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 12th, 2010
8:50 pm
Kyle, is a party-pooper. OMG! Just when we were going to attack BIG GUB’MENT, now we gotta think Ree-gional again. Shades of Ye Ole King Roy hath returned.
b. j. nesbit
March 12th, 2010
11:41 pm
I get so tired of you and people like you stating the majority of Americans don’t want health care reforms. That is because the majority of you have insurance. Take a poll of people who do not have health care and see if you get a majority. Give up your health insurance and you will be singing another song. Have some compassion!
96 SC
March 13th, 2010
12:56 am
Kyle, I agree that we have a need for an encompassing transpoortation plan, but before we can accomplish any transpoortation relief; wee must elect competent Political Leaders who will have the sense to listen to all Georgians Transportation Requirements. When I came to Georgia in 1964 to attend College, there were several Intra and Inter State Passenger Rail Lines in use as well as three major Train Stations in Atlanta.. Those mostly unused tracks still exist today
vuduchld
March 13th, 2010
1:10 am
This article, like you is a joke. Jawja will never get it’s tranportation house in order, that is why it got by passed by the feds a couple of months ago. There are too many brain dead politicans in your state to manage and lead anything. No sense in continuing to suck scarce dollars down a black hole. I say save the $$$, let your state coke on itself and die, then you folks can go back to the old South you so long for.
Michael H. Smith
March 13th, 2010
7:15 am
I get so tired of you and people like you stating the majority of Americans don’t want health care reforms.
Did you make any such ridiculous statement in any regards to lead anyone to believe Americans don’t want health care reforms, Kyle?
For what it is worth just in case yours truly is the intended YOU(person) of this foolish comment in question, for the record one more time, put the following “binding resolution” on a national ballot immediately for the American people to vote upon, wherein the results shall be enacted by the Congress in legislation within 90 days or the majority having expressed its’ WILL via a ballot initiative shall in effect become the law of the land:
a) Keep the status quo
b) ObumerCare a.k.a. THE ROBUST PUBLIC SOCIALIST OPTION GUB’MENT CARE
c) Healthcare Cooperatives the people own, control and administrate
Now, bring it on!
Michael H. Smith
March 13th, 2010
7:34 am
Did my last comment concerning healthcare break the blog?
Jon
March 13th, 2010
7:37 am
If we agreed to build a 16-lane highway between Moultrie and Valdosta, will those holding Atlanta hostage on transportation ease up?
Michael H. Smith
March 13th, 2010
7:43 am
96 SC, yours truly has publically proposed on more than several occasions just such an encompassing transportation plan using the existing railroad rights of way as you suggest, all of course to no avail. Even though, such a plan has existed for quite some time under the guise of the Georgia Passenger Rail Authority which seems to have vanished.
Blog Soup
March 13th, 2010
8:40 am
“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.”
Welcome to Blogsoup. If I look dazed and confused, it’s because I just imagined a milquetoast speaking the sentence above. Notice how this particular Poindexter confuses the reader with two different phrases that say the same thing. That’s how to double talk, folks. It’s not intended to confuse; instead, it’s style. Clyde made a quick calculation that it would read better if he altered the syntax that defined the idea of receiving funding from the state transportation agency that gives funding, and came up with that eye-crossingly posh coloraturra you were tortured with.
I understand why. The topic is boring. You want to entertain if you can. Transportation bills are a train wreck when it comes to prose. They are the poster child for ennui and Claude was afraid he’s force the reader to go full Rip Van Winkle.
Kyle has to understand that the reader has miles to go before his second cup of coffee and we skim and his capriciousness is a heavy price to pay for being stylish.
zzzzz
Over at Bob Barr, (and Bookman too), the Right is still manned by reactionary over-compensators. Every single pundit is trying to write Thomas Paine over every single event. Conservatives better pray Obama doesn’t lift his dog by the ears. That would make Beck self-flagellate on his show. (Why not? He’s already self-flatulating). Look, it’s almost Easter, can’t Beck reenact the Passion in an elevator with a plate of boiled cruciferous vegetables? Cruciferfy Him!! (sorry).
I’m only thinking of all the bipartisan ratings….
Moving on the Cynthia Tucker….you know, I’m jealous of DC now that we are all forced to share her. She was ours. You know? We grew up with her, right? There’ll never be another Cynthia. No way. Now I know that to communicate effectively across any forum, an author has to conform, constrain, and control word choices. I think KoKo the Gorilla had a larger vocabulary than all but a handful of the squatters who have paralyzed this board. Watching Cynthia evolve in this forum is the highest form of entertainment I know. It’s happening in real time with real mutants. I’m sorry, but this is the new must-see TV.
