Georgia’s New Transportation Law Spells “DANGER AHEAD”

By Diane Cox, 6/8/2012 www.valdostateaparty.com

“The Georgia legislature passed the Transportation Investment Act of 2010 (TIA) requiring a tax referendum on this July’s primary ballot for a 10-year 1% sales tax on everything. Tea Parties across the entire state are waging a David & Goliath battle to defeat the tax against an $8 million PR campaign financed by the Chamber of Commerce cronies. Gullible legislators were influenced to pass the terrible law by lobbyists from the Georgia Chamber of Commerce, Urban Land Institute, Policy Link, regional planning and other progressive groups.

The TIA is top-down control and creates Regional Government. The tax referendum will be voted on a regional basis, within the 12 regions in Georgia. If passed in a region, the tax collected is disbursed in Marxist fashion from each county according to its ability, to each county according to its need. They call it “regional equity,” we call it pure socialism.

The law creates a Coordinating Committee for Rural and Human Services Transportation with representatives from eight departments of state government plus subcommittees composed of other government and private groups to oversee and implement cradle-to-grave social service delivery transportation. With most funding for those programs coming from federal sources, these groups would act as regional “soviets” implementing UN Agenda 21 criteria written into all the current grants emanating from HHS, HUD, EPA, USDOT, etc.

“Environmental Justice” and “Social Justice” are new terms emerging in transportation planning and in grant criteria. It is doubtful that most lawmakers and citizens know the meaning of those utopian terms, and are like poor deer in the headlights in front of the giant Regional Government tank barreling down Georgia’s highway.

The TIA is believed to be unconstitutional, as it violates the home rule provisions of the Georgia Constitution. But if the voters approve the tax referendum in July, it will supersede current law, and neuter local governments. The trend toward Regionalism and consolidation of local governments being promoted by the Chamber of Commerce is advancing the concept of Mega-Regions that blur even state lines. Most citizens are currently unaware of the upcoming tax referendum and the radical transformation of government planned for Georgia if it passes.

Contributions to the proponents’ PR campaign come from corporations that would profit from the massive public transit scheme planned for the Atlanta area. Large multi-national corporations like Siemens (mfg. light rail cars) and Caterpillar, and construction and engineering groups are pushing hard for passage of the tax. If passed statewide, it is projected to be a massive 96% increase in transportation spending.

With Georgia already ranked 7th in the nation for transportation infrastructure, but experiencing record bank failures in the greatest recession of our lifetime, it defies logic that a tax increase will improve the state’s condition. Proponents are relying on scare tactics of snarled traffic imagery to convince voters to vote themselves a tax. Or they like to say if we don’t pass this tax we won’t be “competitive in the 21st Century” – how prosaic.

The grassroots tea party groups around the state recognized the danger posed by the TIA over a year ago. They are distributing yard signs, billboards, handouts, and organizing sign-waving protests at busy intersections. Emboldened by the recent win in Wisconsin, tea partyers in Georgia are hoping to ride the anti-tax mood for a landslide defeat of TIA. They’ll also be working to purge their legislature of the Big Government RINOs who passed a law like the terrible TIA.

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