Channel 2 poll: Support for transportation sales tax continues to slip
Lori Geary and Channel 2 Action News have posted another poll that shows support for a transportation sales tax in metro Atlanta continuing to slip – and not just among white Republican voters anymore.
The automated poll, conducted by the Republican-oriented political service firm Rosetta Stone Communications, has a 3.1 percent margin of error. Take a look at the crosstabs here. From the Channel 2 website:
The poll, conducted July 11, found only 33 percent of metro Atlantans support the referendum while 56 percent oppose the measure. Twelve percent remain undecided.
Seventy-one percent of Republicans in metro Atlanta now oppose the referendum, but only 50 percent of Democrats support the July 31 vote. Broken down by race, 47 percent of African-American supporters favor the referendum. Sixty-seven percent of white voters oppose it.
This in the face of a resumed TV campaign.
Those supporting the sales tax point out that, in a mid-summer primary, turnout is likely to be low and thus figuring out who will actually cast a ballot becomes an imprecise science. This will be about turnout, they say.
John Garst of Rosetta Stone sent the following state via email late this afternoon:
“The moment of realization has to be setting in with the business community in Atlanta. After spending millions of dollars on this campaign and seeing poll numbers drop steadily, they need to be searching for plan B.”
The survey, which was conducted on Wednesday night, sampled 1,050 pre-screened primary voters of both parties and was weighted to accurately reflect the demographic and geographic turnout.
“Due to the nature of this issue and the confusion surrounding the polling for this referendum, I invite anyone from the public, the T-Splost campaign, nervous donors or the opposition to call me and I will explain and clarify all numbers.”
- By Jim Galloway, Political Insider
For instant updates, follow me on Twitter, or connect with me on Facebook.
Tell us what you think about the site
Customer Care »
Vacation stops, manage subscriptions and more
AJC Services
Sections
Other Editions
Visitor Agreement | Privacy Statement
© 2013 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
318 comments Add your comment
Let’s Call It: T-SPLOST In Trouble — Peach Pundit
July 13th, 2012
1:55 pm
[...] way, but a new Rosetta Stone poll, as reported by the Cox juggernaut of Lori Geary for WSB and Jim Galloway for the AJC, have what may be the Achilles heel being ripped at by new opposition. The measure losing favor [...]
Ga Values .................. VOTE NO FOR WASTE, GRAFT & CORRUPTION
July 13th, 2012
1:57 pm
Looks like Deal, Reed & their Cronies are going to look elsewhere to line their pockets..
Marlboro Man
July 13th, 2012
2:08 pm
Untie the knot, traffic is killing jobs. Wasted time, gas and productivity, untie the knot.
Hilton Spence
July 13th, 2012
2:20 pm
People don’t trust the governor after the 400 extension. AN ABSOLUTE LIAR, and then he smugly smiles – exactly what a republican does best. And, what a disappointment Kasim Reed has been.
I’m a lifelong Democrat, but I’d vote this time for a MEAN-ASS republican for mayor and get this city going again.How about Guillani(I can’t believe I’m saying that). Our chance of becoming great has passed, with the likes of Bill, Shirley, and now Kasim. Getting rich of the parking situation Shirley?
Jesus, who would stand a chance in the city?
Marlboro Woman
July 13th, 2012
2:20 pm
Another one cent sales tax will make Atlanta too expensive to live in. That will stop companies from moving here if they look at cost of living.
tim
July 13th, 2012
2:26 pm
Glad they didn’t poll me about actress wanna be Monica Pearson. She’s the worst. Glad she’s going.
The WORST! BYE BYE MONICAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
TanaciousD
July 13th, 2012
2:27 pm
this is one SPLOST i will not vote for. I have voted for most.
Centrist
July 13th, 2012
2:28 pm
It was never popular, even though this blog said it was and the opposition was disorganized. Much of the metro Atlanta area is going to hopefully have enough turnout to reject the boondoggle, and would reflect badly on those who put it together and continue to support it. Those supporting it on the July 31st primary (think Beach), are in trouble despite AJC support for both.
Turnout will be critical, and no doubt the liberals, companies, bureaucrats, and politicians with family and friends who will gain will be out in force.
Ghost
July 13th, 2012
2:30 pm
I wonder why race has come into this. I can definitely see it being a left-wing/right-wing thing. But divided amongst color lines?
I’m against it and I’m black, in case anyone is keeping score. Tell them to do something with the money they’re receiving now instead of asking for more for “studies.”
lol
July 13th, 2012
2:30 pm
enough taxes!
lj
July 13th, 2012
2:31 pm
READ MY LIPS NO MORE TAXES YOU GOT IT DEAL, REED, ETC.
Poor Idea
July 13th, 2012
2:32 pm
I will vote NO for a simple reason. The ONE THING that would have done the most to alleviate traffic problems in the NE suburbs was not included. They should have included a MARTA extension into Gwinnett, ending at (minimally) Discover Mills and (ideally) Mall of Georgia.
The fact that it was not included tells me the whole scheme was not serious.
Joel
July 13th, 2012
2:34 pm
I find it interesting that we have to look at race or political leaning models. The question is do you want the government to take more of your money for any reason and use it as they believe is best, versus you use it as you believe is best? I always find it interesting when we look at the measurements of how people weigh it and wonder what the real motativator of anyone that wants the government to say how my money and this is my money since is it a sales tax should be spent. Remember that gallon of milk (average 3 per gallon will add 3 cents to its end cost).
drsoul
July 13th, 2012
2:35 pm
There needs to be a thorough cleaning of the DOT to begin with, then we need to find people who are both QUALIFIED and INTERESTED in stewardship of money and quality production of projects…this all around is one of the most corrupt areas of government in Georgia… Deal and Reed both are nothing but ’self-promoters’ with no real interest in accomplishment….words with no substance from both of them… SPLOST is just another in a long line of examples of poor or no real planning, too many fingers in the pie, corrupt ideals and a huge misleading of the public in how all of this REALLY plays out… anyone who would vote for this only votes a sign of ignorance for themselves and another notch down for Georgia… this is a great time for the citizenry to rise and start ridding our state government of waste and people who are serving for the wrong reasons…
SUFA NO MORE…(Stand Up for Atlanta…suffer no more)…
Kris
July 13th, 2012
2:36 pm
Yow did Delta get exempt from the NO sp-LOST tax before there was a No Lost tax? Or did Delta and some of the other cronies get exempt.. GA Doing Business with our hard earned DOLLARS.
“delta/ dirty DEAL….
Vote NO on sp-LOST (politician pocket lining tax. Just the cost when when the Govt is so corrupt).
Greg
July 13th, 2012
2:37 pm
I will never trust any temporary sales tax that this state comes up with. We were lied to every time, advalorem tax, Ga 400 toll, now you have a freaking pay lane on an already paid for I-85 I am a democrat but the state and metro counties have squandered too much splost money already!
ken
July 13th, 2012
2:38 pm
The facts are that We the People do not trust the politicians of this state nor the fine folks who gave us the Peach Pass lanes.
You get no more of my money.
me
July 13th, 2012
2:38 pm
NO FOR T-SLPOST!!! the tax that will NEVER go away… Look at 400 people!!
Manicmechanic
July 13th, 2012
2:38 pm
When it doesn’t pass, the proponents will act like children. Trying again year after year after year to push something that should become a dead issue for 5 years at least. A child will ask over and over and over again until they get their way or the parent finally puts their foot down HARD. Then they cry and blame all their problems on you since you said no. Happens all the time. Whoever loses, let’s be good losers and not really bad losers (blame it all on the other side).
sambo
July 13th, 2012
2:40 pm
sambos votes no not one red penny.
DannyX
July 13th, 2012
2:41 pm
Centrist is right, the AJC is in love with our conservative Republican state government. Republicans must be crazy because their TSPLOST plan sure is. Deal supports this plan. Powerful state legislators like Chip Rogers voted for this bird brain Republican plan.
How can you trust the GOP leadership in this state? They are all ethically challenged. Deal, Balfour, Ralston and Rogers have all exhibited horrible ethics.
Plan B will have to be a Chip Rogers Loan. The Republicans can borrow 8 billion for transportation projects then claim the state could never pay it back.
Do the Math
July 13th, 2012
2:41 pm
The increase of 1 penny from 7% tax to an 8% sales tax is a %12.5 increase in taxes. Please don’t fall for the “just a 1 penny increase” line.
TDub
July 13th, 2012
2:42 pm
Yeah, taxes, boo. What have they ever done for us? Except for funding the military, roads, sewers, police, firemen, public schools… We have to start somewhere with traffic in metro Atlanta and no one else has come up with a plan. The status quo is unacceptable with our rate of growth. We have to start somewhere. There is no perfect plan.
oh no
July 13th, 2012
2:44 pm
We need outside third parties to help solve out traffic issues. There are way too many counties and cities in the metro area that want to benefit their area the most. There no sense of regionalism in politics, it’s all local. Either have more local splost votes instead of the regional tsplost or become more regional in politics overall. All of these county lines and city boundaries are screwing so many things up.
JANICE
July 13th, 2012
2:45 pm
I DO NOT SUPPORT IT BECAUSE I DO NOT BELIEVE IT WILL HAPPEN AN THEY SAY. I have an idea…………..take any raises from all of Georgia’s politicians and that just might cover a great deal of the cost.
JUSITNE ISME
July 13th, 2012
2:47 pm
NO. NO NO is the only answer. I live in DeKalb and I have paid the extra penny since its inception. All the time I have seen MARTA resources directed to the northside. But that is not the only problem. Atlanta has to learn. MASS TRANSIT DOES NOT MEAN WIDER HIGHWAYS. The Metro area needs to look at Boston, NYC, DC and that entire corridor. A person can actually live in New Jersey and commute every day to DC, NYC or almost anywhere in between..
Yes the Metro Atlanta area is loosing business opportunities because of the transportation issue. But that has to do with the lack of public transportation which is not realistically addressed in this referendum.
There needs to be a combination of light rail, buses and trains to connect Metro Atlanta to Macon, Collubus, Savannah, Chattanooga, and Carrolton.
Centrist
July 13th, 2012
2:47 pm
Waited for the required time and number of posts to mention another subject -
Yesterday Obama gutted the Workfare (TANF) law that President Clinton supported and signed into law. The MSM, of course, ignored this. In the past, bureaucrats attempted to define activities such as hula dancing, attending Weight Watchers, and bed rest as “work.” These dodges were blocked by the federal work standards. Now, the Obama Administration has abolished those standards, and we can expect “work” in the TANF program to mean anything but work. The new welfare dictate issued by the Obama Administration clearly guts the law, which is a liberal’s dream come true.
GDawg
July 13th, 2012
2:47 pm
After the “fix” the transportation department laid on Atlanta with the taking 1 lane of I-85 and making it a toll lane to improve traffic, and did it despite the disaster it turned out to be or listen to what commuters had to say … I will have an extremely hard time voting for any transportation cost.
Greg
July 13th, 2012
2:47 pm
Well If its on the ballot year after year I will vote NO! year after year
GAtor
July 13th, 2012
2:49 pm
Any person that has driven to work in the metro Atlanta could tell you how desperately we need some help in solving this traffic mess. I don’t think this T-SPLOST is the cure all, but it damn sure beats doing absolutely nothing.
Greg
July 13th, 2012
2:49 pm
Although the GA. public said no to peach lanes our voice wasn’t heard and it was shoved down our throats. The result is worst traffic than ever on I-85 and ever increasing tolls to drive in it.
Marlboro Man
July 13th, 2012
2:50 pm
A no vote will be worse for your pocketbook, just watch.
Red
July 13th, 2012
2:51 pm
You ask why is race mentioned? Mass transit is mandated for over half the money collected. MARTA has become a political weapon and tool used in the African American community and mass transit will be included. This mandated portion was intended as bait to lure an entire demographic into supporting this. The middle class suburban white baited with the whole “this helps your commute and to stop traffic” line. There are little crumbs used by a corrupt power under the Gold Dome to line their pockets…all in the name of jobs, stopping traffic, and free or low cost mass transit.
Greg
July 13th, 2012
2:51 pm
The crooked Secretary of State even put a pre emblum on the ballots to try and sway voters by saying it will create jobs and reduce traffic, If that’s not illegal what is.
No New Taxes- Get rid of old taxes!
July 13th, 2012
2:52 pm
Good commnets above from Ghost and others. This may be a Republican plan, but look what happens when you run this by Republican voters- we vote NO! that is how Repub/conservatives operate- we will stand up and say NO and our leaders will take their whipping and adjsut their attitudes. Do the Math has it right- a 12.5% increase at minimum and a 14% increase if you current tax is 6% (gwinnett county). Gov’t has more than enough money- give money back to citizen and make do with what is left. GOVT is the problem, NOT the solution.
Greg
July 13th, 2012
2:54 pm
It will take more than 10 years to pay those projects off and they will be asking for more taxes.
Greg
July 13th, 2012
2:55 pm
My wallet is already light so,,,,, NO<NO<NO<NO
Truth
July 13th, 2012
2:55 pm
The big lie is that this is just a one cent tax. That is BS. Those supporting the bill want you to think it’s only a one cent tax so people will support it. The fact is, this is a one cent (percent) tax per $1.00 spent PER ITEM! So, if you bought one item costing $100, the tax you will pay is $1.00 and not a penny. If you bought five items that cost $100 each ($500), then you are paying $5.00 tax ($1.00 tax for each of the five items).
Think about how many items you buy, from food, clothes, etc. It’s estimated that all this added up will cost the average person anywhere from 15% to 21% tax hike!! That is more than one cents folks!!
Also, it’s already proven that most of the so called projects the state wants to start are under estimated in this tax and will also take longer to complete than the 10 years allowed for this tax. So, what happens, they come back after 10 years and say we need more tax money to complete these projects and so this BS continues with no END insight!
Wake up and vote NO!
mark
July 13th, 2012
2:55 pm
So the bottom line is, if we don’t pass T-SPLOST, where are we going to get the money to fix Metro Atlanta’s traffic problems? Does anybody believe that the legislature is going to reallocate money from their pet projects to build the roads and transit that we’ve already needed for the last 20 years to handle all the population growth that’s already happened?? And you know they won’t vote to raise income or gas taxes. Come on. It’s only a penny for every dollar you spend… You could save that much just not having to sit in traffic while your car burns gas!!
