I have a wife, a day job, and two part-time jobs to keep happy. I haven’t even had time to mention the write up I did on Gov. Gary Johnson’s campaign for Liberty or the piece I recently wrote for The Daily Caller on Tom Morello.

And while time is the biggest factor, I haven’t been able to find a voice for this blog for the last couple of years. United Liberty is where been I’ve writing about national politics and the libertarian movement for the last three-plus years. If something going on in Georgia politics catches my eye, I have Peach Pundit for an outlet.

This blog served as the starting point for several opportunities, but it’s time to move on. You can still catch my rants at United Liberty and Peach Pundit. I’ve also started a Tumblr, where I’ll occasionally post pictures or promote stories. You can also continue to follow me at @jaseliberty on Twitter or on Facebook.

I haven’t decided if I’ll eventually take this thing down, aggregate posts from other sites where I contribute or just not update it anymore. But whatever I eventually decide, thanks for those of you that stopped by this blog for the last seven years. It was fun, but more great things are ahead. Stay tuned.

So which polling firm got it right? Well, we know it wasn’t the firm used by TSPLOST supporters to show that the vote was much closer than SurveyUSA and Rosetta Stone indicated. Below you’ll find a list of the numbers I was able to locate for the Metro Atlanta region, including the last polls leading up to the vote compared to the actual outcome.

After last week’s vote, I read a comment on Twitter that older voters were to blame for TSPLOST’s defeat. Well, that’s not accurate. While there isn’t a lot of data available from polling firms, SurveyUSA’s last poll, conducted July 11-15, found that voters across age demographics opposed the tax hike. Sure, voters from age 18-34 were more likely to support TSPLOST. But at 39/43 (-4), support was still underwater. The next strongest support came from voters between the ages of 50-64, at 38/46 (-8). It was actually voters between the ages of 35 and 49 were TSPLOST found its weakest support 32/50 (-18). Voters 65+ also opposed TSPLOST, but the support for it was nearly as high at younger demographics, at 38/52 (-14).

The big winner among firms that polled the TSPLOST is Rosetta Stone, a local firm. The big loser is Hill Research Consultant, who did internal polling for TSPLOST supporters and once again teaches us that internal polling is almost always wrong.

[UPDATE] I sent in a request to John Garst of Rosetta Stone Communications for crosstabs on their last poll, released on July 25th. Interestingly, their numbers contradict the picture painted by SurveyUSA. According to Rosetta Stone, voters between 18-39 in Metro Atlanta supported the TSPLOST at a 51/40 (+11) clip. Voters from 40-64 opposed it, 36/62 (-26_, as did ages 64 and over, at 30/68 (-36).

That would seem to poke holes in my theory that younger voters were just as opposed to the TSPLOST as everyone else, right? Not exactly. Rosetta Stone also released a survey on early voters — meaning those who had already cast their ballots, which was conducted on July 28th. That poll shows that voters across all ages overwhelmingly opposed the TSPLOST. In fact, younger voters, those between 18-39, were the most opposed to the TSPLOST at 26/69 (-43). Voters from 40-64 were at 36/62 (-26). And voters over 64 were against at a 30/68 (-38) clip. This is conclusive, given that the overall results of the poll, 32/65, were very much in-line with the actual result, 33/63.

Most of the shows I saw were in that atmosphere. Needless to say, this was my first “real” show. No Use For A Name released More Betterness!, their sixth studio album, that day. Chris Shifflet had just left the band to join the Foo Fighters. I was already familiar with them, and had previously picked one of their old records.

They were flawless. The music was tight and harmonies were dead on. And unlike many mainstream acts, they looked liked they enjoyed doing it. From that point on I was hooked. I had the chance to seem them two more times, including the Fat Wreck Chords tour in 2000.

Through the years, I’ve listened to No Use regularly, though I wasn’t able to get into their last couple of records. You can ask my wife, when I don’t have anything to do I often pull out my guitar and play along to No Use records. Along with MxPx and Strung Out, No Use provided the soundtrack to my youth.

Their music, to this day, is still helps me pass the day at work or gives me something to rock out to on the way home.

Sadly, Tony Sly, No Use’s singer and a great songwriter, passed away on Tuesday. He was 41. Fat Mike, owner of Fat Wreck Chords, made the announcement on Wednesday. No cause of death has been disclosed. Sly mentioned in a recent interview that he was suffering from herniated disk. He noted that he was “in pain all the time” and was receiving epidural shots, going to a chiropractor, and in physical therapy.

He attributed to his back problems to “playing guitar in a punk band.” He explained, “Jumping around like an idiot on stage is fine when you are in your 20s, but when you get into your 30s and 40s it really takes its toll.”

Sly leaves behind a wife and two kids.

