Tea Party slams transportation plan (Atlanta: how much, income, taxes)

[carrot]

Debbie Dooley, from what I can understand, does not like the revised tax plan on gas...which, all is all, is use based. You don't want to pay the tax, figure out a way not to drive.

My question is...why do I not hear ANYTHING from the TP about the 1 billion dollar (probably well over 1 billion when all said and done) new 400/285 interchange? In my mind this couldn't be a more egregious waste of dollars. Yet they cry about this revised tax. Its not like the interchange is falling apart...its not that old. All this billion dollars is doing is shaving 5 minutes off a commute, so more people will want to live up that way, creating more traffic, so we can come back in 20 years a put another billion into an interchange.

I don't get the tea party. I want to believe in them, but there seems to be some hypocrisy there. They fight for what is convenient for them I guess.

[JMatl]

Surprise!

[arjay57]

Sounds like they are out to nip this thing in the bud.

Republicans who know which side their bread is buttered on will be listening. If you haul off and start raising taxes you will lose a lot of the base.

[Mutiny77]

Originally Posted by arjay57

Sounds like they are out to nip this thing in the bud.

Republicans who know which side their bread is buttered on will be listening. If you haul off and start raising taxes you will lose a lot of the base.

It's just ridiculous to be opposed to a targeted tax increase in one of the most rapidly growing metro areas in the country strictly because of ideology.

[skbl17]

I'd like to see their plan. Oh, that's right, they don't really have one.

- skbl17

[cwkimbro]

Tea party slams transportation plan as local officials fret | www.ajc.com

Just so there is some type of report for the conversation..

I don't know of any particular hypocrisy directly linking Dooley, this plan, and that interchange as a single project. That might be OTP vs ITP, liberal vs conservative generalization.


However, I'm going to slam her on a very real direct hypocrisy.

I had the opportunity to see her at some community meetings during the TSPLOST stuff. To be honest... she is a bit nutty! However, in her diehard anti-TSPLOST rhetoric she several times claimed to support raising the gas tax. This isn't even so much as a tax hike as much as it is redirecting revenue to where it should go.

(yes, I realize local governments might have to get more income somehow, but it is also possible the state will be able to spend more within local boundaries too via regional state corridors that have been underinvested. I know this plays out in Gwinnett. Roads have expanded largely with county money. We can take county money away and let the GDOT spend it, so long as it helps regional corridors going in and out of Gwinnett... we are better off.)

But still... in terms of this Dooley character, it is a pretty distinct, direct hypocrisy.

[Atlwarrior]

Originally Posted by carrot

Debbie Dooley, from what I can understand, does not like the revised tax plan on gas...which, all is all, is use based. You don't want to pay the tax, figure out a way not to drive.

My question is...why do I not hear ANYTHING from the TP about the 1 billion dollar (probably well over 1 billion when all said and done) new 400/285 interchange? In my mind this couldn't be a more egregious waste of dollars. Yet they cry about this revised tax. Its not like the interchange is falling apart...its not that old. All this billion dollars is doing is shaving 5 minutes off a commute, so more people will want to live up that way, creating more traffic, so we can come back in 20 years a put another billion into an interchange.

I don't get the tea party. I want to believe in them, but there seems to be some hypocrisy there. They fight for what is convenient for them I guess.

Why was she so quiet about the Braves stadium and Cobb County tax money. The tea party local headquarters is in Cobb County. So hypocritical and need to be quiet.

[Gulch]

Originally Posted by Atlwarrior

Why was she so quiet about the Braves stadium and Cobb County tax money. The tea party local headquarters is in Cobb County. So hypocritical and need to be quiet.

She wasn't:

Braves stadium is expected to be filed against the Cobb County Commission in the next 10 days.

Channel 2's Lori Geary spoke to Atlanta Tea Party Patriots founder Debbie Dooley, who said it's about public money going into a private enterprise.

"We believe this is an unconstitutional use of the money, the taxpayer money," Dooley told Geary.

Dooley said the problem is the proposal uses almost $9 million a year from the general fund to help pay off the $300 million in bonds.

She calls it creative financing by the Cobb Commission.

"We believe the legal advice they received was on shaky ground," Dooley said.

[cwkimbro]

Yea I was about to say... I heard the complaints too. I think Cobb is a mixed back between people being excited and concerned.

I just think the main stream in Cobb likes the idea of having the Braves nearby.

[Gulch]

Originally Posted by cwkimbro

I just think the main stream in Cobb likes the idea of having the Braves nearby.

Most of that group probably has no clue about how much they're on the hook for nor how bad the traffic is going to be.