Old timer
July 13th, 2012
2:56 pm
Another no vote
Roekest
July 13th, 2012
2:56 pm
I thought was Rosetta Stone was supposed to help us learn a new language?
NOW I’M JUST CONFUSED!
Vote NO July 31. Don’t know for what, just vote NO.
No New Taxes- Get rid of old taxes!
July 13th, 2012
2:57 pm
By the way, T-plost loses big and in November Obama will be handed a HUGE defeat! If you are honest with yourself, look at the state of the country, ignore the main stream media, you will see Obama is ex-president walking! Take heart conservatives, this BS is over. Oh, and liberals will be much better off under romney, though they will not admit it. Too eat up with rage at others who make better choices, too guilty about the unborn they have disposed of. Oh yes, it is all about guilt and approval of a freaked out set of values.
Greg
July 13th, 2012
2:57 pm
GA. knew years ago that the population was growing in leaps and bounds and refused to act. Use hotel taxes like you plan on doing for a billion dollar stadium we dont need.
checking math
July 13th, 2012
2:57 pm
Do the Math – I like the way you put that. People hear “penny sales tax” and think “well, surely i can afford a penny” but no one buys anything for a dollar anymore. People need to think bigger. A car that costs $15,000 equates to $16,050 with a 7% sales tax. With an 8% sales tax, we’re talking, $16,200. That’s a $150 increase. Not a penny. I’m not sure whether it’s a 12.5% or a 14.28% tax increase, but regardless, it is an increase, and people need to know what they’re signing up for. The progressive way to alleviate traffic is to expand MARTA and make more commuter friendly options. And for the record, I really am not looking forward to seeing that streetcar on Peachtree.
NoThanks
July 13th, 2012
2:57 pm
Billions for governments to give to their special interest friends. No thanks.
TSPLAAAT
July 13th, 2012
2:59 pm
TSPLOST is brought to you by the same geniuses who converted the I-85 carpool lane to a pay lane. Giving these fools $7billion should be a jailable offense.
Crazy Like A Fox
July 13th, 2012
3:02 pm
Most of the projects are not necessary at this point. It’s all smoke and mirrors to pour tons of money into mass transit. The data I have seen does not warrant building or extending any new lines. This is nothing more than pandering to minorities with money seized from the productive to pay them reparations for past wrongs. Welcome to Obama’s (hope you like your change) America.
Boo Yah
July 13th, 2012
3:03 pm
I was excited about this in the early stages and would have voted yes. However, once the transit projects were taken out (Marta extension into Cobb County) and many more transit projects for that matter, my vote will be a no. Im a Cobb resident and I work downtown….and would LOVE to take the train to work in the morning. As a life long Metro Atlanta resident, i’m tired of us spending money on roads and not mass transit. No wonder why the rest of the country looks at us as being so backward!
No New Taxes- Get rid of old taxes!
July 13th, 2012
3:03 pm
Marlboro Man- Keep smoking what you got. gov’t gets no more $. ha-ha, expect me to vote to raise my own taxes, you gotta be kidding!
drsoul
July 13th, 2012
3:04 pm
mark….you and others seem to have a dim understanding and a very apathetic view of the situation…what can we do…VOTE these idiots out at the ballot box… the majority voice of people will make a difference, but this old attitude of ’so what, nothing will change’ is winning every time… YOU will become more part of the problem that the solution with your kind of analysis…. it is time for people to stand up and start protesting in every way… why fix something half way only to ask for more money and go through this again???? let’s put some people in there who can get the right help and do it efficiently… WE ARE THE VOICE OF GOVERNMENT, CITIZENS, but you have to get off your lazy A$$ and do something more than whine…!!!
Courtney
July 13th, 2012
3:04 pm
I am voting No because of the HOT lanes.
checking math
July 13th, 2012
3:04 pm
Here’s an idea: decrease every politicians annual pay by 1% and freeze their pay for the next 10 years. That should bring relief to the congestion. Most likely, they’ll leave the city and that’ll be one less person on causing frustration of taxpayers.
TSPLAAAT
July 13th, 2012
3:06 pm
One more thing………. the TSPLOST sales tax increase will never go away since the projects will cost more than expected and will require repairs and maintenance. If you doubt me, look no further than the GA 400 toll that was supposed to be dropped as soon as the project was paid off. Vote NO on 7/31 to keep Atlanta competitive.
No New Taxes- Get rid of old taxes!
July 13th, 2012
3:06 pm
Boo Yah- Move to detroit, or NY, or chicago, or portland, or Seattle. They are loaded with mass transit and yes most are bankrupt from all those trains no one rides. When trains make money they will be everywhere. We love cars trucks and the FREEDOM they bring! Yahooooo…..
Baron Dekalb
July 13th, 2012
3:06 pm
The anti-tax crowd is always eager to come up with reasons why we should abandon the good or the good enough in pursuit of an unreachable perfection. Not one of you has proposed anything that would address our transportation woes, except the laughable suggestion of “enforce existing traffic laws” that we saw yesterday. This lack of imagination on the part of the anti folks has got me inclined to vote “yes” despite the possibility of porkbarrel, self-dealing projects and the absence of an appropriately aggressive stance on mass transit.
niecey
July 13th, 2012
3:07 pm
JUSITNE ISME: “Yes the Metro Atlanta area is loosing business opportunities because of the transportation issue. But that has to do with the lack of public transportation which is not realistically addressed in this referendum.”
Amen & Amen
Not sure why people are against more public transportation. If you fit this bill can you explain why?
Common Sense
July 13th, 2012
3:07 pm
One empty bus after another runs up and down 141 in the mornings and afternoons. And we are expected to vote and expand these services indefinitely?
No thank you.
AirDawg
July 13th, 2012
3:08 pm
Obama health care TAX and more splost tax ya right………..
niecey
July 13th, 2012
3:08 pm
btw, i’d pay 2 cents more tax if i could get to work without driving in an hour or less.
niecey
July 13th, 2012
3:10 pm
you know the bus is empty b/c you have ridden it? also, the busses that i have ridden are usually chuck full. it wouldn’t hurt to have one come a little more often to ease the burden.
Smokewagon
July 13th, 2012
3:10 pm
Vote this tax in and see what happens! Race will suddenly become a large factor in determining how rail lines, etc. will be drawn just like current Marta rail lines were determined. I would prefer a plan that helped both minorities and people commuting from the suburbs but that will not happen. Minority contractors will also have to be used regardless of who is the low bidder. Minority contractors at all costs. A few select people will get very very rich.
Common Sense
July 13th, 2012
3:10 pm
Georgia ranks 3rd in infrastructure and transportation.
http://www.cnbc.com/id/46414199
How can this be with what we are being told?
Common Sense
July 13th, 2012
3:12 pm
“you know the bus is empty b/c you have ridden it? ”
I know the bus is empty because I am looking inside of it.
Baron Dekalb
July 13th, 2012
3:13 pm
This is a very sensible article about transit investment and economic growth. In addition to nuggets of analysis such as “Concerning the tangible effects of a transit network, experience indicates that transit lines and nodes create jobs, increase property values, and efficiently link labor and business (UWMCED 1992; NBCRT 2003). It is also felt that an efficient transit network provides an additional economic boost to impoverished communities by connecting immobile populations (those that do not have access to an auto) to job and activity centers,” the article uses Atlanta as a case study of a city that has suffered from it’s lack of transit investment. All you anti-folks, let’s hear your ideas for a solution. http://www.umich.edu/~econdev/rail/
Marlboro Man
July 13th, 2012
3:15 pm
Yes is for known, no is for unknown. They will not do nothing and you know the state’s record when they are to do something.
YeahRight
July 13th, 2012
3:16 pm
For those voting no…. I seriously hope you enjoy sitting in your congestion.
It’s not perfect, but unfortunately, many folks have forgotten what the word compromise means.
Living in town, the effect will be minimal – but for those that are married to the automobile – enjoy! May the odds of cheap gasoline be ever in your favor!
I don’t like all of it, but it is good for the region, therefore, I’ll vote yes. It is a LONG TERM solution, not a total short term band-aid road job. Kicking this can down the way for more years will only make the solutions more difficult.
Baron Dekalb
July 13th, 2012
3:17 pm
“the lack of public transportation … is not realistically addressed in this referendum.” The question is do you EVER see this issue being “realistically addressed” in this backwards state? Do you really think that they’re going to come up with some sort of more progressive plan after this gets voted down? No, it’s going to be status quo, and everybody loses.
niecey
July 13th, 2012
3:19 pm
smokewagon, do you remember some years back when gwinnett had the opportunity to get public transportation and they didn’t want it? there are some more recent examples, but that one in particular sticks out for me.
for some reason a lot of people in the suburbs think that if they allow public transportation that poor people will ride in on it to break into their homes, then leave back out on it with a hand full of furniture.
people in the burbs can benefit from getting to work faster than a snail’s pace too, they just let poor judgement and fear cloud their common sense.
H
July 13th, 2012
3:19 pm
I’ll pay taxes to build more marta rail….I won’t pay taxes to build bigger roads so more people can drive.
Rich
July 13th, 2012
3:22 pm
Say “NO” to starting the “Northern Arc”, paying for Cobb’s portion of an air traffic control tower, pretending Atlanta’s streetcars are going to help, rather than hurt the flow of traffic.
Projects that are really needed will be, and should be funded from the general budget, state legislators vote for. A huge slush fund is ripe for corruption.
Just look at the City of Atlanta deciding to pay 4 million dollars for art work for the airport. Instead why not set up a contest and have local artist, college art students submit their projects and offer the winners full college scholarships, yes instead of lining the pockets of ” The Chosen” for profit airport vendor. Squander opportunities should make us all cry.
hiram
July 13th, 2012
3:22 pm
The “Robber Barons”, e.g., J.P. Morgan Chase, Goldmann Sachs ,Bank of Am.,etc., who crashed the world’s economy, the Real Boogie Men, should be in the cross hairs of the MSM and every citizen in the country, but they are so well entrenched in both parties and the media that, they continue to fly under the radar, totally unschathed. Meanwhile, the attention of the serfs has been sucessfully redirected to trivial matters by the spin doctors.
yuzeyurbrane
July 13th, 2012
3:23 pm
TSplost is going down. I had mixed views on the issue because there are a lot of worthy projects on the list. But there is also a lot of pork. And the truth is that the Chamber of Commerce and Gov. Deal showed themselves to be surprisingly inept in their campaign. There has been a drip, drip, drip of essentially unanswered embarrassing revelations. For example, Delta is exempt from the tax but will benefit from the expenditures. Trucking companies, too. Yet both are putting the squeeze on their employees to vote for it. The AJC has published seemingly accurate analyses that show the projects would have almost no impact on commute times despite the sloganeering to the contrary. All the mailers (and there are a lot) come out on slick, glossy, thick paper (very expensive) and the tv ads are a little too slick. And even if the projects are defensible why are we being asked to finance it with the sales tax on the great unwashed, the most regressive type tax of all? And who will pay for these projects in 10 years when maintenance is required? Why shouldn’t the business community bear the major tax burden since they will be the major beneficiary? It sounds more like typical stock promoter bs, using someone else’s money to line your pocket. So, I’m going to vote no or not vote at all.
mary
July 13th, 2012
3:23 pm
a rail line from Lindbergh to Emory is just a huge waste of money. that money should be spent extending MARTA rail lines further out to the suburbs so that people can get off the highways and ride a train into Atlanta. That’s what will help traffic.
It’s just a horrible useless plan. A classic boondoggle.
Ryan
July 13th, 2012
3:23 pm
The funny part about people using HOT lanes as a reason they won’t vote for TSPLOST is that, without funding from TSPLOST, they’ll get the funding by creating more HOT lanes.
But it’s your foot. I’m not going to stop you from shooting yourself in it.
Common Sense
July 13th, 2012
3:24 pm
H,
I suggest you write a check and pay some taxes towards MARTA for the funds they already owe. There’s plenty of debt still waiting to be paid off for MARTA.
Steve
July 13th, 2012
3:24 pm
You can build all of the mass transit systems you want but the majority of people will never use it but they will be forced to subsidize them. Toll roads that never go away, Peach Pass lanes that have already been paid for with our taxes. When does it stop? Remember Barnes wanted to build an outer loop, where his cronies had purchased land to get rich off of. Nathan, Bill, Shirley, Kaseem, and of course Maynard and Andy all have gotten rich off of the backs of the taxpayers. Gwinnett politicians can’t seem to stay out of jail and the ones in Cobb should be put in the cells next to them.
VOTE NO!!! THIS T SPLOST IS A VERY BAD IDEA FRONT LOADED WITH GRAFT AND PAYOFFS.
YeahRight
July 13th, 2012
3:24 pm
And the humor in the concept that folks will drive out of town to steal folks’ stuff is: instead of driving from the city to the burbs, they are buying all those suburban foreclosures and moving next door.
niecey
July 13th, 2012
3:25 pm
yeahright, you make a good point. i’m leaning towards your side a little. do you think it will take another tax increase to get people to see that public transportation is the way to go? what do you think will happen if we vote no this time? do you we will have another shot at decent public transportation soon now that the discussion has at least been brought up?
David
July 13th, 2012
3:25 pm
The politicians at every level need to realize that nobody with half a brain trusts them any longer. They do not need more money to waste, they need to become responsible and efficient with what they have now. You know, like most american households have to do every single day. And for all you Einsteins in this blog trying to blame this all on one particular political party our the other, get a clue. You could not be that dumb to think either political party is interested in you or your welfare for anything beyond trying to fool you into voting for them. They all are morally and ethically bankrupt. Until we institute lifetime term limits at every layer of government and get rid of the career politician so that we can get back to a real true representative government, then we are in the soup. I must say the Democratic party does insult my intelligence just a little bit more than the Republican party, only because they more openly lie about what they want to do for me. They are just so much more disingenuous. But both parties think the average American voter is to dumb to think for themselves. When I read these blogs sometimes, I wonder as well.
Tommy
July 13th, 2012
3:27 pm
Vote NO on Transportation Tax. Just another state rip off.
niecey
July 13th, 2012
3:27 pm
i’m sorry, baron dekalb, i gave the wrong person credit for your comment. baron dekalb, i am interested in your response.
