Go much past I-285, and transportation bill’s road is bumpy
It turns out that you still can’t spell “transportation” in Georgia without T-R-U-S-T. Honk, spelling champs among us, if you see a problem.
It is an article of faith in metro Atlanta that legislators must finally pass a transportation funding bill this year. When the leaders of the House and Senate stood beside Gov. Sonny Perdue last month as he unveiled such a bill, the new plan looked set for a smooth ride.
But since then a familiar tension has resurfaced: Atlanta versus the rest of the state.
I’ve found very few people who dispute that the governor’s plan works for metro Atlanta. Some speed bumps would remain: What about the MARTA penny? Is eight years enough time for a penny sales tax for transportation? Would local governments have enough say in the project list? But these issues can be resolved.
People outside metro Atlanta, however, view the plan more skeptically.
Some regions are dominated by a single city. In the River Valley region, Columbus/Muscogee County accounts for more than half of the population and nearly two-thirds of the tax’s projected revenues; no other county in the region reaches even 10 percent by either measure. Smaller counties worry about being outvoted and made to pay for others’ improvements.
(For comparison’s sake, Fulton County has just a quarter of the population, and less than a third of the projected revenues, in the Atlanta Regional Commission, or ARC.)
Then there’s the fact that, while the ARC is a well-defined area, other regions have little natural cohesiveness.
The Northwest Georgia region stretches from Blue Ridge near the North Carolina border, to Trenton in the far northwest corner, all the way down to I-20 as it enters Alabama from Haralson County. Folks in Hiram probably care little about improving an intersection of state highways in Dalton, and vice versa.
You can fit a square peg into a round hole, if the peg is small enough. But a plan to raise billions of dollars in sales taxes to accelerate transportation projects is a pretty big peg.
Some local officials worry that they’ll go without state transportation dollars if they don’t pass the sales tax. Others are concerned that state funding will skip the regions that do pass the tax, cheating those who tax themselves.
Obviously, these scenarios cannot both be true. But the fact that these opposite fears have cropped up together speaks to the lack of trust local officials outside metro Atlanta — and perhaps some of the ones in it — have in the state when it comes to transportation.
The bill has provisions to allay such fears, such as a new formula to divide existing state transportation funds among the regions. But the fact that the formula has changed twice already this month, and rather sharply each time, undercuts the certainty it’s supposed to add.
What’s more, some local officials ask why they should take responsibility for what they argue is a state function.
All of this is bringing the bill’s passage into doubt if some compromises aren’t reached. One possibility is to let counties opt out of participating in their region’s plan. Would that undermine the bill’s basic premise? Perhaps. But it beats getting no bill.
A distant Plan B is to find a legal way to authorize a tax only for the Atlanta Regional Commission. Better for legislators to pass an actual “ARC bill” than to reject what they think is just an “ARC bill.”
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104 comments Add your comment
Michael H. Smith
March 13th, 2010
5:04 pm
Beam us up Scotty!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uxbW2mCI05k&feature=player_embedded#
LA
March 13th, 2010
7:50 pm
“Have you ever lost health insurance before?”
Yep, and I was without it for a few months until I landed another job.
“Why don’t idiots like you try it, no, you don’t have the courage to, so we won’t go there. It’s people like you who are just lemmings and chicken feed to Tea Begger monkeys and other near-do-wells who find bogus reasons not to sovle problems.”
Nice, you get irritated at me telling someone to grow up and here you are calling me an idiot and a tea begger monkey.
“Bottom feeders like you and the G no P love to whine and bitch about “ObamaCare” but have ZERO ideas or alternatives, you just want the same old song and dance.”
Again with the name calling. I’m surprised Kyle let you get away with the “b” word. Such nice language ya got there. Oh, we have alternatives but people like you ignore them. See ya in November!!!!
“I hate to wish ill on anyone, but I would love peple like yourself to be without health insurance.”
Of course you would. You’re an intolerant liberal who has to rely on the government for everything. Oh, and you can’t spell.
“Nope, I know you can’t because you’re a weak, meek, spineless subhuman being without a clue. ”
More name calling from a whiny little selfish liberal. I guess you just want everyone to suffer.
“So rant on my friend becaise at the end of the day the ObamaCare will get done with or without idiots like you.”
