian Conservative
January 9th, 2013
9:43 am
Jay:
Why do you want to talk down and denigrate the great success of bright red state Georgia? Lets go over why you point is so wrong and disproved.
— 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.
The reason the unemployment rate is so high is because the federal gubmint continues to extend benefits. I personally know people who have no desire to work and would rather sit on their behind and be on the gubmint dole… Its demographics Jay. Plain and simple. If you cut off the benefits the leeches of society would get off their behinds and go to work if they want to eat…
— 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.
Who’s fault is that? We as a state spend billions to try and improve the quality of life for the states citizens and it seems wasted. People simply want to live this way because they don’t want to work. When dems tout that the gubmint will feed you, cloth you, and house you where is the desire to do better?
— 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.
Its don’t take a rocket scientist to figure this one out Jay. This is being brought down because so many sit on their behinds and not work. They are counted in these calculations…
Thulsa Doom
January 9th, 2013
9:44 am
Brocephus,
I don’t think GB played the race card as much as he simply stated an uncomfortable truth that we don’t like to talk about. Demographics play a role and amongst blacks which make up a significant population in southern Red states incomes, employment levels, and educational attainment levels are going to be lower. That’s not a criticism of black people. Its just a current economic reality.
We can argue about the reasons behind why this is so- racism, poorer education systems, historic inequality, more single parent households, etc. but it doesn’t change the current realities.
Jm
January 9th, 2013
9:44 am
State ranking
http://www.cnbc.com/id/100013723
Category Score / 2012 Rank / 2011 Rank
Cost of Doing Business 228 14 18
Workforce 283 1 4
Quality of Life 144 36 38
Infrastructure & Transportation 224 3 2
Economy 135 30 35
Education 98 34 22
Technology & Innovation 138 17 17
Business Friendliness 130 15 16
Access to Capital 66 20 13
Cost of Living 35 16 9
OVERALL 1481 9 4
Tundra Dude
January 9th, 2013
9:45 am
Lynnie wrote, in part:
What creates jobs is DEMAND.
That lack of demand won’t change anytime soon.
Recently came across a chart on private debt.
Compared to previous recessions, going back to the 80’s,
consumer debt as % of income is astronomical, almost triple.
USinUK - not very ladylike (and former Girl Scout)
January 9th, 2013
9:45 am
“I’m finding that the top five states for business climate only one (Texas) is in the top 20 of unemployment. Of course Texas has the Gas, Oil and Energy sectors which shield it somewhat compared to other states. All the others TN, FL GA, and NC don’t even make it in the top 30.”
which, I believe, illustrates Jay’s point.
Adam
January 9th, 2013
9:45 am
GB: The poor rankings are largely a reflection of Georgia’s demographics. Our population is about 30% black, close to three times the % of the nation as a whole. Blacks everywhere in the US have higher rates of unemployment and lower income.
Please PROCEED with the point you are trying to make here. Don’t pretend you’re just citing statistics. What is your point?
stands for decibels
January 9th, 2013
9:45 am
Georgia’s demographics are never going to allow us near the top of certain categories.
I believe once you hit a tipping point of > 25% Blah People, you have to be content with perpetual servitude. At least that’s what it said on Laffer’s napkin.
TaxPayer
January 9th, 2013
9:46 am
So now the cons are claiming that the lack of jobs is not Obama’s fault and that it is the business climate. Good thing we got global warming to heat up that business climate then. Now all we need are more tax cuts and some hefty doses of deeeee-regulation. And another 130-150 or so years to offset all the horrors done by the Democrats here in Georgia, naturally.
Adam
January 9th, 2013
9:46 am
Christian Conservative: I personally know people who have no desire to work and would rather sit on their behind and be on the gubmint dole…
I call bullsh*t. Present them. Liar.
Thulsa Doom
January 9th, 2013
9:47 am
“Only certain ethnic slurs and insults are permitted.”- GB
Well the libs do like they politically correct double standards regarding ethnic slurs they do.
lovelyliz
January 9th, 2013
9:48 am
“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?”
For business men that answer is a simple NO
Joe Hussein Mama
January 9th, 2013
9:48 am
GB — “All the posts with “hillbillies” should be eliminated”
That’s ‘Hill WILLIAM’ to YOU, sir.
Erwin's cat
January 9th, 2013
9:49 am
of course it’s the Republicans fault…If the Dems were in control, the narrative would be….just imagine how much worse it would have been if….