Curzen
July 13th, 2012
3:27 pm
“They should have included a MARTA extension into Gwinnett”
Gwinnett is free to vote and join the existing 1% MARTA tax to get that extension any time they choose.
VoiceOfReason
July 13th, 2012
3:27 pm
I am not paying for a money losing streetcar to nowhere. Vote NO!!!
YeahRight
July 13th, 2012
3:29 pm
I enjoyed the discussion last night, when it was revealed that without the TSPLOST, you’re going to see GRTA buses go away, and many more toll roads.
You’re going to pay one way or another – too bad alternatives to automobiles are considered unworkable.
…. and don’t think there is no graft and corruption in toll roads!!!!
NO-TSPLOST
July 13th, 2012
3:29 pm
Why tax the shoppers in the 10 counties to pay for the Marta operating expenses and a few new roads? Tax the people who use the highways everyday with a toll.
Increase the Marta fares to pay for increased Marta expenses.
Volleyball Gate
July 13th, 2012
3:30 pm
How will Henry County Rep. Steve Davis pay for his kids to play volleyball if this tax
increase goes down to defeat.
Vote for Dale Rutledge.
Julian
July 13th, 2012
3:30 pm
I am a conservative democrat, if that is acceptable in this forum. I am voting no for the T-SPLOST, for several reasons.
1) I do not feel that this is the best plan to combat the Atlanta Metro traffic problems.
2) The politicians have done a terrible job explaining and showing the benefits of this project.
Atlanta and the metro area’s zoning/planning groups must be the absolute worst for the past 20 years. The supposed fixes with the proposed transportation projects will not make much of a difference in traffic. The plans are outdated before they even get started. Some zoning/planning groups keep building stadiums, venues, shopping away from transit areas. How smart is that?
I don’t want to get political, but for all of you that holler smaller government, yet are OK with MARTA being controlled by the state vs. the local area that is serves, go figure.
If the projected population is to grow by 2 million people over the next 8 to 12yrs, do you really think adding a lane or 75/85 or 20 or 285 is going to help the commute times, let’s be serious, of course not.
Does Atlanta want to turn in to a city that is going forward or backwards? Other cities are trying to make a mark and be known for some type of major industry. Case in point, Research Triangle, NC, not a large city, but a job haven, Washington DC, home of the government contracts, New York City, home to financial markets. I am speaking of industry, not just a city with a couple of fortune 500 companies headquarters.
Build lines east to Conyers
Build lines west to Douglasville
Build lines NE to Mall of Georgia
Build lines NW to Kennesaw
Build lines south to Henry County, before another lane is added to 285, 20, 75, 85, or 400
Build a MARTA line to the staduim, 81 Braves games a year, plus a couple of other events, people will ride it, another civil, urban, G-DOT planning blunder.
Bite the bullet, smartly build transit that has benefit, value, and meaning. Not just some rail line that puts you in the middle of nowhere, but a rail line that major businesses/jobs can locate themselves near, and we can use get to shopping or music venues.
sheepdawg
July 13th, 2012
3:30 pm
NO
paul02085
July 13th, 2012
3:31 pm
Vote this pig down!!!! Dont let them get away with stealing our money AGAIN!!!!!!!! Vote NO on 7/31!!!
YeahRight
July 13th, 2012
3:32 pm
And by the way – calling the Beltline a ’streetcar to nowhere’ translates into: I never looked at the map or read/studied the proposal.
The Beltline extension allows direct rail transit to hundreds of thousands of jobs – not to mention universities. But reading hasn’t been the forte’ of the ‘anti-tax’ crowd …. so never mind…..
Bernie Matt
July 13th, 2012
3:32 pm
These poll numbers are the clearest indication of the lies and trickery being used by Gov. Deal and his cronies. How is it that the same Republicans who told President Obama, they didn’t think him taxing the big oil companies for their record profits and investing in infrastructure projects across the country, would provide jobs for America, now all of sudden are trying to sell us that jobs will be created by this. They don’t even have anything in place to assure all of the jobs go to Georgians. They will bring in contractors from out of state. And we will all be financing our own depression!
sheepdawg
July 13th, 2012
3:33 pm
no more asphalt!!! see Julian’s plan for rail lines- spot on!!
atl
July 13th, 2012
3:33 pm
Too many big issues to vote “Yes.” To wit- Lack of trust: Reneging on 400 toll closure was a slap in the face to all Atlantans; no concrete plan for the money: any plans set forth are to address current situations, not expected growth over the next 10 years; why give Atl admins $50 mil/year when they can’t properly figure out how to spend $500 mil/yr?
Bernie
July 13th, 2012
3:34 pm
No Kidding SHERLOCK! we are now being told this is OUR “OLYMPIC” MOMENT! and we all KNOW how that one TURNED OUT!
Steve
July 13th, 2012
3:34 pm
We don’t need any more stinkin taxes … send the extra construction workers back to Mexico or Guatemala where they belong!
Mario
July 13th, 2012
3:35 pm
I would like for our republican lead house and senate, along with our republican governor to cut the fat elsewhere and use that money for these so called projects. I have asked EVERYONE to vote no. And it’s not just white people who are voting no. I’m black and I’m voting a BIG FAT HECK NO!
Marlboro Man
July 13th, 2012
3:35 pm
Self inflicted pain.
MARTA
July 13th, 2012
3:35 pm
For all of you wanting MARTA extended, consider this, it may not be that we don’t want to take Marta into the city, it’s that we may not want what’s in the city to come out – just look what happened at Lennox and Dunwoody – nothing but increased crime! I know, I was a victim twice – hoodlums take MARTA to the malls and simply commit crimes!
Also, don’t believe the latest commercials . . . $7B won’t solve all our traffic problems and God forbid we give the idiots in charge that much money to waste yet again, can you say “Peach Pass”!
Baron Dekalb
July 13th, 2012
3:36 pm
Niecey: Yes, I am increasingly convinced that this plan, imperfect as it is, is about the best that we can expect from our spineless and unimaginative leaders for the next several decades at least. We can’t afford to pass up this opportunity to bring Atlanta closer to the goal of being a place where we can get where we need to go without sitting in traffic for hours. From what I see on this blog, only a small percentage of the “no” voters have any sort of interest in a sustainable, modern public transit system, so even if the GA legislature was able to come up with a more progressive plan, they would be just as determined to shout it down with the simplistic “no more taxes” mantra. The state has a track record of biting off its own nose to spite its face, if the TSPLOST loses it will be one more example of that tendency.
Wastenot want not
July 13th, 2012
3:37 pm
Sure I want to give the DOT billions more to waste ! They have never shown foresight or and finacial responsibility. Here are jsut a few examples, and yes i know the feds are involved with some of it.
1. How many billions have been wasted putting up sound barriers along the interstates? What people who bought houses along th interstate didn’t think they’d hear noise? They are disgiusting along I-285 dirty, broken in many places with vines growing on them everywhere, couldn’t that money have been better used?
2. Didn’t anybody have a clue when they widened I-285 years ago that maybe a railline in the center around Atlanta with stations every few exits might have been a good idea?
3.olls on 400 need I say more
4.MARTA the train to nowhere- not to Ga Tech,- not to Turner fileld,- not to Six flags-,not to Stone Mtn-not to the ZOO- not to the airport for years-not to the Ga Dome–need i go on?
NO MORE MONEY FOR YOU!
steve
July 13th, 2012
3:39 pm
I am black and I am voting against it. I live in Cobb County and work downtown ATL. We need to expand light rail into Cobb County and other surrounding counties but the 1% tax does address light rail. We don’t need more roads; we need light rail. I am voting against it!
David
July 13th, 2012
3:39 pm
And a “not vote at all” will end up being a vote for this thing I am betting. So do not be lazy. Go vote or don’t complain.
YeahRight
July 13th, 2012
3:40 pm
Interesting – all the false information about crime statistics in Lenox and Dunwoody.
You were a victim? Sorry. This could happen anywhere – and by the way, an automobile is a MUCH more effective getaway vehicle than a train. (I’ll bet a cold six pack the folks that did something to you arrived in a car!)
Apparently this is the bastion of the uninformed…..
Baron Dekalb
July 13th, 2012
3:40 pm
Sheepdawg and Julian: Please outline the scenario that would result in the proposal of a transportation plan such as you describe (no more asphalt, lots more transit). I mean, sure, that sounds good to me… but with the current political climate in this state, that seems about as likely as marijuana legalization. Again the idea of sacrificing the good for the perfect comes to mind.
John
July 13th, 2012
3:40 pm
If metro Atlanta and sevral areas of the state reject this sales tax but one or more regions accepts it, I expect the State of Georgia to do what it has promised to do, i.e., penalize those regions who don’t vote for the tax by cutting state transportation funds to metro Atlanta and those regions who don’t vote for this. It wioll be interesting to see if our Republican state leadership has the guts to carry through with this promise.
niecey
July 13th, 2012
3:41 pm
who are these so-called people who are increasing crime in dunwoody and lennox? do they live there, just stop by to rob people, or what? and they are coming in on public transportation to do it? how does that work? sounds like you are saying that they could not get to the malls if it wasn’t for public transportation. so criminals don’t know how to drive?
i don’t consider myself poor, but even if 500 buses went do dunwoody, i can’t afford the property taxes required to live there. so i’m baffled at how marta is the root of all of these crimes.
please help me understand.
Ole Guy
July 13th, 2012
3:41 pm
I have a hard time trying to understand just how any REASONABLE adult could have EVER viewed this debacle as anything but simply another revenue source to fund politically-enhancing foolishness.
When this whole thing started glimmering, a train system from Cobb to the MARTA train system was touted as the best thing since sliced bread. What was NOT trumpeted was the very fact that these routes are currently serviced by existing CCT service. Viewing all these “wonderfull objectives”, brought to you by the good folks at SPLOST, one has to wonder 1) are they REALLY necessary; are they simply duplications of existing services? 2) given the ‘confidence-gaining” performance of our leaders (ie…”We promise that, once the GA 400 bill has been paid, your tolls will…ah…go away”), is public trust warranted?
“Hey Lucy, if you promise not to snatch the ball…AGAIN…I’ll trust you to hold the football while I try to kick a field goal…AGAIN…”
taxed2death
July 13th, 2012
3:42 pm
DON’T LET THE SURVEY CALM YOUR FEARS ABOUT THIS MEASURE PASSING. TURN OUT AND VOTE “NO.” Too much money wil be spent on the Emory/CDC corridor–those institutions created their own transportation woes and now they want everyone to pay their way out of it. If you live in Fulton and DeKalb, you know what decades of paying an extra penney sales tax for transportation has got you–NOT better options for transportation. People, business and government need to work together improve transportation. Government has already collected too much of our money without solving the problem.
Sick and Tired
July 13th, 2012
3:42 pm
I live and work in S. Fulton so I couldn’t care less about the traffic situation in the northern suberbs. Our tax money built all the infrastructure in the old Milton county and now we’re tapped out. Let the north metro folks pay the tax to fix THEIR problem and leave S. Fulton out of it.
HIC
July 13th, 2012
3:43 pm
I’m voting NO!!! And, I’m not voting for one incumbent, Dem, Rep, black – white, what-ever. For our government to improve, local, state, national, we really need to get rid of the professional politicans!!! VOTE OUT ALL INCUMBENTS!!! I used to like to think of myself as a Rep. but now I hate the thoughts and looks of Deal, Ralston & Rogers. They all make me sick to my stomach.
john
July 13th, 2012
3:43 pm
Let’s see, MARTA is cutting something along the lines of 1/2 the bus routes in DeKalb, the DeKalb station off Memorial which will be empty is receiving $10,000,000 in TIGGER grants for LEDs lights (thanks Rep. Hank Johnson – the idol worshipper that thinks Guam will flip over) that “should” pay off after 40 years, no worry because … they are under warranty =LMAO!
DeKalb schools are raising our taxes because they don’t have enough money, but, they had enough money to send teachers on a $400,000 vacation (sorry … conference) to Hollywood.
Now, they want more money for road improvement, we are taxed enough already.
DeKalb’s CEO now has a $2,000,000 budget while we are hiring, laying off,and hiring again, police officers. What was the previous CEO’s (sexual pervert?) budget, $1 million? That sounds like a difference of 50 police officers to me.
You want to impress me, lower my water bill and offer a real long term solution such as a new reservoir system besides Lake Lanier.
You want a booming local economy, make it a one stop deal to incorporate and file taxes, drop zoning for small HBOs, no local sales tax for current empty commercial property as long as 80% of the employees are local residents in DeKalb.
If people want skate parks and bike paths, let them pay for it themselves.
Carlos
July 13th, 2012
3:44 pm
If the proposals put forth were really going to reduce traffic then I would be on board. Lets look at the facts. Atlanta with the current infrastructure system can’t handle anymore traffic efficiently. The only real solution to ease traffic is divert traffic away from metro Atlanta, extend raillines out further in all directions and look at building tunnels. Road improvements, sidewalks, intersection improvements are fine but they won’t even make a dent in the overall problem which is reducing congestion. What happens when there is a wreck on a major interstate? Everybody takes the side streets and they become jammed. I-285 because of Atlanta’s population should be approximately 20-25 miles from downtown on all sides. No you can’t pick it up and move it but it is too close when trying to move traffic plus handle traffic coming from downtown. The city of Atlanta had a sewer/stormwater problem where when it rained hard escpecially along Nancy and P’tree Creeks sewer lines would overflow. So what did the city have to do to alleviate the problem. They had to build a massive tunnel to handle runoff and relieve pressure on the existing lines that could no longer handle the load due to primarily development. I would love to get on GRTA or whoever and let them know if you are serious about traffic congestion then major changes not bandaids are needed. More people are still moving to Atlanta than are leaving. Just think of how many cars and trucks could avoid I-285 during the morning and afternoon rush hours if there was a road such as the norther arc that would connect 75 to 85 across the northern part of the metro area. Not only would it reduce congestion but it also saves everyone on gas but it reduces accidents. Think about if there was a road where you could get off around Cartersville and take it down to to connect with I-20 on the west side around Temple or Villa Rica and then proceed to Birmingham. This takes a lot of big trucks off I-285 escpecially at the I-20/285 interchange where their are numerous and serious accidents. We don’t need people who have a political interest/agenda to come up with plans on ways to reduce congestion. We need people who are serious minded and can come up with solutions that will benefit everyone and not just a select few as does this current proposal. The main area that has the most congestion is north of I-20. That’s where you have the greatest concentration of people and jobs. We keep talking about how we lag behind other countries and how we need to keep up with the changing world but until we take the necessary steps we will keep lagging behind. Atlanta needs a major overhaul just like the sewer system and until serious proposals are presented then it will be more of the same.
