Channel 2 poll: Transportation sales tax support slips
On the eve of a resumption of the TV campaign for the transportation sales tax, a new poll just posted by Channel 2 Action News shows support for the effort slipping.
A Rosetta Stone Communications poll conducted for Channel 2 Action News found only 38 percent of voters in 10 metro counties support the proposed tax, while 49 percent oppose the plan.
Those numbers show a drop in support of the tax from late May when a Rosetta Stone poll showed 42 percent supported the referendum and 45 percent opposed the measure.
The margin of support in Fulton and DeKalb counties isn’t anywhere near what’s needed to offset opposition in largely Republican counties. Check out the crosstabs:
Just for the record, Rosetta Stone Communications is a political service firm that caters primarily to Republican clients.
In response, Sam Williams, president and CEO of the Metro Atlanta Chamber, sent an email to supporters that included this:
“WSB released a poll this afternoon. The results are in stark contrast to the results of our own as will happen many times in the ensuing weeks. We do not know anything about the methodology used by WSB’s pollster but we have every confidence in ours.
“Additionally, our polling has shown a long standing trend of people saying they plan their day around traffic. In fact, 87% of voters say the traffic in metro Atlanta has gotten so bad that something must be done about it.”
That was quickly followed by a longer, more detailed don’t-panic message from Dave Stockert, chairman of the pro-transportation campaign:
I wanted to be the first to alert you that WSB is releasing a poll this afternoon showing the July 31 Transportation Referendum down by 11 points. While this figure is in stark contrast to our internal polling data, we do want to take the time to properly address your concerns.
First off, it is nearly impossible to properly poll in such a low-turnout race. We are expecting less than 400,000 voters to turn out in the July 31st Primary. That is why over the past two months we have made over 200,000 successful voter ID calls so we know who we need to turn out to vote yes. Without having access to this data it is extremely difficult to accurately identity likely voters for a poll.
More importantly, our massive media campaign was just launched last night. Thanks to your generosity over the past sixteen months we were able to book over 3,000 points of network television for the month of July; meaning likely voters are going to view our TV spots an average of 30 times. We have also placed over 1,500 highly-targeted cable television spots. The poll released today does not reflect the impact our persuasion media will have on currently undecided voters.
In addition to the television spots we are dropping over one million pieces of mail highlighting specific projects to our targeted strong yes voters. This along with a huge absentee ballot program will help ensure our current supporters cast their “YES” ballots.
They don’t call these operations campaigns for nothing. We are literally waging an air and ground war over the next month that is the biggest Atlanta has seen in almost a decade. Our messaging along with the heavy media blitz and advanced field operation will all have a major impact on not only turning the polls in our favor, but in leading us to victory.
We will not grow weary in the face of an unfavorable poll. Instead we are reenergized and motivated to work even harder. I ask you in this last month to dig deep and help us see this critical campaign through.
The impact can’t be measured yet by any poll, but here’s a dire thought for T-SPLOST supporters: Given Thursday’s health care decision by the U.S. Supreme Court, the GOP presidential campaign of Mitt Romney will be carpet-bombing the nation with the message that what we once thought was a health care mandate is now a health care tax.
That means anti-tax rhetoric is about to soar, and there’s a danger that the July 31 sales tax referendum could get wrapped into it, further dampening support for the measure.
- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider
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113 comments Add your comment
Kris
June 29th, 2012
1:36 pm
STOP this SCAM …Vote no !
Don't Be Silly...
June 29th, 2012
1:38 pm
Regional Rail Now or BUST…
Kris (all Aboard"
June 29th, 2012
1:42 pm
All Aboard “Pardon me, boy Is that the Chattanooga Choo Choo?
Track twenty-nine”.
Tons of people and freight moved for miles on A single Gallon of Fuel..
Cobb resident & voter
June 29th, 2012
1:43 pm
Voting NO!
CobbGOPer
June 29th, 2012
1:44 pm
“That means anti-tax rhetoric is about to soar, and there’s a danger that the July 31 sales tax referendum could get wrapped into it, further dampening support for the measure.”
I’m ok with this.
East Lake Ira
June 29th, 2012
1:45 pm
Undecided at the moment.
Not sure I trust these idjits with the cash.
I’m sure all the road projects will be completed but I’m afraid they’ll figure out some way to quash the public transit projects and redirect the cash to something else.
Dumb and Dumber
June 29th, 2012
1:48 pm
Well, I live in DeKalb and ride MARTA every day and I’m voting no.
Not because the project list is pork barrel politics (which is true); not because I’m inherently opposed to taxes (I’m not and would vote for a sale tax that would work even if it mainly supported suburban roads — which this one does); not because the legislature will very likely siphon money out of metro Atlanta for Blue Ridge, Waycross, etc. (They most certainly will, but I’m used to that); and not because it singles out MARTA for special contempt (it does).
I’m voting no because the legislature whiffed on the issue of who is in charge of transit planning and operations outside Fulton and DeKalb. GRTA needs to get out of the business of competing with county transit lines and MARTA. This bill would give hundreds of millions to GRTA, Cobb, Gwinnett and Clayton to run transit (actually bus lines) that compete with each other and MARTA. Why the Gold Domers think that taxpayer funded transit lines competing with each other is a good idea is beyond me — but they seem to think its a dandy idea.
I give the bill a D+ and I’m not going to vote to approved any legislation that cannot make a C- grade.
As usual, our buffoons under the Gold Dome got this one backward. First, figure out who is in charge; Second, develop a project list; and then ask us to vote to increase sales taxes. Just saying “trust me” I’m a Georgia Legislator does not work.
Enjoy your car, y’all.
Cobb commuter
June 29th, 2012
1:53 pm
We voted down Marta rail to Cobb, HOV lanes, the northern arch, bicycle lanes, and pretty much every forward thinking transportation idea. What we have in Cobb is a disaster for transportation that hurts our pocketbooks, our economy, our health, and our families. Transportation is a part of both the Georgia and US constitutions.
Vote yes on July 31 and move forward on our transportation planning for the future.
Reason
June 29th, 2012
1:57 pm
Vote no if you enjoy being 49th in the nation in transportation funding! And we’ll probably soon drop behind Tennessee into last place.
elliott
June 29th, 2012
1:58 pm
NO No no its still an additional tax… we cant even get rid of the income tax
splendid splinter
June 29th, 2012
2:01 pm
“That means anti-tax rhetoric is about to soar, and there’s a danger that the July 31 sales tax referendum could get wrapped into it, further dampening support for the measure.”
Gee Mr. Galloway – why don’t you just come out and say it. You’re in favor of more money for road building, you’re in favor of bigger government and you’re in favor of higher taxes.
Jason
June 29th, 2012
2:02 pm
Vote NO to bailing Cobb out of the mess they created for themselves. You want more transportation, add another SPLOST or property tax. Don’t make the rest of the metro pay for your decades of stupid decision making that didn’t look more than ten minutes into the future.
