When the City Council was elected, most ran on their track record as “community activists”. They carried that roll into the City Council making it almost unnecessary for special interest groups to lobby for giveaways. They were well familiar with these groups and active in their promotion and fund raising.
The City Council hired consultants to develop plans. The consultants were familiar with current liberal government fads, goals, tactics and buzz-words. They were also well schooled on UN Agenda 21 implementation of transit villages, land use plans and destroying the private economy. That aside, on their face these plans make no economic sense. These plans included loads of expensive improvements in privately owned strip malls and on non-profit occupied city properties. All of these plans are far too costly to implement. The Council presented the consultant’s expensive plans to the voters. The voters didn’t object to the strip mall plan, because they weren’t paying for it. The citizens did soundly reject the Park Plan and they are in the process of rejecting the Transportation Plan. It would have been smarter to renovate the streets and intersections in front of these strip malls within the operating budget; then give Georgetown a plan to bring their building facades into compliance with our current Williamsburg architectural standards.
It showed that, as a group, the City Council was incapable of discerning what was expected, appropriate, prudent, affordable, wise and possible. Instead, they got caught up in the federal government giveaway scheme to implement UN Agenda 21. They did not establish priorities based on utilization (everybody drives on roads, relatively few play baseball). They did not consider the future replacement cost of roads and sewers. They did not consider the financial entanglements associated with housing 501c3 entities on city land. They assumed responsibility for non-city organizations and spent city funds to develop plans for strip malls and non-profit entities. They failed to realize that although we like these non-profit groups, we did not create the City to bail them out. These non-profits entered these agreements with DeKalb County, knowing the properties would be minimally maintained. The Council was naïve to rush to their rescue without thinking it through. Now, non-profit supporters are rallying to support the Bond Issue. Their voices are loud, but their numbers are few.
Budget Cuts – The New Normal
We all grew up in cities with municipal recreation resources. When recessions and depressions hit, local governments cut budgets to live within their current revenue. It’s happening now. Cash-strapped cities are trying to close recreational facilities and are facing petitions from small user groups to fix them up and keep paying for them. In the meantime, private businesses have flourished offering recreational venues for a reasonable fee. Privatization of recreation is here to stay. Cities must cut spending and are targeting these facilities because they are low use, low priority items. I don’t expect to see cities and counties expanding their footprint beyond their core responsibilities. We’ve seen cities under fire for sponsoring the Arts, when the display or performance was viewed as offensive. Cities with these non-core entanglements should add moral support, promotion and endorsement to the fundraising campaigns of these non-profits; they should strive to become totally independent.
Zoning Problems
We have approximately 8000 owners and 4000 renters in Dunwoody. We have 10 Apartment Complexes. The City bought the 16 acre PVC Farm for $5 million (a little high at $312,500 per acre). They did it to keep a developer from buying it and building an eleventh apartment complex. The property was zoned for apartments and the seller had the legal right to sell it “as zoned”. Now we have another small park and we really don’t know what to do with it. The best we can do is remove the PVC pipes and turn it into another small neighborhood park.
Bad Economy
Most of my emails tell me to buy gold and can goods, sell all my stock immediately and get out of U.S. dollar denominated assets. The Obama administration has, so far, doubled government spending and is printing money to keep the government cash infusion bubble going. If investors pull out of the U.S., we will have another crash. If spending cuts are actually ever made, federal payments to states, counties and cities would likely be the first to go. We need to be cautious and avoid assuming any debt at this time, until this is resolved.
Home and Land values are taking another hit. The money printing and continued double-spending by the Federal government is creating the current inflation, which will worsen. We will have another downturn. If the Federal government runs out of lenders, the Fed will buy the Bonds. When local and international investors pull out, the dollar will crash. The Fed will monetize the debt and hyper-inflation will begin. . If the dollar becomes worthless and crashes, hyper-inflation and plummeting real estate values will occur.
In the late 1970s to early 1980s, a lot less money printing caused double digit inflation, unemployment and interest rates. Stocks crashed, Bonds became worthless and the mortgage interest rate was 13%. A replay of the 1970s is our best-case scenario. Assuming that our economy will simply remain weak but stable is not likely.
The fundamentals have changed since the 1970s. Our debt monetization caused the high inflation of the 1970s. In 1982, the Federal Debt was $1 trillion, our economy was very strong and able to pull out of the recession. Now, our debt is $14.3 trillion and unfunded liabilities are $80 trillion. Our entire country is worth $100 trillion in private hands. The electronics manufacturing renaissance that pulled us out of the 1980s has been given to China.
A Sinister Plan
The federal government is broke. Anybody who thinks they can continue to funnel money to local governments is crazy. Why would Ray LaHood try to bribe us with billions of dollars in federal funding to get us to pay $100 billion for a public transit bailout if it were not to begin to build the infrastructure outlined by U.N Agenda 21 ? This is a sinister plan to establish a global government, revoke property rights and reduce the planet’s population by 80%. Those left will live as slaves in transit villages of small stacked apartments close to rail lines. The global government, environmental, population control crazies hand picked Obama to implement this plan. Nobody on the Council even knew this. Even so, the absurdity of taking on a $130 million debt for non-essential parks didn’t occur to most of them either. Like the terrorists, the UN Agenda 21 crowd uses civilians as shields. They add parks, ball fields, green space and lots of expensive construction, just for a little more government borrowing.
Tea Party Thoughts
The Tea Party is opposed to government spending more than it collects and spending large chunks of tax revenue on items that are not core government responsibilities. Obviously, all those who benefit from government’s sloppy thinking would disagree. Ordinary citizens who believe government should be more careful spending tax dollars and live within its means would agree.
Economic Impact
In the long term, our plan saves the economy. Demand drives our private economy. As the Fed’s money printing makes the dollar worth less, prices rise and demand falls. Government stimulus just creates bubbles that eventually break and turn into recessions. The economy will really not recover until all of the bubbles break. Our best hope is to reduce government spending, freeze the “Debt Ceiling” and not increase taxes. It will result in a contraction of public employee headcount, but government can’t afford them anyway and what most of them are doing is actually harmful. The debt ceiling freeze is irrelevant to the economy, because the private economy is only driven by demand, Be prepared for the stock market to take a hit, because government spending is figured in to stock market prices Continued government spending is critical to those in the government who want to implement UN Agenda 21. After subtracting the government stimulus and adding in the government hiring freeze and layoffs, the market will look for private market demand and will factor in the fact that the debt ceiling freeze will work. Then, as private demand replaces government demand, the market will take off to celebrate the wicked witch is dead. The day traders will go to the starting gate. The rest of us will see our 401k accounts go down and then go back up.
