Thinking Right

By Mid-South Philosopher

February 2, 2007 08:04 AM | Link to this

Good morning, Jim,

In today’s column, you report:

State Rep. David Casas (R-Lilburn) has a poison pill for the Senate-passed bill to provide scholarships, or vouchers, for special needs children in public schools. He’s introduced legislation to apply a host of regulations to private schools that take public school children.

My old father had a saying, not original with him of course, “As long as you put your feet under my table, you eat from my menu.”

Voucher lovers, be careful of for what you ask…public monies, whether invested in the inept public schools or in the elite private campuses, equal public regulations.

By jbmlaw

February 2, 2007 08:06 AM | Link to this

Good morning all. I am a curmudgeon today, so let’s open with a sour word: while President Bush had laudable intentions in requiring a “gatekeeper” to rein in the excesses of the regulators, the devil is in the details. If the gatekeeper comes from the agency, is that not still allowing the lunatics to run the asylum? Each agency gatekeeper needs to come from OMB, or at least be a sophomore majoring in economics at Georgia State.

So the Fulton County DA has actual knowledge of 600 apparently ineligible voters on the rolls. Unfortunately we don’t have the competence of a Mike Nifong to pursue those who would corrupt our elections. 15% false in a sample of 3,500 sounds statistically significant to me.

Taxes generally, and income taxes in particular, serve only to erode the investible wealth of society. Our legislature determines who merits exemption – I cannot imagine why anyone would object to having struggling young couples with children covering the portion not paid by millionaires over age 65. The way out of the thicket is to eliminate the class warfare, abolish stupid taxes. Rule of life: anything labeled as “progressive” is one notch this side of criminally unethical.

On death penalty, I would allow a vote of 3/12 to allow a judge to impose death, at the discretion of the judge. I am more favorably impressed with our judges’ capacity to set appropriate penalties than with the juries (and admittedly judges are easier on criminals, but that is generally good from the jbmlaw view.) Plus, if we put the burden back on the judges, and hold an occasional election, we would have accountability in the system. The fact is, juries are accountable to nobody.

On the lottery, every time they advertise that they have funded $300 billion or whatever in scholarships, I always wonder how much they kept to fund the staff.

By Techmite

February 2, 2007 08:07 AM | Link to this

• Hmmm. “Macaca,” when used by a U.S. senator with presidential ambitions, is a crime warranting public execution. When a U.S. senator with presidential ambitions declares Barack Obama to be the first African-American candidate who is “articulate and bright, and clean, and is a nice-looking guy …,” the excuse-makers pour forth. Imagine the reaction if a Republican, say former U.S. Sen. George Allen of Virginia, had used the same language as Sen. Joe

Could it be because right wing trash is openly xenophobic, bigots, racists, and nativists? Republicans wear it like some badge of honor.

By Jeff

February 2, 2007 08:10 AM | Link to this

This one is off topic, then I’ll get to the various topics:

I just saw a report on the CBS morning show about the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff refilling the First Lady’s coffee yesterday at some event, and forgetting to refill the President’s. So President Bush gets up, refills his coffee, then refills the General’s. Note that the story blamed the general for his gaff. It did NOT point out that the President was being almost the PERFECT example of a servant leader!!!!!! (A perfect example would have been to refill the General’s coffee first.)

Back to topics:

Traffic lights: Two easy solutions: A)Get rid of them all together,. They are an invasion of privacy and the first small step to a true Big Brother system. B) STOP at the lights!!!!!

President Bush’s “watchdogs”: There was a vent that had a VERY good point today: Lenin had “watchdogs” too…..

Death penalty: A 2/3 majority is required to put an ammendement to the Constitution on the ballot (at any level). Sounds good to me for death penalty as well. (Note that 2/3 of 12 is EIGHT!)

By Jim's a Cherry Picker

February 2, 2007 08:18 AM | Link to this

Hi Jim,

Oh, the hypocrisy!

The champion of the same mindset that blocked, prevented, stalled and otherwise handicapped Atlanta from developing a solid mass transit system back in the day is now not only chiding Atlanta for not having one, but snottily demanding that it come up with an affordable plan.

That’s some great analysis Jim. What’s your plan? More busses that sit in traffic with everyone else? Some more hov lanes?

Since you’re such a visionary, I’d love to hear it.

By KP

February 2, 2007 08:21 AM | Link to this

Jim,

In no forum can a comment, macaca, intended as an insult, comes off as an insult, and actually insulted the person it was hurled at be compared to calling a black man “clean”. If Mr. Obama doesn’t feel it was an insult, then who are you to question it? I mean damn, Jesse Jackson didn’t even think it was an insult. As a black man, I don’t find it an insult either. Call me “clean and articulate” and I’ll say thank you. We already know if you speak correct grammar, that a white person will say “you speak so well!” Real Talk

By jbmlaw

February 2, 2007 08:24 AM | Link to this

Dear Techmite @ 8:07, just to clear the air, I will officially proclaim you “articulate and bright, and clean, and a nice looking guy.” But only if you go take a bath.

By Jeff

February 2, 2007 08:30 AM | Link to this

ATL’s problem with mass transit:

Geography.

Other cities with real mass tranist have a few things working for them:

a) Most destinations are within a few square miles of each other (DC, NYC for example)

b) Geographically dense population centers. Look at Phoenix, for example. Due to the mountain ranges at all four corners of the city, most traffic into the city is concentrated within predictable directions. Put mass transit along these corridors and all of a sudden it becomes feasible for many people to use it.

Note that ATL has NEITHER.

By TW

February 2, 2007 08:40 AM | Link to this

• No wonder radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr appears to be reining in his supporters. He thinks he’s won. Here, in Congress, not there.

