The L-O-S-T in T-SPLOST refers to public trust
There’s a saying for politicians and for those of us who cover them: The voters are always right. While we’re bound to be subjected to a round or two of recriminations about who’s to blame for the absolute debacle that was the metro Atlanta T-SPLOST campaign, pay attention to those who show signs of understanding and accepting that saying. They’re the ones who will be most likely to find the way forward from here.
For my part, here’s what I think the voters were saying in their 63-37 defeat of the $7.2 billion tax.
The political class has lost our trust.
If that sounds obvious, consider that it’s also a puzzling situation, given that many of the same people who voted overwhelmingly against the T-SPLOST have been voting in large numbers to elect the same Republican politicians who gave us the T-SPLOST. I think there’s a pretty clear explanation: This is the consequence of having a one-party state.
Georgia has been a one-party state for pretty much 140 years now. The first 130 years, it was a one-party state ruled by Democrats. The past 10 years, it’s been a one-party state ruled by Republicans and Democrats-turned-Republicans. (Note: I am referring here only to the party holding the levers at the state level, not municipal or federal offices.) For most of those 140 years, there has been very little credible, effective opposition from the minority party. I’m sure it was worse for the Republicans at times between Reconstruction and Sonny Perdue’s watershed win in 2002, but the situation is pretty bleak right now for Georgia Democrats. And that means Georgia Republicans feel very little electoral heat, which leads them to act in a very insular way.
That’s played out no more clearly than in their attitude toward ethics: If legislators are wise, they’ll recognize that the lack of public trust on display in the T-SPLOST vote means they can’t very well ignore the support of 87 percent of GOP voters for a lengthening of the proverbial arm separating lobbyists from legislators. If I heard one voter say he thought T-SPLOST was all about rewarding political contributors and allies, I heard it from dozens of voters. Legislators cannot go too far in trying to improve the negative public perception around our lawmaking process.
Geographically, at least as it relates to the T-SPLOST, you can locate the center of that lack of trust along the Ga. 400 corridor. Perdue arguably lost Tuesday’s tax vote two years ago when he reneged on the longstanding promise to end the toll when the original bonds were paid off. An opinion poll conducted for the AJC, published last weekend, showed the 400 toll extension was a factor for 55 percent of voters — and that 64 percent of voters doubted the T-SPLOST would end when promised and be limited to the projects on the list.
Nathan Deal obviously thought he could show some good faith by announcing recently that the tolls would come down by the end of next year, fulfilling one of his campaign promises. But the AJC’s opinion poll showed the maneuver actually made voters less likely to vote for the T-SPLOST by a net 6 percentage points. The reason, in my view, is that it sends a signal that state government decides when and how to make these decisions on purely political considerations. Bad political considerations, it now appears.
There are a couple of ways for elected officials to show they understand this message. First and foremost, they must demonstrate clearly that all available transportation money is being spent as wisely and efficiently as possible.
That means showing transportation spending really is a priority for the state. All revenues from the motor fuel tax should be directed to transportation; currently, part of it goes to the general fund. When the inflation-driven formula for the motor fuel tax dictates that the rate should rise to keep spending level in real terms, state government should let it rise. Where money can be cut from lesser priorities and redirected to transportation infrastructure, it should be cut and redirected.
As for efficiency, the state needs to be much more transparent about which projects are priorities based on pure cost-benefit analysis, and begin spending the money we do have on the highest-rated projects. If that means re-examining the wisdom of balancing spending based on congressional districts — they might be equal in population, but they aren’t necessarily equal in terms of transportation needs — so be it.
The money I’ve talked about so far would probably be skewed toward roads rather than mass transit, if only because a constitutional amendment allowing gas-tax revenues to fund transit looks like a sure loser. Transit should be addressed in a two-step manner: First, create a truly regional (if not state-run) governance structure for mass transit in metro Atlanta that incorporates MARTA and the other transit agencies. Second, allow voters beyond Fulton and DeKalb to vote in a referendum to participate in the system, with specific descriptions of the infrastructure and services that would come with it. If they want to join, let them join the same way Fulton and DeKalb joined MARTA.
If some of that sounds like baby steps, well, that’s because they are. One of these days, the people who run our government — at the local, state and federal levels — are going to realize a little modesty on their part would go a long way toward re-establishing the public trust they’ve clearly lost.