Monday, July 18, 2011
Atlanta Regional Transportation Plan 2040
The Plan
This is a plan to spend $126 billion to rebuilding MARTA with new trains and buses, build light rail, a rail hub, toll lanes, bike lanes, trolley cars and consulting fees with a little for roads and bridges from 2012 to 2040. We recommend a NO VOTE.
The Vote
An additional 1% sales tax will be on our ballot in 2012. The Atlanta Regional Commission has enlisted everyone to talk us into this. We urge a NO vote for lots of reasons. It seeks to extort tax dollars from the adjoining counties to bail out a MARTA it won’t use. It is inflationary. It relies on federal tax dollars fresh off the printing press. Most of the spending in this plan is totally unnecessary and misdirected. It holds our roads hostage to the expensive, underutilized train craze. It’s wise to wait until after the 2012 Presidential election. A Republican President would not force us to pay the $100 million per mile installation cost of light rail or force us to pay $70 billion to buy MARTA new trains and buses and expand to the exurbs. It forces us to double our subsidies to the failed public transit system.
It’s Obama’s Plan
GE and Siemens told Obama they wanted to sell more light rail and heavy rail trains and buses to public transit in the States. Obama told Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood to find a way to force states to support light rail and public transit. Ray told the Georgia Legislature that no federal money would be coming their way unless they adopted regional planning with plenty of money for public transit and light rail. Obama wants to “fundamentally transform” the U.S.; this is part of that plan.
The problem is that he wants to transform it into a third world socialist country with government of the government, for the government and by the government. The Federal Government is currently in debt for $120 trillion. It’s broke. It’s a failed state. The Plan assumes that the Federal Government will continue to keep inflation at 2.2% and continue to fund State spending. It’s naive. Even the phony CPI number is running at 3.6%.
It’s U.N. Agenda 21 Implementation
George Soros hired Obama to implement U.N. Agenda 21. This is the plan that wants open borders, global governance, an 80% reduction in global population (starting with us), no sovereignty for the USA and no private property rights, Their excuse is man-made global warming and seeks to reduce carbon dioxide with cap & trade. Agenda 21 has us all living in high density transit villages in large metro areas with no cars, powered by wind and solar. It’s their version of global communism. Their plan is to ruin the U.S. economy with government spending, debt and national bankruptcy. Google gctparty.com for the best video presentation on UN Agenda 21.
The Federal Government is insolvent and is printing the dollars they want to give us out of thin air. We are already experiencing inflation due to the expectation that the trillions of dollars printed are entering the economy causing what will be a colossal bout of hyper-inflation. The dollar and all of our assets will be worth very little, very soon.
Planned Cost
The Transportation Plan is presented in two pieces. Phase I will cost $61 billion; Inflation adjustments take this to $83 billion, a 36% increase. Phase II will cost an additional $66 billion. Inflation should take this to $90 billion. Inflation should take the total cost of both to $173 billion.
Phase I funding assumes that the federal government will still exist and will give us $21.7 billion, the state will contribute $8.4 billion, local counties and cities will contribute $27 billion, if we vote for this boondoggle, new toll roads will deliver $3 billion for a total of $61 billion.
Phase I spending includes $23 billion for road maintenance and expansion, $36.1 billion for MARTA bus and train replacement and expansion and other transit, $7.1 billion to convert failed HOV lanes to toll lanes and $2.1 billion for bike lanes and sidewalks. The TOLL LANES will be funded by Bonds. Whatever Bonds the Region sells will cost double after we pay interest.
Phase II and the additional $66 billion will be transit heavy. It will include light rail. The cost to install light rail in Seattle WA was $176 million per mile. I can’t imagine we would step into this hole, but it’s in the Plan.
The Georgia Legislature passed the Transportation Investment Act of 2010. Georgia was sliced into 12 Regions. The Atlanta Regional Commission has 10 counties in and surrounding Atlanta included in the MARTA expansion. We will get to vote as a region to increase our sales taxes by 1%, (think grocery store). It would have been nice if the out-lying counties would have had the opportunity to opt out of this MARTA scheme. Cities and Counties keep 15% of this tax revenue for their own transportation projects. The bulk of the other 85% goes to the Region for light rail and MARTA, etc.
Tax Facts
Georgia’s motor fuels tax revenue is $858 million a year and auto license tag revenue is $310 million a year. But only $675 million is spent on roads and bridges. The Georgia Department of Transportation receives less than $7 million in General Revenue Funds,
The State of Georgia budget is $18.2 billion. It spends $10.8 billion, 59% of its revenue on public schools; that’s in addition to your property tax. Another $3 billion or 17% is spent on healthcare. The Georgia State sales tax rate is 4%. The County sales tax rate in Georgia is usually 3%.
The 10 counties in the Atlanta Region will be able to vote on this Transportation Plan. The votes will be counted on a Region basis rather than county by county, so if your county votes NO, it could still pass if the majority of votes in the Region are YES.
MARTA Problems
MARTA collects $121.5 million a year in revenue from riders, and leases but costs $725.16 million a year to operate. 83% of its operation comes from tax subsidies. That’s an atrocious amount to expect in subsidies going forward. If sales tax revenues and federal and state grants dwindle, MARTA will need to retrench and raise fees or go out-of-business.
MARTA reports that riders used MARTA 116 million times in 2010. This is typically split in half with 58 million bus rides and 58 million train rides. MARTA is leveraged to the hilt with $1.8 billion in bond debt from selling bonds to pay for capital improvements and pays $133 million in debt service on these bonds.
MARTA ridership is limited for most of the day; not many people in the big buses or long trains. Only 3.6% of the population uses it to go to work. This system continues to require tax subsidies to support expansion, operations and maintenance.
If MARTA was a private business, it would need to cut 83% of its costs to survive. It has limited ridership and doesn’t charge enough to pay its bills. They have proposed a rider fee increase from $2.00 to $2.50 in 2012. This is a failed business model and getting bigger is not going to fix it. Tax payer subsidized public transportation is not a good deal for drivers or tax payers.
Transit Villages
MARTA, in its quest for customers, has co-opted large malls to add multi-unit, high density apartment and condo units to MARTA properties. This creates transit oriented development (TOD), a Transit Village. This is a high tax European socialist model, surprise, surprise.
The High Street Project by Perimeter Mall is scheduled to resume in 2012 next to the MARTA station with 3000 rental units. That will move our already lopsided ratio of homeowners 8000 to renters 7000. They don’t want us to drive cars; they want us to use MARTA for everything. These mega-developments will arise next to MARTA stations at all malls with close by office buildings. Parking will be limited.
Rents will be high at first, but after the apartment ages a bit, rents will go down all the way to section 8 housing units with rent subsidies from HUD. This disperses low income housing everywhere MARTA goes. The Federal DOT, HUD, Perimeter Community Improvement District (PCID) and the Atlanta Regional Transportation Commission are working closely with developers and MARTA to create train-riding ghettos among the subdivisions. HUD low income housing project building has failed; this is their new model.