“Any man can make mistakes, but only and idiot persists in his error” - Cicero

By Th

February 2, 2007 08:56 AM | Link to this

I don’t know how many people in comgress think al-Sadr has already won, but there are Americans who are pretty sure of it. This McClatchey article tells what and how al-Sadr has done the deed: http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/16600612.htm. Bagdad is just a warm-up for the main event in Kirkuk when the Shias and Sunnis take on the Kurds. There is a referendum scheduled for this fall on the final status of the area (and its oil). The two peshmerga armies were estimated at 80,000 before we invaded. The Mahdi army, the Badr brigade and the old Sunni army leaders will have their work cut out for them. The big question is whether our soldiers will be caught in the cross-fire.

By LivingRight

February 2, 2007 09:20 AM | Link to this

Someone just told me that these soldiers of ours are not the green plastic ones that come in bags of 50 at Toys R Us… might have to reevaluate my ‘support’.

By Van

February 2, 2007 09:32 AM | Link to this

Techmite,

When Byrd or Biden make a foot in mouth statement, it gets a pass because the lefties are alway right and have good intentions.

When a Senator says something to put a smile on the face of a 100 year old ex senator at his birthday party, it is deemed racist and calls for a public flogging, because as you said, because the conservatives or “right wing trash is openly xenophobic, bigots, racists, and nativists?”

You make perfect sense, and that is why Al Gore Senior voted against the Civil Rights Act, why Byrd worked against that same bill and why it took republicans to get it passed in a democrat controlled congress.

By Th

February 2, 2007 09:34 AM | Link to this

That would be coNgress. I do not include myself in those who think al-Sadr has won. I think he is the most likely to win in the long run, but he’s not there yet. The dirty little secret of Iranian involvement in Iraq is that they are supporting the same people we are. Now you know why the Clinton administration always preferred a Sunni military coup to take care of Saddam. It would maintain a counter-balance to Iran instead of an creating a new ally.

By azcat225

February 2, 2007 09:35 AM | Link to this

Color me confused regarding the brouhaha over redlight runners getting caught..umm…redhanded. The simplest solution is to not break the law. Sounds to me like one of Richardson’s good friends has gotten one too many video tickets and is cashing in some of his (or her) contribution chips.

Maybe Jeff is right—-let’s just abolish redlights and stop signs and all those other impositions on our expression of free will while driving.

By regulator

February 2, 2007 09:41 AM | Link to this

Gosh Jim, you have doted on Shrub so much that your columns have begun to make no sense at all, like his presidency(with a little p). The special needs vouchers are a joke, check out the special needs programs at Marist, Pace, Darlington etc.,gee there are none. Where will theses kids use these vouchers?

By Jay

February 2, 2007 09:43 AM | Link to this

I don’t get the hostility to “those infernal cameras to ticket motorists who dash through caution lights.”

What happened to law and order? If you don’t want a ticket, don’t run the light! The revenue argument is weak. If no one ran red lights, there would be no money. But because the camera doesn’t differentiate between rich and poor, male or female, black or white, citizen or politician, some people hate it.

By Jeff

February 2, 2007 09:44 AM | Link to this

azcat:

I am not opposed to the lights themselves, I am opposed to the cameras. Maybe I should have been more clear in my original post, sorry

By Jim's a Cherry Picker

February 2, 2007 09:45 AM | Link to this

Jeff,

True, but Atlanta’s real problem is a lack of foresight on it’s leaders’ parts in the 70s & 80s, and a tendency to favor unplanned developer-oriented sprawl over planned growth centered on infrastructure development…e.g., build the infrastructure first, then develop the land - or at least do them in conjunction with one another.

Jim’s preference, and that of many “right-thinking” individuals, is to allow developers to do their thing with little or no partnership from local governments. So home builders build homes, strip mall builders build strip malls, office builders build offices and road builders build roads, but none is done with any regard to the traffic congestion all that development would bring, much less the larger consequences to the region.

Viola! A mess.

How nice would it be if that suburban Dad in Marietta with his 2.5 children could drive, walk, bike or take a bus to a nearby marta station and take a train to any one of a number of economic centers…Winward Pkway, Midtown, Dowtown, Duluth, Lawrenceville…heck, even Athens or beyond.

But that’s not what Jim wanted. Jim wanted that Dad to have the “freedom” to drive to all those places. That dad, as well as the thousands of others out there. Oh, and that’s not to mention their teenage children, who are endangering themselves and those around them to the point that Sonny had to change the laws and ask the good people of Georgia in his state of the state address to slow down.

It’s crazy. Driving is for chumps. We got what we deserved.

Thanks Jim!

By jbmlaw

February 2, 2007 09:48 AM | Link to this

Dear Azcat225 @ 9:35, I think you are on the right path, even if it is not the one you intended to pursue. I can think of no reason a red light or stop sign or speed limit should be anything more than “advisory” for drivers. The only time they should come into play is when there is an accident, where the breach has significance. Otherwise, as a mere tool to impoverish our populace, traffic control devices are reprehensible.

For a broader explanation of the basis for my argument, I recommend an article about the Dutch at http://www.opinionjournal.com/taste/?id=110009614

By Buy Danish

February 2, 2007 09:48 AM | Link to this

Otherwise I’d exempt, say, one-income married couples younger than 30 with children younger than 10. Their need is greater.

The only reason to exempt seniors from the income tax is to attract self-sufficient people to the state who might otherwise retire in Florida. A cost-benefit analysis would need to be done to determine if the State would reap tangible benefits in the form of additional revenue that could ultimately reduce all our taxes. In Florida the absence of an income tax is offset by higher property taxes.

One problem I forsee is that many counties already exempt seniors from paying school taxes on their property tax (which I disagree with). That exemption only makes the burden higher for those who are not exempt by narrowing the number of people who pay. We all pay for services that assist seniors, why shouldn’t they be responsible like the rest of us to insure that the next generation are educated? If they are now to be exempt from income tax, they would be getting almost a free ride, despite the fact that many of them are very well off.

