If Ga. is a test case for conservatism, It Fails.

[Raffi Ella]

Last edited Fri Jan 10, 2014, 02:49 PM - Edit history (1)

Great article, outlines in numbers and facts Why Republican Rule is Bad for GA. There are some pretty great comments that follow it too.

Conservatives have a theory, a theory that has become the foundational myth of their movement. It holds that the best path to economic growth is to slash taxes, cut government, create a regulatory environment that favors business and ensure that the workforce isn’t “spoiled” by a safety net that becomes a hammock, as they like to say.

Do all that, and business will prosper, incomes will rise, people will have jobs and poverty will ease.

Since taking the reins of state government in January 2003, Georgia Republicans have implemented every bit of that agenda. They have slashed unemployment benefits and welfare benefits, and pay the lowest Medicaid reimbursements in the country. They have made us 49th per capita in transportation spending, and the business magazines love us for our “pro-business” environment.

And oh yeah, taxes have been slashed and slashed again. In 2003, Georgia ranked 29th in state and local tax revenue per capita, and was second behind only Virginia among the 12 southeastern states. Today it ranks 44th nationally, and eighth of 12 in the Southeast. We may have the third lowest high-school graduation rate in the nation, and we can’t afford to keep our school doors open for 180 days a year, but darn if we don’t have low taxes.

"the closer you look at the numbers, the uglier they get."

http://www.ajc.com/weblogs/jay-bookman/2014/jan/09/if-ga-test-case-conservatism-it-fails/

[roguevalley]

1. here's an ugly number: my granddaughter makes $2.13 an hour as a waitress.

[n2doc]

2. Facts have a liberal bias

We all know that all of Georgia's problems are due to those democrats!


Seriously, though, if it weren't for Atlanta and Georgia Tech, we would be the worst in the south. And we have a very high tax burden (on the 99%, at least), with high state income taxes, property taxes and sales taxes. No one has any money, though.

[groundloop]

3. Thanks for the kind words re. Georgia Tech....

I graduated from Tech, and my son is going there now.... so I'm a little biased.

One of my pet peeves about our state is how poorly funded the schools are, including the university system. It's insane the amount of student loan debt that kids have to take on now to get through school. I'm helping out my son as much as I can, but he'll be over $60,000 in debt when he finishes, that's absolutely ridiculous.

And as for our public schools, my daughter's high school only has one set of books which have to stay in each classroom. Kids can't take books home with them, so I don't see how the hell they're supposed to be able to do homework (other than those stupid busy-work word search puzzles).

[n2doc]

4. Tech is a great school

You are right about the schools from K-12 to the research 1 universities. UGA is one of the cheapest places in the country (for a research 1) in terms of what it pays its profs and the resources that it provides them. It gets worse as one goes down the University hierarchy. Tech seems to be ok funding-wise. I don't know how they do it. Maybe it's the tuition.

I won't even get started on the public schools. Even the good suburban ones require parents to put in tons of money to keep their programs going. The poorer ones, where parents are too busy/poor/ect to do much, are disasters.