Smokewagon
July 13th, 2012
3:44 pm
Niecey- the public transportation brings crime angle was not what I was trying to convey. I was stating that any public transportation that comes from this bill will be routed to benefit only poor minorities and have total disregard for the people living in the burbs and commuting to work everyday. Race played a major role in how the Marta rail lines were laid in the 80’s and it will even more so today. So called rich suburbanites can fend for themselves.
MARTA
July 13th, 2012
3:45 pm
@YeahRight, would you like some facts? Simply go to any the various police precincts near rail stations and ask about the increased crime stats as soon as rail stations opened. They are facts not statements and to set the record straight, I am opposed to any MARTA extension if it resembles the current structure. If someone in this state had enough intelligence to design and implement the right kind of light rail or public transit I would support it, but what we have now is simply sad!
Bernie
July 13th, 2012
3:45 pm
The STATE of Georgia needs to do what every other STATE has done with their Transportation plans for their largest METRO areas. Those STATES invest MONEY into their transportation plans to improve conditions so that the remaining areas of the state benefit directly from such investments. There are many reasons why this does not happen in Georgia. One of the primary reasons for this non investment of the STATE’s money is that ATLANTA has the largest concentration of AFRICAN AMERICANS and many of the “good ole boys’ who come from the most rural areas of Georgia and they resent doing “ANYTHING” that could be possibly be perceived as helping that particular population with any of the STATES TAX DOLLARS!
Metro Atlanta is perceived by them and many in their communities as a WILD JUNGLE that needs to be AVOIDED at all COSTS! PERIOD!
Many Native Georgians Know and have a CLEAR understanding of this perception!
k-man
July 13th, 2012
3:47 pm
I will vote “No” for the transportation tax. I can’t trust local or state government to do the right thing. They fooled us with the Georgia 400 toll road issue. I am not going to let them stick it to me for 10 years with this transportation tax.
PMC
July 13th, 2012
3:48 pm
I’m for fixing transportation, especially Marta and mass transit.
I’m not sold on the referendum though. They’ve done an extremely poor job of selling it and explaining it.
Joe
July 13th, 2012
3:49 pm
Do the math people. If you spent 100,000.00 of taxable money a year then thats an extra 1,000.00. That is less than 3.00 a day and truly how many of us spend that much money a year? Do you not realize that if you dont approve this then property taxes will go up? At least with this anyone who pays taxes traveling in the state of GA will fund this.
At the end of the day you have to ask do you want to have a 1% tax that you control how much you put in based on how you spend your money or be forced into tax increases that are not equal?
Interested
July 13th, 2012
3:49 pm
I have a few questions.
First, If we dont start by building the transit system in the “intown” areas (north ave line, line up marietta to the west side and beltline), what good will it be to have a train from conyers? As it currently is, if you dont work off peachtree, you cant take marta. The lines going east west and the one going to emory will connect several of the largest employers in Atlanta, so I wouldnt consider them a waste. This is a long process that was made worse by our lack of action in the past. After we have better transit in our central area, then we can start building commuter trains that extend to the outlying areas in order to bring people into the main business and entertainment area in the region, without them needing a car once they get to midtown.
Second question, what is the other option for transit funding(which is an undeniable necessity at this point. IT IS GOING TO HAPPEN!)? If this fails, I imagine that several of the in town projects will find their own funding, simply because all of the business leaders know that is how they are going to revive this town. The suburbs are the areas that are going to miss out.
MARTA
July 13th, 2012
3:49 pm
@niecey – not so-called . . . The head of the old Macy’s security group had a staff of five prior to the lennox rail station opening. Within six months that staff grew to twenty and they could not keep up with the increased crime – just fact. I’m simply stating that in Atlanta additional rail lines will increase crime, proven fact. Whether that outweighs the positives, well, thats up for discussion . . .
niecey
July 13th, 2012
3:50 pm
i’m glad you answered yeah right b/c i was a bit baffled by your comment, but i got so angry by marta’s comment that i forgot to ask you.
@marta, what would the right kind of rail look like?
Bernie Matt
July 13th, 2012
3:51 pm
Time to put Andy “sell-out” Young out the pasture as a spokesman for the downtrodden. All on the radio promoting this bull! If ya’ll will recall, last time we heard from him, he was standing with Walmart against the poor. SELL OUT NEGRO! I want to use another word, but my post will get deleted.
This is embarrassing...
July 13th, 2012
3:51 pm
I’ve lived in East Cobb for 13 years and since day one I’ve seen nothing done to fix traffic. I’ve worked downtown, Buckhead and the Perimiter area and all are bad commutes.
The fact:
We DO need something to fix traffic for the good of the metro Atlanta area.
WE DON’T have a plan that makes sense.
We DON’T have a Regional Transportation group who is looking at the whole thing when you start giving money to individual County Transportation Systems.
We CAN’T trust the figures that were generated by some consultant. The dollars raised over the project are misleading as is the number of jobs it will create.
We CAN’T trust the government and transportation groups to do what they promise. Look at 400 toll, the creation of 85 pay lanes (that’s made traffic worse), those start and stop lights getting onto the interstate that are never working etc.
We CAN’T be insulted into thinking it’s just a penny, if so bill everyone in the Metro Atlanta area one penny a month for 10 years, I’ll pay my $1.20 in advace.
What we do need to do is close lanes and promote a user friendly public transportation systm. I appreciate how many are turned off by that because their only experiance is MARTA, I mean build a real metro system that goes places that people want to go. Tuner Field, Cobb Arts Center etc.
The DON’Ts and CAN’Ts above equal a NO vote and anyone who thinks this is even a partial answer can pay my penny tax.
The fact that we are looking into more roads is insane, are we trying to be he smog capital as well???
YeahRight
July 13th, 2012
3:52 pm
It’s really too bad that the Ga 400 toll extension gets into this conversation. Especially since the cutoff was a verbal promise by a politician (yeah, that will work!). Those verbal promises by politicians don’t hold water…. and I don’t think extending it was a good move.
The TSPLOST bonding is written in a law. It does end in 10 years. That’s ten (10) years. All projects have to be completed in 10 years. That’s why some of the projects people would like to have can’t be done – it would take more than 10 years to complete them.
This has to wrap up in 10 years, unless the people vote to continue it. It’s written in the law, not a verbal promise from a politician.
But those are facts – nobody pays any attention to that when you have talk radio and all their ilk loudly screaming all their falsehoods.
Alleas
July 13th, 2012
3:52 pm
I find it quite amusing that the same Republican led legistlature in GA that opposes any more taxes out of Washington are now pushing for this tax. Lets continue with the same rhetoric….instead of raising taxes look at what we are spending money on now in our local government and CUT BACK….
Baron Dekalb
July 13th, 2012
3:53 pm
MARTA: Maybe you’re right that “additional rail lines will increase crime.” What effect do you think additional rail lines would have on traffic fatalities? I’d rather be a victim of crime on MARTA–which I’ve never experienced in my 20 years in Atl and which I’m sure is mostly very minor property crimes–than one of the many victims of Atlanta’s love affair with the car.
Engineering marvel
July 13th, 2012
3:54 pm
Out of town visitors remarked over July 4th, why are all the traffic signals unsynched in this town? DUH one of the best engineering schools in the world and for 30 years they still havent been able to come up with a plan to synch the lights though they have promised to again and again -all they need is more money OL. BTW in NYC -Manhattan-if you time the lights right you can drive downtown from uptown without hitting a single red light-done it many times-ATL green-red-green-red-green-red …………
Refugee
July 13th, 2012
3:54 pm
Jim, there is a valid case that the roads will be much emptier going forward as the middle class shrinks with the imploding economy,long before any transportation changes. Auto sales are collapsing as well:
http://globaleconomicanalysis.blogspot.com/2012/07/anecdotal-and-hard-evidence-suggests.html
Jason
July 13th, 2012
3:54 pm
For thse of us not stupid enough to move far away from employment, this tax is just another way of bailing out the idiots who made bad housing and employment decisions. Making your life dependent on billions of dollars of not yet built government controlled infrastructure is a recipe for disappointment. You bought the trashy stucco and plywood McMansion in the middle of nowhere, now suffer the consequences of your poor decision making skills.
N
July 13th, 2012
3:55 pm
Interesting that recent sales taxes were voted in for: 1). Pay for sewer upgrades (Atlanta city) and 2). School Splost by a huge majority.
At least in the city citizens would of had much lower taxes but they choose to vote for higher taxes.
MARTA
July 13th, 2012
3:56 pm
@niecey – rail that is actually designed to effectively move people. Not from point a to point b that are several miles apart. Like @Interested said our transit system does not function well or it would be used more. We need transit planners to provide plans similar to NYC, Boston and other cities where it is effective. Sure it will still have increased crime, but at least the overall system would be more effective and actually used by more of the people who funded it’s construction . . .
Rock Gaines
July 13th, 2012
3:56 pm
I’m not happy that commuter rail is not included in T-SPLOST. Julian makes a good point, but commuter rail can be run over existing freight lines. The Barnes administration had a plan for region-wide commuter rail, but when Sonny Perdue became governor, he killed it.
Remember, Atlanta was originally a railroad hub, and lines emanate east, west, north and south.
Bernie Matt
July 13th, 2012
3:57 pm
@ YeahRight – save that stupid rhetoric for someone who can’t think! all it would take to get it extended past 10 years would be a bunch of unfinished projects to hold the citizens hostage with. You DUMBASS!
Alleas
July 13th, 2012
3:57 pm
@ Joe you say with this 1% tax you have control over how you spend your money….well not so fast. I need lights, gas, and other utilities……I have to pay sales tax on that….so far my estimate is this 1% increase would cost me an extra $100 per year just on my utilities and that is on the low end.
Baron Dekalb
July 13th, 2012
3:57 pm
A good article on taxation made the point that “In general, you get what you pay for, since the states with the highest sales and property taxes also generally have the most sound infrastructure.” Vote “No” and you vote to keep Georgia backwards and underdeveloped.
Intown
July 13th, 2012
3:57 pm
This is a shame. If this tax fails I fear for the future unity of our region.
MARTA
July 13th, 2012
3:58 pm
@Baron, not property crimes, actual assaults and thefts in and around the stations. Just find a cop around Brookhaven and ask how many cars are broken into daily while the criminals walk back to the station with the stolen brief case, cell phone, laptop, etc – just the facts . . .
The enemy within
July 13th, 2012
3:58 pm
What else is there to say? YEAH!!!!!!! Keep it going folks. Let’s drop the support to only 25% so they will keep their ignorant plans to themselves and not try to slip this through on some way off year election that nobody cares about (like they generally do).
DUH
July 13th, 2012
3:59 pm
@ yeahright–LOL sure there’s no way politicians can write another law extending the tax is there? they can’t amend it in any way LOL have you ever seen a tax the government do away with their money pot? That’s why until recently we were still paying a phone tax for the Spanish American War!
Prez Obozo
July 13th, 2012
3:59 pm
Easing traffic would be nice but everyone knows ALL politicians are corrupt! They would steal or move the money around to benefit themselves or their buddies. I will vot NO!
Alleas
July 13th, 2012
4:00 pm
It makes my heart sing to realize other Georgians are not falling for this Transportation Crap……they cant be trusted………
YeahRight
July 13th, 2012
4:00 pm
@MARTA
I read the crime reports for zone 2 every week.
Sure there are problems, but this isn’t caused by MARTA rail.
But of course, I guess if everyone on the train looked like you, all would be well…..
MARTA
July 13th, 2012
4:01 pm
@The enemy within, can you say “Peach Pass”
YeahRight
July 13th, 2012
4:01 pm
@Bernie
You might want to learn how to read.
YeahRight
July 13th, 2012
4:03 pm
OK, do another law – but you CANNOT change bonding.
This is effectively a BOND issue – you can’t change the legalese on the bonds.
They run out in 10 years….
MARTA
July 13th, 2012
4:04 pm
@YeahRight, well at least it look a few posts before you brought race into this, nice way to avoid the point and play the race card. My point was the the overall system needs to be fixed and the crime aspect is simply one issue to deal with . . .
Bernie Matt
July 13th, 2012
4:04 pm
@ YeahRight – you might want to learn to try that bull on someone else, this is the wrong forum for you sweetie. Looks like most of us can actually think, so that shi_ their paying you and Andy “sellout” Young to shovel and working!
Interested
July 13th, 2012
4:05 pm
Someone answer my question please. If this fails, what is the alternative for transit?
Bernie Matt
July 13th, 2012
4:05 pm
correction ain’t working!
YeahRight
July 13th, 2012
4:05 pm
yeah – Peach Pass…. another government item…. but we can’t trust the government because they are corrupt…. oops….
Joe
July 13th, 2012
4:06 pm
Alleas-Do you spend 100k a year? Once again do the math. It is NOT nearly the amount you think it is a year. Do you not think property taxes will rise just as much to cover this if it doesnt pass?
YeahRight
July 13th, 2012
4:07 pm
@MARTA
I guess you have something to hide.
….good day…
Eric
July 13th, 2012
4:07 pm
What does race have to do with this? People are people, and taxes are taxes. (All) the people are united in saying NO new taxes.
ALIEN
July 13th, 2012
4:07 pm
@ baron -apparently you’ve never ventured far from the rock you live under. I’ve lived in NYC,Boston and Chicago, some of the mostly heavily taxed areas in the world, and I can tell you the roads,bridges,and rest of infrastructure is falling apart despite the increases in taxes and fees. It cost $8.00 each way to cross a rusting pothole filled bridge anywhere in NYC,yeah you see all the rust etc as you move across at 1 mph, so sure taxes are the answer GEEZ!