It’s been what, a year since Obama said that? Yep, seems to be working out for the marxist just fine, huh.
LA
March 13th, 2010
7:51 pm
Kyle
Wondering if you’re going to say anything about vuduchld’s name calling? She’s called me about 8 different names in one posting and I remember you saying something about not tolerating that kind of stuff on your blogs.
LA
March 13th, 2010
7:53 pm
“LA – Enough already. Sheesh.”
You should be telling that to vuduchld.
Scott
March 13th, 2010
8:23 pm
The Tar and Feathers Party = Troll…ignore him and he will go away. Responding to him just asks for more
ProgressiveGeorgia
March 13th, 2010
9:05 pm
The solution to Atlanta Metro’s Transportation Problem is this a Major Expansion to the State Tollway Authority (A NON PROFIT – TOLL FUNDED – GOVT AGENCY). Toll Roads are the way to go, A pay per use road/rail to raise funds to pay for Highways/Marta Rail WITHOUT RAISING TAXES, Toll Roads would pay for a new Atlanta Outer Beltway Highway, Add Additional High Speed Express Lanes on I-85, I-75, I-285, Highway Expansion of 400 and 316, Marta Rail Expansion to Gwinnett, Cobb, Clayton, Douglas, Rockdale, Forsyth, Hall Counties and even a Atlanta-Athens Rail Service. All Paid for by a Pay Per Use Fees and Without Raising Taxes.
Bill
March 13th, 2010
11:31 pm
96 SC – I actually lived in Ninety Six, SC for four years. I did not think there were other people from that part of the world (”where is Ninety Six, SC – four miles from One Hundred”)!! By the way, your note made lots of sense.
Regards,
The Tar and Feathers Party
March 14th, 2010
7:33 am
SCOTT is a paid lackey for RoyTheCrook, don’t ignore Scott, just vote against the KingCrook.
The Tar and Feathers Party
March 14th, 2010
7:38 am
Michael H. Smith your education dollars for private school brats should read MY property taxes to fund YOUR private school brat. It is bad enough that I have to pay for the worthless public school teachers, I WILL NOT PAY FOR YOUR BRAT TO GO TO PRIVATE SCHOOL.
Terminator
March 14th, 2010
8:14 am
Tar and Feathers Party – hey Internet tough guy…why don’t you calm down. I agree with a few of your points, but man you are an immature little twit in your use of language.
You were obviously beat up a lot as a little kid, and now as an adult you have this technology to work out your repressed aggression and improve your self esteem. Why don’t you engage people in “thoughtful” discussion vs. being a bed wetting name caller.
lkjlkj
March 14th, 2010
8:21 am
Hey LA, have you ever been in that position of buying your own health insurance? If you EVER have or have had anything major, you’re essentially blacklisted. I once was self-employed, but I had the misfortune of getting ill in the early 90s. I soon got cancelled and found I couldn’t get any insurance that would cover that pre-existing condition, and of course they’ll relate anything in the future to that. I ended up on my state’s ‘Comprehensive Health Insurance Pool’ for the uninsurable, which was effectively no coverage at very high rates.
So I know work for employers solely because group plans are the only way I can get insurance. I’m not some fat sloth, either — normal in every measure, my problems were internal and not related to any lifestyle choices.
I also used to be a solid Republican. I’m now a solid Democrat because of this one issue. Health insurance is my abortion. Wake up — just because you’ve been fine now doesn’t mean you will forever. You have ZERO protections if not under a group plan.
It’s sad to say, but I’m actually glad this recession is affecting so many educated white men over 35 (the big ideologue Republican group). They need to lose their insurance and get on the private market. I hope enough have heart attacks and similar issues too, I want to see a big spike in bankruptcies due to insurance issues. Then they’ll realize everything is not fine just because they have been fine so far.
Sometimes that’s what it takes.
Let's Bypass It All
March 14th, 2010
8:23 am
Georgia does not have the population density to support rail. I have lived in cities with mature rail systems and, while they are convenient for commuting to a fixed point, they are not useful for much else. (Excluding NYC, of course. But we’re talking about commuter rail.) Atlanta has a much more distributed business infill will preclude significant ridership.