Regarding Jim’s idea to exempt people under thirty, I don’t know that we should be encouraging 18 years olds to have children by exempting them from taxes, married or not.

Re Biden’s gaffe, Dems are laughing it off and writing him off, but if it was a Republican there would have been no laughter but indignant OUTRAGE.

By Jeff

February 2, 2007 09:55 AM | Link to this

JCP:

The basic principle STILL applies:

Either condense the land area where MOST people work

OR

Condense the area where most people live.

Which of those two is easier for ATL to do at this point?

By getalife

February 2, 2007 10:07 AM | Link to this

If you have relatives in central Florida, you may want to check on them.

By Dennis

February 2, 2007 10:15 AM | Link to this

Mr. Wooten writes; “President Bush signs an executive order requiring each agency to have an appointee acting as gatekeeper to analyze the cost and benefits of proposed new rules and regulations and to make certain agencies act on his priorities.”

“act on his priorities.”

Does that mean Haliburton et.al. cannot get any more “no bid” contracts as well?

Otherwise, it means a stooge in every department to make sure nobody monitors Bush/Cheney when wasting taxpayer dollars.

You don’t have to be a blind conservative not to see it, just an ignorant one to deny it.

By Redneck Convert

February 2, 2007 10:19 AM | Link to this

Show me a bus or a train and I’ll show you a traffic jam. MARTA was set up to make working folk pay for the transportashun of Those People. You don’t see but one MARTA station outside the perimeter on the north side where the good folk live. I say get rid of it. It’s like welfare. You pay and pay and pay and get nothing from it for yourself except traffic tie-ups and more paying.

I say make the folk that’s having all the babies pay all the school taxes. If some guy wants to tee off on his missus he shouldn’t expect the rest of us to pay for his sex. Us rednecks get real riled up when it comes to other people having sex. People got to take Personal Responsibility. It don’t matter how old they are. If they got kids they need to pay thru the nose.

And don’t go giving tax breaks to the old coots. All they do is play golf and live off of the fat of the land. Us working folk without kids in school need to get the tax breaks.

Well, I want everybody to have a good weekend and I hope TFTT got the help he needs and can talk without screaming and acting crazy today. It’s just like England to send us their nutcases and keep the ones that’s normal. His heart is right but he’s missing a valve or two in his engine.

By Jim's a Cherry Picker

February 2, 2007 10:27 AM | Link to this

Jeff,

Neither of those options are valid at this point…it’s too late.

And that premise smacks of something that is totally unacceptable to a lot of the folks who made the burbs the burbs: planning.

Thos people don’t want nobody telling them where they can build their mcmansion, where they can drive or when. They want it all right now. All of them. Even if they have to sit in traffic to get it.

By jm

February 2, 2007 10:31 AM | Link to this

jmblaw@8:06 - I would rather that sophmore at Georgia State be a major in accounting than economics.

TH@8:56 - If I am the kurds, I am more worried about the Turks than the shia and sunni of iraq teaming up.

Regarding Rep. Casas poison pill: If the regulations you seem to object currently apply to public schools, maybe you should vent your anger at them. If private schools want access to public money, they should have to play by the same rules that public schools do. Sounds to me that the real problem are the regulations (not all of which are there because of the teacher’s union).

By Jim's a Cherry Picker

February 2, 2007 10:32 AM | Link to this

You know Jeff,

Now that I think about it, what your’re saying makes me think that there are some real parallels to Atlanta’s traffic mess and Iraq.

A bunch of people with narrow interests and little foresight created a mess that has few viable solutions. And the solutions that are avaialable are very expensive long term, meaning that it will be years and years before the benefits are realized.

Your solution, for example, might have been practical 30 or 40 years ago, as well as much cheaper. But those who benefited from sprawl have already made theirs and gone…they don’t care about a solution to their mess. Just like those who foisted this war on us…they’ll be out off office soon enough, hunting quail in Texas and doing the ocassional guest spot on some conservative talk show…laughing all the way to the bank.

We’re the losers in both cases.

By Symbolic Capital

February 2, 2007 10:34 AM | Link to this

The problem with Biden’s Obama comments is not the word “clean.” I accept his explanation that he meant “untainted.” Where some, including myself, see the unacknowledged racism is the constant buzz of how articulate and well-dressed Obama is, as if this is something remarkable in an African American. I work at an historically black college (I’m white). Every day, I see hundreds of African Americans as bright, articulate and well-dressed as Barack Obama. College-educated people tend to be all these things, at least those in public office. Everybody in Congress wears suits and is fairly bright, and most of them have been to college. Obama graduated in the top hof his class at Harvard Law School, for God’s sake. Ever met a Harvard Law grad who wasn’t articulate, well-dressed “clean” and bright and all that stuff?

Let’s stop being surprised that accomplished people of any race or ethnicity are articulate, well-dressed, etc. Such characteristics go with the territory.

By Jeff

February 2, 2007 10:47 AM | Link to this

regarding Obama:

Does anyone else here see the problem of the JUNIOR Senator from Illinois running for President?

Oh… wait a sec…. the JUNIOR Senator from New York is his major opponent at this point, and the last time Democrats ran for President, they ran the JUNIOR Senator from Massachusetts along with the JUNIOR Senator from North Carolinaas his potential VP!

Why don’t any of the SENIOR Senators run???????

By azcat225

February 2, 2007 10:50 AM | Link to this

jbm: If we were, as a society, at the same point as the Dutch, I would agree with you. However, I would never venture out in Atlanta traffic if I knew all those other drivers out there now knew all of the various traffic control devices were purely “advisory” in nature. Sorting it out after the accident would be small comfort.

I stand by my original point—-some one called in some chips with Mr. Richardson. That seems to be the way this state works, be it under GOP or Dem control. When I retire, it will be back out West somewhere, where the attitudes and living are more similar to the “Dutch” model.