Blog Soup will return after these messages.
LA
March 13th, 2010
8:44 am
“I get so tired of you and people like you stating the majority of Americans don’t want health care reforms. That is because the majority of you have insurance.”
LOL
Yeah, people are losing their JOBS and therefore their insurance. Liberals are the DUMBEST people on the planet.
Why don’t you have some compassion and pay for your own health insurance. I for one don’t want to pay for you or anyone else. Be a grown on and GROW UP!
The Tar and Feathers Party
March 13th, 2010
9:04 am
No new taxes, lets cut some old ones! NO NEW TAXES, LETS CUT SOME OLD ONES! Vote out anyone who votes for new taxes! VOTE OUT ANYONE WHO VOTES FOR NEW TAXES!
Road Scholar
March 13th, 2010
9:11 am
Kyle, OMG, the sky is falling!
Now concerning this bill:
Let’s remember that the state has a gas tax and it is distributed throughout the state. Recent years have a majority of the revenue spread to other parts of the state for GRIP and its debt service (It has been recently funded with bonds that have to be paid back- on the backs of our children…remember) and for bridge, capacity, operational and widening projects. GRIP consists of widening 2 lane state highways to 4 lane roads; the problem is that they have very little traffic, at grade intersections and were puported to spur development. Kyle, how is this rampant statewide development doing for you?
The areas suggested to date resemble the Regional Development Centers which already exist. RDC’s do regional planning, including transportation, and these put their priorities forward after working with the local governments in their areas. Within these areas are larger cities which have Metropolitan Planning Organizations, who perform local planning, including transportation, and they prioritize their projects based on need and revenue anticipated. Both use programs that examine level of service/congestion and air quality benefits in the air quality non attainment areas. Both the RDC’s and MPO’s are required under federal law; they opperate through input of ideas and federal and local funds from their member counties and cities.
So there is a planning structure available to research, define, test and prioritize projects based on need, cost, revenues, etc. Yes, some cities would get more projects…becauase that is where the most people and revenue are! Imagine that! A system built on need!
Regional roads like the Interstates should be handled by the State; Imagine if the local controlled them… they would have driveways between the interchanges spaced right next to each other!
Remember that the regional SPLOST is to AUGMENT the gas tax, not an only source! GDOT has been preparing an analysis tool which defines the project need relative to other projects so that they can be prioritized by NEED!Benefit /cost if you will. The only problem is the politicians, and their “when do I get to select projects” mentality.
So
The Tar and Feathers Party
March 13th, 2010
9:14 am
I see the special interest group, the less than one half of one percent of the population that would use rail has already demanded that the remaining 99.5% of us pay for their expensive personal transportation. Hey clowns, does the fact that MARTA is failing not give you a clue, we do not need or want public transportation and we surely are not going to pay for it. Now git back to yankee land, we don’t want you here in Dixie. Darn carpet baggers, they ought to be hung.
SUBURBAN OVERLORD
March 13th, 2010
9:39 am
Kyle, there will be no transportation bill this year – maybe in 2012.
The Legislature’s south Georgia representatives won’t let anything pass unless it includes a 100 year payback for “all their transportation money that’s been sucked up by Atlanta.” Every academic or fiscal study shows that metro Atlanta sends at least 40 cents of every dollar it pays down south for good ol’ south Georgia pork (GRIP).
South Georgia has always hated metro Atlanta, with a psychosis so deep they invented a grand fable to support their sickness — they are the one’s being victimized by a greedy and amoral metro Atlanta. South Georgia’s leaders subconsciously replay the Civil War every legislative session, with metro Atlanta being the blue coated Yankees. This collective psychosis retards their development in important endeavors such as the arts, ethics, culture, industry, trade, education attainment.
zeke
March 13th, 2010
10:02 am
You cannot safely or efficiently operate passenger rail on freight rail lines! If any passenger rail system is established, hopefully not, it MUST BE ON DEDICATED RAIL LINES ONLY! Passenger rail in areas like Atlanta are USELESS, TOO EXPENSIVE, AND, ARE ONLY A MEANS OF WEALTH TRANFER! NO RAILS, NEVER, RID US OF MARTA, OR, SIMPLY SELL IT TO PRIVATE OWNERSHIP AND LET IT OPERATE EFFICIENTLY WITHOUT TAXPAYER SUBSIDY, OR DIE!