This is a game-changer for home owners in the suburbs. Many now have their children home-schooled or are enrolled in private schools. They can no longer assume that their home values can be tied to the quality of the public schools. These high density developments will also trump local zoning. The creation of the Atlanta Regional Commission responsible for regional planning has trumped city councils. The sovereignty of the City of Dunwoody is a myth. Ceding our mobility to unionized transit workers is crazy. One bomb on a train or bus will bring hoards of TSA employees to grope and take nude photos of us. I’ll keep my cars, thank you.
Tough Vote
The first problem will be public transit vs. roads & highways. MARTA only goes where it goes. If you only drive your car, you only care about roads. The second problem is close-in counties vs. out-lying counties who don’t have MARTA and wouldn’t use it. A third problem is resistance to any tax increase during this, destined to be long, economic depression. A fourth problem is the very real threat of a dollar and asset value crash, due to excessive government debt. If the federal government cuts its overspending, this federal money would go away. A yes vote on this plan would raise the county sales tax by 1% to get a lot of things we don’t want.
Bond Scams
Part of the “private / public partnerships” touted by politicians, besides toll road operators, includes Bond brokers looking for customers and apartment developers looking for projects. This seems an unlikely time for local governments to be borrowing money, but it is so pervasive I still think it’s a virus.
Road Problems
Most folks in Metro Atlanta are required to drive their cars to work and shop, drive their kids to and from school and get around. Public transit only goes where it goes; this is not necessarily where you need to go.
If highway I-285 was built to be an interstate bypass, it should have been built way out in the boondocks rather than tightly squeezed around the city of Atlanta. It is now incorporated into the Atlanta work commuter grid, with no room for both local and interstate traffic.
Nashville TN has a similar problem with I-24 except there, the interstate highway only ruins part of Nashville’s commuter routes. Nashville can still build commuter roads in its boondocks to offer optional routes.
For Metro Atlanta, there is nowhere to go except to widen I-285 or begin to build a real bypass over time, linking GA highways to intersect I-75 and I-85 further out. There is an effort to make US-27 a link coming from Chattanooga TN to I-75 and I-85 South, below Atlanta. Most of Georgia’s budget has gone to education and healthcare for decades, with not much being spent on roads or highways for Metro Atlanta.
Georgia DOT has refused to add lanes or widen roads, because “we drivers will just fill these lanes up again”. The Federal government including the DOT and EPA are equally at fault for this obstructionism. Other large cities continued to widen and add roads and highways for the last 3 decades. Metro Atlanta Transportation has been held hostage for decades by MARTA politics and now the light rail crazies have joined in. GDOT instead wanted HOV lanes nobody uses, so now they want them to be Toll lanes nobody will use. We are a nation of suburbs and commuters. We have no alternative but to expand our road systems to continually abate the gridlock. Smart governments get ahead of this. Not so bright governments react after the fact. Really dumb, suicidal governments refuse to do anything effective. Most of the GDOT budget goes to debt service. Paying for projects with Bonds makes them twice as expensive and now GDOT is broke. They are implementing their population decrease plan.
This Regional Transportation Plan is right out of the Obama playbook. He wants us to vote for this to create VERY EXPENSIVE Transit Villages to prop up MARTA based on their Transit Oriented Development Plan (TOD). Obama will force Georgia Power to put up VERY EXPENSIVE wind and solar power units to drive up the cost of our energy to 5 times what we pay now. The directive by the Secretary of Transportation to submit Regional Plans is what started the creation of the Regional Commissions and this Transportation Plan.
Send me an email to join and read my blog at NTL Conservative Blog, the Dunwoody GA Tea Party blog. It was great to see you at the Dunwoody July 4th Parade. Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party, ntl@mindspring.com NTL Conservative Blog 770-394-1284
This is a plan to spend $126 billion to rebuilding MARTA with new trains and buses, build light rail, a rail hub, toll lanes, bike lanes, trolley cars and consulting fees with a little for roads and bridges from 2012 to 2040. We recommend a NO VOTE.
The Vote
An additional 1% sales tax will be on our ballot in 2012. The Atlanta Regional Commission has enlisted everyone to talk us into this. We urge a NO vote for lots of reasons. It seeks to extort tax dollars from the adjoining counties to bail out a MARTA it won’t use. It is inflationary. It relies on federal tax dollars fresh off the printing press. Most of the spending in this plan is totally unnecessary and misdirected. It holds our roads hostage to the expensive, underutilized train craze. It’s wise to wait until after the 2012 Presidential election. A Republican President would not force us to pay the $100 million per mile installation cost of light rail or force us to pay $70 billion to buy MARTA new trains and buses and expand to the exurbs. It forces us to double our subsidies to the failed public transit system.
It’s Obama’s Plan
GE and Siemens told Obama they wanted to sell more light rail and heavy rail trains and buses to public transit in the States. Obama told Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood to find a way to force states to support light rail and public transit. Ray told the Georgia Legislature that no federal money would be coming their way unless they adopted regional planning with plenty of money for public transit and light rail. Obama wants to “fundamentally transform” the U.S.; this is part of that plan.
The problem is that he wants to transform it into a third world socialist country with government of the government, for the government and by the government. The Federal Government is currently in debt for $120 trillion. It’s broke. It’s a failed state. The Plan assumes that the Federal Government will continue to keep inflation at 2.2% and continue to fund State spending. It’s naive. Even the phony CPI number is running at 3.6%.
It’s U.N. Agenda 21 Implementation
George Soros hired Obama to implement U.N. Agenda 21. This is the plan that wants open borders, global governance, an 80% reduction in global population (starting with us), no sovereignty for the USA and no private property rights, Their excuse is man-made global warming and seeks to reduce carbon dioxide with cap & trade. Agenda 21 has us all living in high density transit villages in large metro areas with no cars, powered by wind and solar. It’s their version of global communism. Their plan is to ruin the U.S. economy with government spending, debt and national bankruptcy. Google gctparty.com for the best video presentation on UN Agenda 21.
The Federal Government is insolvent and is printing the dollars they want to give us out of thin air. We are already experiencing inflation due to the expectation that the trillions of dollars printed are entering the economy causing what will be a colossal bout of hyper-inflation. The dollar and all of our assets will be worth very little, very soon.
Planned Cost
The Transportation Plan is presented in two pieces. Phase I will cost $61 billion; Inflation adjustments take this to $83 billion, a 36% increase. Phase II will cost an additional $66 billion. Inflation should take this to $90 billion. Inflation should take the total cost of both to $173 billion.