Disbelief
June 29th, 2012
2:03 pm
I can’t say I am surprised by moronic Republican’s polling 68.1% against the TSPLOST but it really is difficult to understand. Clearly uninformed or misinformed voters will vote against metro Atlanta’s economy. It defies logic. ‘nuff said.
Jack in Sandy Springs
June 29th, 2012
2:05 pm
How much of this tax would end up as bribes or kickbacks? Probably a fair amount so I am voting NO!
Centrist
June 29th, 2012
2:06 pm
@ splendid splinter – Galloway is a liberal Democrat, and most things he blogs about reflect that pervasive AJC philosophy. He also is a byline reporter on occasion, and like most other AJC reporters and editors – the liberal slant is always there.
This tax searching for reasons to exist has been unpopular with voters since the first of many lists were published. It has mostly been pushed by liberals (of course the AJC), and Chambers of Commerce (hence Governor Deal).
Like always, only when the actual vote is getting near does the liberal media including this blog start to report the truth about how polling is trending. Only some of the Wisconsin recall vote media reporting didn’t snap back to reality with their bogus “too close to call” reporting. This blog told us how TSPLOST was popular and the opposition was disorganized – until the cheer-leading did not work. Now the excuse is that the SCOTUS ruling of the Obamacare tax may hurt – ignoring the fact that TSPLOST was unpopular with the electorate from day one of its proposal(s).
Joe in Cobb
June 29th, 2012
2:07 pm
I’m probably voting yes on this, but I’m not thrilled with the bill. It’s far too short on real mass transit and spends too much on roads.
As far as more taxes, well, how the hell do you people expect to grow local economies? You cannot just assume the private sector is going to do everything. They’re not going to build roads. They’re not going to provide our needy schools with the money they need to adequately educate our children.
It’s like farming. Growing good crops and livestock required investing — water, soil seed, fertilizer, feed for the animals, storage, barns, etc. You’re not going to be successful unless you INVEST in it.
Brad
June 29th, 2012
2:09 pm
We need to address our transportation issue but I am not sold on this plan. We need for this thing to be at least 60-70% rail projects. We have enough roads. I live in Cobb and its a nightmare here but they think that it will bring crime (aka blacks) to Cobb. They don’t like to mention this but there are parts of Cobb that resemble a third world country. It can’t get any worse. I have never seen folks that are willing to cut their own throats out of pure ignorance. This TIA really doesn’t help COBB that much in my opinion.
Sidewalks to nowhere
June 29th, 2012
2:09 pm
Living in the city of Atlanta, I will be voting NO. I’d vote yes if the projects were worthwhile, but this is nothing but a bunch of BS projects that won’t help anything. Dekalb and Fulton have paid 1% for Marta for years while the suburbs get state money to fund their worthless bus rapid transit lines. This tax again funds those bus lines and for that, I will be voting a big NO.
Pompano
June 29th, 2012
2:11 pm
The T-SPLOST has nothing to do with resolving traffic issues in GA. It is nothing more than a ‘Developer Bailout’ bill intended to transfer millions of dollars to the well-connected in GA. Gwinnett county alone has built in an $88 million slush-fund under the guise of a Rail Study (which usually cost about a mil to do) to funnel to cronies.
After the recent performance of the Gwinnett County BOC with their hands-in-the-cookie-jar, anyone who trusts these folks to spend wisely is not paying attention.
splendid splinter
June 29th, 2012
2:12 pm
@ Centrist – you read between the lines real well.
DannyX
June 29th, 2012
2:14 pm
“This tax searching for reasons to exist has been unpopular with voters since the first of many lists were published.”
“This tax” is brought to you by Georgia Republicans. The project list committee was dominated by suburban Republicans.
Blaming the liberal media for TSPLOST is not very bright, in fact it is down right crazy.
Marlboro Man
June 29th, 2012
2:17 pm
Those who bribe will throw money at it, enough money = victory.
Rafael for Mass Transportation
June 29th, 2012
2:18 pm
Why is our country so backward in promoting mass transportation? All over the world countries are investing in light rail for commuting and fast trains for tourism and for connecting major cities. I just returned from Spain and rode the AVE (fast rail) and the Metro – clean, efficient, on-time and very popular. What are we waiting for? Ah…for the day you try to back out of your driveway and can’t move an inch, right?
Glen
June 29th, 2012
2:23 pm
Disbelief is the one who appears to be uninformed. Several posters have made very well informed post explaining the problems with voting ‘yes’ on this particular T-SPLOST. Perhaps you should research the proposal and actually read its text before labeling opponents uninformed.
My inclination is to hold my nose and vote yes. While I acknowledge the shortcomings expressed by Dumb and Dumber and Centrist, I’m generally in favor of using a sales tax as it captures revenue from those outside the region whereas an income or property tax does not. Also, a sales tax will bring in income from bicyclists who demand use of the roads but do not pay the gasoline tax which is supposed to fund road maintenance. Now when they buy their spandex, water bottles, energy bars, and biking gear they can contribute funds along with drivers.
VoiceOfReason
June 29th, 2012
2:25 pm
Now that I have to pay the mandated ObamaTAX (aka ObamaCare) I can’t afford this transportation tax.
Vanbren5
June 29th, 2012
2:26 pm
I’ll vote YES but the only way we’re ever really going to have a world class city is to vote out the ignorant tea baggers (John Birchers) and vote in Progressive Democrats–the.ones who built this city. We were well on the way until GWB. Oh how I yearn for the day when Atlanta will be powerful enough to dominate state politics like Chicago, NYC and Seattle.
Jim
June 29th, 2012
2:26 pm
I am voting against the start of the Northern Arc, matching funds for the control tower for Cobb County (start charging landing fees if you don’t have the dough), anything to do with the dumb streetcar idea for the City of Atlanta.
Any other stupid ideas in this T-SPLOST?
Still voting no.
A reader
June 29th, 2012
2:29 pm
I am voting no for 1 reason — The Beltline. It takes 10% of the budget and does nothing to relieve traffic. It is an project to boost the economy of the inner city, not a transportation project. And frankly I am tired of paying for boondoogle special projects in Atlanta.
Iron Constitution
June 29th, 2012
2:29 pm
Vote no for the simple fact that the law as it is written is unconstitutional. Georgia’s constitution does not allow regional approval for state funding. In 2008-09, legislators agreed a constitutional amendment was needed to create multi-county regions whose single regional vote would bind all counties in that region….but it failed. So the T-SPLOST is unconstitutional.
More than 50 percent of the money would go toward mass transit projects which would benefit only about 5 percent of commuters….aka does next to nothing to relieve congestion.
This 10-year tax will also require massive taxpayer subsidies to maintain empty trains and buses…which means more and more taxes forever.