– By Kyle Wingfield
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1,018 comments Add your comment
Jenn
August 1st, 2012
6:30 pm
Oh, good grief. Stop with the party politics already. This isn’t about a one party system, Republicans or Democrats, it’s about almost every single one of our politicians, of either party, being complete crooks. They’re all crooks. We’ve lost our trust, because they are all crooks, and it has nothing to do with party. Atlanta is mostly Dem, there is blatant nepotism and graft among political leaders, and our politicians squander our money for all the world to see . The rest of the state is largely Republican, and the same can be said for those politicians as well. Two different groups of corrupt, self-interested politicians, both doing the same thing. Stop trying to divide people, and keep the focus on the politicans and officials, all of them, no matter what party, who have abused our trust.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm! Just sayin...
August 1st, 2012
6:30 pm
Stifle yourself, suck, you don’t even contribute with all this incessant babbling.
Go hang out at whackerman schulz’s webpage, would ya?
Thulsa Doom
August 1st, 2012
6:31 pm
josef,
I won’t tell em I’m gay. I’ll just let them assume it while they imbibe ever more. It lowers their defenses, rendering them helpless and vulnerable. Standard modus operandi when it comes to chasing women in a gay bar.
Logic was never intended for libs
August 1st, 2012
6:31 pm
“And the GOP chickenhawks are HIGHLY upset about that!”
If you think Obama got Osama, then you obviously have a hatred for our US forces.
“They wish OBL was still alive.”
Not meant to be a factual statement.
“much more than they love this country or support the troops.”
More hate from our beloved JamVet.
getalife
August 1st, 2012
6:31 pm
I report,
When have you been right about anything?
Logic was never intended for libs
August 1st, 2012
6:31 pm
“When have you been right about anything?”
Oh the irony.
josef
August 1st, 2012
6:32 pm
@ @
How do you stop the lunatic fringes of any group? The GOP can’t do it, the Christians can’t do it, the Democrats can’t do it, the Native Americans can’t do it…etc. The best we can do is to “lead” by example…
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm! Just sayin...
August 1st, 2012
6:33 pm
As much as al Qaeda still makes the news, helping Syria nowadays, I was kinda wondering if OBL might still be alive.
Just sayin…
Del
August 1st, 2012
6:33 pm
It’s likely that many homosexuals perhaps even the majority would prefer being straight. It seems that political correctness could be an impediment for finding a possible cure for those who would rather be living life as a heterosexual. Homosexuality may very well be a curable emotional disorder that with focused research could produce a cure for many. There have been reports that some homosexuals have been able to change their sexual persuasion and gain an attraction for the opposite sex. The left may be doing a disservice to many by its attempts to make homosexuality a normally accepted lifestyle.
Logic was never intended for libs
August 1st, 2012
6:33 pm
“How do you stop the lunatic fringes of any group? ”
Give them a Coke and a smile.
Logic was never intended for libs
August 1st, 2012
6:34 pm
” I was kinda wondering if OBL might still be alive.”
OBL was more of an Occupy Wall Street kind of guy.
getalife
August 1st, 2012
6:34 pm
obl is dead.
GM is alive.
Buy Chevy.
iggy
August 1st, 2012
6:35 pm
Ya. Amvet has a little hibatchi grill, pats out potted meat burgers then sits downs what he thinks is an upscale dinner.
Michael H. Smith
August 1st, 2012
6:35 pm
But then these are the people who think McDonalds is also great, Budweiser is the king of beers and that foul cola is the real thing.
Never touch the stuff and I eat Chick-fil-a most often than not when it infuriates wack-jobs like you and that bigoted 1st amendment violating kook in Chicago who is threatening to use the powers of a city government to silence a man’s speech and religious views by retaliating against his business.
BADA BING
August 1st, 2012
6:35 pm
SPOILER alert, don’t read if you don’t want today’s results
Chik Fil A WINS GOLD
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm! Just sayin...
August 1st, 2012
6:35 pm
Del- Excellent commentary. It goes beyond whether these freaks like women or not, what they do like is disgusting their fellow human beings.
Their fifteen minutes of fame, sicko style.
Brosephus™
August 1st, 2012
6:36 pm
They BOTH
All’s well here. Thought I’d peek in for a while and laugh at the numptiness that is prevalent on AJC blogs.
JamVet
August 1st, 2012
6:36 pm
The Games are rocking, as always.
I know they could never be as scintillating as a Cubs game, Andy, but they are a close second!
$2.50?
No wonder they suck!
Is that for the soybean or the sawdust sandwich?
Too funny…
getalife
August 1st, 2012
6:36 pm
Remember when w cut and ran from Tora Bora to occupy Iraq?
getalife
August 1st, 2012
6:38 pm
Remember when w said the economy is fine and then it collapsed.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm! Just sayin...