Scott
March 13th, 2010
10:13 am
If there is no transportation bill this year, you might as well start moving Roy Barnes back into the governor’s mansion. It will show that the republicans cannot effectively govern the state (something I believe to be true). Ideology doesn’t build transit. Concept 3 was a really great plan which would make Atlanta a world class city in terms of transit. It would be great if the Atlanta region could self tax, and its moronic that we cant. Something is going to have to change. If there is no transportation bill this year, there will be a “perfect storm” brewing against the legislators. Business leaders are fed up (hell they were fed up last year), and you are going to see some serious money spent to remove these clowns
Scott
March 13th, 2010
10:15 am
Well Zeke…I guess there isn’t much need for transit to commute back and forth under your rock…
dewstarpath
March 13th, 2010
10:48 am
“Be a grown on and GROW UP!”
LA – Enough already. Sheesh.
Michael H. Smith
March 13th, 2010
11:05 am
Equal time for Georgia to recover: Keep King Roy and the Democrats in exile for a hundred years.
dewstarpath
March 13th, 2010
11:13 am
Zeke – What public mass transportation system operates without
government subsidies or assistance ? Is there an example
you can point to ?
dewstarpath
March 13th, 2010
11:18 am
Blog Soup – What gives ?
The grammar in your post needs work.
You did catch some of the errors, though.
dewstarpath
March 13th, 2010
11:23 am
Tar and Feathers – 9:14 am – Your comments are WAY out of line.
Check the comment I left for LA, then check yourself.
The Tar and Feathers Party
March 13th, 2010
11:28 am
I have a solution to both the jobs problem and the transportation problem: The Rickshaw. We replace all the MARTA buses and trains with human powered RickShaws to move people around Atlanta. An idea whose time has come. I have long advised the young to work on their lower body strength, as it will serve them well in the future. Now, they can use those well developed leg muscles to pull a rickshaw. No need for an overpriced, virtually worthless college degree, just big leg muscles. And the young will sleep better, exhaustion is the best sleeping pill.
The Tar and Feathers Party
March 13th, 2010
11:30 am
JUST SAY NO TO RAIL!
The Tar and Feathers Party
March 13th, 2010
11:33 am
We don’t need no arts crap you lazy carpet bagger, git out of Georgia before we tar, feather and ride you out on a rail (a non passenger carrying rail).
dewstarpath
March 13th, 2010
11:46 am
- “T and F party”:
RAIL is serious industry. RAIL brought steel and trade jobs to the South.
RAIL is what some politicians in both parties use to campaign across the
country. RAIL is what the military uses to transport weapons, ammo, and
vehicles of war to seaports for overseas deployment.
In fact, the only thing that’s LAZY is the work you put towards
your opinions in this forum.
BTW, do you consider country music to be “arts crap” ?
Michael H. Smith
March 13th, 2010
11:59 am
What public mass transportation system operates without government subsidies or assistance ?
The statement is bit rhetorical isn’t it? The word public does mean government does it not?
Call public mass transit what it truly is: Welfare Transportation or vice-versa.
I would support a Private-Public statewide rapid rail system, which would be owned and operated by a private sector for profit entity under “state oversight”. No free riders and fees would truly reflect actual cost in the fares charged. No doubt it would preclude a union.
The Tar and Feathers Party
March 13th, 2010
12:01 pm
Yo dipstart: We already got enough rail transportation for goods, provided by the PRIVATE SECTOR, what we do not need or want is passenger rail provided by the GUVIMENT clowns.
AF
March 13th, 2010
12:25 pm
We are afraid of new ideas. Everybody can come up with reasons why they won’t work but nobody, including in particular the nay-sayer Mr. Wingfield, seems to have a better idea. I would rather have our legislators try new approaches than to sit back in befuddlement doing nothing about things they know are problems.
I would like to see regions formed to determine transportation projects within the region and the gasoline tax increased. There will ALWAYS be politics in transportation project decisions – lets just get those decisions closer to home. And, let those decisions be based on the needs of the region, not the state and not the individual county.
Finally, we need to be careful of how many special purpose sales taxes we enact. The schools have special purpose taxes, park land purchase, roads, there is a loud group of people who want to replace the income tax with a sales tax. We talk of one program adding 1% and that doesn’t sound too bad. But, when you add up all the programs that depend on sales tax, we will soon be talking about taxes that will be impossible for lower income families to survive.
IN addition, I wonder why those very conservative politicians who keep mouthing any public good as “socialism” don’t see that it is this so-called “socialism” that funds schools, roads, and a whole lot more in very poor Georgia counties.
And, while we are talking about taxes, Sonny’s idea to tax hospitals more is just about the stupidest thing that has come out of his mouth.