Predatory Lender
July 13th, 2012
4:09 pm
GA Legislature. Hear me please. Stop the taxes!!! Just added a new 7% fee on the purchase and sale of all cars, now this so-called penny tax? Our state has become too expensive to live here.
Eric
July 13th, 2012
4:09 pm
Joe, when people had enough of increased property taxes and traffic, they will reasonable consider moving elsewhere, which is as it should be. Atlanta is approaching 5 million, isn’t that enough?
VoteYESforAtlanta
July 13th, 2012
4:09 pm
When all you tea partiers vote no for TSPLOST, don’t come crying to the planners and engineers about how bad your traffic problems are. The state government is actually trying – for once – to change how we think about transportation in this backwards city. You have to spend money to make money. Atlanta will lose to Charlotte and Dallas if we don’t invest now in transportation – cities that have made the tough choices and invested in their transit systems.
Georgia has the second lowest gas tax in the country, so we have to pay for our road and bridge improvements somehow. Where do y’all think this money comes from??
It’s not perfect – but there is no perfect solution. Our transit system will never be Boston or New York or DC – we’re just not the same place, we’re too big, we’re too sprawling. However, if we want Atlanta to be the best ATLANTA it can be, we need to vote yes.
ATLG8R
July 13th, 2012
4:10 pm
I truly believe folks would have voted for the T-SPLOST, had the 400 debacle not occurred.
I will vote NO on 7/31…everyone I know plans to vote NO as well. The turnout will be higher than expected, and I expect this nonsense to go down in flames….and it won’t be close.
Julie
July 13th, 2012
4:10 pm
I will not vote for the transportation sales tax because I don’t trust politicians. They can’t manage the money that they already have to work with and that’s why the vote to increase taxes.. Why should the voters think that additional tax money would be managed any better? Look at DeKalb Co for example – millions in debt and their answer is to raise taxes, lay off county employees. I bet the CEO’s and others aren’t taking a pay cut.
Bernie
July 13th, 2012
4:11 pm
For those who are not familiar with GEORGIA’s history and its “PECULIAR INSTITUTION OF SLAVERY” the issue of “RACE” goes to the very HEART of this PLAN.
If anyone tells you differently is being DISHONEST and DISINGENUOUS.
Mayor Reed is the only ATLANTA MAYOR that has had a “GOOD”working relationship with the ‘Good ole Boys” at DOME.
They are using Mayor Reed and Mayor Reed is using them to get to get this BOONDOGGLE of a TAX passed. Mayor Reed and the Corporate MASTERS of Atlanta know deep in their his hearts that trying to get a STATE FINANCIAL INVESTMENT from those RURAL GEORGIA LEGISLATORS is a exercise in a futile activity. Besides, its just too many rural Legislators to BUY OFF! for a “YES” vote.
Many of the residents in the suburban communities outside of ATLANTA share in the same sentiment as the rural legislators. ALL have rejected modest transportation improvement plans in the previous years out of “FEAR”. The “Fear” is and always has been that a open Transportation plan would allow those undesirable (AFRICAN AMERICAN) residents of ATLANTA to have unfettered access to their communities, housing, restaurants,movie theaters and GOD forbid their schools!
This is the “DILEMMA” we are TRULY faced with in regards to the T-SPLOST issue.
Joe
July 13th, 2012
4:13 pm
Eric-Maybe 5 million is enough but these projects are all over the state not just in the city. My 18 mile commute should not take 45 minutes and that is not even that big of a deal when it comes to commute times.
What the real question you should ask is when companies get tired of all the congestion and move their business elsewhere where does that leave us?
Weetamoe
July 13th, 2012
4:13 pm
One of my children voted early and said the ballot is very misleading so all those opposed need to keep informing voters how tricky these tax pushers are.
Shawn
July 13th, 2012
4:14 pm
This would be a great ideal, if you can trust the politicians to use the money for the purpose of the tax. How many times in the past has the government come up with a reason to line their pockets with fake promises? The problem here is for the government to control their spending. If they control spending, they will not have to come up with 50 reasons to raise tax. I believe citizens pay enough taxes. If we continue to listen to the politician, a couple of years from now they will have another reason to raise taxes. This is an ongoing problem. Most of the tax money does not go to the purpose of the tax. How about that bogus 911 fee on cell and landlines phones. The money was not even used to upgrade 911 centers. GOVERNMENT NEED TO CONTROL SPENDING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Eric
July 13th, 2012
4:16 pm
Bernie, you may be right, and I support what you’re saying. In my view, SPLOST is less about race, but that people are tired of urban sprawl and increased cost of living and governments than reverse their promises and make promises they can’t keep (i.e., reduced congestion). What we need is an end to pro-business, pro-growth policies that got us into this mess to begin with.
I-85
July 13th, 2012
4:16 pm
HOT lanes need anything else to say no?
Eric
July 13th, 2012
4:18 pm
Joe, yes you make a good point, as people’s jobs are linked to the companies that are here. So if they move, then move with them or not. I agree, not an easy choice at all, very sad dilemma in fact.
diddy
July 13th, 2012
4:20 pm
If this passes, Bottles of Ciroc are on me! Take that…
BillS
July 13th, 2012
4:22 pm
Like a lot of others, I have reluctantly decide to vote against the proposal. I want desperately to do something to improve all kinds of transportation in Atlanta, but I have no more trust in the people who will carrying out these mandates. I believe they are not free of corruption and personal greed, and too many lack the skills to oversee such vast, important projects. I say this with regret, because I no longer trust the integrity of elected officials in Fulton, DeKalb and Cobb counties. I don’t know what the solution might be, but this proposal is NOT it.
Always Skeptical
July 13th, 2012
4:24 pm
Great going!!!! More jobs for North Carolina and Tennessee as they plan for the future while Georgia gets left in the dust….
Charles
July 13th, 2012
4:29 pm
This tax was a boondogle of Govener and Mayor cooked up to BLEED THE CITIZENS to feed Expecially the State of Georgia’s GENERAL FUND and DURING THE DEEP RECESSION WHEN PEOPLE ARE DOING WITHOUT ALMOST EVERYTHING! BLIND AND UTTERLY CALOUS GOVENOR & MAYOR!
Peanut gallery
July 13th, 2012
4:30 pm
The fact the 400 tolls are still up is a warning of what can happen with a “temporary” tax.
The decision to keep the tolls for additional improvements was never put to a public vote.
No way can government be trusted with a 1% sales tax where the money is piled into a gigantic slush fund.
Jerry
July 13th, 2012
4:30 pm
NO! We can’t pay more taxes. I need to feed my family. If we don’t vote this down, we will be paying more taxes forever. Do they not understand that the average people need more money, not less. How much has the government spent on commercials?
URnotUa
July 13th, 2012
4:30 pm
This thing was destined to fail the minute they hired the same cast of democrat and republican losers to sell it to the public. Until the metro area frees itself from the inbred cronyism currently running rampant, we will continue our descent to becoming the next Detroit,
KID
July 13th, 2012
4:35 pm
T-SPLOST will pass and Obama will be re-elected.
MM
July 13th, 2012
4:35 pm
I think it’s interesting that the GA-400 toll lies come up so frequently in discussion of the TSPLOST.
Republicans have always played to the lowest common denominator–our huge population of rustics–and now they’ve bitten the liars back where it hurts most. The business elites have benefited from an uninformed, easily led electorate and now this. Rough justice indeed.
When the poeple of Georgia demand good government–not necessarily less government, not necessarily TEA party underfunded government–they will begin to dig themselves out the hole they so willingly jumped into.
jv
July 13th, 2012
4:37 pm
Hooray, ever since I saw the proposed project list, I have been soooo against this..
Bernie
July 13th, 2012
4:46 pm
Eric @ 4:16 pm – The building and the financing of the MARTA system faced the same fate. However it was the FEDERAL DOLLARS and direction is what finally made it real. The majority of the Georgia Legislators and residents outside ATLANTA refused to participate in bringing this system to fruition based on the Fears, as I have previously indicated.
The Marta systems original plan called for route access to predominately “WHITE COMMUNITIES ONLY! bypassing or altogether avoiding and severely limiting areas that would allow African America ridership. It took a FEDERAL SUIT and a FEDERAL INJUNCTION to get what we have TODAY! EQUAL ACCESS!
so to accept YOUR comment is a DENIAL of HISTORY and REALITY.
Looking at this T_SPLOST proposal and the its plans, African Americans who make up a sizable voting bloc is “STILL” getting the short end of the stick. It does nothing to
improve or change their road improvements. The proposed CAMP CREEK expansion will only serve the CORPORATE MASTERS. They want to make sure they are no longer held up for a departing or an incoming flights and important corporate meetings due to Atlanta’s crazy traffic as it has happened many times before. The long term goal is to have Atlanta’s corporations to move further SOUTH to be closer to Hartsfield International Airport and has nothing to do with improving the roads of ATLANTA.
FDR
July 13th, 2012
4:46 pm
Vote YES to the Simple Lousy ONE COPPER PENNY per dollar Tax Increase to Fix and expand our roads. The people that are against the one penny tax, only have three teeth, they have a 4th grade education, still believe to this day that there’s WMD in IRAQ because Bush said so, believe that Obama caused this great recession of 2008 (although BUSH was president), listen to radio negativity like Glenn Beck and Rush Limbaugh, support White Flight, play with Snakes at Church, and are crybaby whining 3 year olds who need their dirty dipers changes, whaaaa, whaaa. Vote YES to Untie Traffic Georgia!
Sandy Springs
July 13th, 2012
4:49 pm
Initially, I was supportive of this idea. But why should the people of Fulton and Dekalb pay the bulk of the transportation costs? MARTA is not effective as it is and if you throw a bunch of money at it, it will be even less effective as it focuses on expansion versus operating within its means. In the words of Cee-Lo “Forget You”
joe
July 13th, 2012
4:52 pm
unfortunately, after this fails, the state will push through more tolls. we’re gonna pay more eventually. only questions is by what means? at least with TSPLOST there’s list of projects that the money supposed gets spent on. when the vote doesn’t pass, they’ll set up tolls at our driveways. the tolls will be collected by private companies that pay the state. and i’m sure the politician’s hands will be greased in order to get the contracts. then the politicians will have heavier pockets and total freedom of what to do with the money, which means it will ONLY be spent on pet political projects instead of things that are really needed.
i’ve seen this play out where i’m from up in virginia before. regional sales taxes in northern virginia and hampton roads were voted down in 2002. the state then ended up negotiating contracts to put tolls on all sorts of stuff in backdoor meetings that had no public scrutiny. now the contracts are signed, the tolls will be up soon, and the special interests will be getting their money.
guess i need to move again because the whole thing is about to repeat itself here.
Gomer
July 13th, 2012
4:53 pm
We don’t need no damn taxes to build roads or trains. Just do away with all taxes, I say, and let the free market build our roads and trains.
Sink
July 13th, 2012
4:53 pm
Vote No. We do not need more roads, or more toll roads. We need a subway system that can reach all of metro Atlanta. Transportation planners need to think outside the box.
Kman
July 13th, 2012
4:54 pm
if they had just shut down the GA tolls when they said they would this thing would pass with flying colors. I grew up in Mass and it was the same deal with the Mass Pike – pay the toll till the bond is retired (should have been 1980 I think) – instead you now have a govt agency call Massport that rivals most countries in size and the taxpayers are getting SOAKED! Not gonna happen here – GA officials proved they can’t manage a simple 0.50cent toll – no way we are giving you 1%!
John Galt
July 13th, 2012
4:55 pm
The cure for the GDOT is to locate their offices in the cloverleafs of the major intersections, such as 85 and 285. Then. make sure they must arrive by 8:30 and leave no sooner than 5.
I guarantee they will figure out what needs to be fixed and for a lot less than they are getting now.
Tychus Findlay
July 13th, 2012
4:56 pm
Declining sponsorship is a greater indication of a lack of faith in the politicians to manage the funds than it is a desire to improve traffic. Once these boondoggles get in place, the funding gets misappropriated to other projects ala the GA-400 toll money.
ChooChoo
July 13th, 2012
4:57 pm
I’ll vote yes if they can get the new trolley to run up to Roswell.
BOB FROM ACCOUNT TEMPS
July 13th, 2012
4:58 pm
more millions for more studies. the voter turnout from OTP will send this tax over a cliff. we need alternatives not more road improvements in cobb. CCT is a joke but it is the only game in town.
hiram
July 13th, 2012
4:58 pm
MM
July 13th, 2012
4:35 pm
“The business elites have benefited from an uninformed, easily led electorate and now this. Rough justice indeed.”
After 8 years of of Sonny’s continuous scandals, like his dedicated tax break, sweetheart land deals, cronie appointments, working on his own empire, instead of doing his job, the still not so bright electorate elected the second act of the same play. I think that every con man in the state is now working for the state’s government, and the people are finally waking up to that reality.
Lindsey
July 13th, 2012
5:00 pm
This is just another lie in the form of a tax, just look at the GA 400 toll!!!
CarolinaGirl
July 13th, 2012
5:01 pm
No TSPLOST vote from me after that craziness they did to I-85. I’m only seldom heading up that way but love, love, love to see that lane sitting completely empty, every time. It’s like an underground protest of the DO-NOT-OCCUPY Movement.
As long as I have to pay again for something I’ve already paid for, the DOT and their brood are getting nothing from me.
Gomer
July 13th, 2012
5:01 pm
We can’t trust the gubmint to build our roads and trains. The gubmint can’t do anything right! Let the free market build our roads and trains, I say. The invisible hand will do it!
Ga Values .................. VOTE NO FOR WASTE, GRAFT & CORRUPTION
July 13th, 2012
5:03 pm
How is the $600,000,000 for the waste/belt line going to reduce congestion. Simple fact just like the airport Reed & his cronies are going to line their pockets… JUST VOTE NO>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
MarkG
July 13th, 2012
5:04 pm
These folks “polled” me a few weeks back. The first question asked was whether or not I supported the tax. When I responded “no” the rest of the “questions” were framed with all the “benefits” we would reap such as new projects and of course 250,000 jobs. Sorry, not buying the BS.
I’m with many of you, too many lies, too many failures. You want to talk to me about increasing taxes, tear down the 400 toll booths and after a few years go by, MAYBE we can talk about your inefficient, ineffective, corrupt projects. Then again, probably not.