To celebrate sly and No Use For A Name, here is “Soulmate,” which appeared originally on ¡Leche con Carne!:

Even if one agrees with the “Militia limitation” on the Second Amendment, the Militias to which the Amendment refers were State Militias which would have been used to fight the federal government.

When viewed in this light, it is apparent that a limitation on automatic weapons would be an infrigment on the purposes of the Second Amendment. If we want to have an honest discussion about the issue of gun control, then let’s frame the discussion correctly, “Should the people have the right to keep and bear arms that could be used to violently overthrown the central government”.

Let’s remember that this country was formed in a violent revolution. Let’s remember that at Lexington and Concord citizen fired on and killed government solidiers sent by the central government to confiscate their weapons and arms.

If we are going to have gun control then let’s not dicker around the fringes. Let those who would limit the law-abiding citizen’s access to arms first repeal the Second Amendment. That would be the intellectually honest way to address the issue.

Here’s a look at polls that have been released on the TSPLOST in Metro Atlanta since February. Please note that these are the only polls I was able to find, so I may have overlooked or otherwise missed some. Also, dates are either for the days the poll was conducted or the date of its release.

As you can see, undecideds are moving against the transportation tax hike. Here is another look at the polling above through a chart (click to enlarge):

I would expect things to tighten as we approach July 31st as pro-TSPLOST groups pull out all the stops to gain public support — through rallies and get out the voter efforts and moves by public officials, such as the stunt recently by Gov. Nathan Deal to end tolls on GA-400. But keep in mind that voters in Georgia like to take advantage of early voting, so some of the impact will be limited in its reach. At this point, however, I think it goes down, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see voters barely approve the tax hike.

For my view on the TSPLOST and why I’m encouraging Georgians to vote against it, visit here.

This effort isn’t the first attempt at a sales tax to fund transportation improvements and expand mass transit. Back in 2009, then-State Rep. Vance Smith, who would later go on to lead the Georgia Department of Transportation, proposed a 10-year statewide sales tax; which, if passed, would have raised taxes by $22 billion.

Disagreements between House and Senate leaders led to the effort stalling out, killing what easily would have been the largest tax hike in Georgia history. Senate leaders, led by Lt. Gov. Casey Cagle, preferred a regional approach to the issue. But with new leadership in the House in 2010, the Legislature ironed out a new tax hike proposal, the TSPLOST, a regional penny tax to be presented to voters this year.

Assuming all 12 regions pass the referendum later this month, the TSPLOST is projected to bring some $19 billion in new tax revenues to the state. In most regions, the split between regional and local projects will be 75-25. However, in the Metro Atlanta region, 85% of the $7.2 billion in expected revenues will go to regional projects. Fifteen percent will go for local projects. If passed in every region, this would be the largest tax hike in Georgia history.

Advocates of the TSPLOST have spent a substantial sum of money trying to convince Metro Atlanta residents that the tax hike is needed in order to “untie” the region. That may sound like music to the ears of many Metro Atlanta drivers, but this tax hike is still struggling to gain steam despite a bipartisan push from many of Georgia’s most prominent elected officials, including Gov. Nathan Deal and Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed. Interestingly, the opposition is equally diverse, with the Sierra Club, AFL-CIO, NAACP, and various Tea Party groups all pushing a “no” vote. (Please note that the AFL-CIO is not opposing the TSPLOST)

Supporters of the tax hike are trying to paint its opponents out to be ideologues who are opposed to any tax increase. There is some truth that in some cases, but there is also a practical case to be made against the TSPLOST.

There is no denying that Atlanta has one of the worst traffic commute times in the country. Anyone that has had to drive across town during morning or afternoon traffic knows this. TSPLOST supporters tell us that the 1-cent tax hike will ease congestion, get people to work quicker and reduce losses in productivity. They also say says that the measure will also create jobs, improve public safety, and promote economic development.

Of course, what Georgians don’t hear from groups promoting the TSPLOST is, as the Georgia Public Policy Foundation (GPPF) noted in its study on the referendum (p.16), a little more than half of money would be doled out for mass transit.

Expanding mass transit in Metro Atlanta has long been a goal of many of the groups pushing the tax hike. However, it’s difficult to explain why this particular mode of transportation will receive a majority of the funding — approximately $3.2 billion — when, according to Census statistics, only 3.36% of commuters in the region use mass transit. Some may say that Atlanta is simply “behind the times” in “investment” and more money will bring more ridership. But only a handful of metropolitan areas manage to break the 10% threshold, and those tend to have a higher population density than Metro Atlanta.

By placing such a heavy emphasis on mass transit, TSPLOST advocates are ignoring the primary method of transportation used in the region and largely dismissing other innovative ideas that could be used to move commuters around Metro Atlanta. That’s both a detriment to the region and, frankly, very poor public policy.