Phase I funding assumes that the federal government will still exist and will give us $21.7 billion, the state will contribute $8.4 billion, local counties and cities will contribute $27 billion, if we vote for this boondoggle, new toll roads will deliver $3 billion for a total of $61 billion.
Phase I spending includes $23 billion for road maintenance and expansion, $36.1 billion for MARTA bus and train replacement and expansion and other transit, $7.1 billion to convert failed HOV lanes to toll lanes and $2.1 billion for bike lanes and sidewalks. The TOLL LANES will be funded by Bonds. Whatever Bonds the Region sells will cost double after we pay interest.
Phase II and the additional $66 billion will be transit heavy. It will include light rail. The cost to install light rail in Seattle WA was $176 million per mile. I can’t imagine we would step into this hole, but it’s in the Plan.
The Georgia Legislature passed the Transportation Investment Act of 2010. Georgia was sliced into 12 Regions. The Atlanta Regional Commission has 10 counties in and surrounding Atlanta included in the MARTA expansion. We will get to vote as a region to increase our sales taxes by 1%, (think grocery store). It would have been nice if the out-lying counties would have had the opportunity to opt out of this MARTA scheme. Cities and Counties keep 15% of this tax revenue for their own transportation projects. The bulk of the other 85% goes to the Region for light rail and MARTA, etc.
Tax Facts
Georgia’s motor fuels tax revenue is $858 million a year and auto license tag revenue is $310 million a year. But only $675 million is spent on roads and bridges. The Georgia Department of Transportation receives less than $7 million in General Revenue Funds,
The State of Georgia budget is $18.2 billion. It spends $10.8 billion, 59% of its revenue on public schools; that’s in addition to your property tax. Another $3 billion or 17% is spent on healthcare. The Georgia State sales tax rate is 4%. The County sales tax rate in Georgia is usually 3%.
The 10 counties in the Atlanta Region will be able to vote on this Transportation Plan. The votes will be counted on a Region basis rather than county by county, so if your county votes NO, it could still pass if the majority of votes in the Region are YES.
MARTA Problems
MARTA collects $121.5 million a year in revenue from riders, and leases but costs $725.16 million a year to operate. 83% of its operation comes from tax subsidies. That’s an atrocious amount to expect in subsidies going forward. If sales tax revenues and federal and state grants dwindle, MARTA will need to retrench and raise fees or go out-of-business.
MARTA reports that riders used MARTA 116 million times in 2010. This is typically split in half with 58 million bus rides and 58 million train rides. MARTA is leveraged to the hilt with $1.8 billion in bond debt from selling bonds to pay for capital improvements and pays $133 million in debt service on these bonds.
MARTA ridership is limited for most of the day; not many people in the big buses or long trains. Only 3.6% of the population uses it to go to work. This system continues to require tax subsidies to support expansion, operations and maintenance.
If MARTA was a private business, it would need to cut 83% of its costs to survive. It has limited ridership and doesn’t charge enough to pay its bills. They have proposed a rider fee increase from $2.00 to $2.50 in 2012. This is a failed business model and getting bigger is not going to fix it. Tax payer subsidized public transportation is not a good deal for drivers or tax payers.
Transit Villages
MARTA, in its quest for customers, has co-opted large malls to add multi-unit, high density apartment and condo units to MARTA properties. This creates transit oriented development (TOD), a Transit Village. This is a high tax European socialist model, surprise, surprise.
The High Street Project by Perimeter Mall is scheduled to resume in 2012 next to the MARTA station with 3000 rental units. That will move our already lopsided ratio of homeowners 8000 to renters 7000. They don’t want us to drive cars; they want us to use MARTA for everything. These mega-developments will arise next to MARTA stations at all malls with close by office buildings. Parking will be limited.
Rents will be high at first, but after the apartment ages a bit, rents will go down all the way to section 8 housing units with rent subsidies from HUD. This disperses low income housing everywhere MARTA goes. The Federal DOT, HUD, Perimeter Community Improvement District (PCID) and the Atlanta Regional Transportation Commission are working closely with developers and MARTA to create train-riding ghettos among the subdivisions. HUD low income housing project building has failed; this is their new model.
This is a game-changer for home owners in the suburbs. Many now have their children home-schooled or are enrolled in private schools. They can no longer assume that their home values can be tied to the quality of the public schools. These high density developments will also trump local zoning. The creation of the Atlanta Regional Commission responsible for regional planning has trumped city councils. The sovereignty of the City of Dunwoody is a myth. Ceding our mobility to unionized transit workers is crazy. One bomb on a train or bus will bring hoards of TSA employees to grope and take nude photos of us. I’ll keep my cars, thank you.
Tough Vote
The first problem will be public transit vs. roads & highways. MARTA only goes where it goes. If you only drive your car, you only care about roads. The second problem is close-in counties vs. out-lying counties who don’t have MARTA and wouldn’t use it. A third problem is resistance to any tax increase during this, destined to be long, economic depression. A fourth problem is the very real threat of a dollar and asset value crash, due to excessive government debt. If the federal government cuts its overspending, this federal money would go away. A yes vote on this plan would raise the county sales tax by 1% to get a lot of things we don’t want.
Bond Scams
Part of the “private / public partnerships” touted by politicians, besides toll road operators, includes Bond brokers looking for customers and apartment developers looking for projects. This seems an unlikely time for local governments to be borrowing money, but it is so pervasive I still think it’s a virus.
Road Problems
Most folks in Metro Atlanta are required to drive their cars to work and shop, drive their kids to and from school and get around. Public transit only goes where it goes; this is not necessarily where you need to go.
If highway I-285 was built to be an interstate bypass, it should have been built way out in the boondocks rather than tightly squeezed around the city of Atlanta. It is now incorporated into the Atlanta work commuter grid, with no room for both local and interstate traffic.
Nashville TN has a similar problem with I-24 except there, the interstate highway only ruins part of Nashville’s commuter routes. Nashville can still build commuter roads in its boondocks to offer optional routes.
For Metro Atlanta, there is nowhere to go except to widen I-285 or begin to build a real bypass over time, linking GA highways to intersect I-75 and I-85 further out. There is an effort to make US-27 a link coming from Chattanooga TN to I-75 and I-85 South, below Atlanta. Most of Georgia’s budget has gone to education and healthcare for decades, with not much being spent on roads or highways for Metro Atlanta.
Georgia DOT has refused to add lanes or widen roads, because “we drivers will just fill these lanes up again”. The Federal government including the DOT and EPA are equally at fault for this obstructionism. Other large cities continued to widen and add roads and highways for the last 3 decades. Metro Atlanta Transportation has been held hostage for decades by MARTA politics and now the light rail crazies have joined in. GDOT instead wanted HOV lanes nobody uses, so now they want them to be Toll lanes nobody will use. We are a nation of suburbs and commuters. We have no alternative but to expand our road systems to continually abate the gridlock. Smart governments get ahead of this. Not so bright governments react after the fact. Really dumb, suicidal governments refuse to do anything effective. Most of the GDOT budget goes to debt service. Paying for projects with Bonds makes them twice as expensive and now GDOT is broke. They are implementing their population decrease plan.