The Tar and Feathers Party
March 13th, 2010
12:40 pm
public schools are pretty worthless, just look at the third rate performance of American students vs foreign students.
DannyX
March 13th, 2010
12:47 pm
The state of Georgia provides more subsidies for private rail lines than it does for MARTA. Much more.
Cobb and Gwinnett transit systems both receive more money from the state than Marta. Much more.
Delta Airlines is showered with gifts from the state. They don’t pay any fuel tax!
And if you use Michael S Smith’s method for funding, rural areas in Georgia would be driving on dirt roads.
Mason Hicks
March 13th, 2010
12:49 pm
Kyle,
I for one am delighted that you seem to understand the ramifications of regression. Your predecessor certainly did not. The likes of some of the writers before me exemplifies the problem that the more sensible of those who share your political stripes will have to face, when dealing with the real problems of the state when trying to maintain relevance in a world that will not remain stationary. These de-railers refuse to see beyond their own barbed-wire fences. They speak loudly, angrily, and with much contempt for those who attempt to address the state’s real transportation problems at what they conceive to be their solitary expense. As one writer put it, they are still trying to fight the Civil War.
One writer referred to the Concept3 Master Plan. This plan was devised with a great spirit of cooperation among leaders who were able to look beyond the boundaries of their parties’ ideology, and work with people who see issues very differently then they do. Together, they developed a plan, that while not perfect, took tremendous strides in defining a useful transportation plan that should be able to serve Metro Atlanta and even the rest of Georgia very well for the next half century. This will happen only if our state leadership has the political courage and the will to face up to these who either don’t understand or couldn’t care less about the condition of our statewide mobility. If they do not succeed, Georgia will continue the into its relevancy abyss. We will then get to watch cities like Charlotte, Nashville, and Jacksonville gain the prominence that Atlanta once enjoyed. Georgia’s rural regions will get to know the continued unemployment and economic stagnation of last generation rural Mississippi, while the rest of the Southeast recovers and prospers following this current recession.
Georgia needs great leadership from both sides to deal with the seemingly overwhelming problems of today, This is a time to look beyond the fear and anger, and to get to work.
Mason Hicks
March 13th, 2010
12:51 pm
Apologies for several typos in my previous comments.
Mason Hicks
March 13th, 2010
12:52 pm
Apologies for some typos in my previous post…
dewstarpath
March 13th, 2010
12:53 pm
Mason Hicks – Great post.
T and F – You’re one to talk about “third rate performance”
of schools, considering your posts in this forum.
dewstarpath
March 13th, 2010
12:57 pm
DannyX – Great point about regional transportation in Cobb
and Gwinnett, which happen to be metro Atlanta’s two
“tech corridors” when it comes to jobs.
AF
March 13th, 2010
1:14 pm
Tar and Feather at 12:40: “public schools are pretty worthless, just look at the third rate performance of American students vs foreign students.”
I beg to differ. My child went to public schools and did great. The difference may have been that I value education and taught her to value education. I went to every parent/teacher meeting, worked with her on homework, joined car-pools for transporting her to band practice. She got some scholarships to go to college but I paid thousands every year. She now has a masters and I am done with my part in educating my child. In other words, I was an involved parent.
Not as involved as many others, to whom I owe a debt. I worked full time and supported her as a single parent. Many parents didn’t work or were simply more organized than I was and their involvement helped my child, too.
The point is, the schools are fine. There are great teachers out there and a few not so good ones. It is the parents who make the difference.
The Tar and Feathers Party
March 13th, 2010
1:56 pm
AF: is you masters degree daughter currently gainfully employed in her chosen field, or is she working outside her field in a job that does not require a college education? I bet she is not in the sciences, or engineering. My betting is social work, because you sound too much like a social worker. If your child does not take 4 years of math in high school, then the diploma is worthless. Can’t count equals can’t think in my book. Now lets git back to bashing that money pit called passenger rail.
DannyX
March 13th, 2010
2:06 pm
Tar, your 1:56 is the strangest rebuttal I have seen. What the heck are you talking about?
The Tar and Feathers Party
March 13th, 2010
2:11 pm
It is over your head Danny boy, it is over your head.
retiredds
March 13th, 2010
2:40 pm
Kyle, maybe you can enlighten me on this. It is my understanding that the Atlanta Area gets shortchanged on the gasoline tax. It seems, and I could be wrong on this so please correct if I am, but for every dollar that is collected by virtue of the gas tax the Atlanta Area gets about 90 cents and the more rural areas get about 1.10. This disparity is supposed to make up for their lower tax bases. Have I got my fact right?