Gomer
July 13th, 2012
5:07 pm
And another thing is these buses. I’m sick and tired of paying taxes for buses. We should let the free market provide buses if people want them. The free market can do it all. The guvmint and taxes can’t do anything.
Kramer
July 13th, 2012
5:11 pm
You don’t do this garbage during bad economic times and with bonehead in the WH wanting to raise taxes, NO THANKS!
RLM
July 13th, 2012
5:12 pm
I do not know why anyone brought up race. It looks to me like everyone has realized that both Reed and Deal are bad news and can not be trusted. No SPLOST after the debacle of 400 and paying a premium on 85 for a hov lane to improve the air. What other imaginative lies can they come up with. Telecommute is the answer anyway. We will have all these roads when people stay home to work.
Gomer
July 13th, 2012
5:15 pm
We don’t need no damn roads. Let people walk or ride a horse if they need to get someplace.
Chandra
July 13th, 2012
5:16 pm
I-85 HOT Lanes project basically killed the deal for me with the Governer Deal and the DOT, GRTA leadership. Not liffing the 400 Toll promise was another nail in the coffin for this.
Tony Betts
July 13th, 2012
5:17 pm
Not funding more empty trains. When trains become profitable, companies will build them.
td
July 13th, 2012
5:17 pm
Any program that has more then 10% going to mass transit is a no vote in my book.
Delbert D.
July 13th, 2012
5:19 pm
No new taxes.
Ray
July 13th, 2012
5:22 pm
Reasons the SPLOST will Fail:
• GA 400 Toll end date promise not kept
• Gwinnett Hot Lanes that back 285 up past Roswell Road when school is in.
• Proposed HOT lanes on 75 in Henry that would probably cause traffic to back up between I-20 and I-285 during the evening rush.
• The $200+ million bus terminal proposed for South Dekalb that no one in the area wants.
• Voters will look to the $600 Million Beltline neighborhood revitalizer/tourist attraction as to why very little is proposed for their area.
Randy
July 13th, 2012
5:22 pm
http://www.ajc.com/business/delays-cost-increases-at-1477334.html
Look at this boondoggle and explain to us once again how good government is at managing money.
Today in Monroe Ga they were giving out “Free Telephones” so are phone companies giving away free airtime? Nothing is free somebody’s tax dollars are paying for those free phones.
Taxes are up and governments are going broke….sounds like a spending problem to me.
Term Limits should be mandatory on every level of government.
Gomer
July 13th, 2012
5:22 pm
Damn straight, Tony B. Let the companies build the trains and roads.
JB
July 13th, 2012
5:24 pm
HAHAHAH! I can’t help but laugh at all the folks who bought into the “American Dream” -owning an underwater mortgage in the suburbs- where the police treat citizens to multi $100 tickets for any small driving infraction- paying giant car notes on inflated insurance premiums to wit- driving 2 or more hours everyday day to work for a company that barely pays all those American Dream bills- JUST TO COMPLAIN ABOUT HOW THEIR TRAFFIC NEEDS TO BE “FIXED”!
Hahahahahha!!! SHEEPLE
I sold my car 5 years ago and bike everywhere I go. I like to sit on my patio and watch the cars all stuck in traffic while I sip on a cold one and thank the big guy upstairs for all the cool restaurants / parks / bike trails and things- right here in Midtown.
I also quit my job and now I own my own company- where I set my own hours and fees.
Mike
July 13th, 2012
5:24 pm
We early voted in South Georgia & voted against the T-SPLOST. An increase in any type of tax at this time is just wrong. Besides, the DOT is a fourth branch of state government & requires way too much of our state’s resources. They’ve been rebuilding I-75 down our way forever. Now they’re making these eleborate off-ramps that you could land a 747 on. Good roads are nice but these guys go overboard. No T-SPLOST for us.
Gomer
July 13th, 2012
5:25 pm
td, I don’t know what on God’s green earth you mean by “mass transit” but we should spend 0% on that, whatever it is.
Centrist
July 13th, 2012
5:28 pm
Unless the proponents who have skin in the game are just laying low, the pro $$ wins the advertising war, or the wording on the ballot tricks the uniformed – this pig is going down.
The interesting part will be the post-mortem. Will our government leaders admit an added general sales tax was the wrong way to go? Will they admit that our current tax dollars should be spent on higher priority transportation issues? Will a user (fuel) tax be part of a future mix? Or will they blame the voters and attempt to punish them? I reluctantly voted for Deal because I knew what we had with Roy Barnes. I will be taking a hard look at his re-election depending on how he handles a predicted T-SPLOST defeat, and am not alone in such an assessment.
Gomer
July 13th, 2012
5:34 pm
I hear some fancy high-falutin’ folks say Georgia is near last on how much it spends per person on roads and such. Well hell, someone’s gotta be last!
Isis5761
July 13th, 2012
5:34 pm
As long as the State does not sensibly address the traffic problem which they have not done in the 33 years I’ve lived in Atlanta, I will not vote for it. What do I mean. We’re the only state that doesn’t fund a MARTA. The insignificant amt to be allocated to MARTA is a slap in the face while attempting to widening more roads so we can choke to death. Also, the Beltline will receive a huge amt for 23 miles for what and whom not to mention it’s public money that should be privately funded. The lack of public transportation in Atlanta is about race. I’m an African American not voting for it so include me in the nonvote.
American
July 13th, 2012
5:37 pm
I will “turn out” and I will vote NO
Schummann
July 13th, 2012
5:39 pm
I will NEVER vote in favor of additional taxes on myself or anyone else. I WILL vote in favor of the leaders to “live within their means” and STOP with their excessive spending… We are already TAXED for the roads in this state!!..VOTE NO
tony
July 13th, 2012
5:41 pm
Metro Atlantans need to do some soul searching about why the area was hit harder in the Great Recession than other cities, and look at places like Denver and Dallas that are investing huge amounts of resources into expanding their transit systems. Atlanta is very quickly falling behind its peers.
sparta_bubba
July 13th, 2012
5:45 pm
Let’s see now. I 285 was built to relieve traffic and became a parking lot. GA 400 was built to relieve traffic and became a parking lot. So why should we give Deal’s construction contributors money to build more parking lots. And they become parking lots because Deal’s developer contributors start building before the parking lots are complete. Bring me a tax with mass transit and I will vote for it. Nothing else.
shirley
July 13th, 2012
5:47 pm
@ Hilton Spence. Not sure how I am drawn into the T-SPLOST debate since I left office in 2009 nor did I serve in the legislature that passed the bill.. I’m not rich and never have been. In fact, I’ve never aspired to being rich just righteous and that’s hard enough to strive for every day.
dazed and confused
July 13th, 2012
5:48 pm
It appears that the ball to defeat this absurd initiative is rolling in the right direction in spite of the millions in TV advertising being squandered. Next project, lets get serious about the mayor’s 90 million dollar trolley ride.
Great Stuff
July 13th, 2012
5:48 pm
No Marta in Gwinnett!!!!!
No, No, No,
You can take the buses out too!
Gomer
July 13th, 2012
5:50 pm
No MARTA! No buses! No trains! No roads! No taxes! No government! Hallelulah!
Ga Values .................. VOTE NO FOR WASTE, GRAFT & CORRUPTION
July 13th, 2012
5:56 pm
shirley
July 13th, 2012
5:47 pm
What is your & your family’s cut on the waste/belt line?
Blade
July 13th, 2012
6:01 pm
I don’t why no one believes “it’s only a penny for 10 years” and then go away. I mean, look at hwy 400. They said all we have to do is pay .50 toll for 20 years until it was paid for and then be dissolved. And.as “PROMISED” true to their word, after reaching 20 years last year and finally paid for, the toll station was taken OOPS!!!……………………….never mind
Peanut gallery
July 13th, 2012
6:02 pm
Rather pay tolls than this 1% slush fund.
With a toll you drive on the road, you pay the toll. You are PAYING for a road to use it. I’m not happy with how 400 went down but at least the money collected has to be tied to the damn road in some way.
With the 1% tax, who knows?
Kevin
July 13th, 2012
6:03 pm
I live in Midtown and drive to Alpharetta every day. Trust me when I say that I wish we had improved transportation.
But, sadly, I’m with the majority here. I can’t trust these bass-ackward, greedy politicians with more money. They have not proven competent.
TSPLOST will fail. It’s sad, but it’s reality.
Church of the painful Truth
July 13th, 2012
6:04 pm
NO,NO, and a big damn NO!! Do not vote to tax yourself.
Gomer
July 13th, 2012
6:08 pm
These greedy politicians will steal all of the T-SPLOST money. Who came up with this whole T-SPLOST thing anyway? Obama, I’ll bet. Or some bunch of liberals.
hind tit
July 13th, 2012
6:08 pm
Cut the retirement money the taxpayers have to match for government employees to pay for transportation improvements. I for one am sick and tired of people retiring after thirty years and receiving eighty to eighty five percent of their pay for the rest of their life. The reason states have no money is because they have to pay two people to do one job. Stop the insanity before it’s to late.
Delbert D.
July 13th, 2012
6:09 pm
A rail transportation hub in The Gulch that does not include Amtrak, or any other future heavy rail enterprises? How many synonyms for “absurd” are there? Gainesville, Athens, Macon and the corridor along I-75 north may as well be in foreign countries.
Kris
July 13th, 2012
6:10 pm
@tim July 13th, 2012 2:26 pm
“Glad they didn’t poll me about actress wanna be Monica Pearson. She’s the worst. Glad she’s going.”
Shut your mouth for a female broadcaster to make it 37 years at the same station speaks volumes about as to how good a job she has done. Monica, Farewell and Good luck on your new adventures.
Vote NO sp-LOST.
Look before I leap...
July 13th, 2012
6:11 pm
I am voting no even though I have very little skin in the game. My annual mileage is less than 5,000, my wife’s is even less.
That there need to be improvements is obvious and much of the planned projects are not for widening existing highways, but for interchanges and improvements to strategic feeder roads (Think Old Milton Pkwy at 7:45 in the morning).
The one project that I would support even though I would benefit little form it is the transition from SB 400 to NB 85. Mostly because that fiasco is laughable to the point of being embarrassing.
I would support municipal tax increases in the form of local income taxes where those taxes are reserved for transportation infrastructure improvements. If the good folks in Alpharetta and John’s Creek want to improve the interchanges at exits 9 and 10, let them pay for it and not require the citizens of south Fulton and DeKalb to do so. Then they can decide if the costs are merited by the need.
I would also support use taxes in terms of raising the state gas tax rate (GA already has one of the lowest rates in the nation), additional tolls, city parking surcharges where the burden is met by those who use and need the improvements.
You could even look at a commuter tax such as exists in NYC or London.
For those who support the TSPLOST, you should look at the history of California’s Measure “A”.
As a past resident of the area, admittedly, Measure “A” did accomplish quite a bit of good in enhancing San Jose’s and the Silicon Valley’s commuting nightmare but there are two issues to consider:
The passage of of the measure occurred during and ran through significant growth and boom times in that area and the income level of those paying the taxes were quite a bit above the national norm.
Delbert D.
July 13th, 2012
6:13 pm
You want to take the train up to D.C. instead of flying? Your best bet is to drive up to a parking lot near Perimeter Mall and take a cab to Norcross. Around midnight.
oldfart
July 13th, 2012
6:14 pm
The motor fuel tax is the most equitable way to tax for roads as those that use them the most pay the most tax for their gasoline. An equitable way to distribute that tax is what Georgia has been missing and the DOT should be required to utilize the funds proportionally by the taxes received from each region. Four lanes to Hahira and the like are often done because their guy is on the right committee not because the average daily traffic warrants them. ONE HALF BILLION DOLLARS of gas tax money was earmarked by the legislature to start the mostly unwanted HOT Lane in Cobb on I75 in the closing days of the last session. This didn’t even get a mention that I saw in the AJC. That money could be used to implement some of the needed projects held out as bait for this SPLOST. It would be criminal on the tax payer’s part to vote yes for an additional tax on goods that have nothing to do with transportation when the current taxes collected specifically for that purpose are being squandered.
RAMZAD
July 13th, 2012
6:20 pm
We don’t need no new asphalt pavements. We don’t need now bigger log jams. Hey! politician leave them dollars alone.
Gomer
July 13th, 2012
6:21 pm
Here, here, RAMZAD
Centrist
July 13th, 2012
6:23 pm
Look posted ” My annual mileage is less than 5,000, my wife’s is even less. . . (Think Old Milton Pkwy at 7:45 in the morning).
Surprised you put that many miles on when you are sitting in parking lots. I’ve heard there are skeletons in those parked cars on Old Milton Pkwy with cobwebs all over those stalled cars, but nobody has gotten close enough to confirm.
td
July 13th, 2012
6:26 pm
hind tit
July 13th, 2012
6:08 pm
Cut the retirement money the taxpayers have to match for government employees to pay for transportation improvements. I for one am sick and tired of people retiring after thirty years and receiving eighty to eighty five percent of their pay for the rest of their life. The reason states have no money is because they have to pay two people to do one job. Stop the insanity before it’s to late.
You are not talking about the state of Georgia. I am pretty sure all new workers get 30% and that is down from 60% for current workers in the system.
Delbert D.
July 13th, 2012
6:26 pm
How about maximizing user fees (doublespeak for taxing) freight haulers and their clients on the Eisenhower Interstate Highway System that pass through or near occupied areas? Is it fair to tax the occupants of said areas?
Don't Tread
July 13th, 2012
6:28 pm
Support continues to slip. GOOD. I’ll throw in a banana peel if that helps.
Bernie
July 13th, 2012
6:31 pm
Gomer @ 6:08 pm – Your name reflects your comments, You know who gave us this boondoggle. Only a Republican could come up with a “TAX” plan like this and then say you must DO it NOW or the world will end!
Delbert D.
July 13th, 2012
6:32 pm
If you want my money, give me the right to join with my friends in buying a toll booth on your grandiose schemed byways.
Gomer
July 13th, 2012
6:35 pm
Come now, Bernie, no God-fearing Republican could come up with such a thing as T-SPLOST.
Look before I leap...