By jm

February 2, 2007 10:56 AM | Link to this

Jeff@10:47 - I would not worry too much, the last person to go directly from the Senate to the Presidency was John Kennedy, in 1960.

By Jeff

February 2, 2007 11:01 AM | Link to this

azcat:

You wouldn’t happen to be from the Great State of Arizona, would ya?

If you are, and can give some advice to a dude moving to Phoenix, hit me up: ajc_jeff@yahoo.com

By J

February 2, 2007 11:12 AM | Link to this

Really, I’ve had about enough of the pity-party for former Senator Macaca. It would have been one thing if it had been the lone incident - then I would feel like it was blown out of proportion. But this the guy who had the noose in his office, all the confederate flag stuff, and referred to public recognition of his Jewish heritage as “casting aspersions” on him. He dug his own political grave.

I will agree that there is a double-standard between the two parties when it comes to race issues (or, really, racial comments). Of course, there’s a double-standard that cuts the opposite direction on military and national security matters. If you want an example, see Jim’s tripe above about how the Congress wants the terrorists to win.

I love how “conservatives” think that the best way to defend democracy is for everyone to shut the hell up and do what they say.

PS - nobody actually cares about Biden’s presidential “candidacy”, and this flap will probably be the high-water mark for it. Go back to shilling for credit card companies, Joe.

By Howard

February 2, 2007 11:16 AM | Link to this

Jim…loved your comments on “maccaca” or whatever that insidious words was…you very succintly proved liberals are some of the biggest hypocrites in the world. I offer you my definition of liberal: “A hypocritical busy-body who knows the best way to run YOUR life and spend YOUR money.” As to the state income tax section…I love living here in Florida, but I’m here to tell you that if Georgia would drop their state income tax, there would be more people from Florida moving to south Georgia than you could imagine. The property tax issue and the blackmail-type insurance rates down here have made Florida ripe for the picking by any other state that could provide an incentive to move.

By azcat225

February 2, 2007 11:18 AM | Link to this

Jim: Are you filtering postings now? I have to say, I had semi-given up on the blog here, with all the rantings from the same 8-10 pitbulls of all stripes and patterns. So far today, it has been pleasant and illuminating (for the most part).

Jeff: Lived in AZ for 12 years, moved here in late ‘90. However, I lived in Tucson all that time, so my opinions would be admittedly biased. If you like, or think you would like, living in L.A., then Phoenix will be a very close second to that. I always made the analogy that Phoenix is to Tucson as L.A. is to San Diego. I can email you more if you’d like, but AZ in general was a fine place to live, with some amazing geographic diversity.

By C.W. Odessa

February 2, 2007 11:23 AM | Link to this

Mr. Wooten cries out for an affordable transit system. “Affordable” is his code for “don’t raise my taxes”. Given the choice between higher taxes or environmental disaster, Wooten chooses environmental disaster (unless of course he can either borrow the money and pass the debt to future generations or shift the tax burden to the poor by replacing a progressive income tax with a regressive sales tax).

Raise my taxes if necessary. I’ll pay whatever it takes to mitigate the damage we’ve already done to the planet. If we don’t get serious now, drought, starvation and water wars are what billions of our children have to look forward to. It’s time to pull our heads our of our a*******es. The days of don’t raise my taxes — regardless of the consequences — must end.

By holdingAJCaccountable

February 2, 2007 11:27 AM | Link to this

If conservatives have been found to be just as spineless on classroom discipline as former Governor Roy (blame teachers first) Barnes, at least they’ve had the sense to tackle the institutional spinelessness in a backhanded way with charter schools and vouchers.

So the Republicans have a little problem to solve in State Rep. David Casas? Simple. Put him on an education committee and as part of a “fact finding mission” let him substitute teach for a couple of weeks.

Not only will he drop the “poison pill” most likely he have to be monitored 24/7 to make sure he doesn’t drop a real poison pill down his own throat.

If conservatives are going to oppose the stem cell reseach that might give them the backbone to actually support teachers on discipline, at least give them credit for the vouchers and charters that will dismantle the status quo as we know it, so that not only parents will have choice, but teachers and administrators will have some free market choices as well in being able to participate in real reform, not the facade we have now.

Don’t be fooled by the knee jerk reactions of the AFT and the NEA. There are plenty of teachers out there who would embrace this.

By Jeff

February 2, 2007 11:29 AM | Link to this

az:

Less than a week from now I will be roughly 10,000 feet in the air on approach to PHX. If everything goes as planned that weekend, I will fly back here to GA, pack my gear, and move to AZ within the month. (Planned start date is 01.March) Email me any info you think will be useful. Gracias senor (o eres senora?)

By tired

February 2, 2007 11:30 AM | Link to this

C.W. Odessa:

It sounds like you believe our current tax system is effective. Is it that you believe the Fair tax would not work? The reduction of mountains of tax rules to basically none. Can you clarify your points on how this would be a regressive tax? Please! I need the information so that I too can understand.

By Th

February 2, 2007 11:37 AM | Link to this

I don’t know why the link to the McClatchey article about how our soldiers in Bagdad view the Mahdi army of al-Sadr, but it works to copy and paste into your browser. http://www.realcities.com/mld/krwashington/16600612.htm. For a little teaser, “Half of them are JAM. They’ll wave at us during the day and shoot at us during the night,” said 1st Lt. Dan Quinn, a platoon leader in the Army’s 1st Infantry Division, using the initials of the militia’s Arabic name, Jaish al Mahdi. “People (in America) think it’s bad, but that we control the city. That’s not the way it is. They control it, and they let us drive around. It’s hostile territory.”

I’m with you, JM, in that the Turks are much more dangerous to the Kurds. I wonder what deal SOS Rice made with the Kurds to get them to send part of their army to fight in Baghdad with our soldiers. She must have been pretty desperate to be photographed with Barzani in front of an outlawed Kurdistan flag. That had to irk the Turks and Maliki. Anyway, I doubt the Turks will invade until after we leave.