This Regional Transportation Plan is right out of the Obama playbook. He wants us to vote for this to create VERY EXPENSIVE Transit Villages to prop up MARTA based on their Transit Oriented Development Plan (TOD). Obama will force Georgia Power to put up VERY EXPENSIVE wind and solar power units to drive up the cost of our energy to 5 times what we pay now. The directive by the Secretary of Transportation to submit Regional Plans is what started the creation of the Regional Commissions and this Transportation Plan.
Send me an email to join and read my blog at NTL Conservative Blog, the Dunwoody GA Tea Party blog. It was great to see you at the Dunwoody July 4th Parade. Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party, ntl@mindspring.com NTL Conservative Blog 770-394-1284
Friday, July 15, 2011
UN Agenda 21
I got an email from a Tea Party in Arkansas (www.gctparty.com) urging me to look up the UN Agenda 21 aka, the Venus Project video, ICLEI and Project 60 Idaho. I did and it looks like the Atlanta Regional Transportation Plan 2040 is part of the implementation of UN Agenda 21.
I was shocked, but it did answer my question as to why anybody would pour so much money into MARTA, when is has been such a money loser for decades. The answer is, it’s a bigger deal to those elected officials who support global governance or just wanted to get federal transportation money this year. It’s a Trojan Horse.
This set to be voted on by the 10 county region in 2012. PCID is implementing the Perimeter portion of this transit village plan. The Plan gives MARTA all new trains and buses to get more MARTA riders by extending out to other counties, where they will build more transit villages. This made no sense to me because MARTA is a heavily subsidized, low ridership public transit organization. This would just make it a more heavily subsidized, low ridership public transit organization.
Apparently George H. Bush haplessly approved UN Agenda 21 in 1992 and Bill Clinton took it further. George W. Bush ignored it, but didn’t kill it and Barack Obama embraced it and has been spending trillions of dollars on it. Those are the trillions we want him to stop spending that he refuses to stop spending. If we could get him to drop his UN Agenda 21 spending, we could balance the budget, but nobody has suggested that so far. This Plan trades our liberty, property rights, families and very existence for more than environmentally sustainable collective global governance. How’s that for hope and change comrade ?
Project 60 in Idaho is a deal where China is being offered 500 square miles south of Boise to bring jobs to the area. They get tax breaks U.S. companies can’t get because they are foreign. They all come in on special EB-5 visas as Investors. The question in Idaho is whether this land will be sovereign Chinese land and whether they will buy it or just take it off their bill. Most believe they want to get rid of their dollars now and we’re the only ones who will take them. That is also consistent with the UN Project 60 plan to dissolve the sovereignty of all nations starting with ours. I bet Georgia has some Project 60 plans in the works.
The ICLEI is the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives. The mission of the ICLEI USA is to drive local governments to drastically reduce carbon dioxide, they believe is a greenhouse gas that is causing global warming, or climate change, or a little ice age, or something. They want us to stop exhaling and pay 5 times more for wind and solar.
I encourage you to Google these sites yourselves.
I was shocked, but it did answer my question as to why anybody would pour so much money into MARTA, when is has been such a money loser for decades. The answer is, it’s a bigger deal to those elected officials who support global governance or just wanted to get federal transportation money this year. It’s a Trojan Horse.
This set to be voted on by the 10 county region in 2012. PCID is implementing the Perimeter portion of this transit village plan. The Plan gives MARTA all new trains and buses to get more MARTA riders by extending out to other counties, where they will build more transit villages. This made no sense to me because MARTA is a heavily subsidized, low ridership public transit organization. This would just make it a more heavily subsidized, low ridership public transit organization.
Apparently George H. Bush haplessly approved UN Agenda 21 in 1992 and Bill Clinton took it further. George W. Bush ignored it, but didn’t kill it and Barack Obama embraced it and has been spending trillions of dollars on it. Those are the trillions we want him to stop spending that he refuses to stop spending. If we could get him to drop his UN Agenda 21 spending, we could balance the budget, but nobody has suggested that so far. This Plan trades our liberty, property rights, families and very existence for more than environmentally sustainable collective global governance. How’s that for hope and change comrade ?
Project 60 in Idaho is a deal where China is being offered 500 square miles south of Boise to bring jobs to the area. They get tax breaks U.S. companies can’t get because they are foreign. They all come in on special EB-5 visas as Investors. The question in Idaho is whether this land will be sovereign Chinese land and whether they will buy it or just take it off their bill. Most believe they want to get rid of their dollars now and we’re the only ones who will take them. That is also consistent with the UN Project 60 plan to dissolve the sovereignty of all nations starting with ours. I bet Georgia has some Project 60 plans in the works.
The ICLEI is the International Council for Local Environmental Initiatives. The mission of the ICLEI USA is to drive local governments to drastically reduce carbon dioxide, they believe is a greenhouse gas that is causing global warming, or climate change, or a little ice age, or something. They want us to stop exhaling and pay 5 times more for wind and solar.
I encourage you to Google these sites yourselves.
Cut Government Down to Size
Privatize Everything
Our economy will never recover until government reduces its boot print. Everything government does that can be privatized should be privatized. Government does a lousy job managing because they expanded into activities that should have been done by the private economy. The looming examples are Education, Healthcare, Insurance, The Federal Reserve, HUD, Lending, Foreign Aid, Transportation, Labor and EPA. Costs are too high and outcomes are not good. The Federal Government is bankrupt and it’s time for them to freeze hiring, sell the land they own and withdraw from funding the unconstitutional activities they have accumulated and screwed up over the past 100 years. It’s time for the Federal Government to comply with the limits imposed by the 10th Amendment and restrict their activities to those cited in the Constitution.
Federal
Cutting the $90 billion a year spent by the Department of Education and closing it is a good start. Responsibility for Education would fall to the States. Public education has been turned into left wing political indoctrination camps and has failed to teach the basics. It’s time for internet-based home schooling and flexible private schools to take over.
Closing all federal departments and agencies not authorized by the original wording of the Constitution is a good second step. This must be done on January 2, 2013 to balance the federal budget. The only way to cut costs is to cut functions.
The Federal Government needs to get out of the loan business. This could take some time, but Fannie, Freddie and Sallie need to begin to sell its loans to private lending companies. Mortgage-backed securities should be outlawed. Lenders should be ready to own these mortgages until they are paid.