July 13th, 2012
6:39 pm
@Centrist
My wife is an F/A for Delta. Her annual commute is less than 2.5K miles as we live in midtown ATL
I either work at home or fly every week – my mileage is higher because we use my SUV to do all the running around. She has the newest looking 7 yr old E320 on the block. Total mint condition. I only get to drive it when the oil needs to be changed. *sigh*
iheartsarah
July 13th, 2012
6:40 pm
TSPLOST: You ain’t getting my penny!
Look before I leap...
July 13th, 2012
6:41 pm
@Gomer
Yet TSPLOST arises from a completely GOP dominated state legislature.
Says something about their commitment to God, eh?
td
July 13th, 2012
6:43 pm
Look before I leap…
July 13th, 2012
6:39 pm
“I only get to drive it when the oil needs to be changed. *sigh*”
Sounds like we may be living in the same house, or at least married to the same personality type.
brock
July 13th, 2012
6:43 pm
I am voting yes, because this plan is much better than nothing. I do not like increased taxes either, but sitting in traffic is taxing in itself.
I wish the state pols would get some attachments and simply raise the gas tax and get on with some improvements. It’s the most equitable and efficient way to levy a user fee. Don’t be cowards. Just do it.
td
July 13th, 2012
6:46 pm
Look before I leap…
July 13th, 2012
6:41 pm
“Yet TSPLOST arises from a completely GOP dominated state legislature.”
Remember the series of articles in this paper a couple years back about how the establishment Republicans are not taking the Tea Party serious in Georgia or how the Tea Party is not strong in Georgia? I have a feeling there are many establishment Republicans getting a rude awakening the past few weeks.
Delbert D.
July 13th, 2012
6:46 pm
So, taxes are akin to gifts from “God”?
Look before I leap...
July 13th, 2012
6:51 pm
@td
She’ll change her tune when I bite the bullet and get my mid-life crisis car.
I have an evil plan. I am leaving brochures for Ferraris, Maseratis and even the Bugatti Veyron around the house. That way, when I opt for the Porsche Carrera, she won’t be so shocked.
Gomer
July 13th, 2012
6:53 pm
The Republicans should pass a law that makes the French pay for our roads. I reckon’ the good folks of Georgia would vote for that.
Bernie
July 13th, 2012
6:54 pm
Mayor Reed is just another “TOKEN” to be used like a “TOOL” in the woodshed in the hopes of running for a higher office. What office I am not exactly sure of, because none of the “good ole boys” are going to vote for him or anyone that looks like him, even if its for the local DOG CATCHER.
Delbert D.
July 13th, 2012
6:54 pm
Hey, there’s that new Viper coming out for 2013. Buy American. Or, the heck with socialistic ideas; get that Porsche.
Look before I leap...
July 13th, 2012
7:00 pm
@td
The Tea Party in GA needs to roundly and soundly divorce itself from conservative social issues before I would consider them as a serious alternative.
I think I will get a lecture from Centrist on me being misguided but the taint is there.
I am also having a bit of trouble completely discarding the liberalism of my youth in that I can’t simply discount nor discard the need to address the issues of the poor and disadvantaged. What we are doing isn’t working, but doing nothing is also not an option.
Delbert D.
July 13th, 2012
7:05 pm
I learned about imminent domain and the absolute power of government at a very young age, when they took half of my front yard away to 4-lane US 29. Now, 60 years later, US 29 along that stretch is as quiet as a bicycle path, and all of the magnet businesses have dried up. The former family dwellings (the ones that are still standing) are nail salons, insurance franchises and mini-churches.
td
July 13th, 2012
7:09 pm
Look before I leap…
July 13th, 2012
6:51 pm
Good plan. Hope it works.
Look before I leap...
July 13th, 2012
7:12 pm
Gomer
July 13th, 2012
6:53 pm
The Republicans should pass a law that makes the French pay for our roads. I reckon’ the good folks of Georgia would vote for that.
If the French want to help pay for GA roads, they only need offer to sell the army’s guns from 1940 on Craig’s List.
“8 million French Army rifles, never fired, only dropped once”
Bernie
July 13th, 2012
7:16 pm
Kyle Wingfield is drinking the KOOL-AID again! and he wants All of us to join him, in a BIG Gulp of it on July 31.
No Thank-you Kyle your ADVICE and support is something we ALL can
do WITHOUT! You were wrong in your support of NEWT and you are wrong on the T-SPLOST vote TOO!
I wonder how much he is being promised for that one…..?
Delbert D.
July 13th, 2012
7:17 pm
Make your own impact, in the way you see fit. My Honda costs $4.25 to fill up, and I get 150 miles out of that. Harley-Davidson, the American brand, was never in the running. Not only did they have nothing close to fitting my requiremnents, I figured that I would look really foolish riding a ‘Glide wearing my 4-season kevlar armored jacket and full-face helmet.
Look before I leap...
July 13th, 2012
7:25 pm
Totally off-topic:
Condi Rice reaffirms her “no way, no how” position as #2 on Romney ticket.
http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/condoleezza-rice-stands-vp-prospects-no-way-181823611.html
A shame. She adds quite a bit of gravitas in terms of foreign policy to Romney’s campaign.
Some appeal to women and a potential dent into Obama’s hold on the African-American bloc.
Seeing quite a bit of chatter about Pawlenty the past few days but I just don’t see that as an option that moves the needle much in Romney’s favor.
Delbert D.
July 13th, 2012
7:30 pm
Pawlenty? Yikes. 3rd-banana material. Make Condi an offer she can’t refuse. As far as not really wanting to run for elected office, well…all she has to do is mop up the floor with Joe Biden in a couple of debates.
Dave
July 13th, 2012
7:34 pm
If, as I hope, this goes down in flames at the end of the month, I hope one of the “business community’s” selling points, you aren’t going to get a second chance, is an idle threat. I’ve already early voted against the proposal. I did it reluctantly. We need to spend money on transit and infrastructure; but, we need to do it intelligently, something this proposal hasn’t accomplished. Rather, it has thrown money to various localities to get their leaders’ votes. The “business community,” read the folks that will make money on the billions of dollars in projects, no matter what they are, are fine with whatever gets passed, money is money. There’s a whole lot of people that I’ve talked to that are willing to pay an extra penny for however long it takes to build what we need. But what’s on the table isn’t what we need, it’s a local wish fulfillment list? The Beltline is a transit project? There are other examples. Then there’s the lack of trust in our “leaders.” The Speaker is totally opposed to any restriction in his perceived, unfettered, right to feed at the trough of the “business community.” The braver of his buddies are pushing a $100 per gift limit on bribes. These are the people you trust to spend the extra billions? Not me.
Come back with a true regional plan that lays out what will be done and why, with a process that prevents the pols and the business buddies from screwing us again. Then you will have my vote.
Look before I leap...
July 13th, 2012
7:41 pm
@Delbert
Not sure she “wipes the floor” with Biden.
For all his buffoonery, Biden is neither unintelligent or unknowledgeable. Biden’s biggest problem is his tendency to shoot from the hip.
Rice is intelligent and certainly well-steeped in the intracacies of global politics but I have concerns about her blind loyalty and support of the Bush/Cheney ideals of cowboy diplomacy.
td
July 13th, 2012
7:42 pm
Look before I leap…
July 13th, 2012
7:25 pm
I do not see Ms. Rice either. I think it comes down to Portman or Rubio and I think the final decision will be made on if Romney believes Ohio or Florida will be closer.
Have to remember that Romney is probably the most business savvy candidate to run for President that we may have every had run for President (at least in the past 30 years). When you look at what moves he will take then you have to put on a business cap and see what would get him closer to finishing the deal he wants to make.
Delbert D.
July 13th, 2012
7:43 pm
Even the guy who wants to build his maglev line from Kennesaw to Vinings is against this iteration of SPLOST.
VoteNo
July 13th, 2012
7:50 pm
tsplost–a total ripoff that will just enrich connected developers and a few businesses. Vote no!! No more tax ripoffs!!!!
Voted yes
July 13th, 2012
7:55 pm
Voted yes for the following reasons
A. Transportation dollars are disappearing at the federal level …meaning we need to address transportation at the local/regional level
B. this is one of the rare times we as citizens have a chance to choose our own destiny….if you did not get involved in shaping the list then shame on you…a vote no will ensure our elected officials decide for us
C. The project list is a good one meeting local needs at a regional level while providing some key regional benefits like the interchange improvements at ga 400, i20 and i75 where they intersect with i285
D. We are in a global economy to do nothing means we lose future potential economic gains to our global competitors
E. because we all think differently there will never be a perfect list …the only way to a perfect list would be to live and think like communist china ..which has activists that are jailed and booted out of the country because they disagree with the state
Schummann
July 13th, 2012
8:00 pm
T-totaly
S-stupid
P-people
L-letting
S-supreme gub-ment (aka: government)
T-Tax us more
Schummann
July 13th, 2012
8:01 pm
oops left out O-our
T-totaly
S-stupid
P-people
O-our
L-letting
S-supreme gub-ment (aka: government)
T-Tax us more
Delbert D.
July 13th, 2012
8:01 pm
Look before I leap- I really did not forsee Biden being in this for a 2nd term. Yes, he is an old pol and he knows the turf, but his intellect is not readily apparent. I think you put too much emphasis on Rice’s loyalty to the previous administration. I don’t see that a serious factor, and the Obama campaign would find it difficult to gain advantage in painting with that brush. Rubio is too young and inexperienced in my opinion. I personally don’t like the idea of selling hard for the Tea Party. Portman, I see as a serious contender, and not just as the Ohio or Florida choice. From what I’ve read, he could play-act Biden in a debate, which would leave the real Biden to resort to standup comedy to get through it.
Cujo Bendi
July 13th, 2012
8:01 pm
Marlboro Woman, Atlanta is one of the cheapest kinda big cities there are. Go somewhere.
proudaclu
July 13th, 2012
8:05 pm
I’ll vote for anything a republican is against
Vote no Tsplost
July 13th, 2012
8:06 pm
For those saying the roads are in a tangle and traffic needs relief, I am with you, just do it with a FUEL TAX. get your hand out of my wallet.
Cujo Bendi
July 13th, 2012
8:07 pm
Well, I doubt I’ll vote for this dismally planned TSplost referendum. It doesn’t have nearly enough transit in it. But, if it did all the fatties and good ol’ boys in Coob, Cherokee, Gwinnett and Henry wouldn’t vote for it anyway because people in the South think you are low class if you take public transit anywhere. Most of them have never been to anywhere on mass-transit other than a Braves game.
G Mare
July 13th, 2012
8:08 pm
I am an “old, white Democrat,” and I am voting NO for two reasons. I am on a fixed income, and I know better than to trust the politicians with any more of my (OUR) money.
Larry
July 13th, 2012
8:08 pm
They should have built an outer perimeter 30 years ago; but, the downtown powers tried to shove everything down there. NO ON TSPLOST! It will just give the politician lots of money to shower on their reelections and it will get nothing substantive from it.
Cujo Bendi
July 13th, 2012
8:09 pm
Vote no Tsplost, I agree!!!!
Baron Dekalb
July 13th, 2012
8:09 pm
@ALIEN: I have also lived in Chicago and visited the other cities you mention, as well as other cities with functional mass transit such as Paris, Madrid, London, Rio de Janeiro, Mexico City. All of my friends who live in Chicago ride commuter rail and the “L” to work every day, I don;t hear any complaints about rust but obviously they are not as concerned with superficial aspects of urban life as you are. Those are real big cities… Atlanta is just a sprawling small town, thanks to parsimonious and short sighted people like you.
Blueprint for Plan B
July 13th, 2012
8:12 pm
There is a plan that would work, at least for parts of Metro Atlanta. No plan is perfect, but some are better than others:
http://www.north-x-northwest.com
Winnie
July 13th, 2012
8:15 pm
TSPLOST is a long list of projects that don’t really address our traffic problems. Too many projects were included like the improvements at McCollum Field in Cobb or the Beltline to take the project seriously as a traffic reducer. Why in the world would Cobb County see a train from Cumberland to the Arts center as the best way to reduce traffic in the county?
The fact is that the pols had all kinds of reasons for the project list they came up with and traffic improvment was only one of the reasons.
We need to say “no” and have the politcians who work for us after all, come up with a better project list.
Wilbur
July 13th, 2012
8:16 pm
Cujo,
You are a racist.
Dave
July 13th, 2012
8:24 pm
Winnie is right.
Look before I leap...
July 13th, 2012
8:25 pm
@td
FL is tourism and retirees.
A soft economy means less tourism dollars. While the economy remains soft, tourism numbers in FL are on the rise. 2011 was a record year and this years numbers are looking better.
So there is no real advantage there for a Romney/Rubio ticket on that front.
If Romney even hints at reforming Social Security, there are not enough Rubios in the US to save his ass in FL. An remember, Rubio has not shown any interest is altering his stance that he is not interested in the #2 spot on the ticket. It is not really a win/win for him. If he truly aspires to the top job, his best bet is the accept and have Romney lose in Nov. That clears the way to make a sprint in 2016 when Democratic fatigue is at its highest and the opposition field is wide open. If he accepts and Romney wins in Nov, it will be 8 years before he can consider a serious run for POTUS.
OH should be a better opportunity for Romney but according to FiveThirtyEight, Obama’s is stronger there than in FL. However, OH is also one of the most likely influential tipping states.
I think Romney needs to start thinking a bit outside the box – not in a Palin way, but more like a “Joe(sephine) the Plumber” type.
Hutchison from TX, Snowe from Maine and if Libby Dole were 10 years younger…
If Romney goes totally stupid and names Bachmann, game over and the Obama’s won’t have to worry about packing up in Jan. Romney has an interesting challenge – how to energize the base without alienating the middle.
Delbert D.
July 13th, 2012
8:33 pm
I lived the first 22 and the most recent 32 years of my life in and near Atlanta, and in between, Chicago, Boston (twice), metro Baltimore, metro Philadelphia, Oakland, Honolulu and northern New Jersey. I have also lived in the southern cities of Charleston and Knoxville by way of contrast. All of those places, 1 or more years; 2 years in 3 of them, 5 in 1 of them.The major difference I see between Atlanta and all but the smallest 3 of those cities is lack of connectivity to other large metropolitan areas. Atlanta is a provincial island city that has not developed to fit well even with its own outlying areas.
td
July 13th, 2012
8:41 pm
Look before I leap…
July 13th, 2012
8:25 pm
I have rental property in PCB and last year was a very good year. I do however think this is partially the case because the year before was the worst year ever and people will find a way to go to the beach.
