Transportation Tax - Opposition (Atlanta, Decatur: home, taxes, to move)

[gtcorndog]

It looks like those evil, right wing, flat earth, obstructionist teabaggers are opposing progress again.

Oh wait...

LINK

[JPD]

Maybe you should have read the article, or hell, even just the headline, before making a fool of yourself.

[gtcorndog]

Originally Posted by JPD

Maybe you should have read the article, or hell, even just the headline, before making a fool of yourself.

Your post is so full of FAIL.

[JPD]

Please explain. The Sierra Club's opposition is because the T-SPLOST money mostly goes to road building. They're right about that, but wrong to oppose it since this is the only trasnit investment we'll be seeing for a long, long time.

[ericsonga]

Originally Posted by JPD

Maybe you should have read the article, or hell, even just the headline, before making a fool of yourself.

I believe the OP was being a touch facetious.

[gtcorndog]

Originally Posted by ericsonga

I believe the OP was being a touch facetious.

[arjay57]

I look at this referendum on a business basis, not a political or ideological one. If we don't deal with transportation now our competitiveness will suffer and we'll continue to fall further behind.

Decades ago Atlanta jumped out front by aggressive, long term transportation planning. That's what has set us apart -- Hartsfield Jackson airport; becoming the core of the Interstate Highway system in the southeast; MARTA rail. Without our transportation infrastructure, we'd be Birmingham or Jacksonville rather than a top tier city.

However, all those are things we put in motion 40 or 50 years ago. We've ridden a long way on that momentum but it's now running very thin. We simply haven't made the investments to keep up.

That's why the business community and nearly all local governments are so strongly behind this. It's our one shot to stay in the game. If we blow this, metro Atlanta might as well hang it up.

“If we don’t pass this, we don’t need to go on another LINK trip,” said Sam Williams, president of the Metro Atlanta Chamber, during the wrap-up session on April 20. “We should just go to a funeral.”

Leaders return from D.C. unified on July 31 vote - Atlanta Business Chronicle

[JPD]

Originally Posted by ericsonga

I believe the OP was being a touch facetious.

Of course he was, and it was to make a point. Unfortunately for him, the article actually makes the opposite point.

[JPD]

Originally Posted by arjay57

I look at this referendum on a business basis, not a political or ideological one. If we don't deal with transportation now our competitiveness will suffer and we'll continue to fall further behind.

Decades ago Atlanta jumped out front by aggressive, long term transportation planning. That's what has set us apart -- Hartsfield Jackson airport; becoming the core of the Interstate Highway system in the southeast; MARTA rail. Without our transportation infrastructure, we'd be Birmingham or Jacksonville rather than a top tier city.

However, all those are things we put in motion 40 or 50 years ago. We've ridden a long way on that momentum but it's now running very thin. We simply haven't made the investments to keep up.

That's why the business community and nearly all local governments are so strongly behind this. It's our one shot to stay in the game. If we blow this, metro Atlanta might as well hang it up.

I agree completely. As does Bill Floyd, Mayor of Decatur:

Decatur mayor: Tea partiers, South DeKalb won't cheer if transportation tax fails... Charlotte and Dallas will | Atlanta News & Opinion Blog | Fresh Loaf | Creative Loafing Atlanta

“The key to it is to let people understand what’s at stake here. I heard someone say this last week: Who do you think is gonna be cheering when this doesn’t pass on Aug. 1? Is it gonna be the tea party people? Is it gonna be those in South DeKalb? Is it gonna be those who think we’re paying a penny and we don’t want to pay any more? It’s gonna be Charlotte, it’s gonna be Dallas, it’s gonna be Phoenix. It’s gonna be everybody we compete with for jobs on a daily basis. They will know we’ve stepped back from the plate. They will know we are not willing to take the steps here to move this region forward.”

[ericsonga]

Originally Posted by JPD

Of course he was, and it was to make a point. Unfortunately for him, the article actually makes the opposite point.

Isn't that the point of being facetious? Oh, well.

Back to the original topic, I completely agree with most of the claims about metro Atlanta truly suffering without this passing. I rarely get pulled into these doom and gloom scenarios, however, I have heard too much from too many sources out there to not be convinced. We have too much competition too close to home to ignore these issues any longer. I don't want to pay more taxes, however, there comes a time to remember our civic duty. I am actually in favor of also raising the insanely low gas tax, significantly.