But hey, if it gets me outdoor football…i’m all in… Go Falcons
Cheesy Grits is gone but not forgotten
January 9th, 2013
9:49 am
People simply want to live this way because they don’t want to work.
It takes a real dope to say something like this.
It sad really but thats the way they see the world.
Oscar
January 9th, 2013
9:49 am
Look at the map of the US. Red states are the thinly populated farm states that don’t believe in government.
Except for farm supports. And then there is Texas.
TaxPayer
January 9th, 2013
9:50 am
It’s a good thing Georgia’s Republican “leaders” focused early on getting rid of all the Mehicans so they could turn their attention to the real problem–the uneducated and unemployed blah masses.
Stevie Ray
January 9th, 2013
9:50 am
ADAM
Thanks for the link. I find that the bottom 5 states, or the 5 with the worst business climate are California, Michigan, NY, NJ, and IL. Their corresponding unemployment rates are 9.8%, 8.9%, 9.6%, and 8.7%..
With GA at 8.5%, seems in current environment, nothing really matters or makes a difference. The littany of differences between today and 2001 are lengthy and all speak ill of your column..
USinUK - not very ladylike (and former Girl Scout)
January 9th, 2013
9:51 am
“I personally know people who have no desire to work and would rather sit on their behind and be on the gubmint dole…
I call bullsh*t. Present them. Liar.”
he’s seen LOADS of them checking out at the Piggly Wiggly, with cigarettes, scratch cards and a smartphone … wearing diamonte flip flips and driving an Escalade … no really …
TaxPayer
January 9th, 2013
9:51 am
That’s ‘Hill WILLIAM’ to YOU, sir.
A hillbilly using his formal name! Now things is gettin serious.
Cheesy Grits is gone but not forgotten
January 9th, 2013
9:52 am
Its don’t take a rocket scientist to figure this one out Jay.
Maybe an all time gem.
Georgia education at its highest level.
Brosephus™
January 9th, 2013
9:52 am
GB
You played the race card, and everybody cheering you on are just as complicit.
Do you know that, HISTORICALLY, Black unemployment has been twice the national average for almost as long as they’ve been recording it? That isn’t some new thing brought on by Democrats. That’s been the way things have been as long as we’ve been around. Trying to point to that fact as some new demographic shows how utterly clueless you are.
As to being poor, there are more Whites in this country that are poor than any other race, yet you don’t mention a single thing about poor Whites in Georgia, why not? Are rural Whites in Georgia not poor anymore? Did something change in the last year or so?
I am quite capable of having a rational conversation, but it seems that you have to rely on emotional “facts” that are half facts if that much. Whenever you wish to start a rational conversation, I’ll join in when time permits. I’m taking care of a sick child, so I can’t sit in front of a computer to wait for you to say something rational.
Doom
That message goes for you too. Funny that you consider that some uncomfortable truth. Let me pull out an “uncomfortable truth” that you don’t agree with and watch how fast I get accused of pulling the race card. You can’t have your cake and eat it too. Pulling race into a discussion that has absolutely nothing to do with race is pure and utter deflection.
Why can’t you conservatives ever own up to the shortcomings of your own ideology and politicians without having to blame someone else? Can any of you conservatives answer that one? Two pages of comments, and y’all have blamed everybody else for Georgia’s problems when Conservatives have been in control for a decade. Democrats have been out of the Governor’s mansion for a DECADE. When are you going to accept personal responsibility for Georgia?
Thulsa Doom
January 9th, 2013
9:53 am
Looks like the professional meterologists are still on their chicken little the Earth is going to melt kick. And they still think they’ve emphatically proven global warming is mostly man made. Jeez. I think Jay overfed them yesterday on the raw red meat.
GB
January 9th, 2013
9:53 am
Adam
My point is obvious. I stated it as clearly as I know how. I am sorry you are not able to understand it.
JamVet
January 9th, 2013
9:53 am
GB, makes some valid points.
As opposed to the utter stupidity of statements like these:
Our poor country….that was built in large part on the backs of Blah people is now being torn down by Blah people.
The reason the unemployment rate is so high is because the federal gubmint continues to extend benefits.
People simply want to live this way because they don’t want to work.
is it any wonder that the most virulent of our cons – like West, Walsh, Aiken, Mourdoch and Allen – keep getting crushed like they did last November 6th?
You have entered a long, dark period of failures, cons.
So get used to losing…
TaxPayer
January 9th, 2013
9:55 am
It’s a good thing President Obama approved tax cuts for 99 percent of us. Now only one percent has to worry about not gettin good jobs due to high taxes instead of 100 percent of us.
