So much political intrigue.
The news that Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle will stay put rather than run for governor is causing several politicians to rethink what their next move will be.
Folks who had been thinking about jumping in the lieutenant governor’s race now are seeking alternative races because few want to take on an incumbent.
But here’s the discouraging reality.
By Guest Columnist SAM OLENS;
Chairman of the Cobb County Commission
Chairman of the Atlanta Regional Commission
President Barack Obama’s stimulus package is bad unless it helps balance the State budget; property tax reform is needed but not accomplished; trauma funds are essential but not approved; water conservation and supply was a non-issue; transportation funding and MARTA were left in the dark; a win for the Governor on Georgia Department of Transportation governance; and confirmation of last year’s homeowners tax relief grant with a huge property tax increase later this year.
There’s so much blame to go around.
The political stalemate between Gov. Sonny Perdue, Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle and House Speaker Glenn Richardson means the Atlanta region is in a standstill when it comes to new transportation funding.
The implications are enormous.
Enough already.
State legislators need to stop trying to take control of MARTA or Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
Some legislators just don’t get it. They keep orchestrating plots or plans or bills for the state to take over our largest public transit system and the world’s busiest airport.
These are the same state leaders who have done virtually nothing to support either.
My friends with the Georgia Association of Railroad Passengers asked if I could help clear up confusion on what constitutes the different might of passenger rail.
It’s probably wishful thinking, but I keep hoping Georgia will decide sooner rather than later to dedicate its transportation future to rail as other states, like North Carolina, have done.
But I agreed that it would be helpful if we could agree on a set of definitions for the different forms of rail transportation.
The Metro Atlanta Chamber keeps hoping for a transportation funding bill to come out of this year’s General Assembly.
At its board meeting today, chamber leaders heard from Tommie Williams (R-Lyons), president pro tem of the state Senate, who bascially said that governance must come before new funding.
That has been the position of Gov. Sonny Perdue since he unveiled his plan to change the governance structure of the state’s transportation
What a mess.
The political puzzle at the Georgia Capitol these days resembles a Rubik’s Cube — especially when it comes to transportation issues.
The Georgia Senate, which is led by Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle,
The United States must actively change must of its behavior to reduce carbon emissions, but those changes actually could contribute to a much healthier economy and planet.
Bracken Hendricks, a senior fellow with the Center for American Progress, was the keynote speaker at Southface’s annual Visionary Dinner on March 11 at the Georgia Aquarium.
Hendricks has been focusing on the issues of climate change, energy independence,
Georgia Labor Commissioner Michael Thurmond told Atlanta Kiwanis today that the United States is “witnessing a restructuring of the 20th Century economy” — a restructuring that has led to 12.6 million Americans and 416,000 Georgians becoming unemployed.
Thurmond calls this time “the Great Recession” and in his mind, this period provides an opportunity for American workers.
“We can rebuild, re-educate, retrain tens of thousands of Americans,” Thurmond said.
Aaaaaaagggghhh!!!!!!???!!!
Gov. Sonny Pedue’s proposal to restructure Georgia transportation bureaucracy is analagous to a surgeon performing a hip replacement when a patient needs a heart transplant.
The measure doesn’t address our long-standing, most pressing problem — congestion in the Atlanta region. In fact, it could make the situation worse.