How many more reasons do you need to vote no?
Reason
June 29th, 2012
2:31 pm
TO those who think this is all some scheme to line pockets … give it up. Try being an informed voter. Read the actual piece of legislation and understand that safeguards were put in place so that all tax dollars go to actual transportation projects. And I’m sure you’ve all studied this well enough to know that 85% of the funds go to projects on the existing list. 15% of funds will go to the individual communities for transportation projects that didn’t make the final list.
Oh – and what percentage of sales taxes in Atlanta are paid by NON-residents? Wouldn’t it be nice to collect taxes from the nearly 100 million people who fly into Atlanta every year? Maybe the trillions of northern snowbirds who drive through Atlanta. THESE people who be helping to pay for these transportation infrastructure projects. Last time I checked, having someone else pay better then a third of our costs would be considered a good thing. But vote no if you don’t want more of their money.
ATLJacket
June 29th, 2012
2:32 pm
I think the consequences of not passing this will become readily apparent to all the morons that live OTP and commute downtown. Is it perfect? Not by a long shot. Should there be more public transportation projects? Probably so. If it gets voted down will either of those things show up later in greater numbers? Absolutely not as I think the organizers would take the rejection as there being too much public transportation in the bill and just start laying more asphalt. We’ve got to get people off the roads for our own sanity. And @VoiceOfReason: If you don’t plan on purchasing health care, don’t go to the hospital when you get sick/injured and I’m OK with you not paying the tax.
Reason
June 29th, 2012
2:38 pm
So, everyone who lives OTP and commutes in is a moron?
No Longer Republican
June 29th, 2012
2:40 pm
I generally oppose anything Nathan Deal supports because I know he does nothing without figuring out a way to enrich himself or his friends and contributors. But I have decided to vote yes because there is nothing else out there that is doing anything toward fixing the traffic mess in Atlanta. One of the projects is adding a lane to GA 400 in southern Forsyth County and it is MUCH needed. If I can hope that happens, I will support this.
DannyX
June 29th, 2012
2:50 pm
Reports are coming in that the new nuclear power plants are already facing $1 billion in cost overruns. Remember that funding debacle? Another genius plan by Georgia Republicans that allowed Georgia Power to pre-charge (residential customers only) for a plant that is not producing. Hey Republicans, is that a tax??? Guess who pays for the cost overruns?? Yep the ratepayers, investors have no liability.
No big surprise that the new nuclear plants are already facing massive cost overruns. It won’t be a bit surprising when major TSPLOST projects also run into big cost overruns. What happens then??? Where do they make up the difference? Do they cancel projects that were voted on? Who gets to decide were the funds from a canceled project goes?
What happens if matching federal funds don’t materialize or do not bring in what was projected? Where does the money come to make up the difference? Do they cancel projects that were approved by the voters? Who gets to decide were the extra money goes if a project is canceled?
Oh, and why are gasoline sales exempt from the TSPLOST tax?
Hmmmmmm
June 29th, 2012
2:56 pm
JUST SAY NO! NO more TAXES!
Cobb County Redneck
June 29th, 2012
2:56 pm
I’m this guy who is an over 50, white, Republican, Cobb native and unlike some of my counterparts here, I’m voting YES. I sit in traffic everyday and watch us continue to spiral down in this region doing nothing to fix this. Like it or not, we have to take action now and this plan is as good as its going to get for us. Those who want a re-do are in fantasyland. A re-do will never happen in a way that you will be happy. You trust our legislature to take care of this for us – Really? I’m convinced that most of the OTP anti’s only daily outings are to the Golden Corral for the early bird special. The rest of us are stuck in traffic trying to get home from work to see our families. I actually have a feeling that there are a lot of people out there who are in the same traffic jam i’m in, and are voting YES too.
Bob
June 29th, 2012
3:03 pm
VOTE NO!
VOTE NO!
VOTE NO!
VOTE NO!
Sense for the Obvious
June 29th, 2012
3:04 pm
Let’s see, 8 BILLION Dollars of taxpayer money on the table, the ARC selecting the projects, Commercial Real Estate Investors running ARC, ARC not covered by state ethics laws, the so-called “Watch-Dogs” making sure the Governor gets what he wants done.
Hmmmm. What could possibly go wrong?
This commentary sponsored by Siemens, “We’re big in the rail transit business”.
Hmmmmmm
June 29th, 2012
3:05 pm
Cobb County redneck,
Don’t be a FOOL!
Centrist
June 29th, 2012
3:13 pm
Glen posted “I’m generally in favor of using a sales tax as it captures revenue from those outside the region.”
So would a fuel tax – matching users to payers. It would also capture revenue from Florida snowbirds, beach-goers, vacationers, Daytona 500, college football fans, and Disney World pass through travelers who clog our roads. There is a Plan B, and voting this monstrosity down is the only way to get there.
James
June 29th, 2012
3:15 pm
Redneck, you chose to live far away from work. You chose to need to have billions of dollars of socialist infrastructure built to get you from home to work and back. You chose to live where everything you need for living is only accessable by a vehicle powered by fuel from the middle east and driven on roads that require a huge government to build and maintain. Not everyone made the same terrible short minded mistakes you did, so don’t expect the rest of us to pay to correct your mistakes. It’s a good thing you’re stuck in traffic. The less time you spend with your family, the less chance there is that your poor decision making skills will rub off on them. For the sake of our country, hopefully your children make better choices than you.
RN
June 29th, 2012
3:15 pm
I agree with Jack in Sandy Springs. This state is not capable of managing transportation project. Just look at the LIE they told about the toll on GA 400. If this fails, the politicians have themselves to blame. Atlanta will choke on it’s malfeasance and inability to manage public funds. Too much cronyism.
Marlboro Man
June 29th, 2012
3:22 pm
For ATL, vote yes– other parts of the state, vote no.
jimbo
June 29th, 2012
3:28 pm
What part of NO don’t you understand? Is it the N or the O? Send the bas–rds a message. No more business as ususal. No more bureaucrats who are not accountable. No more believing that government is here to help us. No more lies and half-truths. No TSPLOST.
JustJimmyOnTheFive
June 29th, 2012
3:28 pm
Enter your comments here
JustJimmyOnTheFive
June 29th, 2012
3:32 pm
Bottom line, here: GA DOT cannot be trusted with money, as most of Georgia government cannot be trusted with money. The deadbeats griping about traffic? Who cares. Live with it, or move. This crappy state & city has been previously trusted with public funds they’ve misspent. Why should the trash working in government be trusted again? Want more fluid traffic? Take a bus. No one cares.
Pellaz
June 29th, 2012
3:32 pm
I’m voting NO because frankly, I don’t trust GDOT or GRTA to spend the money wisely. They sure haven’t established much of a good track record so far!
jimbo
June 29th, 2012
3:33 pm
Are there still rednecks in Cobb County? Wow!!
