The 2013 Georgia legislative session is on and things are happening. However those things have been overshadowed by the announcement that two term US Senator Saxby Chambliss will decline to run for reelection in 2014.
This means that what was going to be a fun and exciting Primary contest with the Tea Partiers lining up to flay Saxby has now turned into a free for all. I expect a lot of trial balloons to be floated over the next few months.
Fun and excitement abound!
There are times when I just don’t understand conservative thought. I fully acknowledge that I am in the liberal camp when it comes to social issues, but I respect that there is room for disagreement on those ((even if they’re all wrong)). I also have some issues (but not as many) with espoused conservative tax policy, but in that case I heartily understand that there is enormous room for disagreements (and that nobody will know who’s right, ever).
However, when it comes to things like this, I question the sanity of the people around me. From the AJC’s Jim Galloway:
Republican members of the state Senate have received an invitation from Majority Leader Chip Rogers of Woodstock to attend a four-hour, Oct. 11 seminar at the state Capitol on Agenda 21 – what some conservatives believe to be a United Nations-driven conspiracy to erase American property rights.
Zoning as a socialist plot, in other words.
Go to the link, or read the whole memo.
There are only a few things where I will state categorically that someone is really, really stupid. Most of them have to do with holding an opinion entirely without respect for the overwhelming evidence. 9-11 conspiracy theorists; moon landing hoaxers; birthers; reiki practitioners; and Agenda 21 nutjobs.
If you don’t know what Agenda 21 conspiracy theorists think, I can summarize it’s ludicrousness in one sentence: The United Nations is destroying the U.S. and its autonomy through local zoning boards.
Yes, that’s what it all boils down to. The United Nations’ diabolical plan to take over your sidewalks. It’s ridiculous on the face because all of these same people would, in a different context, say that the UN is a powerless and toothless body, so why bother funding it? Also, why do these people think that this sort of thing could be concealed? It’s mind-boggling? ((I’m obviously captured by the system. Just call me Sheeple.))
I’ve made the statement before that this is a binary solution set: They’re either ignorant buffoons who truly believes this shit, or They’re callow hypocritical louts who’re pandering to their base. Neither of which makes me think They’re worthy of the elective office they hold.
And I’m surrounded by them.
While I think it’s better to try and enact change from within, it’s still depressing at times to look at local and state leaders and realize that a majority of them are idiots.
Governor Romney is being blasted in the media for the leaked video of him describing a demographic that he’s choosing not to campaign for. Whether you feel that this is right or wrong, we should acknowledge the reality that yes, a significant percentage of the electorate is in President Obama’s corner no matter what. If Obama were videotaped eating live kittens at the annual Vegans For Obama dinner, he would still be keeping most of those voters. Same thing with Romney. Portions of the electorate are locked and that’s what the video is showing Romney talking about.
It’s still a huge screwup on his part.
This exposes a huge fallacy underlying a republican domestic policy: trying to sell the message that there is a dichotomy between tax payers (a.k.a. “job creators” although I won’t get into that false dichotomy right now) and low-wage, Democratic entitled freeloaders out to getcha.
Jay Bookman sums up the statistics in his piece today.
What I believe is the Republicans main problem is that the party really believes this line.
Jenn and I sit firmly in the top 5% of income by household in the US. Sometimes it doesn’t feel that way because of the amount going out to pay for student loans, but it’s true nevertheless. We pay just shy of double the annual tax rate of Gov. Romney (depending on which of his effective tax years we look at). We should be the republican demographic, given the espoused ideals of the party. Yet we are not. Almost across the board, the republicans do not represent us in any meaningful way. I’ll set aside all of the social issues that we disagree with the GOP on because that’s almost a given, but even economically (where Jenn and I differ most) the party of Lincoln just seems to be whistling a tune that is old, tired, and demonstrably ineffective based on the results of the Bush tax policies. Calling people who just want to be able to see a doctor “victims” demonstrates what we already knew: privileged people can’t relate.
The primary goal of this election season seems to be win at any cost.
I find that depressing.
Today is a significant day for our Country.
That might seem hyperbolic, but it’s not. Think about it. What happens today, when the Supreme Court announces its ruling (about 1.5 hours from now) will have an effect on our healthcare, our discourse, our economy, and our presidential race, and the implications of whatever ruling occurs will ricochet down the years.