Oscar
January 9th, 2013
9:55 am
UK – Ya hoos is better term. Don’t know its orgins. Is it the West Virginia Yahoos or some other university?
williebkind
January 9th, 2013
9:55 am
“But I’m just some clueless Yankee so what do I know.”
A point of fact!
not fooled by the spin
January 9th, 2013
9:56 am
So Jay would have us think that creating a business unfriendly environment would be better for the state and the poor economically? I know, let’s just redistribute all the wealth to the poor. That seems to be the answer to everything. Businesses would keep locating to the state and doing business here because everyone knows that the ultimate goal of every business should be to benefit the poor – not their shareholders, owners, and workers.
Can’t anyone understand that if GA was less ‘pro business’ we would be in even worse shape?
DannyX
January 9th, 2013
9:56 am
“I can’t believe Jay used the word “crusade”. That is so sensitive and could offend some people.”
The Georgia Republican crusade starts with the opening prayer. It then moves to discussion of a few new abortion laws. Then the big pork fest lobby giveaway grand finale.
Is this the year the Billboard/Ultrasound abortion law passes? It would be a sure way to get re-elected.
The new Billboard/Ultrasound abortion law would require any women seeking an abortion to have an ultrasound taken of the fetus, have the image blown up, then have the image posted on a huge billboard. A giant picture of the woman involved must also be on the billboard. The image of the fetus must measure at least 15′ by 15′.
TaxPayer
January 9th, 2013
9:56 am
Its don’t take a rocket scientist to figure this one out Jay.
That’s a good thing too given that cons don’t do math or science.
DannyX
January 9th, 2013
9:58 am
“So Jay would have us think that creating a business unfriendly environment would be better for the state and the poor economically?”
Business unfriendly environment???? Like sitting in traffic?
St Simons - aboriginal Bootakook 2014
January 9th, 2013
9:59 am
having sat in on (more than) a few of those “where do we locate”
meetings in my younger days, i can tell you, a lot more than
’state-friendly-business-climate’ goes into that decision. f’rinstance –
What is teh infrastructure? ouch, thanks Ga cons
What is the educ level of the workers? ouch, thanks again cons
How will we get our top people to relocate to E Bumblef-? trifecta, cons!
Can’t buy beer on Sunday? whaaa? Chips-in-your-head bills?
oh. lord….
“Why don’t we just make “Bad Decision” our company logo?”
“Its lips are purty, but its still a pig”
(the last two are direct quotes from my 2nd boss, in one of those mtgs,
disclosure – it was a W Buffet co, and my boss wasn’t some yankee
snob – he was from Chattanooga)
stands for decibels
January 9th, 2013
10:00 am
of course it’s the Republicans fault…If the Dems were in control
Erwin, I have studiously avoided blaming one party or another, even though a cursory reading of my posts in this thread might allow one to assume otherwise. Georgia happened to have a nice convergence of enlightened, visionary urban types of varying shades of Blah AND a Democratic party that, while slow in the South to embrace such thinking, did come around and maintained political control for a number of years.
But it’s never about what party is in control; it’s about the tolerance of the governed to rules and regs that clearly are not in their collective interest.
If some progressive wing of the GA GOP were able to subvert the process and get the equivalent of a Hope Scholarship program afloat and operational, I’d be their biggest fan.
GB
January 9th, 2013
10:00 am
Brosephus
“Do you know that, HISTORICALLY, Black unemployment has been twice the national average for almost as long as they’ve been recording it? That isn’t some new thing brought on by Democrats. ”
You are helping me make my point. Black unemployment is higher than white unemployment. Ga has a higher % of blacks than the US as a whole. These facts are relevant to Ga’s overall unemployment rate. Re read my initial post. All I said was that any analysis ignoring demographics is incomplete.
Thanks for helping me make my argument. Does that make you a racist too?
And I said nothing about Democrats.
JamVet
January 9th, 2013
10:00 am
Christian Conservative is a very bad joke straight out of the Moral Majority.
And like them, he is…………..
Neither.
williebkind
January 9th, 2013
10:00 am
“When are you going to accept personal responsibility for Georgia?”
Who had the welfare system initiated in Ga? Now can you get rid of it tomorrow–no! You can not get rid of the unemployment benefits that has lasted for four years. Where are the liberals responsibility to remove the chains off the democratic plantation?
TBS
January 9th, 2013
10:00 am
Bro
You didn’t get the memo?
Bringing up Bush when speaking of Obama is an excuse.
Bringing up Democrats in GA who haven’t been in charge for a decade is merely presenting the facts.
