Thinking Right's weekend-free-for-all. Pick a topic:

> When metro Atlanta slips as deeply as the Europeans into the clutches of big government, expect here the tyranny of the lifestyle police that is on display in London. There drivers of "gas-guzzling" cars will be forced to pay almost $50 a day to enter central London, while those considered fuel-efficient enter free. The new rules, imposed by the mayor, start Oct. 27. The primary obstacle here is not that lifestyle-tyrants don't exist, but that there's no way to hem in those who would take flight: people and businesses. But our day will come when somebody tries.

> New York City Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg already has. He proposed to charge $8 for cars and $21 for trucks entering parts of Manhattan during peak hours. But wait. Democrats in the state Legislature pulled the plug this week. Opponents argued that it's a tax on the working class and that the array of cameras needed to enforce restrictions would violate privacy rights.

> New York and London can't do much about traffic, but developing cities, like those in metro Atlanta, shouldn't approve projects that overload existing or funded road upgrades. Don't make problems worse by adding high density to already congested streets.

> The Galleria area at I-75 and I-285 in Cobb County is metro Atlanta's emerging downtown. Two popular home-related shows announce that they're moving to Cobb in 2009, citing accessibility and free parking. The Southeastern Flower Show and the Spring Atlanta Home Show were previously at the Georgia World Congress Center. Congestion has consequences.

> The Legislature did have some worthwhile moments. A bill by state Rep. Jeff May (R- Monroe) cuts down on the games locals play with special elections, like the one the Cobb County Board of Education intends to call on Sept. 16 to extend the local option sales tax through 2013. May's legislation requires special elections on questions to be held in a primary or general election in even years and on two specified days in odd years, starting in 2010. The game has been to pick odd days when few people other than supporters are likely to show up.

> It's always fascinating to hear the persecuted say what they believe is in the minds of others. Cobb Commissioner Annette Kesting opines that "a lot of white folks are mad because I married a white man because I am a black woman."

> Public service pays. The Clintons' income since he left office is $109 million.

> Former Congressman Bob Barr may run for president as a Libertarian. I like him, but ... no third parties for me. The last spoiler got me eight years of Bill Clinton. And maybe eight more of Hillary.

> Headline: "States may save money by freeing inmates." Nobody saves money or lives putting bad guys back on the street. California may release 22,000 "nonviolent, nonsexual offenders."

> Yesterday's bad ideas are back. The chairman of the House Committee on Transportation, Rep. James Oberstar (D-Minn.), notes American Airlines' troubles this week with flight cancellations and warns that pressure is mounting to "re-regulate" the airline industry. The Airline Deregulation Act of 1978 was a highlight, maybe the highlight, of Jimmy Carter's presidency. It preceded more widespread industry deregulation by Ronald Reagan. Re-regulation is a seriously bad idea.

> Another bad idea resurfaces before the House Small Business Committee. Small-time truckers want price controls on fuel. President Nixon tried wage-and-price controls in 1971. Never again. It's amazing how much of the "change" promised by Democrats takes them back to yesterday's failed solutions.

> It can't be long before prominent members of the Party of Yesterday's Solutions calls for a boycott of the Olympic Games.

> Jim Wooten is the associate editorial page editor. His column appears Fridays, Sundays and Tuesdays. His Thinking Right blog appears daily.

jwooten@ajc.com