SPLOST

In my work, I talk to people everyday who are struggling with an economic downturn that has affected their lives negatively. Many people right here in Fayette county have suddenly and unexpectedly found themselves facing financial difficulties. Many are out of work, many are grasping on to withering retirement plans, many have seen investments go sour and many have recently experienced unplanned circumstances that have caused them to tighten their belts more and more. Out of money, out of plans, out of answers, and almost out of hope.

Each morning and evening when I drive to and from work, it aggravates me to see road crews disrupting traffic while they constantly and continually repave, rework or “fix” the roads in this county. While it’s only my opinion, it never seems to me that most of the roadwork is necessary, but is “trumped up” just to give somebody something to do and spend money. How can we afford all of this trivial roadwork when so many people are suffering. Seems like the government is rich while everyone else is going poor. The answer, of course is that this is “our” SPLOST dollars at work. We are all digging further into already strained pockets to pay for things that nobody really, really needs right now.

The SPLOST list include not only roadwork (freeing up the county’s funds for other pet projects), but also land purchase and development to attract a college, the further insult of cramming through a west bypass that I have not heard anyone in the county say they want, and other “nice things to have.”

We are in an economic crisis and everyone needs to pull back in order to help pull things back together. Using SPLOST money for unnecessary projects is a slap in the face to those who are having a hard time right now. The county should be considering its community and trying to find ways to stop taking more and more money of our pockets for waste instead of gouging us with additional taxes.

This time around, I vote “no” for SPLOST.

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Arf
Submitted by Bonkers on Fri, 10/30/2009 - 5:32pm.

I also feel badly for those who have no job and are running out of money.
But money generated by SPLOSTS and TARPS wouldn't help these folks very much. Of course many of them have benefited from the small amounts of unemployment compensation supplied by the federal government, about to be extended again for the third time, I think.

It does appear "wasteful" to see roads, etc., being worked upon when there are people who need cash! I'm afraid there isn't enough cash to help very much or very long for 15% of the county out of work. The unemployment money may be it until the TARP money can generate jobs eventually.

The last administration allowed bank and finance companies to extend far more credit to many unworthy borrowers to build what was not needed! In other words we were living on credit for far too long and the bills came due.

It now appears that enough jobs won't be generated even with the federal money to help until 2-3 more years!

Many will simply have to reduce their standard of living and perform what work is available for small wages.
That is what happened in 1929-1940.

Without any factories to go to work in we are hurting. Shuffling papers and clicking computers can't furnish any more jobs.

The "service" industry has also gone to pot---what we had wasn't effective and the people doing it didn't properly serve. India got a lot of that.

There is no answer now except time. We don't even need the what is left of the Wall Street workers (executives) and excess banks, more of them might soon go. What do you suppose they can do?

We used to solve this problem with wars. We have wars and it isn't enough. Maybe we need more wars, huh?

I'm afraid the selfishness and greed and credit ruined us. Ordinary jobs that uneducated people can do were filled with college graduates and with pay to go with it. That won't work long, and didn't.

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Arf, if you had been smart...
mapleleaf's picture
Submitted by mapleleaf on Fri, 10/30/2009 - 3:51pm.

Arf, if you had been smart, you would have voted NO the previous two times too. It is actually quite easy to do. No harder than voting YES, certainly.


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