Unlike 9/11, everyone has been able to see this coming. Also unlike 9/11, there’s no consensus on which side is “right” and which side is “wrong.” In fact, totally unlike 9/11, this ruling may end up being so multifaceted, it will be more like taking sides in a game of Calvinball than a win/lose game.
Whatever happens, I think we’ll look back at this decision as a turning point for some time to come.
With the Iowa Caucuses coming up soon ((for the political definition of “soon”)) there’s all sorts of fun going on in the Republican political arena. Mitt is being bulldozed by Palin and Donald “the hair” Trump decided he’s not running for president on a birther platform (or any other). Michelle Bachman of Minnesota is trying to reduce her previous crazy-as-a-bedbug reputation and her Governor is pursuing an agenda of “who the hell is Tim Pawlenty anyhow?” Mike Huckabee came out saying “I’m too Baptist to run for president” ((which may be code for “snowball’s chance and I don’t want to give up my Fox News salary”)), and let’s not forget Ron Paul (“Republicans for No Public Infrastructure!”) and Rick Santorum, the anti-intellectual and homophobic creationist who is running on the strength of garnering 41% of the vote for his incumbent senate seat in 2006.
But that’s not why we’re here. We’re here to talk about Georgia. Notably, two candidates who are from Georgia: Herman Cain and Newt Gingrich.
Newt is the one everyone has probably heard of. Speaker of the House during the Republican majority of 1995-1999; author of several histories; husband of several wives; I am a resident of the district he used to represent. This is a distinction of almost zero value nowadays. Why? That’s an interesting question, actually. The best explanation is to say that Newt isn’t a Georgia politician anymore. No one around here seems to give a crap about him. He’s regarded as a Washington insider, not as a Georgia resident. It probably does not help that his official residence has been in Virginia for 12 years. No, no one around here seems to care about Newt.
I place Newt’s chances of succeeding during the primary season as small. My contention is that he’s both too crazy, but not crazy enough to appeal to the Republican party. If people are looking for Crazy come voting time, they’ll pick Sarah Palin, or Michelle Bachman, or Herman Cain. If they’re looking for Not-Crazy, they’ll pick Mitt Romney or Tim Pawlenty. In neither of these scenarios is Newt going to do well. He’s an intellectual in an extremely anti-intellectual party; he’s a hypocritical born-again catholic ((oxymoron, I know)) who will not make a good case with the family values crowd. On top of that, he’s just not good at speaking to his base. Good luck, Newt, I think you’d better milk your time between now and the primaries for all it’s worth.
Then there’s Herman Cain. I confess that I don’t know much about Herman Cain beyond that he is a former CEO and owner of Godfather’s Pizza. However, his public statements have firmly ensconsed him in the “crazy” category. According to him, there is a vast Muslim conspiracy to get Sharia law into all aspects of American life. His latest quotes:
TP: Mr. Cain, you recently came under fire for your comments about the kind of people you would appoint to your cabinet. Would you be opposed to appointing an openly gay but qualified person to be in your cabinet?
Cain: Nope, not at all. I wouldn’t have a problem with that at all. I just want people – I want them qualified, I want them to basically believe in the Constitution of the United States of America. So yep, I don’t have a problem with appointing an openly gay person. Because they’re not going to try to put sharia law in our laws.
I understand the tactic of “viewing with alarm” in order to generate a problem so that you can say you have a solution. It’s also called the strawman argument and anyone with any sense of debate tactics and rhetoric will instantly recognize it for the bullshit it is. This generally isn’t a big problem because, unfortunately, it is a major part of our political discourse. The reason why this particular opinion of Herman’s is a big problem is because he’s advocating and continuing the unlawful and unethical persecution of our American Muslim minority.
Herman first appeared on my “do not like” radar a little while back with this particular brand of hypocrisy:
The role of Muslims in American society is for them to be allowed to practice their religion freely, which is part of our First Amendment. The role of Muslims in America is not to convert the rest of us to the Muslim religion. That I resent. Because we are a Judeo-Christian nation, from the fact that 85 percent of us are self-described Christians, or evangelicals, or practicing the Jewish faith. Eighty-five percent. One percent of the practicing religious believers in this country are Muslim.