Rafe Hollister
June 29th, 2012
3:34 pm
If you trust politicians, vote yes. I don’t.
Bunky
June 29th, 2012
3:37 pm
Folks–please consider three things
1. How could spending $7 billion on transportation in our region not help with congestion–do you think GDOT is goign to replace these funds? Federal funding? not likely.
2. Spending $700 million per year would be a major stimulus to the regional economy at a time when we definately need it.
3. How is the value of your home doing? especially those you in the outer burbs where values are declining the most? If we invest in lessening congestion and increase access to jobs values will increase, it was proven in Seattle.
4. Transit advocates, do you think there will be any regional support for transit without complementary funding for roads? Wake up!
No Longer Republican
June 29th, 2012
3:46 pm
I find it quite funny that people on this blog rail against the politicians who run this state and say they cannot be trusted…which is 100% true…yet when voting time comes around again, Nathan Deal and the others who run this state will be voted back in with 65% of the vote. So we can’t trust them with the money but because they have”R” next to their name and say they love Jesus and hate Obama they get the votes…wow.
Greenways first
June 29th, 2012
3:54 pm
Voting no because all the rhetoric down here around Savannah indicates our so-called leaders are looking for ways to spur more development rather than limit it to fixing the awful traffic mess we’ve already got.
That’s a mess made, mind you, by more than a decade of sprawl and growth without any thinking about infrastructure from the folks in local and state governments.
It’s been all about more and more rooftops and doing bidness. Apparently, nobody in charge was able to figure out that also was going to mean more and more vehicles.
They want to find ways to improve transportation, they could start with a statewide impact fee on development and industry. You know, let those folks most responsible for the mess and those most likely to profit from it, pay to clean it up. And can we please, please start thinking about alternatives other than wider roads and more traffic lights?
Auntie Christ
June 29th, 2012
4:08 pm
Bunky:
2. Spending $700 million per year would be a major stimulus to the regional economy at a time when we definately need it.
Sorry Bunky, but taking money OUT of my right pocket as tax, then putting it IN my left pocket as spending does nothing to make me richer.
3. How is the value of your home doing? especially those you in the outer burbs where values are declining the most?
I don’t care how their home values are doing. I live ITP and have been paying an extra 1% sales tax since 1972 for MARTA, which relieves congestion ITP. The racists OTP voted down MARTA years ago in order to keep their areas lily white, and now current residents live with the consequences. I’m not voting to pay another 1% because of their shortsightedness years ago. We could have built a top of the line efficient rail and bus system over the last 40 years to rival any in the world, but Cobb, Gwinnett, and Clayton were not about to allow dark skin people easy ingress and egress to their communities. I’m not paying for them to play catch up.
cliff
June 29th, 2012
4:12 pm
400 toll fiasco…..85 toll lane fiasco….overbudget on new air terminal by %100…and NOw we should trust you ? nooooooooooooooo!
Ga Values
June 29th, 2012
4:15 pm
How does the $600,000,000.00 belt line reduce congestion? Not at all it is a plan to make Reed’s cronies even richer, just like at the airport.
VOTE NO FOR WASTE & CORRUPTION.
Marko
June 29th, 2012
4:20 pm
I’m not against the tax in general, but the project listing is not good. Change the projects and I may voter for it next time.
romegaguy
June 29th, 2012
4:25 pm
How long before the pro-tax crowd can cook up a poll to show that the support is really there to pass it?
Kris (all Aboard"
June 29th, 2012
4:27 pm
Real sure this does not apply to the corrupt idiots at the capitol DOUBLE DIP Give GA the DEAL…and his cronies But just saying if this was true.
“In politics, transparency is used as a means of holding public officials accountable and fighting corruption. When a government’s meetings are open to the press and the public, its budgets may be reviewed by anyone, and its laws and decisions are open to discussion, it is seen as transparent, and there is less opportunity for the authorities to abuse the system for their own interests.[10]
We would not see the following…
Check this out…
http://www.cwmatthews.com/about/tsplost.php Celebrating 66 years of screwing the citizens of Gaa
What I know of GA purchasing Laws. If I did business with a company that had this on their web site my purchasing agent would take me to to WOOD SHED and whip the fracking hello on my A$$.
IF I might add this whole thing was probably cooked up in a in a smoke filled room ripe with cigars lit with $100 bills and the pungent smell of asphalt. I wonder if Thrasher Contracting and C.W. Matthews were at this alleged meeting of the (for lack of a better word) minds This whole thing smell of sonny do do doings. I believe sonny works for Matthews. And the looker DDEal is all for it….$$$$$$$
Vote NO
retiredds
June 29th, 2012
4:27 pm
Hey Republicans, your no vote will assure your gridlock for the next 25 years. And with that no vote will come even more gridlock. Enjoy it as you have brought it upon yourselves.
Norb Leahy
June 29th, 2012
4:39 pm
All bus service should be private; it’s more efficient, Rail is too expensive to build, staff and maintain and should not be expanded. The irrelevance and overcharges in the road projects are stunning. Regional central planning by appointed bureaucrats didn’t work in the Soviet Union and they wont’s work in Georgia.
Sense for the Obvious
June 29th, 2012
4:48 pm
Awright, so Granny pays an added sales tax on her milk & bread and on her Rx drugs so the Spandex bike crowd can have free trails on which to ride their $3,000 imported bikes.
The reason the Legislature didn’t go for gas tax is they perceived correctly that the public would go berserk over a gas tax increase spending half on empty transit systems.
Stimulate the economy with T-SPLOST projects? R U kidding? You begin by taking 8 Billion $ out of the metro Atlanta economy with a new tax, put PART of that money back in and call it STIMULUS?
Attention Pres. Obama. We’ve found your next economic advisor.
Sense for the Obvious
June 29th, 2012
4:53 pm
As long as I’m here……
T-SPLOST was sold as a serious approach to addressing regional issues. As I look at the 157 projects I do NOT see a regional plan. The only potential benefit to this regional approach is that Fulton & DeKalb might rope in the suburban counties to help pay the bills for MARTA. They bought a transit system they can’t afford and they want SOMEONE, ANYONE, to bail them out.
james
June 29th, 2012
5:20 pm
I think yesterday’s Obamacare new tax has pushed me
to a certain NO vote on this big waste of money………..
I pretty sure this won’t pass if anti tax folks go to the polls
on July 31st….
Will the last Democrat in Georgia please turn off the lights?.....
June 29th, 2012
5:49 pm
{{”Channel 2 poll: Transportation sales tax support slips”}}
Now there’s a shocker!!!!
