2012 Atlanta Region Transportation Referendum (Commerce, Dallas: lower-class, appointed, wages)

[PKCorey]

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[arjay57]

Originally Posted by rcsteiner

You mean small business owners? Large businesses don't seem to be doing that very much at the moment.

Well, what I've heard is that the job creators have been so crushed by Obama's gigantic new taxes and regulations and stimulus that they can't even think about hiring anybody.

[K-SawDude]

Originally Posted by south-to-west

Steve Brown completely misses the point of regionalism with that comment. People's travels within the metro area do not begin and end within their county lines. Rather a project like the interchange reconstruction of I-20/I-285 on the westside within the City of Atlanta will have a positive impact on the commutes of folks from Douglas County. The benefits that would arise from the extension of MARTA to Emory/CDC in Dekalb County would also be enjoyed by people coming from Fulton County and beyond. The Beltline/Atlanta Streetcar will allow visitors and residents to access regional amenities like Piedmont Park and the Aquarium, as well as connect people with jobs.

It's time that we stop thinking of ourselves as individual communities and instead adopt a more regional perspective.

I'm voting YES on the TSPLOST, but I think it's absolutely a fair criticism of the project list to say that too few of the projects are actually inter-county. I honestly think that was their biggest failure, as the project list seems to be mostly a collection of random projects within each county.

If this fails--which it seems like it will--I'd like to see Atlanta immediately move to raise a 1% tax for the Atlanta projects on the list. The suburban counties don't want to have anything to do with anything that says "Atlanta" on it anyway--especially the Beltline. So we might as well partition this already parochial bill into smaller lists.

The state will then need to figure out how to get the truly inter-county projects completed.

If the Chamber of Commerce, which has been holding water for Republicans for a while now, wants this stuff to pass, let's let them figure out how to get the legislature to do their job without a TSPLOST. Here's my suggestion for them: threaten to primary these legislators' butts out of office if they refuse to raise taxes and allocate the resources necessary for our economic growth.

[K-SawDude]

Originally Posted by arjay57

Well, what I've heard is that the job creators have been so crushed by Obama's gigantic new taxes and regulations and stimulus that they can't even think about hiring anybody.

That's largely perceptual and not particularly factual.

It's a right-wing talking point to claim Obama's business regulations are out of control. In reality, he's had fewer regulations than Bush did:
Obama Wrote 5% Fewer Rules Than Bush While Costing Business - Bloomberg

As the article points out, the higher costs of regulation are due to inflation more than anything else.

Small businesses are the primary engine of job creation, and 97% of them will not get any tax increases whatsoever under Obama's proposals: Amy Brundage: The Facts on Tax Cuts

I do think there are some health care reform related costs that are new for small businesses that employ more than 50 people.

Hiring practices are far more dependent on access to capital, but banks are still being too tight with credit and loans. That's the biggest reason why more small businesses aren't hiring right now, why we aren't seeing more start-ups, etc.

[cqholt]

Originally Posted by K-SawDude

I'm voting YES on the TSPLOST, but I think it's absolutely a fair criticism of the project list to say that too few of the projects are actually inter-county. I honestly think that was their biggest failure, as the project list seems to be mostly a collection of random projects within each county.

If this fails--which it seems like it will--I'd like to see Atlanta immediately move to raise a 1% tax for the Atlanta projects on the list. The suburban counties don't want to have anything to do with anything that says "Atlanta" on it anyway--especially the Beltline. So we might as well partition this already parochial bill into smaller lists.

The state will then need to figure out how to get the truly inter-county projects completed.

If the Chamber of Commerce, which has been holding water for Republicans for a while now, wants this stuff to pass, let's let them figure out how to get the legislature to do their job without a TSPLOST. Here's my suggestion for them: threaten to primary these legislators' butts out of office if they refuse to raise taxes and allocate the resources necessary for our economic growth.

I would support a 1% sales tax to fund beltline transit and streetcar lines. The sewer tax will expire in 2016.

[cwkimbro]

Originally Posted by cqholt

I would support a 1% sales tax to fund beltline transit and streetcar lines. The sewer tax will expire in 2016.

I have thought the same thing...