By Denver

February 2, 2007 11:39 AM | Link to this

One point about suburbs, when I lived in New Jersey, about 35 miles from midtown Manhattan, I could walk to the train. When I lived in Georgia, about 35 miles from midtown Atlanta, I could drive 20 miles to the train. Once I drove all the way down 400, and went through the worst traffic, why would I park and take the train? Get the train to where the people live, and they will use it.

By Jim's a Cherry Picker

February 2, 2007 11:54 AM | Link to this

Denver,

That’s an amazing bit of logic there, but the folks around here don’t seem to get it.

They don’t use Marta because it isn’t convenient. It isn’t convenient because they didn’t want it. They didn’t want it because of the social stereotyping that they’ve grown up associating with mass transit.

Some solid leadership around this joint in the 80s would’ve helped, but we didin’t have any of that.

By DebbieDoRight

February 2, 2007 12:00 PM | Link to this

• Did anybody notice that Fulton County just sent out 3,500 summons to potential jurors in the Brian Nichols case using current voter lists. Of those, 630 were returned as “undeliverable.” Wonder how many of those voted less than 3 months ago*

OR how many moved but still lived in the same jutisdiction? Your warped mind really need to stay out of the gutter.

The Atlanta Women’s Foundation touts a fund-raiser with this question: “How would you stretch $28,000 into $40,500?” A hint: Get married Another: Marry a man who will pay child support. Another: Raise the minimum wage to a sum sufficient to eliminate men from the equation altogether. Another: Don’t have the first or second child with deadbeats. Just some helpful suggestions

Jim!! How gallant of you!! Are YOU offering to marry all those single parent women? You big he man you!!! I think you forgot one equation/helpful hint: If you were married to the man who got you pregnant then left you to take care of the kids on your own and refuses to pay child support, have him castrated so that he won’t get the opportunity to do the same thing to some one else! It’s not ALWAYS the woman’s fault. Duh!

When a U.S. senator with presidential ambitions declares Barack Obama to be the first African-American candidate who is “articulate and bright, and clean, and is a nice-looking guy …,” the excuse-makers pour forth

Will you EVER stop race baiting? Aren’t you too OLD for that sort of things?

By Th

February 2, 2007 12:07 PM | Link to this

My solution to the traffic problem is to raise the gas tax enough to make mass transit free or almost free to the riders. I am more than willing to pay 10, 25, even 50 cents more per gallon to get those people who can take transit off the roads. I have to have my car during the day for my job, but I’ll be happy to subsidize those who make my life easier.

By cranky old man

February 2, 2007 12:11 PM | Link to this

It’s interesting how the left and right of the political spectrum both claim to want minimal government intrusion in the lives of the average citizen. But, with the possible exception of some extreme libertarians, there is always a bit of inconsistency, if not downright hypocrisy, to be found in some of their positions.

For instance, liberals want the government to keep its nose out of your bedroom, your pot stash, your birth control decisions, and what you can watch on TV.

Conservatives, on the other hand, want the government to stay out of your wallet, your gun cabinet, your child rearing strategies, how you treat your employees, and what you do with your land.

But they will readily make exceptions, happily ignoring the inconsistency. For instance, both sides claim to support free speech, but both sides also engage in attempts to limit it in public, particulary over the airwaves, on government property or at government events, and in schools and universities. For conservatives, it tends to be profanity, flag burning, sex, and criticism of US policies that prods them to censorship. For liberals, it tends to be racist/anti-gay/intolerant statements and anything religious that gets them riled up.

But in other areas, oddly enough, they will blindly follow their ideologies to the most irrational extremes without compromise. As an example, liberals will fight any attempt to restrict abortions in any way, even to the point of allowing minors to have this invasive, and occasionally dangerous surgery without parental consent, when parental consent is required for a tooth extraction. Crazy. And conservatives would happily eliminate the Dept. of Labor and OSHA, and return the country to the 19th century, when employers could fire employees for getting injured at work due to the company’s failure to provide safety equipment, and pay workers only in company printed currency, which is only good at the company store or to pay rent to live in the company’s shacks.

By harold

February 2, 2007 12:26 PM | Link to this

they really do need to build an affordable transit system.

this one we have where everybody pays $300+ a month for owning a car, $70+ a month for insuring that car, $50 to $250+ a month for gasoline for that car, etc, and pays taxes to maintain and expand the public half-transportation system we have, our roads, is way way way way too expensive.

if we want to make ameriker safe from dependence on foreign oil, and if we all want to retire at age 45 instead of wasting on cars what could’ve been $millions in a retirement account, let’s get that public transit system built.

it’ll be far cheaper than what we spend on cars and the roads for them.

By harold

February 2, 2007 12:31 PM | Link to this

if we are going to keep the death penalty, the jury should be unanimous.

of a pool of 12 people, chances are rather slim that even one of them is intelligent enough to weight the evidence. the rest are idiots.

discount the one smart person and you’re killing even more innocents than you kill now.

by the way statistically yes innocents are killed. death penalty should be executed (sorry) this way:

save up all the death row inmates who are ready and execute them all at once every ten years. That way you KNOW you got an innocent in there and you can proudly claim “look we got all the rest of these guys at the cost of whichever one of them was innocent. too bad for him may he rest in peace.”

By jm

February 2, 2007 12:43 PM | Link to this

When you can guarantee that there will not be an innocent person sent to the gallows, then I will support the death penalty. Humans make mistakes, as witnessed by the people being exonerated by DNA evidence after serving 20+ year sentences (some of whom may have been on death row). Until that time, I think a unanimous verdict by the jury is not too much to ask for.

By oldpunk

February 2, 2007 12:45 PM | Link to this

“No wonder radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr appears to be reining in his supporters. He thinks he’s won. Here, in Congress, not there.”