Out by the Pond
June 29th, 2012
5:54 pm
This Tsplost has really gotten the political world turned on it’s head. Democrates who should oppose a regressive tax are for increasing the sales tax while republicans who normally love to put one over the lower and fixed income crowd are up in arms against it. Go figure. Twenty years ago I paid around $0.0113 per mile in State Gas Tax. Today I pay less than $0.0043 per mile. Just to raise the same revenue as 20 years ago we would have to raise the State Gas Tax by newly three times the existing rate. The Norquest republicans no not have the intestinal fortitude to do what is right and nessicary and raise the Gas Tax to a realistic and nessecary level. Eater they pass the buck and ask the citizens to do their job for them, except what they passed was not their job but rather a pile of cow droppings.
I am a liberal, I live in Cobb County and have since 1951, and I vote NO. It is the wrong tax, it is the wrong project list. Let’s raise real taxes, let’s develop the right projects and then we can all move forward together.
Did Cobb reject Marta or did Marta reject Cobb? Cobb was offered the last transit station to be built, under the the square in down town Marietta. No bus service. Marta dis not want Cobb. Cobb had no tax base, no malls, no office parks, no single source for large sales tax collection. Marta offered very little to Cobb and they received exactly what they wanted……No Cobb.
Times have changed and we need to change. We need to change our tax collections for highway and roads to a more realistic approach (not a stupid regressive sales tax). We need a more regonisl balanced thinking regarding Mass Transportation as well as our poorly laid out system of highways that we currenly have. As long as every thing is funneled through downtown (existing roads, highways and Marta) we will never reduce our congestion. Upgrading bad roads does not cure the problem.
Will the last Democrat in Georgia please turn off the lights?.....
June 29th, 2012
5:55 pm
{{{”
james
June 29th, 2012
5:20 pm
{{”I think yesterday’s Obamacare new tax has pushed me to a certain NO vote on this big waste of money………..(I’m) pretty sure this won’t pass if anti tax folks go to the polls
on July 31st….”}}
It’s not a matter of “if” anti-tax voters go to the polls, but how few anti-tax voters won’t as virtually all of the voters who are against the tax are more than certain to show up than those who are for it.
The growing and intensifying anti-TSPLOST sentiment is undoubtedly much stronger than the dwindling pro-TSPLOST support and for good reason.
hiram
June 29th, 2012
6:03 pm
I think that Georgia’s voters have finally sobered up from their 10 year long stupor, and now realize the caliber of politicians they have entrusted to run the state(and for good reason). Every last arrogant one of them should be purged from office at the end of their current term. If an elected official is unwilling to pass legislation to ban ALL lobbyists bribes, they can’t be trusted to spend the taxpayers’ money, no matter how urgent the project is.
Will the last Democrat in Georgia please turn off the lights?.....
June 29th, 2012
6:13 pm
Out by the Pond
June 29th, 2012
5:54 pm
You make some very good points as all along it probably wasn’t just Cobb that rejected MARTA, but it was also MARTA that rejected Cobb by offering them very little.
Despite the sentiments of many a seemingly frustrated transit-utilizing Intowner and even a few frustrated OTP commuters that it was the suburbs of Cobb and Gwinnett and even Clayton that did not want MARTA service in their outlying counties, MARTA never really has wanted to extend its rail and bus service to those outlying counties purposefully offering very little to those counties in order to assure rejection because MARTA considers itself and is considered by the powers-that-be in Fulton and DeKalb counties to be apart of the Inside-the-Perimeter/Downtown power structure.
Despite claims to the contrary, the traditionally black and liberal-dominated Downtown/Intown power structure has never really wanted to extend MARTA service out to Cobb and Gwinnett counties, because that would mean sharing political power with those in the white-and-conservative OTP suburbs. If the liberal Democrats Intown let MARTA extend transit service out to GOP-dominated Cobb and Gwinnett counties then they would have to share the political power of something that they love having sole control over which is MARTA.
It’s sorta like how the City of Atlanta loves having sole control over Hartsfield, well the Fulton-DeKalb power structure, which includes the City of Atlanta, loves having almost complete control over MARTA as having that control over the airport and MARTA gives them political power that likely would not otherwise have.
James
June 29th, 2012
6:25 pm
Wow, some mighty fine revisionist history going on in here. Guess that’s ok since the vast majority of people here are transplants. But it’s sad that so many Christians will resort to bearing false witness to get their way with no concern for what will happen to their ever living souls. I can’t say if Jesus would support TSPLOST or not but I know he wouldn’t condone lies. Pro or con, if you have to resort to lies to support your cause, you’ve already lost… your soul.
hiram
June 29th, 2012
6:27 pm
@ James
Do you own any snakes?
td
June 29th, 2012
6:29 pm
My goodness people. The SCOTUS just placed the largest tax increase on the working poor and middle class in the history of the nation and you all are still considering voluntarily to increase your taxes even more.
Auntie Christ
June 29th, 2012
6:55 pm
Will the last Democrat….
I normally agree with you, but on the topic of MARTA and Cobb Co your history is way off base. The original concept for MARTA (the M is for Metropolitan, remember) was the five country metro area would work as a regional entity for planning and implementation of the program. Fulton and DeKalb would have had no more influence in decision making than Clayton, Gwinnett or Cobb. Granted the initial rail would have extended from West ATL to Decatur, but from that point the north south lines into Cobb, Gwinett and Clayton would have been initiated, and bus service into these areas would have started immediately. At that time, the explosive growth these counties have experienced had yet to commence, so the transit system was to get the commuters from these areas to their jobs downtown. But as I alluded to earlier the entire concept was rejected when the racist on the down low began their whisper campaign about the hordes of Blacks coming into the community to rape and kill, who could then stealthily flee back to ATL on MARTA.
Some years later, Cobb put out feelers to the MARTA board about joining the system, something like 10 years after those of us ITP had been paying the extra 1% tax. MARTA’s response was they could ‘buy in’ but they were not going to reap free benefits that those in DeKalb and Fulton had paid for over the previous 10 years. Cobb rejected this and started up, again with my tax $$, since the state subsidized it, their own transit bus system, that utilized the MARTA stations my $$ built.
Centrist
June 29th, 2012
6:56 pm
retiredds posted “Hey Republicans, your no vote will assure your gridlock for the next 25 years”
Untrue – transportation can be improved with current taxes, increased motor fuel taxes, and/or impact fees for more development. This TSPLOST mess could even be redone for a shorter term and real list of improvements instead of political boondoggles.
References to “the anti-tax crowd” are inaccurate. Taxes admittedly got raise this year already with the new car registration fees (greater than the loss of ad valorum taxes), and a cap on Social Securtiy, pension, and IRA withdrawal income exempt from taxation. People other than liberals are not “anti-tax”, but anti constant added taxes.