The only thing is.. while it isn't as sexy... There is one major thing the city needs...

the MOST tax was put into place to fix a decaying system. I'd like to see it extended to fix up other existing infrastructure first.

I want to see all the streets fixed, sidewalks fixed, and streetscapes enhances city-wide.

It will do alot to save Atlanta money in the future (money is being wasted, since they can't keep up and maintain infrastructure at the most efficient moment to do so... in other words.. the longer you wait the more it costs.. and they were forced to wait), but I suspect it will also do alot to attract development back to the city as well. No one wants to move into a building and be surrounded be streets with bad sidewalks and potholes.

While we are at it... I think Dekalb needs this too!

Gwinnett and Cobb, while traditionally have better maintained roads, have been starting to fall behind due to cutbacks since the recession.

[cwkimbro]

Originally Posted by K-SawDude

I'm voting YES on the TSPLOST, but I think it's absolutely a fair criticism of the project list to say that too few of the projects are actually inter-county..

This is true in parts, but I do think credit is due in many places.

-The emory rail line does connect a major employment center to the existing transit systems.

-Gwinnett Co. projects are mostly along regional thoroughfares and projects identified in regional planning. They are putting alot of investments in better linking Forsyth and N. Fulton to Western Gwinnett. They are also putting a great deal of investments along the 316 corridor and the Sugarloaf extension is a huge intra-county route that connects major inter-county routes.

-Cobb transit, while this has gotten alot of criticism for not being able to to far enough... it is attempting to connect Cobb to Atlanta's core (and MARTA rail) with premium transit.

-The commuter rail line to lovejoy is multi-county.

-Atlanta core arterial streets get an overhaul. I'm sort of ok with that. These are streets people from across the region share. Even though we have so many suburb-to-suburb commuters, Atlanta's core is still shared by all.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by K-SawDude

That's largely perceptual and not particularly factual.

It's a right-wing talking point to claim Obama's business regulations are out of control. In reality, he's had fewer regulations than Bush did:
Obama Wrote 5% Fewer Rules Than Bush While Costing Business - Bloomberg

As the article points out, the higher costs of regulation are due to inflation more than anything else.

Small businesses are the primary engine of job creation, and 97% of them will not get any tax increases whatsoever under Obama's proposals: Amy Brundage: The Facts on Tax Cuts

I do think there are some health care reform related costs that are new for small businesses that employ more than 50 people.

Hiring practices are far more dependent on access to capital, but banks are still being too tight with credit and loans. That's the biggest reason why more small businesses aren't hiring right now, why we aren't seeing more start-ups, etc.

Thanks, K-Saw. That makes sense. You never hear Team Obama point that out, however.

[rcsteiner]

Originally Posted by arjay57

Well, what I've heard is that the job creators have been so crushed by Obama's gigantic new taxes and regulations and stimulus that they can't even think about hiring anybody.

Interesting that record low tax levels could crush business interests so thoroughly.

[neil0311]

Originally Posted by arjay57

Well, what I've heard is that the job creators have been so crushed by Obama's gigantic new taxes and regulations and stimulus that they can't even think about hiring anybody.

The issue is the threatened tax increases and actual, huge increases in the budget baseline which has translated to fiscal deficits well over a trillion dollars per year for years (based on the Obama administration estimates). Borrowing at government levels drains away or raises the cost of capital available for private investment. That impacts on jobs and overall economic expansion.

The uncertainty about whether or not the federal income tax rates will increase, whether or not energy costs will increase due to new taxes, whether or not healthcare costs will increase due to new regulations, statutes, and taxes, and the exploding national debt are all the drags on small and large businesses.

As long as Obama and his supporters continue to use class warfare as a strategy, it will cause uncertainty and will be a drag on hiring. Most small business owners file as sub-chapter S or sole-proprietor, which means they are filing their business income along with their personal income. So these business owners qualify as "rich" according to Obama, and if you look at the distribution of federal tax payers today, 50% of wage earners pay nothing, while small business owners and other higher wage earners pay the lion's share of all federal taxes.

If you didn't know what your tax bill would be, or what your healthcare overhead would be, or exactly what the ramifications are to you of expanding your business or hiring additional employees, would you?