Comments on: Anti-tax protestors urged to, um, ride MARTA

By: Poogass

Poogass — Thu, 07 May 2009 06:39:44 +0000

I know I’m really late on this topic but… from what I understand Marta’s not federally funded by the income tax, and I’m pretty sure that’s what all of these Tea Party Goers are really against.

In fact, according to Wikipedia, MARTA is unique in that it is the largest United States transit agency not to receive state operational funding. The system is funded primarily by a 1% sales tax levied in its service area and passenger revenue.”

By: edgewood adam

edgewood adam — Wed, 06 May 2009 15:03:55 +0000

As someone who grew up in Alpharetta, i can tell you the mindset of why they would not take Marta. “Because it’s gross and there are black people on it.” The funny thing is that most of the Johns Creek tax persecuted wealthy are from places that have good mass transit (the north and California). Its like they get here and suddenly become rich rednecks.

By: DaleC

DaleC — Wed, 06 May 2009 14:23:42 +0000

Why wouldn’t they take taxpayer subsidized transportation? After all, they paid for it, whether they wanted to or not.

By: Pete

Pete — Wed, 06 May 2009 08:16:07 +0000

Yeah nadia, BUSH’s spending was out of control. Obama’s spending pales in comparison. Give me a break. Not that Bush was much of a fiscal conservative, but it’s a weak statement to say the least.

By: nadia

nadia — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 16:41:15 +0000

They were not there to protest just taxes but also the Obama presidency. So many of the signs blasted him as if this was all his fault. Typical stupid conservatives. Doing the bidding of FOX News and blaming Obama for Bush’s out-of-control spending for 8 years.

And YES you morons… Federal tax dollars DO go to supplement local transit initiatives such as MARTA.

FOX LOVING IDIOTS.

By: Victoria

Victoria — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 15:53:03 +0000

Right On Lee! The best arguments are the ones that are facts, plain and simple!

By: Lee Biola

Lee Biola — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 15:22:46 +0000

The protestors’ trip would have been subsidized whether or not they took MARTA. The Downtown Connector cost the equivalent of billions of dollars in today’s dollars.

Automobile travel is highly subsidized not just in the form of road construction and maintenance, but in the cost of police and ambulance service that deal with Georgia’s annual 3,000 highway deaths and over 100,000 injuries per year.

Road subsidies undermine the market for private mass transportation, the most cost-effective way to move around large numbers of people.

Road subsidies distort the real estate market and encourage sprawling homes and businesses that depend on cheap oil prices to survive.

In order to get back to the days when government did not “prop up transit systems” we would have to also go back to the days when the government did not “prop up” billion dollar highways.

Of course, that would take us back to an era when neither transit nor roads were very good. A time when a trip from North Fulton to the Capitol took all day.

Rather than taking this extreme approach we should do a better job of balancing our transportation investment between roads and transit, so that we get the best of both.

That means we all need to get involved more in our government and make sure our money is spent most effectively. At the same time, we need to act like adults and recognize that previous generations invested in our current quality of life and we have an obligation to do that for the next generation. Quality costs money.

By: Cameron

Cameron — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 14:25:04 +0000

I fail to see how supporting a transit system with their own dollars, by paying to ride MARTA, is somehow supporting Government funded transit. It’s exactly the opposite – putting their money literally where their mouth is and proving that if more people rode MARTA the government could get the hell out of the business of proping up transit systems.

Lookie there – if that happens then less taxes are required from EVERYONE.

But then, maybe they could spend it to prop up failed newspapers instead.

By: DaleC

DaleC — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 13:09:50 +0000

Excessive taxation and excessive spending go hand-in-hand.

The 50% of wage earners who actually pay Federal income tax are overtaxed.

By: edgewood adam

edgewood adam — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 13:02:56 +0000

Dale,

The intention might be what you have stated but most of the idiots down there were protesting taxes in general.