Auntie Christ
June 29th, 2012
7:04 pm
Let’s hear it for td, he just gave the SCOTUS the power to tax us. According to td, they not only have the power of Judicial Review, but they can levy taxes too. I wonder how congress feels about that. This is the biggest news since Jerry Ford freed Poland. (apologies to anyone under 60 who doesn’t get the Ford reference)
hiram
June 29th, 2012
7:09 pm
@centrist
Wouldn’t you consider knowingly electing corrupt politicians a tax also – a tax on ignorance?
doctor aj
June 29th, 2012
7:13 pm
this is biggest scam in atlanta history.
VOTE NO.
I DONT TRUST ATLANTA POLITICIANS.
PLEASE VOTE NO.
NO MORE TAX INCREASE
Centrist
June 29th, 2012
7:15 pm
@ hiram – just like the lottery is a tax on people who are poor at math. (Much lower odds of winning than in casinos – which is a losing proposition, too)
But voters do both – elect poorly qualified representatives, and play the lottery.
hiram
June 29th, 2012
7:17 pm
@td
Here’s some info you won’t get on the “fair and balanced” channel:
“Six Lobbyists Per Lawmaker Work on Health Overhaul (Update2) ”
“The Washington-based U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the nation’s largest business lobby, is opposing efforts to offer government- run health insurance to compete with private companies. The chamber spent $26 million in the first six months of 2009 to lobby, more than any other group…”
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aqMce51JoZWw
hiram
June 29th, 2012
7:23 pm
@centerist
The lottery is a good parallel for Georgia’s voters. It’s about intellectual capacity.
“Georgia’s lottery players are the biggest suckers in a nation buying more than $50 billion a year in tickets for state-run games, which have the worst odds of any form of legal gambling.”
http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-03-14/georgia-lottery-players-suckers-spending-most-for-least.html
Serious Robuck
June 29th, 2012
7:31 pm
Liberal Dem here, voting NO!!! This is a boondoggle for the Republican legislature who punted transportation to the voters instead of manning up and tackling it, and to the petty suburban Republican politicians who, given the power by the legislature, designed its projects. I love it that their very own goobers will defeat it. We’re intent on being Mississippi. So let’s go for it at full speed.
hiram
June 29th, 2012
7:33 pm
@serious
Why do you keep insulting Mississippi?
Will the last Democrat in Georgia please turn off the lights?.....
June 29th, 2012
7:47 pm
Enter your comments here
Todd
June 29th, 2012
7:58 pm
I am tired of sitting in traffic. Any effort to fix is a positive step. I will VOTE YES
Serious Robuck
June 29th, 2012
8:12 pm
Hiram, touche.
hiram
June 29th, 2012
8:13 pm
@todd
The reality is that if you vote yes you will still be sitting in traffic. If you read the list of pork barrel donations to contractors, you will agree.
Will the last Democrat in Georgia please turn off the lights?.....
June 29th, 2012
8:15 pm
Auntie Christ
June 29th, 2012
6:55 pm
{{”Fulton and DeKalb would have had no more influence in decision making than Clayton, Gwinnett or Cobb.}}
You just said it. Fulton and DeKalb would have had no more influence in decision-making than Clayton (which was a suburb dominated by white airline and airport employees at the time of the first MARTA votes), Gwinnett (which was overwhelmingly rural and very sparcely-populated with less than one-eleventh of the population that it has today as a mega-suburb) and Cobb (which was one of the main OTP destinations for conservative segregationist-minded whites fleeing the City of Atlanta for greener semi-rural and exurban pastures, see: Lester Maddox, Larry MacDonald, etc).
Not only was there a very strong contingent of suburban and exurban whites who did not want MARTA in their lily-white OTP communities for fear that it would easily bring more blacks into their midst (something that happened anyway, eventually), but increasingly black-dominated Intown Atlanta was not really all that interested with sharing political and logistical control of MARTA with a bunch of suburban and exurban rednecks that did not like them anyway.
There are a lot of people that look back now 20, 30, 40 years after the fact and say that the rejection of MARTA in Cobb, Gwinnett and Clayton counties is one of the main reasons why MARTA is struggling now, but that argument is a red herring.
Despite the system’s obvious shortcomings and flaws which have become increasingly apparent over the years as Metro Atlanta has grown and doubled and tripled in population from when MARTA was first formed back in the 1960’s, Intown liberal blacks and whites have always taken pride in having control of MARTA.
Just like suburban rednecks and bigots never wanted MARTA to come to their neighborhoods because they did not want blacks to be able to easily come out there, Intowners and MARTA never really wanted to go out there because they did not want to share power with those whom they were (and still are) diametrically-opposed both politically and culturally.
MARTA did not want to go to then-exurban Cobb County (which back then was the equivalent of an exurban Paulding or Cherokee County today) or then-rural Gwinnett County (which back then was the equivalent of a Jackson County up I-85 in Northeast Georgia) as it was the State Legislature that setup the vote for all five counties off of then-seemingly far-fetched advice that then-very far out Gwinnett and then-far out Cobb Counties would one day highly-populated and urban, a prediction that ended up coming into fruition.
Serious Robuck
June 29th, 2012
8:21 pm
Out by the Pond, you’re a smart guy.
Lugnut
June 29th, 2012
9:01 pm
Where is the money coming from for all of these protax billboards? Might have missed it, but lets name names.
sheepdawg
June 29th, 2012
9:10 pm
voting NO
Politico
June 29th, 2012
9:30 pm
Hey Dumb and Dumber: You are living up to your name. MARTA does NOT compete with GRTA. GRTA bus routes serve areas not served by MARTA and bring thousands of extra riders to MARTA. Do a little research before you post stupidity.
Out by the Pond
June 29th, 2012
9:43 pm
Auntie Christ – bus service would have started immediately – I am afraid that you are wrong on this point. At the time of the Marta vote I was involved both as a Student at GSU and an employee of the State Highway Department. My family was involved because we had many connections with downtown. I lived in East Cobb before it was fashionable and attended high school on Courtland Ave in Atlanta’s first fully integrated school. I had attended many public hearing and had been invited to the Marta Offices many times to participate in planning sessions. I worked with Tim Timmers on an alternate plan for the trains that did not mimic the failed routes of my employer. No I clearly remember that no bus service was offered to Cobb County. After the train was opened to the Hightower I organized a carpool from EC to the Hightower Station where we rode the train of a dime to the State Capitol.
Kris
June 29th, 2012
9:55 pm
Truth
Did Not the Governor Georgia (thief) turn down the Highspeed RAIL funds championed by President OBAMA?
Did NOT Georgia (in title only) sit on Millions of Federal HIGHWAY FUNDS for years, Just because “JIMBOB” and his friends did not want to wear seatbelts in their PICK-UP TRUCKS?
Where were all of them and the Corporate Masters on the issue of DISPERSION of all of and REFUSED funds?
Maybe, If someone had the FORESIGHT and The Wisdom, to accept those funds.