Mason Hicks
March 13th, 2010
2:59 pm
I have to second “Danny X” on his challenge to T and F’s 1:53. That response was not over DannyX’s head, my head, or even my dog’s head. It’s just ignorant. “T & F Party was trying to make wild assuption about someone whom he (apologies for assuming gender…) doesn’t even know who she is. That is the very definition of ingorant. But after reading his other post, why does that not surprize me?
Mason Hicks
March 13th, 2010
3:11 pm
DannyX,
He’s a real whacko. That response, wasn’t over your head, my head, or anyone else’s head. He was making wild assumptions about someone whom he (forgive the gender assumption…) has no idea of even who she is… That’s nothing but ignorance.
The Tar and Feathers Party
March 13th, 2010
3:50 pm
Face it dummy, the girl is an idiot with a masters…git on with bashing passenger rail, and let the ignorant social workers lie, and lie and lie…
The Tar and Feathers Party
March 13th, 2010
3:51 pm
What kind of idiot names its child “Mason?”
BPJ
March 13th, 2010
3:54 pm
Tar & Feathers probably doesn´t know that those “foreign students” mostly go to public schools. (Let´s don´t tell him; it would cause ideological brain freeze.)
The Tar and Feathers Party
March 13th, 2010
3:56 pm
bpj is too stupid to realize that foreign students in the usa taking world tests are counted as American and raise our otherwise lower score.
Michael H. Smith
March 13th, 2010
4:05 pm
Using DannyXYZ’s method, the one Democrats used for over a hundred years in this State, is the very reason why people in rural counties of Georgia still to this day drive on dirt roads!
Michael H. Smith
March 13th, 2010
4:41 pm
those “foreign students” mostly go to public schools.
If those “foreign students” were given the same opportunity in this country as they have in Europe where education dollars fund the student and not the government education monopoly school system, then they would mostly not go to public schools. Especially if they are from Europe where they score higher on international tests compared to their U.S. student contemporaries.
Amazing how SOCIALIST Europe is trying to emulate the once individual liberty and capitalist markets of the U.S., while the U.S. now tries to become like another SOCIALIST Europe: GUB’MENT Schools, Transportation, Healthcare, Manufacturing, Banking, Housing, Energy and the never ending list goes on and on and on…
vuduchld
March 13th, 2010
4:47 pm
LA
Have you ever lost health insurance before? Must not because your previous statement about ” liberals growing up” fits you to a T. I have have been without health insurance twice and I can tell you it’s no picnic. 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. 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.
I hate to wish ill on anyone, but I would love peple like yourself to be without health insurance. Think you can do it. Nope, I know you can’t because you’re a weak, meek, spineless subhuman being without a clue. So rant on my friend becaise at the end of the day the ObamaCare will get done with or without idiots like you.
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!
A Realist
March 15th, 2010
8:44 am
Folks, lets face it……residents outside the Metro Atlanta Population District don’t trust the State of Georgia to come up with a transportation plan because they know, in the end, Atlanta will be the beneficiary of most of the improvements. Politicians running Atlanta are too stupid to even come up with a plan to improve Atlanta. There is distrust and stupidity all around and as long as this is the case, goodbye Transportation Plan……besides, why would anyone in deep south Georgia want to pay a penny tax to fund Atlanta’s Transportation Plans? Duh…..
Working Stiff
March 15th, 2010
9:41 am
Kyle Wingfield:
How long are you going to allow “The Tar & Feathers Party” to blog? He/She/It continually uses profane and offensive language. Graphically telling people to kiss his posterior and use of the “b” word is way out of line!
I understand he/she/it’s views are quite radical (and he certainly helps generate blog responses), but these personal attacks and references to hanging are way, way, way over the line. You should ban this person’s IP address.
I don’t mind people’s opinions, whether I agree or not, but let’s not be so offensive towards each other. Last I checked, we are human.
LA
March 15th, 2010
9:46 am
I don’t care if you vote democrat or republican.
Every American should be scared to death by this.
U.S., U.K. Move Closer to Losing Rating, Moody’s Says (Update1)
March 15 (Bloomberg) — The U.S. and the U.K. have moved “substantially” closer to losing their AAA credit ratings as the cost of servicing their debt rose, according to Moody’s Investors Service.
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601068&sid=a0a8xAghPS8I
LA
March 15th, 2010
10:07 am
Demand for Obama wanes among moderate Democrats
Moderate House Democrats facing potentially difficult reelections this fall have a message for President Barack Obama: Don’t call us; we’ll call you.
Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0310/34369.html#ixzz0iFoyAja1