No, actually he knows he’s won there. His milia has completely infiltrated the army & police, so we’re arming them for him. He also has democratically elected representatives in the parliament.

So he has an army and a government. How does the US defeat him?

By jbmlaw

February 2, 2007 12:45 PM | Link to this

Dear CW @ 11:23, granted. You may now pay 95%. Everyone else, however, will not.

Dear Debbie @ 12:00, just to clear the air, I will officially proclaim you “articulate and bright, and clean, and a nice looking girlie.” But only if you go take a bath.

Dear Cranky @ 12:11, I was on your side until you argued, “conservatives would happily eliminate the Dept. of Labor and OSHA, and return the country to the 19th century, when employers could fire employees for getting injured at work due to the company’s failure to provide safety equipment, and pay workers only in company printed currency, which is only good at the company store or to pay rent to live in the company’s shacks.” If that is ok with the employee, what is your beef? Substituting your superior judgment to help him run his life?

Dear Harold @ 12:26, less gasoline yet would be needed for telecommuting. Would you be willing to grant a 2x (hourly salary – perhaps up to $15/hour) corp. income tax deduction to companies that implement telecommuting? Including self-employed?

By diamondgirl

February 2, 2007 12:56 PM | Link to this

diamondgirl says “don’t raise my taxes for any reason whatsoever.” Diamondgirl already pays too much in taxes, so if you people want to spend money on new projects, please cancel some old programs first. Now where is that country club…..

By harold

February 2, 2007 01:22 PM | Link to this

the subway doesnt use any more gasoline than telecommuting

oh except of course for the “bus rapid transit” crap they’ve proposed for here

but no, no income tax deductions for companies whose employees telecommute. that is political kiss of death as soon as IBM gets a break for having telecommmuters… in india and pakistan.

By harold

February 2, 2007 01:22 PM | Link to this

diamondgirl, harold thinks you seem really cool

By Dr.Doom

February 2, 2007 01:23 PM | Link to this

diamondgirl,

You mean strip club don’t you? How much do you pay in taxes working there?

By holdingAJCaccountable

February 2, 2007 01:26 PM | Link to this

Fifty plus posts (as of 1:00) and I count less than five responses on vouchers. Shows where the public’s priorities really are. You are truly getting the public school system you deserve.

By Techmite

February 2, 2007 01:28 PM | Link to this

By Jay

February 2, 2007 09:43 AM | Link to this

I don’t get the hostility to “those infernal cameras to ticket motorists who dash through caution lights.”

Because it’s not about that. It is about money and generating revenue like every other thing in this world. And more big brother as well

By DebbieDoRight

February 2, 2007 01:32 PM | Link to this

Dear jbmlaw at 12:45 — I think you’re really “clean” too, now that you’ve laundered all that money you bilked out of poor unsuspecting mob clients.

By DebbieDoRight

February 2, 2007 01:34 PM | Link to this

Harold: You’re right. 12 unanimous jurors need to decide on the death penalty. Not 9 and a judge.

By Dr.Doom

February 2, 2007 01:34 PM | Link to this

Harold,

Doom suggests you consider getting a life.

By diamondgirl

February 2, 2007 01:35 PM | Link to this

Diamondgirl likes Harold, he has a lot of class. Dr. Doom however is too low class for this Buckhead babe.

By harold

February 2, 2007 01:35 PM | Link to this

right light camera intersections increase safety.

they wait on presenting green when they detect a car is running the red light. this prevents T-bone crashes which are very dangerous.

tickets for the people who run the red lights do nothing for safety. those generate revenue. they should be discontinued after the installation has been paid for, or the amounts should be reduced to only the amount required to maintain the equipment.

By jbmlaw

February 2, 2007 01:36 PM | Link to this

Dear diamondgirl @ 12:56, clearly you are brighter than the leftists. Will you stand for office?

Dear Debbie @ 1:32, in truth I am not done yet - the laundry seems to take forever these days.

By harold

February 2, 2007 01:37 PM | Link to this

Poor Dr.Doom cant handle a little perceived competition with the ladies?

Dr.Doom, Harold is not competing for Diamondgirl’s affections. It was a simple compliment based in her referring to herself in the third person. If you want to try to date her, go for it. Harold is not in your way.

By Dr.Doom

February 2, 2007 01:45 PM | Link to this

diamondgirl,

I am the man your parents told you to stay away from. Release yourself from the perch of your middle class safe haven and follow your deepest darkest desires and enter the world of Doom.

By jbmlaw

February 2, 2007 01:48 PM | Link to this

Dear Debbie @ 1:32, I fear you mock me. You just don’t know how hard it is, bilking people all day, laundering money all night. And cash is so dirty, you could get a disease…

By ICEMAN

February 2, 2007 01:56 PM | Link to this

As an African American, I am not offended by Biden’s comments. We need to learn how to take a damn compliment. The inability to do that is a symptom of Mental Illness. Biden still has a chance because the election is still a long way off.

By Janine

February 2, 2007 02:04 PM | Link to this

HoldingAJC I just got here…but am also surprised at the few posts re vouchers/poison pill… and it is a really important issue in the discussion of vouchers or no vouchers. It is far more important the the Republicans want it and Democrats don’t. I think I mentioned earlier in the week that there is no way that the feds would not inject their odious little rules and regulations into private schools accepting gov’t money. Although well intended, it would be the absolute end of a parent’s option to choose the type of education they want for their child.

By Jeff

February 2, 2007 02:08 PM | Link to this

Iceman,

I don’t know which prospect scares me more:

Hillary may get the Dem nod,

OR

Biden could!!!

Personally, the only one of the three that stands ANY chance with me is Obama. Of course, the Dems DO have a history of forcing my vote Republican. (2004 Presidential election, 2006 GA Governor election)

By diamondgirl

February 2, 2007 02:13 PM | Link to this

A restraining order is all Diamondgirl offers to the clown called doom. That, or the taste of diamondgirl’s 38 special!