There is another alternative. Let’s cut the amount of travel. For the price of a few major road projects, Georgia could build 100Mbps fiber to any area with population densities greater than, say, 200 per square mile. If 20% of the people could telecommute and video conference for meetings, the need for roads could be drastically reduced.
We can keep building stuff for the last century, or we can build for this one. We certainly aren’t going to keep people from traveling, but we can make the cost of not traveling much more attractive and thereby reduce traffic. A win for everyone.
Road Scholar
March 14th, 2010
8:27 am
Progressive Georgia: No, tolling the OP/Northern Arc will not pay the entire cost for design, land required, and construction , operation, and maintenance. They won’t fund the managed lanes on the local Interstates either. The projects are just sooooo expensive.
But when you toll them (toll based on time of day and congestion levels) what happens to the local system? Shift in traffic patterns? Revenue? affects to the quality of the local system?
Vuduchild @4:47: That must have felt good!
Michael H. Smith @11:59: What roadway corridor is not “subsidized” by future tax monies? I’ll give you a hint….future maintenance costs money!
Retiredds @ 2:40: The state gets back 90% of Federal gas tax paid at the pump. It is up from about 60% ten or so years ago. That is different from the overall state expenditures of Federal and state revenues. State gas tax monies including the Federal monies collected in the Atlanta region are returned to the region at about 60%; 40% have gone recently to the rest of the state along with their gas taxes collected. This is alledgedly payback for the myth that Atlanta received most of the states funds in the 80’s and 90’s for the Olympics and growth.
The Tar and Feathers Party
March 14th, 2010
8:33 am
Yo Terminator, kiss off you woosie. My language is just fine for dealing with dead beat scum who want to steal from me for their benefit. Now go terminate yourself, the world will be a better place for it.
Scott
March 14th, 2010
8:51 am
Let’s Bypass It All…thats a great idea, in theory, but if you think the Road building lobby has too much clout, look at whatt AT&T is doing in the legislature now. They would fight that tooth and nail. Just ask Chattanooga, Lafayette LA, or any other city that tried to wire their own fiber what hell they had to fight…and do you think for a second the bought and paid for likes of Rep Shafer (r-Duluth) would stand for his buddies at AT&T losing out (and thus him)?
The Tar and Feathers Party
March 14th, 2010
9:02 am
Social Security to Start Cashing Uncle Sam’s IOUs
PARKERSBURG, W.Va. (AP) — The retirement nest egg of an entire generation is stashed away in this small town along the Ohio River: $2.5 trillion in IOUs from the federal government, payable to the Social Security Administration.
It’s time to start cashing them in.
For more than two decades, Social Security collected more money in payroll taxes than it paid out in benefits — billions more each year.
Not anymore. This year, for the first time since the 1980s, when Congress last overhauled Social Security, the retirement program is projected to pay out more in benefits than it collects in taxes — nearly $29 billion more.
Sounds like a good time to start tapping the nest egg. Too bad the federal government already spent that money over the years on other programs, preferring to borrow from Social Security rather than foreign creditors. In return, the Treasury Department issued a stack of IOUs — in the form of Treasury bonds — which are kept in a nondescript office building just down the street from Parkersburg’s municipal offices.
Now the government will have to borrow even more money, much of it abroad, to start paying back the IOUs, and the timing couldn’t be worse. The government is projected to post a record $1.5 trillion budget deficit this year, followed by trillion dollar deficits for years to come.
Social Security’s shortfall will not affect current benefits. As long as the IOUs last, benefits will keep flowing. But experts say it is a warning sign that the program’s finances are deteriorating. Social Security is projected to drain its trust funds by 2037 unless Congress acts, and there’s concern that the looming crisis will lead to reduced benefits.
To read the rest of the story you have to go to the new york times at nytimes com/aponline/2010/03/14/us/AP-US-Social-Security-IOUs.html?_r=1
Ace
March 14th, 2010
9:22 am
Cons like the kid who runs on and on here, you know who, is a punk with nothing to offer.
The Tar and Feathers Party
March 14th, 2010
10:48 am
Ace, you mis spelled your name, you should substitute ss for ce, and you will git an A on your next spellin’ test from the mickey mouse school teacher at your public middle school.