It could just be me and the circle of friends I hang with or it could be something else entirely but I do not think the polls are going to be accurate this year and I think there is a big hidden vote for Romney that is not being accounted for.
Cujo Bendi
July 13th, 2012
8:49 pm
@Wilbur, I AM WHITE. I grew up in Haralson county (Buchanan, Bremen) and have lived in Atlanta and Los Angeles. I know both sides of the political spectrum. I know how short sighted people in the burbs and the country are. I came to the city because I like city life better than sitting in the house and getting fat and watching TV and not living life to the fullest. I also like city girls better than the slouchy ones in the country. Anyway, mass transit is the answer to our traffic probems in atlanta, but people here don’t wanna live close to their job and they have a low opinion of people that ride trains and buses.
Delbert D.
July 13th, 2012
8:51 pm
I read Henson’s “Plan B” with interest. It is logical and well thought out. I have never failed to vote for our local county SPLOST. This rancid mix of rotting shepherd’s pie and sushi that is being served up by special interests, politicians and moon-eyed regional seers will not get my vote.
just sayin'
July 13th, 2012
8:55 pm
July 31 is the time we say no to new taxes. Politicians (both parties) believe that we are so stupid that we will buy into anything on an emotional basis.
The first Tuesday in November is the time we say no to many incumbents.
Delbert D.
July 13th, 2012
8:58 pm
@ Look – “If Romney goes totally stupid and names Bachmann, game over..”
Yes, and that is so far beyond any reasonable stretch of my imagination that I have to say that in that case, I would apply for asylum in the UK. (I lived there for a year, as well.)
Tychus Findlay
July 13th, 2012
8:59 pm
Furthermore, I live in town and commute against traffic. Sure, I live in a 2 bedroom house in Sandy Springs, not in a 5 bedroom mcmansion in a planned community, but it’s the tradeoff for not sitting in 2+ hours of traffic daily. If the outer lying counties want more access to Atlanta, then levy taxes in Gwinnett, Cobb, Forsyth, Hall etc. Not in Fulton and DeKalb.
A Conservative Voice
July 13th, 2012
9:03 pm
I was traveling North on I-75 this afternoon and at MM 211 (McDonough) the traffic came to a standstill. It was B to B for the next 11 miles and at MM222 it cleared up. What was the problem, you ask?…….well, I’ll tell you…..beginning at MM220 there were signs warning of road construction two miles ahead……there was NO road construction. The whole reason it was backed up was the PRESENCE OF ROAD CONSTRUCTION SIGNS and people were slowing down because of it. And now you’re asking me to pay an additional 1% ST to fund THESE IDIOTS AT THE GADOT? I don’t think so…..
Look before I leap...
July 13th, 2012
9:20 pm
“The first Tuesday in November is the time we say no to many incumbents”
I used to be a huge advocate of “vote the thieving b*stards out”.
But sometimes it is “better the devil you know…”
And the real issue is not the candidates or office-holders, it is the system and the processes.
And above all that, it is the money and the government’s ability to tax or as it should be known, “legally steal money from you”.
For every dime taken from us, we should get a dime’s worth of services in return. But we don’t.
We get less
For the size and scale of the federal, state and local presence in our lives, we should be able to get more than a dime’s worth of return on our investments. But we don’t. We see waste, “pork”, graft and outright theft. We get a dollar’s worth of goods for every $10 we spend.
Taxes are up and we yet we see falling scholastic performance, rusting bridges, 4 hour wait times for driver license renewals, increased commute times and yet our government leaders enjoy lobby paid trips to Europe, $200 dinners at Capital Grille and Master’s golf tickets and even with that, SCOTUS said unlimited corporate political money is good for the Union.
If we want true reform, it MUST start with our checkbooks.
My Two Cents
July 13th, 2012
9:22 pm
Voting a big “NO”!
Hoo-ha fan
July 13th, 2012
9:23 pm
TSPLOST should be renamed as LOST CAUSE…sorry corrupt cronies…Deal and Reed…never gonna get it.
P bo
July 13th, 2012
9:26 pm
OK, movers and shakers, lets move to plan-B tsplost is doomed
bush tax break up in the air
health care tax may be on the way
you govt. types love to get into the working mans pocket
Cleo
July 13th, 2012
9:33 pm
Repubs are pushing this because they argue that metro atlanta should be paying for metro Atlanta projects. However, we already do. The vast majority of miles driven and fuel tax paid is right in the metro area. Where were all the low deficit hawks and teaparty people when for decades connected politicians in S. GA spent millions and millions on developmental highways for no good reason, other than “build it and they will come.” The metro area has been a net fuel tax revenue loser for decades, Never getting as much as they were collecting, watching connected rural counties getting windfalls.
What are the real options without the SPLOST though. Deal and others realize they’re going to be forced to do something if it fails. Probably raise gas taxes on the whole state. We’re already decades behind where we should be. If this gets approved it will still be years before we seen things actually built. If we put it off, it’s only going to get dramatically worse.
I just hate to see the anti-tax teapartiers, cause some real damage in this state and will take us decades to recover from. People say they just don’t trust the gov. or this tax. So what, you don’t do anything. That’s like people who say they don’t trust the institution of marraige. Hey, at some point you just got to take the dive and hope for the best.
Delbert D.
July 13th, 2012
9:40 pm
@ A Conserative Voice “The whole reason it was backed up was the PRESENCE OF ROAD CONSTRUCTION SIGNS and people were slowing down because of it.”
Can’t you see it? It’s part of the master plan of these evil people to deceive and manipulate the citizens into voting for the SPLOST! Tomorrow it will be the old “Fines doubled in construction zones” trick. Next week they’ll be dragging out old wrecks from the crushers’ yards and strategically positioning them in the right lanes of all major routes into the city, with fake cops who are today wearing green Statue of Liberty costumes along local thoroughfares.
NtheNo
July 13th, 2012
10:00 pm
I’ve already voted NO to T$$$PLOST and it felt so good.
alenworn
July 13th, 2012
10:02 pm
LIES, LIES, LIES – just another money grab for politicians, we already have an income tax, you want a sales tax approaching TN??? FORGET IT
Cut
July 13th, 2012
10:05 pm
NO NO NO NO also OMG 1012
alenworn
July 13th, 2012
10:14 pm
Vote no people!!! Send these politicians a message!!! Everyone see the Beltline admin expenses recently?? Meals, birthday parties, you name it, government gone wild. TSPLOST will be worst. You may get a new intersection or 2 but you’ll plunk down 8% for the rest of your fricking life. Forget it
no taxes
July 13th, 2012
10:22 pm
the taxes I pay to this corrupt government are already obscene—no more taxes—cut costs to the bone, cut taxes. VOTE NO!
Ed
July 13th, 2012
11:11 pm
The promised job creation with TSPLOST will not add to our national GDP since nothing is exported for sale to others? This will become a never ending tax just like the GA 400 toll tax that was extended beyond the promised expiration. Politicians of both parties love to levy taxes and if TSPLOST tax is approved they will not give it up.
Mike
July 13th, 2012
11:23 pm
No conservative I know personally is supporting this tax. No liberal I know is supporting it either.
I go through the toll booths on 400 every workday, and I’m reminded that the projects constructed with this tax will need to be maintained, which means more taxes to pay for that.
It takes thirty-five minutes for me to drive to work. If I took MARTA it would require a bus to a train to a bus and would take two hours. A rail line up 75 to Cobb would reduce that, and a rail line farther up 400 would reduce it too. But I don’t see that happening.
The other reason race comes into the results of the poll is that there’s an assumption that white people don’t want mass transit to enter new areas because it will mean black people coming in and messing things up.
Look before I leap...
July 13th, 2012
11:42 pm
It is fascinating to me that there really are folks in the burbs who think the undesirables (aka “black folk”) will get on the subway, trek 25 miles north, walk 7 miles to their house and make off with a 52″ TV and JVC sound system and then reverse the journey back to the urban jungle.
terry
July 13th, 2012
11:57 pm
I want you jack asses that say the republicans that want this.. you people are stupid..NO ONE WANTS it but the ones in office…
FedUp
July 14th, 2012
12:11 am
No one is going to vote for an increase to expand crime ridden Marta into the northern burbs. No thanks, I will sit in traffic before I see Marta and their ill run operation come North.
Rich
July 14th, 2012
12:48 am
Winnie @ 8:15 PM
You really nail it. The best posting I have seen on T-SPLOST: “TSPLOST is a long list of projects that don’t really address our traffic problems. Too many projects were included like the improvements at McCollum Field in Cobb or the Beltline to take the project seriously as a traffic reducer. Why in the world would Cobb County see a train from Cumberland to the Arts center as the best way to reduce traffic in the county?
The fact is that the pols had all kinds of reasons for the project list they came up with and traffic improvment was only one of the reasons.
We need to say “no” and have the politcians who work for us after all, come up with a better project list”.
ENOUGH SAID!!!
Reta
July 14th, 2012
1:10 am
Crazy Like a Fox @ 3:02 PM,
While I agree with you that a “no” vote is the way to go, you really should know you are flat out wrong about who is at fault. The is a Republican lead plan, and not a good one, sorry to say. Call the Governor, county elected officials and state legislators to give them a piece of your mind.
Your post said, “This is nothing more than pandering to minorities with money seized from the productive to pay them reparations for past wrongs. Welcome to Obama’s (hope you like your change) America”.
S
July 14th, 2012
1:12 am
In Washington it is proclaimed everyday they’re in chamber(which isn’t very often) by the Republicans, NO to everything that will get this country moving in the right direction again. What have our local Republicans done in the last 10 years they’ve been in control, not a darn thing except try to makes everyone pay these fee’s on our roads that are already paid for. Hidden fees on everything, built a fish farm that cost millions that practically no one goes too, try and pass Splosts all because of their poor past and present management.
Every state gets projections of what their states will look like 10 20 30 years into the future. What have our Republican controlled legislator done, pass bills taking rights away from Women. Yep, that sure is creating Jobs or building roads. Of course they didn’t stop there with their War on Women, in box # 5 under Republican Questions, on the ballet this primary season July 31st, they are asking you along with this Splost if you would like to vote yes on their monstrous person-hood amendment. This is what our Republican legislators are doing while under the dome, which sure hasn’t built roads or created jobs.
Republicans spent like drunken fools, in Washington during the previous administration and so did Georgia under Perdue, and now they want the taxpayers to bail them out. NO on # 5 and NO on Referendum 1! Figure it out legislators or the voters will be replacing all of you because you are not worthy of your office seat. I’ve already made up my mind, in November Republican Incumbent is going to be a dirty word for me at my voting place.
Oh, and make sure you vote YES in the box that says (”Do you support ENDING the current practice of unlimited gifts from Lobbyist to our state legislators by imposing a $100 cap on such gifts”). Personally I don’t think legislators should be allowed any gifts and this group, in particular, of Republican legislators, deserve nothing but a dunce cap.
Print out your ballot on the Georgia Government site so you make voting a breeze to get through the voting process. And don’t forget to Vote and vote smart.
Johnny
July 14th, 2012
6:08 am
I’m a democratic voter and I am typically supportive to government programs but I have a problem with wasteful spending. What are we doing with the funds from the 400 tolls? Why can we install more toll roads to help pay for SPLOST projects? That way we can pay for roads based on those who use them.
Jo
July 14th, 2012
6:22 am
I dont think I like this Republican tax and spend boondoggle of a transportation initiative without many more metros. I have lived overseas most of my life and came back to a country that isnt number one in anything but military spending and expensive health costs. Me thinks that tis time to leave this growing cess pool to others as I cant see the country doing anything else but going down in a slow death spiral of idiocracy….
The Social Diva
July 14th, 2012
7:47 am
The only knot this unties is in the politicians bank accounts. This will NOT untie any traffic unless you all plan on riding Marta, which is financially bankrupt. Even the city residents won’t ride it, how do you expect to expand it to the suburbs and expect us to ride it? And don’t get me started on more bike paths. From what I can see, the people on bikes like to ride in the road even if there IS a path!
The Social Diva
July 14th, 2012
7:49 am
Jo, perhaps you would be better served going back to whatever country you deem better than America.
TAX PEOPLE UNTIL THEY ARE TAXED TO DEATH
July 14th, 2012
7:52 am
all we need are just a few more TAXES
NO!!!!
July 14th, 2012
8:26 am
VOTE NO on this corrupt tax! It will line the pockets of connected parties, not help taxpayers!
VOTE YES to END the current practice of unlimited gifts by lobbyists to corrupt legislators.
The theft by government must end!
Sideline Dude
July 14th, 2012
8:41 am
NO, NO, NO. Read my lips, No New Taxes. Period.
‘Untie Atlanta’ isn’t a slogan for the rest of Georgia | Political Insider
July 14th, 2012
9:01 am
[...] Channel 2 Action News poll, conducted by the GOP-oriented firm Rosetta Stone Communications, showed support for the sales tax slipping in metro Atlanta. Fallout from the struggling campaign is showing up [...]
‘Untie Atlanta’ isn’t a slogan for the rest of Georgia
July 14th, 2012
10:45 am
[...] Channel 2 Action News poll, conducted by the GOP-oriented firm Rosetta Stone Communications, showed support for the sales tax slipping in metro Atlanta. Fallout from the struggling campaign is showing up [...]
Let’s Call It: T-SPLOST In Trouble
July 14th, 2012
10:46 am
[...] way, but a new Rosetta Stone poll, as reported by the Cox juggernaut of Lori Geary for WSB and Jim Galloway for the AJC, have what may be the Achilles heel being ripped at by new opposition. The measure losing favor [...]
Albert Einstein
July 14th, 2012
12:46 pm
If this tax was strictly for funding the expansion of a commuter rail system similar to the one in Washington DC I would vigorously support it. MARTA, and it exists now, has limited usefulness for those of us in the suburbs so we are forced to drive. Unfortunately, this referendum is one big thumbs down for me. We should be scrapping the I-75 toll project in favor of a commuter rail line heading to Acworth and Woodstock. I’m very dissappointed the decisions being made by the planners.