By C.W. Odessa

February 2, 2007 02:17 PM | Link to this

tired,

You asked how the FairTax would be a regressive tax? The definition of a regressive tax is any tax that takes a larger percentage of the income of low-income people than of high-income people. Sales taxes, by definition, are regressive.

I know that Neil Boortz’s FairTax proposal includes prebate up to the poverty level for all households. So, for the 13 percent or so of Americans living below povery this definition would not apply. For the other 87% of us — the working poor will pay a larger percentage of their incomes and effective tax rates will fall as income levels rise — that’s regressive.

By the way — this isn’t my opinion — it’s fact.

By jbmlaw

February 2, 2007 02:20 PM | Link to this

Dear Iceman @ 1:56, you are right, but I think you don’t go far enough. I am not particularly a fan of Al Sharpton, but I heard – do not know if true – that his comment on the Biden statement was, “I bathe daily..” or some such. If true, you have to appreciate the humor in his response – why can’t we just laugh at the silly things people say? I think Symbolic @ 10:34 got it right – every time I see a white person use the adjective “articulate” to describe Gen Powell or Scty Rice, I cringe.

I think back to the clever Charlie Pride, who always disarmed and charmed white audiences (in those early post-Jim Crow days) with a little joke, “People always ask me, (affecting a rural ebonics dialect) ‘Why don’t you sound like you s’posed to sound?’” We desperately need humor.

By diamondgirl

February 2, 2007 02:25 PM | Link to this

Diamondgirl also opposses the fairytax because it would subject Diamondgirl’s wealth to double taxation. Diamondgirl has already paid income tax on her savings, not really ugly bald dweep Boortz wants to tax Diamondgirl again when she spends her well earned wealth! Diamond girl hates ugly men! Diamond girl hates bald men! Boortz is both, so Diamond girl double hates the Boortz buffoon!

By Curious Observer

February 2, 2007 02:34 PM | Link to this

Yet another newcomer who says “raise my taxes!” You must move out of the South immediately, back to Vermont or whatever state you come from.

Down here, we never raise taxes for anything. Oh sure, we shift the tax burden and talk about things like Fair Tax, which is just the opposite of its name. But the level of total taxes must always remain the same.

For instance, if we want better mass transit, the last thing we would do is raise taxes to fund it. Rather, we prefer to excoriate the inefficiency of the existing system and use abusive terms to describe its employees.

It’s the same thing with schools. You see, we prefer the WalMart-style big-box approach—build mega-campuses and cram as many students as possible into as little space as possible. Accordingly, we never offer pay levels that would attract the most promising scholars to take up teaching. If, for any reason, the graduates of those systems fail to put down their chainsaws and switchblades and blow down the doors of Harvard, then we need to abuse the system’s employees by describing their moral and intellectual shortcomings and insist upon our right to send our precious children to private schools, using tax money.

A quiet suggestion, my dear: don’t let a Georgian hear you talking about raising taxes. It’s anti-American, you see, and it’s not the way things are done down here. You could get hurt. You don’t come down here and threaten to deprive us of the disposable income to buy NASCAR tickets.

By harold

February 2, 2007 02:36 PM | Link to this

As long as step #1 of the Fair Tax is to refund all state taxes paid on all money anyone has accumulated, Harold has no objections. That would be a nice windfall, and Harold ain’t buying sh-t.

By getalife

February 2, 2007 02:52 PM | Link to this

Our idiot is getting ready to attack Iran.

I said it months ago. It is very dangerous to have an idiot with no credibility and no accountability.

Who will stop him from starting WWIII?

By jbmlaw

February 2, 2007 03:06 PM | Link to this

Dear Getalife @ 2:52, unless you now hold WMDs, I don’t worry that you’ll be attacking Iran.

By Jeff

February 2, 2007 03:10 PM | Link to this

getalife:

The idiot CAN’T attack iran, not yet. Her husband left office 7 years ago!

By melo

February 2, 2007 03:51 PM | Link to this

Imagine the reaction if a Republican, say former U.S. Sen. George Allen of Virginia, had used the same language as Sen. Joe Biden (D-Del.).

If a Republican had said it, it would be viewed differently coz you’all have a reputation.

By melo

February 2, 2007 03:54 PM | Link to this

You make perfect sense, and that is why Al Gore Senior voted against the Civil Rights Act, why Byrd worked against that same bill and why it took republicans to get it passed in a democrat controlled congress. Are u talking about a dead person and throwing them into a current topic of discussion? Check your brains!!

By harold

February 2, 2007 04:02 PM | Link to this

Heck, why not attack Iran? We have plenty of Lite Brites.

By harold

February 2, 2007 04:03 PM | Link to this

Who will stop him from starting WWIII?

Well, Congress. We took away his rubber stamp.

By melo

February 2, 2007 04:03 PM | Link to this

But this the guy who had the noose in his office, all the confederate flag stuff, and referred to public recognition of his Jewish heritage as “casting aspersions” on him. He dug his own political grave.

J, thanks for your frank comment. U actually have foreskin on you as compared to these ‘brave’ conservatives who want a war when they were deserters during Vietnam. No balls,no dyck,no foreskin on dyck!!

By harold

February 2, 2007 04:21 PM | Link to this

We should send Eunice Stone, the Runaway Bride and Harry Potter Mom to attack Iran. Victory would be achievable.

By Barbara S

February 2, 2007 04:44 PM | Link to this

Ok, I call this a win-win situation, Iran nukes Israel with a ten megaton war head. Israel rightly nukes Tehran right back with a ten megaton war head. Two problems solved without any American intervention, at zero cost to the american tax payer. Win-win always works.

By Midori

February 2, 2007 05:16 PM | Link to this

The idiot CAN’T attack iran, not yet. Her husband left office 7 years ago!

Last I checked the moron was still there.

