Political Vine: The Insider's Source on Georgia Politics

What is HB 476? Basically, it is for the establishment of yet another government “authority” to run your lives. But, the writers and sponsors of this bill wrote it just sweet enough to lull you into thinking this is really a swell idea. HB 476 will set-up a government authority to basically build an insurance […]

$12 Million in Tax Dollars To Bail-Out A Private College, But No Soup For You! Rumors have it that HB 77 (the Supplemental Budget bill from Appropriations) sailed out of the House Chamber today with overwhelming support…even though it contained quite the odd, last-minute insertion of a line-item that, on any other day, would have […]

Deception #4: Just like in the movie Charade, no one is ever telling you the whole story… Here’s the “rest of the story:” Within the next 15 months, Cobb County voters will be asked to vote on 2 additional 1% SPLOSTs completely unrelated to this 1% Cobb County SPLOST vote on March 15th. One of […]

Deception #3: “If SPLOST doesn’t pass, your property taxes will go up.” The deception in this claim is that even IF this SPLOST passes, your property taxes WILL likely be going up. There is a 99.9999% chance of property taxes going up. How does PV know this? By reading tea leaves that few other people […]

Deception #2: All Projects Are “Necessary/Needs” The pro-SPLOST folks would be sitting on MUCH firmer ground had this list of projects NOT included two (2) special “transportation studies” buried deep in the list of projects they wanted funded. Each of these studies will cost taxpayers (whether they are Cobb County taxpayers or state of Georgia […]

Deception #1: “It’s just a penny…you can spare a penny to help everyone else, right?” To make sure we are ALL on the same page here about sales taxes in Cobb County, it is important that everyone get on the same page. In order to do that, let us break down for you what our […]

“For years, SPLOST proponents and County officials have argued that the tax is a “good deal” for Cobb taxpayers because “non-resident spending accounts for approximately 30% of sales tax revenue.” The claim was repeated many times by Rose Wing, chair of Citizens for Cobb’s Future in Wednesday’s debate with Lance Lamberton of the Cobb County […]

More irresponsible money management by Cobb County: Spending an additional $400,000 on this Special Election that could be held in November when the municipal elections are held…and money has to be expended on them.

Many people sometimes have a very challenging time grasping what a SPLOST is. They look at the “word” and are puzzled as to what it means. SO…here at the Political Vine, our crack team of political research “scientists” (’cause, you know, the study of “politics” is such a “science” (sic) ) has developed a very […]

An interesting article in the January 15, 2011 edition of the MDJ Online got me to thinking. The article discusses the fact that the lobbying firm for the City of Kennesaw may not be re-hired for this next year. The article also reveals the fact that this same lobbying firm also acts as the Kennesaw […]

Rumors have it that one of the Republican State House Members is seeking to single-handedly assert himself as the Walking Boss of the House. It would certainly seem so when one looks at the activities of one State Representative Allen Peake (R-137), who just happens to also serve as the House Majority Caucus Secretary/Treasurer. Many […]

The special council on studying Georgia’s state tax revenue system issued its final report today. You can view it here: 2010 Special Council on Tax Reform and Fairness for Georgians When I read of Rep Larry O’ Neal’s involvement in the creation of this council, and the fact that Governor Sonny Perdue made darned sure […]