The Tar and Feathers Party
March 14th, 2010
10:53 am
Fer you slow witted folks, the 2.5 trillion dollars “borrowed” from SS over the last 25 odd years must now be repaid. That means you can no longer fund your stupid projects, like universal health care or public schools, private school vouchers, or passenger rail. You have to repay the trillions you have already wasted on junk like un needed C-17’s, F-22’s, F’35’s, Eleven aircraft carrier battle groups (no one else in the world owns even one super carrier, yet we have 11). As in your worthless private lives, the guv is bankrupt and deeply in debt. Time to pay up, or else.
Michael H. Smith
March 14th, 2010
10:58 am
Tar, you’re way off the mark on what ever it is you are thinking for many reason. First, you pay nothing to educate any of MY children. My children like myself are all paying property taxes to educate their children and possibly paying for YOUR brat’s education too. Secondly, in funding the student or child instead of giving the money to some government school system it would not by necessity mean a student could not choose to attend a public school. However, it assures a student their right of liberty to obtain the best education our taxpayer money can buy for them whether it is received in a public school, charter school or private school. Therefore, thirdly, education money derived from taxation in my opinion “more like a core principle” should belong to the student and not the government. Fourthly, if their is a private sector business that can provide a better education to a student than the GUB’MENT schools, then it is time for government to get the hell out of the education business. Government in general has no place and no role to serve in competing against a private sector business of any kind or any type, especially if a business can or does in fact outperform government in providing the service. Fifthly, I HAVE NO DESIRE TO PAY FOR LOUSY TEACHERS WHO SHOULD NOT BE EDUCATORS AND THEIR LOUSY UNIONS OR PROFESSIONAL ORGANIZATIONS THAT KEEP THEM IN A GUB’MENT JOB AND THAT PROMOTE POLITICAL AGENDAS I OPPOSE. Sixth, far too much money is spent by public school systems to build some of these school buildings. Seventh, far too many non-teachers are on the public school system payrolls. Eighth, far too little accountable exists in the government education monopoly that has no reason to excel, when it has by the force of law the absolute guarantee of receiving money and clientele regardless of its’ miserable failures.
In closing Tar Feathers, when any of my children did attend a private school my wife and I paid for that private schooling while continuing to pay taxes for others to receive an education in the government public schools.
Feathers, you want to throw all the bums out but I doubt that you have any honest ideas of what to do after all the bums are gone, other than offer more of your personal attacks against people with at least a few of the answers as to what should be done.
Dawg 96
March 14th, 2010
11:00 am
Roy Barnes was trying to make things happen in 2002 with rail and the Northern Arc, then the flaggers and teachers voted him out and we lost an entire decade of transportation progress thanks to Sonny and the “fergit hell” GOP. It’s again time for someone innovative to LEAD Georgia and get transportation back on track, and Roy is probably still the only person capable of doing so. Even Kyle has to admit to this.
The Tar and Feathers Party
March 14th, 2010
11:05 am
Roy was and is a crook who stole 100 million georgia medicaid dollars for his out of state lawyer cronies and he stole millions from the Georgia 400 toll road fund for his in state cronies building atlantic station, imho. I see that worthless project is in financial trouble, and people who purchased that over priced junk have lost their shirts, imho. Fat Boy Roy would be the Worst possible choice for governor. Just say no to FatCrooks.
The Tar and Feathers Party
March 14th, 2010
11:08 am
Mike Smith: I want to close the public schools and end all property taxes and public funding for education. Let the private sector provide education, and let the people who want to educate their children pay the full cost. Just keep your fingers off my wallet, assets, and pensions, otherwise there will be blood and civil war.
The Tar and Feathers Party
March 14th, 2010
11:15 am
We Baby Boomers are 70 million strong, and we will not be robbed by any of you losers. Just try to take any of our wealth, and we will vote you out of office, forever. Just for spite, I have fired the maid service and the yard people, let the losers run back to mexico. The grass can grow all it wants, I am on strike as far as the American economy is concerned, and it will not be cut. If the guv complains, ah got me a big jug of Roundup to kill the grass permanent like.
The Tar and Feathers Party
March 14th, 2010
11:18 am
Here is another failed waste of my money by the guv scum: Halls of Fame seen as drain on state finances – AJC Exclusive: Taxpayers still on hook for $2 million in loans on closed Golf Hall of Fame
Michael H. Smith
March 14th, 2010
11:22 am
My fingers have never been on your wallet Tar Feathers and your personal threats are really boring; not to mention they border on committing a felony.