Oh the irony… You folks put it on everything from your grits to pot roast
Oscar
January 9th, 2013
10:01 am
Accordin to Adam’s link,the states lest pro-busines are doing better. We must be using the wrong approach. Get less pro-business and watch us become an industial state.
Redneck Convert (R--and proud of it)
January 9th, 2013
10:02 am
Well, seems to me all you folks are forgetting something. People here are so poor because they make Bad Choices and refuse to accept Personal Responsibility.
I’m talking to you, punk 1st graders, just setting on your behind in a classroom and dreaming of the day you’ll turn 16 and get out of that joint so you can get a new chainsaw and pickup truck. We already got enough of that kind out here. You need to get off of your duff and learn how to start companies so the rest of us can have jobs.
0311/8541/5811/1811/1801
January 9th, 2013
10:03 am
“Biden’s meetings spotlight gun control divide”
“Set to confer with backers of tougher gun laws, then NRA, other gun owner groups; Debate intensifying in court of public opinion”
http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-250_162-57562942/bidens-meetings-spotlight-gun-control-divide/
I think we need to pass a law making the use of any weapon to kill innocent people a felony punishable by life in prison or the death sentence.
There !
Adam
January 9th, 2013
10:03 am
GB: My point is obvious. I stated it as clearly as I know how. I am sorry you are not able to understand it.
If your point is obvious, then your point is that black people are at fault for the unemployment rate being high.
If that is NOT your point, you can easily clear this up by stating what you point is instead.
On thing is clear, though. You’ve pulled race in as a rebuttal to Jay’s column.
JamVet
January 9th, 2013
10:03 am
Can’t anyone understand that if GA was less ‘pro business’ we would be in even worse shape?
Can’t anyone understand that meaningless, fact-free slogans and sound bites are useless? Though the weapon of choice among the party’s faithful.
We have arguably the most verifiably corrupt and certainly one of the most incompetent state governments in the entire union…
Adam
January 9th, 2013
10:04 am
Oscar et al: Accordin to Adam’s link
I thought I shared the link that shows the U-1 through U-6 rate over time nationally. Is that not what I shared?
Stevie Ray
January 9th, 2013
10:04 am
USinUK – not very ladylike (and former Girl Scout)
January 9th, 2013
9:45 am
That’s one way to look at it but the underlying message I’m offering is that it doesn’t matter what states do today, the general business climate rules..Turning that into a conclusion that money in GA is ill-spent is not possible with data provided.
Also, the national employment rate used by politicians and media is the most favorable of all measure but the fact is that that number is suppressed due to a shrinking workforce in the market as opposed to new jobs.
TAXPAYER
I don’t think the unemployment situation is anyone’s fault but seems all need someone to blame. What’s relevant to me is that in today’s environment, government can’t do anything meaningful at this time to change the situation.
Of course any administration will take credit for things alledgedly getting better if this is actually a fact.
Tundra Dude
January 9th, 2013
10:05 am
“All the posts with “hillbillies” should be eliminated”
How about if we just upgrade them to “Appalachian American”
ps: Coach Saban is a hill person, W. Va.
Adam
January 9th, 2013
10:05 am
Scout: I think we need to pass a law making the use of any weapon to kill innocent people a felony punishable by life in prison or the death sentence.
Really? because *I* think we need to get rid of that law because “it doesn’t work” and “criminals break laws.”
There you go. Criminals break laws so therefore, we don’t need no stinkin’ laws!
Doggone/GA
January 9th, 2013
10:06 am
“Has anyone noticed how cumbersome it is to report offensive language? All the posts with “hillbillies” should be eliminated, but (1) it takes too much effort to flag them and (2) the AJC censors don’t care”
blogspot.com is ready when you are. Start your own blog and YOU can control what is said.
JamVet
January 9th, 2013
10:06 am
“democratic plantation”
Willie, will you please spout that moronic nonsense of yours ad nauseum right up until the next election?
Thank you from non-Republicans everywhere!
Oscar
January 9th, 2013
10:06 am
0311 – You men it’s fine to kill guilty people. How guilty do they have to be. And guilty of what?
USinUK - not very ladylike (and former Girl Scout)
January 9th, 2013
10:07 am
“UK – Ya hoos is better term. Don’t know its orgins. Is it the West Virginia Yahoos or some other university?”
a guy I used to date used this term frequently … and it never failed to crack me up … so, yay-hoo is my favorite term for people who seem to have their heads up their backsides and/or are just plain back-a$$-words.