August 1st, 2012
6:38 pm
Why else would people eat bugs on TV? They are worthless and need to distinguish themselves somehow.
Michael H. Smith
August 1st, 2012
6:38 pm
GM is alive.
Buy Chevy.
WHEN HELL FREEZES!
They BOTH suck
August 1st, 2012
6:38 pm
Bro
I hope for Crowell’s sake that he gets himself straighten out. Not just for football but long term regarding his life.
Being from Columbus, I know the area he grew up in. Easy to find trouble 24/7 if you want it. Big college scene didn’t offer him trouble opportunities, he brought trouble from C-town.
When he chose the Dawgs over AU and Bama, a good friend of mine who still lives in Columbus told me he doubted he would make it because it was already know he had a propensity for being a “bad boy”.
I wish him the best and hopefully he can turn it around.
raven5
August 1st, 2012
6:38 pm
Gvt Deal has made the right decisions on both account. He is not willing to revisit or charging Gas and Hotel/Motel taxes to fund this transportation. Some body is really looking at the real problem for all of Georgia tax payers. Before we enter 2013, I would like all Counties Commissioners stop thinking about “self”, friends, etc., and look at how we are permitting our cities to become “slums”, vacant strip-malls, drawing in all types of things! It has been really sicken to me that we can try and fund big projects off the back of poor citizens of Georgia but leave out old unimportant one’s off of the radar. When you talk about mass-transportation for all of Georgia……..no stones or any particular cities needs to be left out of the arena. Wherever it starts if agreed on, it should stop at all major cities with some inbound transportatons to get where all riders needs to get. When you focus on one major particular city, you lose out on other cities. It is greed when you want to make all of the revenue from a project that needs to have all counties input. Really, did you think we were going to fall for this TSPLOST? There were no clear beginning or ending! Nothing was concrete to us as to how all of the “unting was going to begin” rather, it only sited hundreds of projects using tax payer’s money that could run far beyong 10 or more years…by then, most of us would be gone! The real problem is….to much traffic coming into atlanta bogging down so that people would come in spending their money. In fact, that was the whole ideal in the beginning. That backfired and now it is a great big problem for all of Fulton and Dekalb County which are the biggest of the them all. There were really no intent on fixing or Untie Atlanta…it was perely getting the money to do whatever they wanted. I don’t think this traffic in Atlanta will ever be solved….it was just a trick to get your YES vote and your “hard earn dollars.”
JamVet
August 1st, 2012
6:39 pm
iggy, you seems exceptionally upset and nasty this evening. Even for you.
Wassup?
Bad news from the IRS? Your ex? The gas company?
Pace yourself, igs.
This is going to be a brutal summer and fall for you Flip Robme RINO fans…
josef
August 1st, 2012
6:40 pm
THULSA
@ 6:31
BOTH
Are you thinking what I’m thinking?
G Mare
August 1st, 2012
6:40 pm
Del@6:33, eewwew. You are truly a bigot, not mention ignorant!
getalife
August 1st, 2012
6:40 pm
Andy er I report has never been shy about his bigotry.
Logic was never intended for libs
August 1st, 2012
6:41 pm
“No wonder they suck!”
ZamVet reminds me of UGA fans who always say that other teams suck after losing big to those other teams. LSU for instance.
Thulsa Doom
August 1st, 2012
6:41 pm
JamVet,
I eat there maybe twice a year but I think the last time I ate there it was like $8 for a basic combo which is usually $5 or $6 at other fast food joints. I just don’t think its worth it so I don’t go there and like I said I’m just not into their fries or slaw. Besides like ya said its all really bad, horrible food for you anyway.
Brocephus,
Don’t get down too much on West Montgomery. I grew up in Southlawn off Air Base Blvd. You east side uppity folks just think you all that. Seriously I didn’t read the link but I have read lately in the last year or so stepped up attacks by the hard line Muslims in northern Nigeria against Christians and animists so attacks against gays wouldn’t suprise me in the least. Just an even easier target for them. Al Qaeda and other Muslim extremists are starting to gain some footholds in a few hot spots in Africa in Nigeria and in the horn of Africa. Nigeria seems to be getting to be a powder keg and its a pretty important country due to its oil status as an OPEC member and the fact that its easily Africa’s most populous nation. A very diverse nation as well so it’ll be interesting to see what happens in the future in Nigeria. My feeling is that there’s going to continue to be some religious bloodshed there and its gonna get worse with the Muslims there.