Um Kyle, did you say something recently about enforcing your rules on your blog?
Ace
March 14th, 2010
11:29 am
I am laughing at your general direction. I think it is funny you are unhappy with the situation you find yourself in and funnier to think your views have any weight with anyone. Too bad, you should have voted different.
The Tar and Feathers Party
March 14th, 2010
11:33 am
Predictions of the future ain’t a crime, clown. I see the results of idiots like you spending other people’s money on your pet projects all the time. The debt pile is now so high, someone is going to get cheated, and that someone better not be the Giant Generation.
dewstarpath
March 14th, 2010
11:34 am
LA – Mar.13 – 7:53pm:
“You should be telling that (Enough already) to vuduchld”.
Actually, I should have (and did) told that to Tar and Feathers.
Did you see his 9:14 am post on March 13 ?
For those who want to post threats: your IP address can be
permanently blocked (regardless of the handle you use) by
the AJC staff. Apparently this has been done in a forum by
Jennifer Brett to a poster whose handle was “Alan”, in a story
about one of the “Real Housewives of Atlanta”:
http://blogs.ajc.com/the-buzz/2010/03/12/nene-the-housewife-bails-on-fox/?cp=1
dewstarpath
March 14th, 2010
11:38 am
BTW – I think RHOA should be cancelled yesterday.
I’ve never seen a show, but the previews about it on
regular TV are a joke.
Michael H. Smith
March 14th, 2010
11:45 am
I seriously doubt Kyle has to admit anything. Roy Barnes was defeated because he was a back room dealing overlord and not a wise leader. After 100 years of Democrats creating most of the messes in this State that everybody complains about continually on these blogs, one would hope something resembling cognitive thought might occur to deliver at least a small degree of applied wisdom.
The Tar and Feathers Party
March 14th, 2010
11:54 am
Hanging carpet baggers is an old tradition in the South, my ancestors hung many a Yankee after the War of Northern Aggression, and they continued to hang em up till about 1885. We are still very proud of that fact. Perhaps one day, we will be so lucky as history repeating itself, if we all wish very hard.
DannyX
March 14th, 2010
12:34 pm
That’s pretty funny Michael H Smith. Current Republican leadership in Georgia is dominated by ex-Democrats. The good ol boys are all the same, even the ones that didn’t switch parties, example- Zell Miller.
A few years back Republicans ran on a platform of improved ethics. Perdue said he would do something about metro- Atlanta traffic. Just when does the statue of limitations run out for blaming all of the Georgia’s problems on Democrats?
Republicans gave Obama exactly 3 days to fix every single problem. Republicans have now had 8 years in Georgia.
The latest Republican victory here in Georgia? Seems Republicans are off and running with their new “corporations are people” campaign. The state legislature is about to pass a bill sponsored by Senator Waste Management (R) LaGrange.
Yep. The garbage company Waste Management just wrote their own legislation, handed it to their Republican buddies in the state legislature, and are now waiting for their rubber stamp.
I think we need to get ExxonMobil in here quick. Georgia has no transportation plan. I’m sure they could come up with a good plan.
just say no
March 14th, 2010
12:45 pm
the aj urinal has now picked up the story about social security dipping into the trust fund
just say no
March 14th, 2010
12:47 pm
join the tar and feathers party, when we win, we will hang all the criminals.
Michael H. Smith
March 14th, 2010
1:26 pm
Funny, maybe if you are the only one laughing at 100 years of grief but still it remains ever so true DannyXYZ. Georgia stopped laughing a while back and we find nothing humorous about your Democrats.
Michael H. Smith
March 14th, 2010
1:27 pm
Back to where this blog started. Thinking Ree-gional as King Roy intended or thinking Statewide.
The State of Georgia can no longer afford a myopic vision of the future. Such shortsighted prerogatives are the very reasons why the challenges we face today as a State exist. A Statewide approach is necessary if we are to profit from the many opportunities these various neglected challenges present. People, who always see problems, seldom find solutions. They are too consumed in finding what is wrong in order to exercise a pet complaint to ever search out what is right; let alone take initiative to act upon a found resolve that offers the potential of prosperity from promoting the general welfare of all within the State.