And so I push back and reject them trying to convert the rest of us. And based upon the little knowledge that I have of the Muslim religion, you know, they have an objective to convert all infidels or kill them. Now, I know that there are some peaceful Muslims who don’t go around preaching or practicing that. Well, unfortunately, we can‘t sit back and tolerate the radical ones simply because we know that there are some of them who don’t believe in that aspect of the Muslim religion. So their role is to be allowed to practice their religion freely, just like we should be allowed to practice our religion freely, and not try to convert the rest of us.
In that link, I had called attention to the following two opposed issues: “The role of Muslims in America is not to convert the rest of us to the Muslim religion.” and “…85 percent of us are self-described Christians, or evangelicals,…”. I can’t help but think that Mr. Cain didn’t listen during his school days when they taught that evangelicals are specifically supposed to promulgate the christian faith to the unconverted ((“unconverted” = “unsaved” = “anyone not my particular sect of christianity” in my experience with evangelical christians)).
However, let’s examine a couple other statements in that quote above:
Whatever his economic and other positions are, Herman Cain has identified himself with racists and bigots and homophobes and other people who do not like the Other. Please don’t vote for this guy if he shows up in your primaries.
Who will I vote for? Well, last election I voted for Obama, but I will vote in the Republic Primary when it comes around to ensure that if someone does beat Obaman, it’s someone who’s not batshit insane. I doubt my contribution will have much effect (this is Georgia after all and we love our christian conservatives) but I’ll do my part.
Today on the Political Insider:
Cain: The role of Muslims in American society is for them to be allowed to practice their religion freely, which is part of our First Amendment. The role of Muslims in America is not to convert the rest of us to the Muslim religion. That I resent. Because we are a Judeo-Christian nation, from the fact that 85 percent of us are self-described Christians, or evangelicals, or practicing the Jewish faith. Eighty-five percent. One percent of the practicing religious believers in this country are Muslim. [editor emphasis]
Herman Cain is from Georgia and is displaying either crass hypocrisy or an amazing unawareness of what he’s saying.
I will remind my reader that a fundamental tenet of Evangelical Christian sects is to actively promulgate their message to nonbelievers. If you’re not saved, you’re going to hell, and there’s no middle ground.
It always amazes/depresses me when politicians can say things like this with a straight face. Like the birther movement, you’re either ignorant or a hypocrite. There’s no middle ground.
About eight seconds after posting this, I read this
There are currently three bills related to bicycles going through the Georgia Legislature:
House Bill 71 does two things: It provides for the requirement that vehicles yield to bicycles as well as pedestrians on sidewalks. It also allows operation of bicycles by persons older than 12 on the sidewalks, something that has been prohibited in Georgia to date.
Interestingly, I believe from crash statistics that is actually more dangerous to operate your bicycle on a sidewalk than on a street. That’s because of the number of times you have to cross alleys and streets and driveways.
This one I support, although I think people need to be trained to ride their bikes in the street and not on the sidewalk. Leave the sidewalk for the pedestrians
House Bill 101 does several worthy things and several bad things. I do not support this legislation in its current form.
The section about riding as far right as practicable I’m hesitant about, but they could beef it up with some additional language and I’d be happy. The reason for my ambiguity is a personal example of riding. I want to make a left on a three lane road. I don’t want to have to sit in the right lane until the last minute and then cut across traffic. The safe way is to merge over to the left lane a distance back from the turn and ride up to the left turn location. This gives maximum visibility to me and maximum predictability of my actions to drivers.
The part about not allowing cyclists to bring their babies with them is just crap pure and simple. Sure, I support the general idea that it’s not safe to bring your baby with you, but to prohibit it is getting into personal rights territory. Of interest, Rep. McKillip, the bill’s sponsor, is the Athens Democrat who recently defected to the Republicans. If I want to bring my baby with me on my bike, or if I have to, because that’s the only method I have of getting around, that is my call.
The part about allowing local jurisdictions to prohibit bikes on roadways if there is an adjacent bike path shows that Rep. McKillip doesn’t ride very much on bike paths. Most of the time, you wouldn’t want half of the bikers on the bike path because they’re going too fast, and those paths tend to have pedestrians and strollers and roller bladers who really don’t appreciate me buzzing past at 20 mph. Plus, those paths are the first ones to fill up with debris. If you provide me a path that is well maintained and safe for me, I’ll use it, but please don’t require me to.