Now, We are ALL suppose to rally around this PUPPY called T_spLOST just because a handful of elected officials say that this is what we need ,
I tell you this was a SCAM cooked up by Sonny and DEAL to line their pockets. To SCAM the tax payers of GA cause there so stupid!….HMMMMMMMMMM! I wonder!
Vote not NO but HELL NO on the SCAM. Impeach DEAL and his cronies.
Re=elect OBAMA 2012
Jaypat
June 29th, 2012
10:39 pm
I am voting no on this issue. I am voting no because I think one of the government’s primary responsibilities is to build the roads that we all use.
It really irks me that we have toll lanes on the interstates and other roads, when we’ve already paid for the roads.
But what really irks me is that the Georgia government is pleading poverty–we just don’t have the money–when they had the money to give to several corporations in order to “attract” them to the state. The cost-per-job ranges from $144,000 to $167,000. It will take decades–if ever!–to recover these funds.
But now they say they “don’t have the money” to do what government is supposed to do. Of course they don’t; they gave it away to some foreign corporation.
Going Right
June 29th, 2012
10:49 pm
If I truly believed that this referendum would actually benefit the public instead of developers, builders, and others at the public teat, I would vote “YES.” Sadly, this is not to be. Can anyone on this blog please share with me what benefit a circular Belt line will add to the transportation of people in this region? How about the $$ that will be earmarked for the 10-riders-per-day Gwinnett Transit buses?
By the time graft, corruption, family “deals,” waste padding and other shenanigans rears their nasty heads, this abortion of a transit project will be left with nothing but more $$ for the “fat cats” – Republican and Democrat.
Eric
June 29th, 2012
10:50 pm
This is great news! Let’s get the percentage of “opposed” even higher!
Will the last Democrat in Georgia please turn off the lights?.....
June 29th, 2012
11:01 pm
Out by the Pond
June 29th, 2012
9:43 pm
Thanks for the insight.
Oh Nathan - Ain't gonna happen!
June 29th, 2012
11:18 pm
Federal, State, County, City all wanting more and more and more. Well Nathan, your lust for cash stops here. Don’t vote No, VOTE HE77 NO!
Courtney
June 29th, 2012
11:20 pm
Funny that Democrats are supporting this regressive tax. As a Gwinnettian I am voting no because of the HOT lanes. The Ga DOT/Democrat Nathan Deal have proven track record of failure.
Abbie
June 29th, 2012
11:24 pm
Voting NO. Been paying $ to MARTA all these years and only in last few getting any real service in N Fulton. Been paying $ to Grady all these years, but its totally inconvenient to those of us in N Fulton in case of emergency. Paying for Fulton jails to house city of Atlanta criminals since Shirley Franklin shut down the Atlanta jails to save Atlanta money. In N Fulton we pay, we pay, we pay, and we do not receive. This TSPLOST is just more of the same. Why can’t the GA 400 toll go toward the vastly needed 285/400 interchange improvement? VOTE NO!!!
Also, bundling these projects loses accountability for each project. In addition it enables the avoidance of responsibility to commit to a specific project for our less than responsible politicians and transportation leaders. The Republicans in charge are hiding behind the skirt of the Chamber of Commerce because they are afraid of the political heat of “raising taxes”.
Kris (turning out A light)
June 29th, 2012
11:25 pm
Stay cool . I leave with this thought.
Turn Off Your Phone, Please Watch Your Driving
If you can put your phone down long enough to negotiate a left hand curve without encroaching on my lane, thanks for visiting our town and I hope you enjoy your stay.
If you can put your phone down and manipulate the turn signal lever so that we have some idea of your intentions, thanks for visiting our town and I hope you enjoy your stay.
If you can drive on I-75 or I-285 or I-20 and stay within 10 mph of the posted speed limit, thanks for visiting our town and I pray you survive your stay.
Oh Nathan – Ain’t gonna happen! AMEN Vote NO
Centrist
June 29th, 2012
11:41 pm
Most posters here are probably “likely” voters, since they are following the issue so closely. Early voting opens in some Counties July 9th – usually at the County Seat. Other locations for early voting are offered, too. I suggest looking up your County Elections website for specifics. Many voters will be on vacation in July, so early voting (or filling out a form for an absentee ballot) makes sense. Send the information on to your email list.
As noted in the original blog – the pro vote organization expects a low turnout of “less than 400,000 voters”, and are concentrating on getting their side out to vote one way or the other with a massive media campaign. We all know why the pro side is spending this sort of money – they expect to be paid back very handsomely.
hiram
June 30th, 2012
12:00 am
The legislature’s blatant refusal to stop accepting bribes, like family vacations to Europe, is the straw that broke the camel’s back. They have lost all credibility with the voters, and rightly so.
Will the last Democrat in Georgia please turn off the lights?.....
June 30th, 2012
12:55 am
Politico
June 29th, 2012
9:30 pm
{{{”MARTA does NOT compete with GRTA. GRTA bus routes serve areas not served by MARTA and bring thousands of extra riders to MARTA.”}}}
You are correct that GRTA does not necessarily compete directly with MARTA.
But GRTA does operate very inefficiently by not taking full advantage of the existing MARTA heavy rail infrastructure both by not using MARTA heavy rail lines to transport GRTA Xpress commuter bus users on the last leg of the trip inside of I-285 to the city during morning rush hours and using MARTA heavy rail lines to transport GRTA Xpress commuter bus users on the first leg of the outbound trip inside of I-285 during evening rush hours.
As of now, there is only one GRTA Xpress commuter bus route that utilizes the existing MARTA heavy rail transit infrastructure for the entirety of the Inside-the-Perimeter leg of its trips and that is GRTA Xpress Route 408 Johns Creek-Doraville which terminates inbound in the mornings and originates outbound in the afternoons/evenings at the Doraville MARTA Station.
GRTA Xpress and its suburban counterparts who provide rush hour express commuter bus service into and out of the city, could cut its operating costs by close to 60% or more if the existing MARTA heavy rail transit infrastructure was utilized for the Inside-the-Perimeter leg of bus trips by feeding the GRTA Xpress and GCT (Gwinnett County Transit) express commuter buses into the furthest outlying MARTA heavy rail transit stations during morning rush hour trip and using MARTA heavy rail to feed suburban and exurban commuters into GRTA Xpress and GCT buses during evening rush hour trips.
New Channel 2 poll: Transportation sales tax support slips | Political … « Deals Sales Management
June 30th, 2012
1:48 am
[...] more here: New Channel 2 poll: Transportation sales tax support slips | Political … Comments [...]
Will the last Democrat in Georgia please turn off the lights?.....