Michael H. Smith
August 1st, 2012
6:41 pm
Remember when obumer said the unemployment rate would not go above 8%, and that was five trillion borrowed dollars ago, including the loss of a “Triple A” credit rating?
Isn’t trivia great.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm! Just sayin...
August 1st, 2012
6:41 pm
I don’t know who Andy is but I like the Chicago White Sox. First place. Almost swept the Rangers.
The cubbies remind of the dummycrat party, much noise, plenty of idiots to fill the stands, always losers.
hahahahahahaha
Eat a Peach
August 1st, 2012
6:41 pm
Del
Guess with all of that sound background and information you provided, you fought the good fight to “straightville”.
Must have been tough going for you.
If you do not mind sharing, tell us about it.
Logic was never intended for libs
August 1st, 2012
6:41 pm
“Bad news from the IRS? Your ex? The gas company?”
Oh the irony.
Logic was never intended for libs
August 1st, 2012
6:42 pm
“I don’t know who Andy is but I like the Chicago White Sox.”
Same here.
md
August 1st, 2012
6:42 pm
“Unmentionable says that the anti gay marriage folks would get a lot more traction if they hit it from the cost to SS for survivor’s benefits,,,,”
It will have to be amended, there is no doubt……..how amended is the question.
As for those waffle fries, hate them. If I wanted a friggin baked potato I’d order one……I have to get them to cook them extra, extra crispy if and when I get them……
josef
August 1st, 2012
6:42 pm
GMARE
Deep psychological problems relative to sexual identity stemming back from early childhood…
..
They BOTH suck
August 1st, 2012
6:43 pm
josef
Someone didn’t wait for you to open the bar. They started at home.
Logic was never intended for libs
August 1st, 2012
6:43 pm
“GM is alive.
Buy Chevy.”
GM stock is garbage, massive recall on the Volt.
I’d buy Ford over Chevy. Heck I’d buy a FIAT over a Chevy.
Logic was never intended for libs
August 1st, 2012
6:44 pm
“The cubbies remind of the dummycrat party, much noise, plenty of idiots to fill the stands, always losers.”
And they both live in the past.
Dems – JFK
Cubs – Santo
Brosephus™
August 1st, 2012
6:44 pm
They BOTH
If he get’s caught up in West Montgomery, he’s done. If he thinks that Athens/Clark Co. PD was tough on him, MPD will chew him up and spit him out. Coach Barlow got Crowell to talk with Nigel Carr who finished up at Bama St. after being kicked off Florida St.’s team. Carr did two years in Montgomery without incident. Hopefully Crowell will follow suit.
They BOTH suck
August 1st, 2012
6:45 pm
I report
This is not your blog. You talk BS, so don’t get upset when you are called out.
Keep it moving
Logic was never intended for libs
August 1st, 2012
6:45 pm
“Hopefully Crowell will follow suit.”
He’ll end up like Dyer who just got kicked off his SECOND schools team.
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm! Just sayin...
August 1st, 2012
6:45 pm
Youk, Liriano, Peavy, Konerko, de Aza, Perzinski, Sale. We rock.
Go ahead and mouth off about the Bears, we’ll be turning Marshall loose shortly and all you will do then is grin and………Bear it!
Da Bears!
Del
August 1st, 2012
6:46 pm
G Mare@6:40pm…not worthy of a reply other than to advise you that this isn’t Bookman’s blog. I’ve heard that Kyle has little patience for personal insults.
iggy
August 1st, 2012
6:46 pm
Chevy, Dodge…BLEH. Junk junk junk!
They BOTH suck
August 1st, 2012
6:46 pm
Bro
I’m pulling for the kid. Hometown boy. Be great if he can get it going and make the NFL. Would be even better, regardless of NFL, if he just learns to put down the negative friends and trouble and really shines in life.
md
August 1st, 2012
6:47 pm
“Victor Hill in runoff for Clayton County Sheriff. LMAO!! The citizens of Clayton County are just plain stupid.”
Well…..what does one expect from a county that elected a school board that thought it was a real good idea to fight among themselves until their system became unsanctioned………of course and unsanctioned system might explain the voting for Victor the crook…..
I Report (-: You Whine )-: mmm, mmmm, mmmmm! Just sayin...
August 1st, 2012
6:47 pm
suck – Blubbering in public is what we used to call a “spectacle.”
If you don’t like the heat…..
Logic was never intended for libs
August 1st, 2012
6:47 pm
“You are truly a bigot, not mention ignorant!”
And here we go again with the left wing attacks.