The devil certainly does remain in the details of this transportation bill. It is a very good thing to have the taxation part of this bill revisited by the voters from time to time on the ballot, which is exactly what should take place on extending any toll imposed on any road beyond its’ having been paid for, i.e. as in the case of GA 400. Tolls charged on one road should not be applied to another road or to the construction of another road.
Roads and road construction cannot be the only part of transportation to deliver mobility needs. Even though rails cost three times as much to lay as opposed to asphalt, passenger rail will be a necessary evil to suffer for the following reasons: Best use of land resources, most cost efficient use of energy, ability to link economically and strategically all parts of the State, cities and towns primarily, to each other and to capitalize via capitalism on what exist rather than have Government (as in the case of MARTA) trying vainly to reinvent the wheel or in this case rebuild the rail system of Georgia which already exist in terms usable railroad rights of way.
Other avenues that extend or would expand mobility to serve the individual’s liberty should be explored as time and innovation offers better remedies.
The Tar and Feathers Party
March 14th, 2010
1:27 pm
We don’t need a transportation plan, aka a plan to steal from the taxpayers. Soon the roads will be empty, as the loser generations stay at home in poverty. I want my property taxes eliminated, NOW. If that means closing the worthless public schools, then do so immediately. I need no new roads. I also want my state income taxes cut in half, NOW. Join the tar and feathers party to make these demands reality. and yes, we will all git to enjoy the hanging of criminals, including political criminals, especially political criminals.
Blog Soup
March 14th, 2010
1:29 pm
Welcome Back to Blog Soup!! This host has just received the 2010 blog-census form. I don’t know why I was chosen, but I’m supposed to list how many p-words are commenting on the Kyle Wingnut blog. I happen to know that number, (47), but I was worried that the census would then miss all the i-words, m-words, and w-words that comment 24/7 365 here.
I needn’t have worried so much this day. There, on the inside back cover was a special form for special blogs with special needs. It accomodated the entire alphabet of available personality types, possible emotional mutants, and probable intellectual vacuums. I want to run these numbers by youze guyz, so if I left anyone out, please contact Kyle and he’ll inform me at our weekly bingo night.
I totalled out a 24 m-words, 45 i-words, 90 w-words, and 598 words that all involve the suffix, “cheek”.
Well, I’m 99 percent sure this is accurate, but, as I mentioned, please contact Kyle if it’s not.
G-4!
The Tar and Feathers Party
March 14th, 2010
1:38 pm
No Vowel Left Behind, eh Blog Soup….
The Tar and Feathers Party
March 14th, 2010
1:40 pm
As long as I don’t have to pay for them, you can leave them all behind. As a matter of fact, they can all kiss my behind, left cheek, right cheek, and center line too.
Michael H. Smith
March 14th, 2010
1:42 pm
The human ability to ignore has redeeming virtues.
The Tar and Feathers Party
March 14th, 2010
1:46 pm
The Super Human Ability to Annoy has Redeeming Virtures TOO.
Base
March 14th, 2010
3:14 pm
Sonny and the dimwits don’t know how to solve the problem.Kick the can down the road.
The Tar and Feathers Party
March 14th, 2010
4:49 pm
Simple, fire all the public school teachers, close the schools, and let the private sector provided education to those who want it and can pay for it. No taxpayer subsidies for anyone, terminate all property taxes, and reduce income taxes by half.
Base
March 14th, 2010
8:22 pm
The private sector is the solution to everything?When gas gets to 4-5 dollars a gallon the problem will be solved!
LA
March 14th, 2010
9:55 pm
“Hey LA, have you ever been in that position of buying your own health insurance? If you EVER have or have had anything major, you’re essentially blacklisted.”
I buy my own right now and I am not blacklisted by anyone.
LA
March 14th, 2010
9:56 pm
“Actually, I should have (and did) told that to Tar and Feathers.
Did you see his 9:14 am post on March 13 ? ”
HUH?
Horrible Horrace
March 15th, 2010
7:16 am
Atlanta is just a big sewer.
Left wing management
March 15th, 2010
7:46 am
How you like the new flag boys? Here’s to big, state-wide projects. Hip hip hooray!