States
States will inherit responsibility for State and Interstate highways, roads and bridges, Labor, EPA and Medicaid without federal grants or subsidies. The States would also need to freeze hiring sell the land they own; Georgia owns 210,000 acres of “wildlife” preserves and state parks. Commissions and Boards should be closed.
Counties and Cities
Counties will continue to handle county roads, bridges, sewers and water without federal and state subsidies and grants. Cities will continue to handle city roads, bridges and sewer maintenance and replacement. Cities will need to remove environmental, green initiatives, privatize recreation and end overreach in planning and economic development. Cities can drop garbage collection. It can be done by a private firm dealing directly with customers. Cities should drop public transit and leave it to private companies dealing directly with their customers. police, 911, dispatch, EMT and fire departments should be merged and officers cross trained.
End the U.N.
The entire “green” scam has been supported through the U.N. Their objective is Global Government. The globalists and their socialist minions in our government have been willing participants in squandering billions of dollars on this assault on our sovereignty. They want to destroy our economy. We are funding our own demise and it must stop. International relations should be conducted by the private businesses who trade with and have operations in foreign countries. Foreign aid should be done by legitimate non-government-connected charities. The U.N. hired Hamas as “peacekeepers” on Israeli borders. Most of our foreign aid goes straight into the bank accounts of the world’s brutal dictators, whose countries occupy most of the seats in the U.N.
End the IMF
The International Monetary Fund receives most of its money from U.S. taxpayers, who get nothing in return. If other countries want to continue to support the IMF, fine. The U.S. should withdraw.
End the Fed
The Federal Reserve exists to allow our federal government to spend whatever it wants. The Fed simply prints the money. This newly printed money dilutes the value of our dollars. The Fed also controls interest rates. Interest rates should be controlled by the market. Congress is responsible for maintaining a stable dollar. They must close the Fed and begin to do their job, pass a balanced budget amendment, and leave banks, financial institutions and insurance companies to sink or swim on their own with no loans, subsidies or government backing.
End Globalist Organizations
There are many organizations supporting a one world government. We should not participate or support them or allow them to interfere with us. Their plan has been tried before and it resulted in tyranny, poverty and slavery. Our country is founded on liberty and free enterprise.
End Corporate Influence
End all subsidies to all industries, including wind, solar, GE, etc. End all subsidies to entities that should be in the private sector like NPR, PBS, the arts, etc. Let them go to the “foundations” for support, or make it on their own. End all tax breaks including ethanol, wind, solar, etc. End all reasons for lobbyists to visit Washington D.C. Remove bribery and extortion from government. End estate taxes. Protect private property from government seizure. Repeal regulations that discourage competition. End regulations and tax breaks that give big corporation monopoly advantages in the marketplace. Ensure that private citizens are free to grow their own food and provide their own water without interference.
Fix the Judicial System
All judges should be elected every two years. Their websites should include all of their decisions and opinions. It should include their entire resume, world-view, associations and influences. Too many judges hide out and wreak havoc on our Constitution. Pass Tort Reform. Pass “looser pays” and malpractice caps. Repeal laws protecting us from ourselves. Allow Judges to stop frivolous law suits when they are filed. Stop releasing prisoners because of overcrowding. Have prisoners work 10 hour days to support themselves. Have them grow their own food. Have them replace migrant workers to harvest foods that cannot be harvested with machinery. Take away their televisions, internet and phones.
Repeal Bad Laws
End abortion. Close Planned Parenthood. Off-shore abortions to Mexico and Canada. End separation of church and state laws. Repeal laws that limit our freedom. Repeal laws that limit free enterprise. Repeal laws that do not support our property rights. Repeal the estate tax. Declare victory over discrimination and repeal affirmative action and all discrimination laws. We are a meritocracy and that works for everybody and doesn’t cause law suits. Whoever tells you that minorities are not capable really is a racist. Close the EEOC and OFCCP. Close the Department of Labor, the NLRB and OSHA. Close the EPA and sell all federal lands. Close the Parks Service. Close the Corp of Engineers. Remove unnecessary environmental restrictions, Repeal the endangered species act. Don’t allow foreign governments or companies to purchase land in the U.S. Tax tobacco and alcohol the same as food.
Restrict Immigration
Move military bases to the border and close it. Deport illegal immigrants. Suspend legal immigration. End the visa lottery. Restrict foreign student entry. Deport militant Muslims. Restrict visitor visas from Muslim countries. Close the TSA.
End Government Involvement in Healthcare
Repeal all government healthcare involvement. Allow healthcare providers to figure out how to cost reduce and restart a patient pays system of healthcare. Be prepared to see expensive, ineffective treatments disappear.
Our economy will never recover until government reduces its boot print. Everything government does that can be privatized should be privatized. Government does a lousy job managing because they expanded into activities that should have been done by the private economy. The looming examples are Education, Healthcare, Insurance, The Federal Reserve, HUD, Lending, Foreign Aid, Transportation, Labor and EPA. Costs are too high and outcomes are not good. The Federal Government is bankrupt and it’s time for them to freeze hiring, sell the land they own and withdraw from funding the unconstitutional activities they have accumulated and screwed up over the past 100 years. It’s time for the Federal Government to comply with the limits imposed by the 10th Amendment and restrict their activities to those cited in the Constitution.
Federal
Cutting the $90 billion a year spent by the Department of Education and closing it is a good start. Responsibility for Education would fall to the States. Public education has been turned into left wing political indoctrination camps and has failed to teach the basics. It’s time for internet-based home schooling and flexible private schools to take over.
Closing all federal departments and agencies not authorized by the original wording of the Constitution is a good second step. This must be done on January 2, 2013 to balance the federal budget. The only way to cut costs is to cut functions.
The Federal Government needs to get out of the loan business. This could take some time, but Fannie, Freddie and Sallie need to begin to sell its loans to private lending companies. Mortgage-backed securities should be outlawed. Lenders should be ready to own these mortgages until they are paid.
States
States will inherit responsibility for State and Interstate highways, roads and bridges, Labor, EPA and Medicaid without federal grants or subsidies. The States would also need to freeze hiring sell the land they own; Georgia owns 210,000 acres of “wildlife” preserves and state parks. Commissions and Boards should be closed.
Counties and Cities
Counties will continue to handle county roads, bridges, sewers and water without federal and state subsidies and grants. Cities will continue to handle city roads, bridges and sewer maintenance and replacement. Cities will need to remove environmental, green initiatives, privatize recreation and end overreach in planning and economic development. Cities can drop garbage collection. It can be done by a private firm dealing directly with customers. Cities should drop public transit and leave it to private companies dealing directly with their customers. police, 911, dispatch, EMT and fire departments should be merged and officers cross trained.
End the U.N.