Demanding bloody grilled cheese sandwiches, at that

Maybe that’s why he’s so honery and war hungry? Being all clogged up will do that to a man.

By Dr.Doom

February 2, 2007 05:17 PM | Link to this

diamondgirl,

Doom loves it when you talk dirty.

By Apocalypse

February 2, 2007 05:29 PM | Link to this

Mark it down: We will go to war with Iran and my dreams will be achieved!!

By Dr Strangelove

February 2, 2007 05:35 PM | Link to this

youtube.com has a great video from the end of dr strangelove, where slim pickens rides a nuke out of a bomber like he is riding a bucking bronc. Lots of pictures of nukes going off, with a sweet song playing in the back ground. I recommend it to play in the background on your Defcon 1 enabled computers. You can play donkey pong on the front end, I have given my player the chimp’s face.

By WootenDull

February 3, 2007 08:03 AM | Link to this

The Urinal headline, front page:

Analysts see Iraq headed downhill

So what would this lead you to believe? The “surge” is making things worse, right?

But look at the text of the article, where most dull liberals will never read, and you find this:

Washington —- A new U.S. intelligence report says Iraq is spiraling downward, with sectarian animosity growing and new Iraqi troops being added too slowly in a precarious mix that could draw the country’s neighbors into the violence if American troops leave.

So Bush is absolutely right to “surge” and secure Baghdad.

Why the play on words, AJC?

The truth doesn’t fit your anti American template?

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.

Sen. Clinton: I would end Iraq war-Urinal

But….

suggested that calls to cut off funding for President Bush’s troop increase are unlikely to win approval in a narrowly divided Senate.

So it’s a totally meaningless statement to say that “you would stop the war” when you know full well that you can’t, which is something you’d expect from a Clinton.

All air with no substance and lots of moonie eyed dullards clapping for her every word.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.

Urinal headline, front page business section:

Payrolls grow less than expected

Yes, let’s see how easy this is, casting a bad light on some good economic news- “I thought we would employ the entire nation of Mexico last month, at least it seemed like they are all here in the US, but it turns out we hired less then I expected.”

Heh, I’m an “AJC business expert” now.

But look at the text of the article, where most dull liberals will never read:

However, revisions included in Friday’s report warn against too quickly pegging January as a weak month: December’s job number was rewritten, rising by 30,000 to a healthy 206,000. Something similar could happen to January’s data.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ.

By @@

February 3, 2007 08:46 AM | Link to this

Yesterday I read a link someone had left at Luckovich’s regarding the National Intelligence report on Iraq. I think it was from the Washington Post. It sounded so ominous.

This morning I get up and check my e-mail from Stratfor regarding the intelligence report and it confirms what LuckoDull has pointed out. If American troops leave. I confirmed it through various other sources.

Please, people…read carefully before you give a knee-jerk response. Media outlets are playing with your mind and your emotions.

Memri.org is another excellent site. A view from the fractured side of the Middle East.

Excellent!!! Don’t look for what you want to see…look for the truth.

By Markus

February 3, 2007 08:50 AM | Link to this

No matter how much the RATs cry and wet beds about mass transit or rail as the God-sent answer for Atlanta’s traffic woes, Atlanta will never have a successful mass transit system. There are way too many variations in where people live, work, and go for recreation. We have people that live in Decatur and work in Alpharetta. We have people that live in Cherokee county and work in Duluth. We have people that live in Cumming and work in Norcross. We have people that live and work in Midtown yet choose to go to Lake Allatoonah for recreation. We have people that live in Marietta that go to Piedmont Park for recreation. There is no way with Atlanta’s OTP growth that all needs can be met and be profitable. Hell look at Marta’s bus routes at any given time, especially OTP. How many times have you seen buses with more than a handful of people on them? Incompetence.

The RAT pack is consistent about proving one thing: they can get away with saying anything they want to. Condi Rice and other African Americans who happen to serve on Republican administrations are lambasted, shunned, and called every hate-filled racist derogatory name in the book including Uncle Toms and being cartooned as Aunt Jemimas, yet there is no outrage from the Left. Meanwhile, people like Joe Biden can say whatever they want to say on sensitive race matters and get away with it just because they are Democrats. Disgusting hypocritical pigs.

So, Fultoon County had some undeliverable mail sent out to potential jurors for the Nichols’ case? Well I’ll be damned. Now I’m sure some of those people have moved out of the county to an undisclosed forwarding address, but ALL of them? According to the demonRATs, NOBODY CHEATS during election day because it can’t be proven. I must say that I am not surprised. There is a reason the gutter RAT liberals don’t want voter IDs, and they know the real reason. Inconvenience and transportation cost? BULLSHEET. Transportation is free, and if anyone b!tches about inconvenience, they don’t deserve to vote or live in this nation period. Voter tax? BULLSHEET. Cost is free. Intimidation? BULLSHEET. They get carded for cashing SS checks all the time. Yet, like islamoterrorists laying low, the horseass libokook demonRATs don’t want to speak out loud about their true intentions. Pathetic.

I’d love to see Georgia have no state income tax, but that legislation won’t happen in my working lifetime, like the geniuses running MARTA stating it will take 20 years to add 8 miles to a rail line. Sheer brilliant incompetence.

Forget the death penalty. I’d just like to see worthless criminals just simply get back what they dished out to their victims. If you run someone over during a carjacking, you get run over yourself. If you shoot someone in the head, you get shot in the head (or @ss if you voted Demoncat). If you tie someone up and beat the hell out of them before slashing their throat, yep, you guessed it, right backatcha. Of course, the pantywasted bedwetting liboRATs wouldn’t go for that, even though those jackals are for “equality” and everything. Sick.

So long as kookbat demonRATs are in this nation, islamofascist terrorism will ultimately win here. It’s already winning in Europe. After all, we just merely need to understand their resentment of us and open dialogue, that’s all. Just ask the sick liberal terrorist-lo