Lastly, House Bill 180 is a “safe clearance” bill requiring three feet of clearance between motor vehicles and bicycles during passing maneuvers. I approve.
In Georgia you can buy a beer on Sunday at a restaurant1, but not at a store. Senate Bill 10 of the 2011 legislative session may fix that. The word is that this year, this bill has a good chance of becoming law.
Of course, I say “fix that” but what I really mean is that the legislature is doing a time honored pass-the-buck tradition. Instead of a blanket opening of the door to Sunday Sales of alcohol, they’ve submitted a bill to let local counties and municipalities opt, by referendum, after an appropriate resolution or ordinance is passed, to allow it.
[sigh]
I would have preferred if they ditched the prohibition entirely and allowed local municipalities or counties to opt back in.
Still, it’s a step in the right direction, in my opinion. The marriage of Republicans with their “personal responsibility” mantra and Baptists with their “Death to Alcohol” craze has always been a weird one, to me.
This Senate bill would allow Sunday sales of package store alcohol after 12:30 PM on Sundays. So, you still can’t get up in the morning and go get some Johnny Walker. I suppose that’s because the various church goers don’t want to miss the rush.
Here’s a link to the Senate bill
Here’s a link to the existing code, which is complicated: GA Code Annotated. You’ll have to go through the menus to Section 3-3-7 and 3-3-20.
1: But not everywhere
I’ve been paying more and more attention to Georgia politics over the last few years. Partly because it directly affects my job, but also because it’s interesting in an OH MY GOD kind of way. I expect that is the case no matter what level of politics you’re paying attention to (or where), but in my own ego-centric world, I feel that Georgia is special in its ability to deliver crazy people and their crazy ideas into the state legislature.
This year, I plan to keep a close watch on the goings on as the legislative session proceeds. The session, if you’re not aware, began on January 10th, despite the snowpocalypse. Members of both chambers either arrived on Sunday and stayed at hotels to beat out the storm or were shuttled to the Capitol by state police on Monday morning1. Since then, we’ve had the inauguration of Governor Deal, the State of the State address, and the Governor’s proposed budget plan. Don’t forget about all the bills and resolutions that have already been filed in both the House and the Senate. My best buddy Bob Franklin (R-Cobb County)—total sarcasm intended here—has been prolific with his bills so far, mandating no driver’s licensing, no firearms laws (at all), and reverting back to a gold/silver currency for conducting all state business2. I’d link you to these bills, however the Georgia Assembly’s website is down at the moment.
You can look for me to be sporadically keeping tabs on the various goings on in the Assembly, and sharing them with you.
1: The state constitution mandates that the legislative session begin on the second Monday of January. No provisions for weather are made, although the constitution does say “The General Assembly shall meet in regular session on the second Monday in January of each year, or otherwise as provided by law…[emphasis added]”. I am not aware of any laws addressing this issue. Georgia Constitution, 2007 (PDF)
2: Bob Franklin is going to get picked on a lot by me for several reasons. One, his bills are batshit insane and I don’t understand what he thinks he can accomplish with them. Two, he literally represents my backyard (but not me!) because the district boundary line is my property line. Hopefully that won’t change with this year’s redistricting.
We who live and work in the Atlanta metropolitan region had an object lesson in what happens when a major snowstorm hits a southern city: shutdown. You might assume that this has implications for accessibility. You would be right.
The snow that hit us on Sunday night put five inches on the ground at my house in the northern suburbs and I’ve seen reports ranging between two and nine, depending on the area. However, the snow wasn’t the big problem. It was the sleet and freezing rain followed by a cold snap in the 20’s that froze everything hard that transformed what might have been a significant winter event into snowpocalypse. Following that with a Monday where temperatures edged into melting territory only to have them plunge overnight—then a Tuesday and Wednesday (so far) where the sun played its important role in slightly melting everything only to have it refreeze after ye olde solar orbe disappeared—we have been presented with a region-wide problem.