The entire “green” scam has been supported through the U.N. Their objective is Global Government. The globalists and their socialist minions in our government have been willing participants in squandering billions of dollars on this assault on our sovereignty. They want to destroy our economy. We are funding our own demise and it must stop. International relations should be conducted by the private businesses who trade with and have operations in foreign countries. Foreign aid should be done by legitimate non-government-connected charities. The U.N. hired Hamas as “peacekeepers” on Israeli borders. Most of our foreign aid goes straight into the bank accounts of the world’s brutal dictators, whose countries occupy most of the seats in the U.N.
End the IMF
The International Monetary Fund receives most of its money from U.S. taxpayers, who get nothing in return. If other countries want to continue to support the IMF, fine. The U.S. should withdraw.
End the Fed
The Federal Reserve exists to allow our federal government to spend whatever it wants. The Fed simply prints the money. This newly printed money dilutes the value of our dollars. The Fed also controls interest rates. Interest rates should be controlled by the market. Congress is responsible for maintaining a stable dollar. They must close the Fed and begin to do their job, pass a balanced budget amendment, and leave banks, financial institutions and insurance companies to sink or swim on their own with no loans, subsidies or government backing.
End Globalist Organizations
There are many organizations supporting a one world government. We should not participate or support them or allow them to interfere with us. Their plan has been tried before and it resulted in tyranny, poverty and slavery. Our country is founded on liberty and free enterprise.
End Corporate Influence
End all subsidies to all industries, including wind, solar, GE, etc. End all subsidies to entities that should be in the private sector like NPR, PBS, the arts, etc. Let them go to the “foundations” for support, or make it on their own. End all tax breaks including ethanol, wind, solar, etc. End all reasons for lobbyists to visit Washington D.C. Remove bribery and extortion from government. End estate taxes. Protect private property from government seizure. Repeal regulations that discourage competition. End regulations and tax breaks that give big corporation monopoly advantages in the marketplace. Ensure that private citizens are free to grow their own food and provide their own water without interference.
Fix the Judicial System
All judges should be elected every two years. Their websites should include all of their decisions and opinions. It should include their entire resume, world-view, associations and influences. Too many judges hide out and wreak havoc on our Constitution. Pass Tort Reform. Pass “looser pays” and malpractice caps. Repeal laws protecting us from ourselves. Allow Judges to stop frivolous law suits when they are filed. Stop releasing prisoners because of overcrowding. Have prisoners work 10 hour days to support themselves. Have them grow their own food. Have them replace migrant workers to harvest foods that cannot be harvested with machinery. Take away their televisions, internet and phones.
Repeal Bad Laws
End abortion. Close Planned Parenthood. Off-shore abortions to Mexico and Canada. End separation of church and state laws. Repeal laws that limit our freedom. Repeal laws that limit free enterprise. Repeal laws that do not support our property rights. Repeal the estate tax. Declare victory over discrimination and repeal affirmative action and all discrimination laws. We are a meritocracy and that works for everybody and doesn’t cause law suits. Whoever tells you that minorities are not capable really is a racist. Close the EEOC and OFCCP. Close the Department of Labor, the NLRB and OSHA. Close the EPA and sell all federal lands. Close the Parks Service. Close the Corp of Engineers. Remove unnecessary environmental restrictions, Repeal the endangered species act. Don’t allow foreign governments or companies to purchase land in the U.S. Tax tobacco and alcohol the same as food.
Restrict Immigration
Move military bases to the border and close it. Deport illegal immigrants. Suspend legal immigration. End the visa lottery. Restrict foreign student entry. Deport militant Muslims. Restrict visitor visas from Muslim countries. Close the TSA.
End Government Involvement in Healthcare
Repeal all government healthcare involvement. Allow healthcare providers to figure out how to cost reduce and restart a patient pays system of healthcare. Be prepared to see expensive, ineffective treatments disappear.
The 10th Amendment
The Tea Party asserts that the Federal Government is not compliant with the 10th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution as worded and is violating the 10th Amendment limits. We urge the Congress to pare back Federal Government functions and return them to the “States and the People”.
If the Federal government had followed the 10th Amendment, its budget would be under $1 trillion a year instead of $4 trillion a year. We would not have any debt or any unfunded liabilities. There would have been no inflation. We would not have ruined our economy. The States and the People would have concocted their own versions of retirement savings and health care. Business would be providing us all the energy, goods and services we need at a lot lower prices. Jobs would be available and the poor would be a very small group. The States and the People would have figured out how to help the poor.
We want to reduce the Federal Government to a few simple functions and have them give all other responsibilities to the States and the People. We want the People to begin to work on removing all non-essential expenditures from the States, Counties and Cities. We want government out of everything that their involvement has caused to be ineffective or too expensive to tolerate. We want government to stop paying for things that are not their legal responsibility. We don’t want to wait until our economy collapses and we are forced to live in the woods. We want to return to a workable system now.
Government has a track record of damaging everything it regulates and ruining everything it funds. They know this, so they spend a fortune telling us that things are not that bad, or things are improving, or that these things are really important, or if we complain we will be despised by everyone. What happens is that we stop using these industries and their “ridership” declines. This makes these monstrosities even more expensive, because they raise their fees to off-set our lack of participation. Government has ruined education, health care, energy, insurance, banking, airlines and border security. It wants to ruin the military, food, communication, transportation, Christianity and private property. The press has ruined itself.
The government passes regulations that ruin industries. They then declare them ruined and pass more regulations to finish the job. Once they are totally ruined, the government takes them over. Government subsidizes these industries, which feels good at first, but this makes them more expensive and customers start to drop off and stop showing up. When these industries are terminal, government takes over and turns them into a government entity and continues to subsidize them, forever. So, we started this Tea Party group to begin to reverse the damage, now.
Send me an email to host a candidate meeting or join the Dunwoody GA Tea Party. Go to NTL Conservative Blog – the Dunwoody GA Tea Party blog. Norb Leahy Dunwoody GA Tea Party, ntl@mindspring.com NTL Conservative Blog 770-394-1284
If the Federal government had followed the 10th Amendment, its budget would be under $1 trillion a year instead of $4 trillion a year. We would not have any debt or any unfunded liabilities. There would have been no inflation. We would not have ruined our economy. The States and the People would have concocted their own versions of retirement savings and health care. Business would be providing us all the energy, goods and services we need at a lot lower prices. Jobs would be available and the poor would be a very small group. The States and the People would have figured out how to help the poor.
We want to reduce the Federal Government to a few simple functions and have them give all other responsibilities to the States and the People. We want the People to begin to work on removing all non-essential expenditures from the States, Counties and Cities. We want government out of everything that their involvement has caused to be ineffective or too expensive to tolerate. We want government to stop paying for things that are not their legal responsibility. We don’t want to wait until our economy collapses and we are forced to live in the woods. We want to return to a workable system now.