June 30th, 2012
2:16 am
Suburban express commuter bus routes other than GRTA Xpress Route 408 Johns Creek-Doraville that could utilize MARTA heavy rail transit lines for the Inside-the-Perimeter portion of their morning and evening rush hour trips are:
GRTA Xpress Route 400-Cumming to Perimeter Center and Downtown, which could use the MARTA North Line to transport its passengers between Downtown and the North Springs MARTA Station which has access ramps directly onto GA 400 Northbound and directly off of GA 400 Southbound;
GRTA Xpress Routes 410 (Discover Mills/Sugarloaf Pkwy-Lindbergh MARTA Station), 412 (Discover Mills/Sugarloaf Pkwy-Midtown Atlanta), 411 (Hamilton Mill-Mall of Georgia-Midtown Atlanta), 413 (Hamilton Mill-Downtown Atlanta) and 416 (Dacula/Hebron Baptist Church-Downtown Atlanta) and GCT Routes 101 (I-985 @ Hwy 20/Buford-Downtown Atlanta), 103 (Discover Mills/Sugarloaf Pkwy-Downtown Atlanta) and 102 (Indian Trail-Downtown Atlanta) could all operate more efficiently, practically and cost-effectively (lower gas costs, less wear-and-tear on buses and lower maintenance costs, etc and possibly more frequent service) by terminating at the Doraville MARTA Station on morning inbound trips and originating at the Doraville MARTA Station on evening outbound trips instead of utilizing the heavily-congested HOV-2 lanes on I-85 for the portion of their trips inside of I-285.
The GRTA Xpress Routes that utilize Hwy 78/Stone Mountain Highway and I-20 could operate much more efficiently, practically and cost-effectively and could likely provide more direct service for those commuting between points on Hwy 78 East and the city by terminating and originating at the Kensington MARTA Station.
GRTA Xpress buses that operate and utilize the I-75 South and I-85 Southwest corridors could save time and money by terminating and originating at the College Park MARTA Station as opposed to traversing severely-congested Interstates 75 & 85 Inside-the-Perimeter to their current termination and origination points in Downtown and Midtown Atlanta.
While GRTA Xpress buses that utilize I-20 West would do much better to terminate and originate at the Hamilton E. Holmes (formerly Hightower) MARTA Station that is directly off of I-20 Eastbound (and I-20 Westbound) just inside of I-285 West.
One could also make the argument that the GRTA Xpress buses that utilize the I-20 East Corridor might do much better to terminate and originate from the Indian Creek MARTA Station which has freeway ramps that provide direct access from I-285 Northbound and to I-285 Southbound rather than traversing a heavily-congested I-20 between I-285 East and Downtown and Midtown.
I hate to level this criticism on GRTA Xpress and (GCT express commuter) buses as GRTA Xpress (and GCT express commuter) buses pull a lot of single-occupant vehicle traffic off of the virtually-gridlocked major radial and spoke roads that transport extremely heavy commuter traffic into and out of the city during morning and evening rush hours.
But the way that GRTA Xpress (and GCT express commuter) buses are going about operating is highly-inefficient financially as not utilizing the existing North, Northeast, East, South and West MARTA heavy rail transit lines which directly parallel the Inside-the-Perimeter portions of GRTA Xpress routes cost way much more to operate and maintain the bus service than it would if the I-75 South, I-85 South, I-20 West, I-85 North, GA 400 North & Hwy 78 East GRTA Xpress routes were completely-integrated logistically into the existing MARTA heavy rail system.
By operating GRTA Xpress the way it does, the state needlessly and unnecessarily burns through garantuan sums of tax money as the utilization of the existing MARTA heavy rail infrastructure could cut the operating costs of all GRTA Xpress routes except the I-75/I-575 Northwest Corridor routes by one-third to one-half.
It makes absolutely no sense or logic to waste fuel, increase wear-and-tear and increase commuting times on GRTA Xpress (and GCT) buses by operating the buses on often-gridlocked sections of ITP spoke and radial Interstates and freeways that run directly parallel to high-frequency MARTA heavy rail lines.
Moon Mullins
June 30th, 2012
6:27 am
Wanting a decent infrastructure so business can expand and folks can access work and businesses is a progressive idea. That’s why Democrats support it and Republicans reject it.
“Conservatives define themselves in terms of what they oppose.”
~George Will
Brandon Beach, T-SPLOST and a healthy dose of irony | Roots in Alpharetta
June 30th, 2012
7:01 am
[...] member. Many who oppose T-SPLOST cite distrust of transportation leaders as a primary reason. And recent polls show opposition for T-SPLOST [...]
Jackie
June 30th, 2012
7:49 am
I would support a tax if it would relieve congestion and improve traffic. This proposal is a whiff. Not enough projects to make a difference for a thirty year tax… Remember this is a twenty billion dollar proposal, not a seven billion dollar one…many of the projects are o ly partially funded in the ten years.
I don’t want to spend the next thirty years watching our tax dollars wasted with no improvements in traffic.
VOTE NO.
Voting YES
June 30th, 2012
7:54 am
Good points Bunky!
Red
June 30th, 2012
7:56 am
Obama says let’s raise taxes on the rich and use that money to build roads, bridges, etc. and create thousands of jobs – Republicans say oh that’s bad and it will never create jobs.
GA Republicans say let’s raise taxes on everyone and use that money to build roads, bridges, etc. and create thousands of jobs. Why is when Obama says this it is bad and when Deal & Co. say this it is good? Not to mention you have the most corrupt agency in the state running this whole operation. The Love Connection needs reforming before enacting anything remotely close to this.
Just think about that Republicans – if raising taxes is bad why would you vote yourself a tax hike? Why would any conservative put this matter on the ballot? Higher taxes and bigger government. This is what a YES vote means. We can get the roads GA needs without this. Vote NO and vote every single Republican who pushed this out of office.
Edward Ruffin
June 30th, 2012
8:06 am
Stop the excessive flow of my money out of my pocket into the treasury of the feds, the state and the county. There is enough money to do road projects. Rail and bus expenditures are big losers. Just look at MARTA and AMTRAK. VOTE NO.
td
June 30th, 2012
10:27 am
hiram
June 30th, 2012
12:00 am
The legislature’s blatant refusal to stop accepting bribes, like family vacations to Europe, is the straw that broke the camel’s back. They have lost all credibility with the voters, and rightly so.
You can wake up from that dream now. For most conservatives, voting no is either all about TEA or about too much lib projects like rail and biking trails and not enough road building.
Proud Voter
June 30th, 2012
11:42 am
Why would a fair tax be a bad tax? Why not be able to keep all of any fund in the region where it is collected? If your region vetoes t-splost, you’re going to become known as one more dumb Georgia county who failed to look at the bigger picture to improve itself.
T-splost is a chance to improve your region without waiting twenty years for DOT to getting around to looking at your local project. By all means, if you want to have a say-so as to how the t-splost money is to be spent in your region, then get off the couch and get involved. Whatever is good in your region right now was planned and financed many years ago so that you could benefit from others’ ambition and foresight.
Ignorant does’t know; stupid refuses to learn. Don’t be stupid.