It hasn’t been possible to move about in anything like a normal fashion. MARTA, Cobb County Transit, and Gwinnett County Transit, to cite only a few, didn’t run at all on Monday or Tuesday and with only limited service on Wednesday (MARTA Trains ran a reduced schedule those three days).
Major roads were “passable” on Wednesday but were horrible on Tuesday and death-defying on Monday. Minor roads were in some respects better but in others much, much worse. Suburban subdivisions were almost impassable depending on the terrain and how much sun the roads had received. In fact, many were actually impassable, keeping their residents at home even if they desired to leave. City streets were in similar conditions as crews worked to keep main arteries open with limited equipment and resources.
The whole situation has illustrated something about Altanta and its surrounds that is not as true in other eastern United States metropolitan areas: We are mostly dependent on the automobile as a central driver (no pun intended) of our economy. For example, I live in northeast Cobb County. I work in southwest Gwinnett County. I have a 35 mile one-way commute and I am by no means alone in that distance. On Monday I didn’t think even once that it was possible to make it to work. Tuesday I briefly considered it, but one look at Georgia Navigator convinced me otherwise.
If you can’t get to work, or to school, or to the store, then some of the basic transactions that power our economy do not function.
My personal problem was that there were no options for getting to my office outside my car or my bike or my own two legs. This particular storm put the kabosh on any transit option that might have existed, but for the sake of argument let’s postulate a scenario where the snowy/icy conditions were keeping me stuck in my own house1 but that MARTA, Cobb County Transit and Gwinnett County Transit were still operating. There would still be no method for me to get to work unless I caught a ride by car2. It isn’t possible for me to walk a reasonable distance and then catch another tranportation method.
This has other not-unreasonable implications for transportation blockage: A year and a half ago we had serious flooding in the region that shut down a lot of the major river crossings of the Chattahoochee. That pinched the options that remained by shoving all the traffic through those chokepoints. There wasn’t any option but to suck it up and sit in traffic for twice as long as normal. Rideshare would have been effective, but my schedule is such that I can’t commit to a particular commutting time. Buses would have been an option, but again see 2 below.
Atlanta is heavily dependent on the single-passenger vehicle. This is obvious yet regarded as inevitable and unchangeable. I agree that there are huge obstacles to making this region more accessible by alternative means of transportation however it’s not impossible to move things in the right direction. We just need to be aware of the challenges and work to overcome them.
We have the privilege of living in one of the least dense metropolitan areas in the United States (census 2000). We’re ranked 18th in population but 64th in population density. This means it’s more expensive to serve the same population with traditional transit options than it would be in New York or San Francisco. And while we’re making efforts to provide better options for cyclists to coexist safely with automobiles, the distances involved for those people (like me) who live in the suburbs preclude a total cycle commute. Also, there are choke points such as river crossings which are auto-centric and cycle-unfriendly. We also have a politcal arrangement in the area which makes it difficult to have central policy making for the metropolitan area as a whole and this is compounded by state politics which, for better or for worse, are focusing more and more on the disparities between the Atlanta region and the rest of the state.
I personally regard one of the bigger problems at the moment as people’s inability to relocate. It’s a down economy with a down housing market; a great time to buy (if you can get a loan) but a bad time to sell. I am planning to practice some of what I preach, assuming we can sell the house for a reasonable amount. We will move ourselves, our cat and our stuff to a place where I will have transit options and I might get to work in Norcoss by 9:00 rather than 11:00. If people voluntarily start placing themselves where the facilities already exist, there will be incentive for policy makers and others to support that activity. On the flip side, if no efforts are made to provide alternative means of transportation, there will be no incentive for people to move. It’s a vicious chicken/egg proposition.
This problem has developed over the long term and will only be solved over the long term. However, long journeys are completed through short steps. Let’s make this region a more accessible place for our kids.
1: With my driveway that is not an impossible occurrence. Jenn’s car won’t leave the garage at least until Saturday, if not Sunday.
2: Not wholly true, but true for all practical purposes. I once did the math to see what it would take for me to get to work by transit. First step: bike or walk 6 miles to catch a bus. Two trains, two buses, and two system transfers later, ending with a one-mile walk/bike, I’d be at work. Time of departure: 6:00 AM. Time of arrival: 11:00 AM. I don’t consider that useful.