Government has a track record of damaging everything it regulates and ruining everything it funds. They know this, so they spend a fortune telling us that things are not that bad, or things are improving, or that these things are really important, or if we complain we will be despised by everyone. What happens is that we stop using these industries and their “ridership” declines. This makes these monstrosities even more expensive, because they raise their fees to off-set our lack of participation. Government has ruined education, health care, energy, insurance, banking, airlines and border security. It wants to ruin the military, food, communication, transportation, Christianity and private property. The press has ruined itself.
The government passes regulations that ruin industries. They then declare them ruined and pass more regulations to finish the job. Once they are totally ruined, the government takes them over. Government subsidizes these industries, which feels good at first, but this makes them more expensive and customers start to drop off and stop showing up. When these industries are terminal, government takes over and turns them into a government entity and continues to subsidize them, forever. So, we started this Tea Party group to begin to reverse the damage, now.
Send me an email to host a candidate meeting or join the Dunwoody GA Tea Party. Go to NTL Conservative Blog – the Dunwoody GA Tea Party blog. Norb Leahy Dunwoody GA Tea Party, ntl@mindspring.com NTL Conservative Blog 770-394-1284
Thursday, July 7, 2011
Light Rail - Too Expensive
Last year, we were offered Federal Government money to begin plans to build a light rail line from Atlanta to Macon. There was also talk about money for a light rail line from Atlanta to Charlotte NC. We didn’t’ take the offer; we took a pass. It was either a good decision or just dumb luck. I had heard that light rail was too expensive, so I did a little financial analysis.
The Greyhound Bus from Atlanta GA to Macon GA costs $25 one way, 89 miles, 1 hour 30 minutes. The Greyhound Bus to Charlotte NC costs $50 one way, 288 miles, 6 hours. The cost for gas, to drive a Prius from Atlanta GA to Macon GA is $6 to $8, depending on gas prices. The cost for gas, to drive a Prius from Atlanta GA to Charlotte NC is $19 to $25. The cost of building the light rail system in Seattle was $176 million per mile. The cost of finishing and building a light passenger rail system from Atlanta to Macon would be over $1 billion.
The number of Greyhound Bus tickets from Atlanta GA to Macon GA we could buy with $1 billion is 40 million tickets. If two bus-loads, 80 passengers, bought tickets to go to and from Macon and Atlanta every day, their round-trip cost would be $4000. The $1 billion cost of building a passenger rail service would buy tickets for these 80 passengers for 500,000 trips, or daily round- trips for these 80 passengers for the next 685 years
Shipping freight pods on regular heavy rail is very cost-effective. Cost for light passenger rail is not cost-effective. It requires federal or state subsidies to operate to the tune of $200 per ticket. These 500,000 trips would then cost the state $190 million a year to operate. It’s a Trojan Horse
The Greyhound Bus from Atlanta GA to Macon GA costs $25 one way, 89 miles, 1 hour 30 minutes. The Greyhound Bus to Charlotte NC costs $50 one way, 288 miles, 6 hours. The cost for gas, to drive a Prius from Atlanta GA to Macon GA is $6 to $8, depending on gas prices. The cost for gas, to drive a Prius from Atlanta GA to Charlotte NC is $19 to $25. The cost of building the light rail system in Seattle was $176 million per mile. The cost of finishing and building a light passenger rail system from Atlanta to Macon would be over $1 billion.
The number of Greyhound Bus tickets from Atlanta GA to Macon GA we could buy with $1 billion is 40 million tickets. If two bus-loads, 80 passengers, bought tickets to go to and from Macon and Atlanta every day, their round-trip cost would be $4000. The $1 billion cost of building a passenger rail service would buy tickets for these 80 passengers for 500,000 trips, or daily round- trips for these 80 passengers for the next 685 years
Shipping freight pods on regular heavy rail is very cost-effective. Cost for light passenger rail is not cost-effective. It requires federal or state subsidies to operate to the tune of $200 per ticket. These 500,000 trips would then cost the state $190 million a year to operate. It’s a Trojan Horse
Camping with Bears
In December 2010, two years into the 2nd Great Depression, the State of Georgia purchased 10,000 acres of Oaky Woods in Houston County for $28.7 million ($2,875 per acre). Georgia had already purchased 200,000 acres of uninhabitable land and this will bring our total holdings of uninhabitable land to 210,000 acres of land for wildlife. This has been brought to us by the lobbying of 8,400 Georgians working in behalf of the other 9,820,811 Georgians and the haplessness of the Board of Natural Resources that should be abolished. So the State is going to pay $2,875 per acre for uninhabitable land we will “all enjoy visiting”, so we can camp and hike and run from the wild bears ? I don’t think so.
We could have had the 8400 Sierra Club members in Georgia and 100 bear and wild boar hunters buy the land. It would only cost them $3,376 each and after all, it’s for the bears. If you Georgians can’t wait to camp there, I urge you to bring your running shoes and extra food to lob at the bears when they chase you. The bears can run faster than you and they also climb and swim, so if they chase you, you’re in trouble. It might be good to bring paper bags full of salad to lob at them. They also like fish, but the fish should be alive and moving, so this might not work out so well. Wild hogs will eat anything, so make sure you have plenty of anything to lob at them.
Was the original argument for buying this uninhabitable land to promise that if we gave wild animals their own land, they would not visit our homes ? I realize the black bears and wild hogs the pest control people remove from our homes need to go someplace, but we are not likely to pack up the kids to go camping with bears. Don’t we first need to recruit hunters to become interested in hunting wild hogs and bears before this gets out of hand ? The folks in the Florida Keys are having a hell-of-a time finding hunters interested in eradicating the 9 pound African Gambian pouch rats inhabiting their wildlife preserves to keep them from heading north.
We could have had the 8400 Sierra Club members in Georgia and 100 bear and wild boar hunters buy the land. It would only cost them $3,376 each and after all, it’s for the bears. If you Georgians can’t wait to camp there, I urge you to bring your running shoes and extra food to lob at the bears when they chase you. The bears can run faster than you and they also climb and swim, so if they chase you, you’re in trouble. It might be good to bring paper bags full of salad to lob at them. They also like fish, but the fish should be alive and moving, so this might not work out so well. Wild hogs will eat anything, so make sure you have plenty of anything to lob at them.
Was the original argument for buying this uninhabitable land to promise that if we gave wild animals their own land, they would not visit our homes ? I realize the black bears and wild hogs the pest control people remove from our homes need to go someplace, but we are not likely to pack up the kids to go camping with bears. Don’t we first need to recruit hunters to become interested in hunting wild hogs and bears before this gets out of hand ? The folks in the Florida Keys are having a hell-of-a time finding hunters interested in eradicating the 9 pound African Gambian pouch rats inhabiting their wildlife preserves to keep them from heading north.
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