Another issue with the TSPLOST is that some of these projects, particularly mass transit, are more long-term ventures and would require an even longer funding mechanism. Writing at the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Kyle Wingfield explained:

About a quarter of the $3.2 billion allocated to transit, $767.9 million, is estimated for these projects’ operations and maintenance for 10 years, as required by law. Because the projects would be built in timeframes that vary, they do not cover the same 10 years. But, at some point, the O&M funding would run out.

A couple of things would happen when O&M funding evaporates — often cash-strapped local governments (i.e. their taxpaying residents) would have to come up with another funding mechanism or the state would ask taxpayers to extend the TSPLOST for another length of time.

If you’ll recall, this is one reason why the Atlanta-Macon commuter rail line was a non-starter in the City of Hampton. Elected officials knew that the O&M funding provided for their stop on the line would eventually run out. As Wingfield points out, the latter route — extending the TSPLOST — would likely be the route that elected officials decide to take.

Benita Dodd, vice president of GPPF, also noted that similar scheme in Denver, Colorado didn’t go as planned. As she explained, “[V]oters approved a 0.4 percent sales tax for their 12-year regional transit plan in 2004, [but] officials are back this year seeking a doubling of the tax and delaying the project completion date.” That proposal later proved to be unpopular with city leaders, but the difficult situation with transportation funding in which Denver finds itself still remains.

Another point, as mentioned above, is the time in which Metro Atlanta commuters sit in traffic. Again, there is no denying that drivers in and around Atlanta have one of the worst commutes in the country. But does this justify a substantial tax increase and, if so, would the tax increase really reduce commute times? Kyle Wingfield went over this particular point last month (emphasis mine):

The fear factor may be the campaign’s most persuasive argument. Forecasts of how much congestion will ease if the projects are built are fine, but it’s hard to know how reliable they are. Or how much congestion will improve where any given voter/taxpayer/commuter lives and drives.

Or if it’s even a big deal to reduce “congestion” by 24 percent, as forecasters claim. Depending on how one defines the region, the data show “congestion” (vs. mere distance) accounts for six to 10 minutes of the average, hour-a-day commute. So, the data suggest T-SPLOST projects would shrink the average daily commute by less than 150 seconds..

Of course, fear is the greatest tool at the disposal of politicians — or, in this case, advocacy organizations — to get voters to do what they want them to do. You only need look back at post-9/11 policies for examples

One last angle that TSPLOST proponents have taken, briefly touched on above, is that the tax hike is needed to promote “economic development” — a catch phrase used by the Georgia Chamber of Commerce and others often used to push lawmakers into doing what they want. The implication is, obviously, that whatever policy being pushed would be “good for business.” Interestingly, CNBC just yesterday released its annual study, America’s Top States for Business. Georgia ranks in the top 10. What’s more, the state is once again given high marks in the “Infrastructure & Transportation” category; ranking third overall.

The most recent poll suggests that the TSPLOST may well fail, but whether it passes or not, Georgians will still be stuck in traffic. Let’s not kid ourselves into thinking otherwise.

Crowell, a sophomore from Columbus, was booked at 3:37 a.m. on charges of possessing a concealed weapon, having a weapon in a school zone and having an altered ID mark on that weapon. His bond, originally set at $7,500, was raised to $9,500 late Friday morning. According to booking records, Crowell was released early Friday afternoon.
[...]
According to Athens-Clarke police spokesperson Hilda Sorrow, Crowell was arrested at a “vehicle check-point” — or road block — on East Campus Road at Green Street at 2:20 a.m. Friday. Officer Kathryn Thornton reported smelling the odor of marijuana in Crowell’s silver four-door 2005 Mercury Grand Marquis. Crowell gave consent to search the vehicle, himself and four other occupants. No marijuana was discovered but a black 9-mm Luger handgun with an altered serial number was found under the driver’s seat. Crowell was immediately arrested and taken to jail.

According to the police report, Crowell denied knowing the gun was in the car and said people drive the vehicle. He. The owner of the vehicle is listed as Crowell’s mother Debbie. The report also indicted that the five were coming from the nightclub Aftermath, where Crowell said the smell of marijuana originated.

Crowell has since been dismissed from the team, putting an end to a promising future; at least at Georgia. Unfortunately, he was never able to get his act together. Crowell was suspended twice last year, including the New Mexico State game for apparently failing a drug test. There were constant questions about his work ethic and motivation.

Admittedly, I was impressed with Crowell after watching him play. Unfortunately, he’s decided to piss his talent away by making stupid decisions. Richt obviously made the right call and I hope he continues clean house, ridding the Bulldogs of negativity.

Here is a look at who is likely to replace Crowell.