Great article, thanks

You hit the nail on the head... Great article... A large portion of the media is useless when it comes to reporting the facts and it's not just local.. Thanks for your honesty..

Thank you for your insight MIke!

After my frustrating, snail's pace, hour-long commute to work this morning, I only paid $3.87 for my breakfast - not $3.92! Thanks Mike!!!!!

Right Larry. If only the politicians had your nickel, you'd be sailing along the highway at 70 mph starting tomorrow. Is that your assertion?

Raymond - It would have cost him $3.92, but he might have gotten to work in only 59 minutes instead of an hour.

Mike Lowry - Thank you for your outstanding leadership and activism on this issue. As Dr. Betty Price has commented on several occasions, it is disappointing that the Georgia General Assembly chose not to confront this issue and instead abrogated their responsibility to the people whom they are here to serve. As a result, Georgia tax payers spent thousands of hours, millions of dollars, and a year embroiled in debate. This was a real disservice to the citizens of Georgia and we should hold them accountable and hire people who are brave enough to do their job in November.

Since the media refuses to be the fourth branch of government, is it any wonder there remains major corruption and lack of good ideas. It was way to easy to see that the supporters were the ones to receive the benefits of the TSPLOST, not the taxpayers and drivers of Georgia.

Refreshing to know that all is not lost because the citizens are still alive and kicking!

The mass media and politicians just don’t seem to be getting the message contained in the defeat of the T-SPLOST tax. The seeds of this resounding rejection by the voters were sown by Governor Purdue when he reinstated the toll on GA 400 after the construction bonds had been paid off. The HOT lanes on I-85 and proposed toll lanes on GA 400 added seasoning to voter distrust. Heavy-handed advertising and support for the referendum by MAVEN, Untie Atlanta, Governor Deal and Mayor Reed further stoked the resentment of the voters. Governor Deal’s “promise” to stop the tolls on GA 400 (in 18 months) was viewed as just another last minute political ploy to save the tax. The T-SPLOST approach never was or had a “plan.” The media want to “blame” the Tea Party for its role in defeating the T-SPLOST initiative. The Tea Party merely served as a spear point for the voters. The voters were the stout shaft that sank the referendum. It will be interesting to see what happens with the GA 400 toll, now that the voters have rejected the T-SPLOST tax. SRTA must still vote to eliminate the tolls. When was the last time anyone saw or heard of a government agency voting itself out of business? Governor Deal has yet another opportunity to demonstrate some leadership by following through with his promise on the GA 400 toll. If Governor Deal instead “focuses today on the price of austerity, as chosen by T-SPLOST opponents,” then all is lost.

Great insight. Thanks for the write up!

Great article, Mike. It was my pleasure to work with you and everyone else associated with the Transportation Leadership Coalition (TLC). The power is in We the People, and this statewide grassroots campaign with little funding was the David that defeated the Goliath with $8.2M in advertising funds. My hope is what the TLC was able to accomplish will give hope to others that we can make our legislators and governments accountable to us again. It's a lot of hard and oft times thankless work, but saving our state and country is more than worth it.

After reading the AJC this morning, I'm shaking my head with dis-belief! Why? Governor Deal stated that he does not support an increase in the gas tax or a hotel/motel tax to fund transportation projects. Really?!!

Mr. Deal has his head stuck in the sand. There are road projects that need to be built. There isn't money currently available to build the projects and it is the Governments job, yes THEIR JOB, to oversee public works and RAISE TAXES when needed to fund those public works.

Mr. Deal and his cronies were to afraid to raise taxes and opted instead for letting We The People to raise our own taxes...That failed!

Mr. Deal doesn't support raising gas taxes, yet our gas taxes are relatively low and our cars are much more fuel efficient...Raise them, you have the power. Mr. Deal doesn't support using hotel/motel tax for transportation projects, but is more than willing to build a Billion $ stadium for a Billionaire using hotel/motel money?!!

When will Georgia wake up and realize that it's legislators are incompetent?

I actually find it interesting that several polls were taken around the state and the results were overwhelming against the T-SPLOST. In the end, the final vote came down almost identical to the poll results. Don't they look at these things ahead of time? What is the point of spending millions of dollars promoting a measure that no one wants?

@Greg...I understand that a significant majority voted against T-Splost. I voted against T-Splost because it was the wrong funding mechanism for our traffic woes. That said, everyone agrees that there are traffic issues in dire need of real solutions. Real solutions will take tax revenue. So the only solution is to use the taxing authority that the State already has such as increasing Gas Taxes and Income Tax rates.

Would Deal be incompetent and arrogant for ignoring "the will of the people"? No, not any more than he is already incompetent and arrogant.

As Governor, and as Senators and Representations, our politicians have been elected to solve problems and provide public services using the tools they have at their disposal -- chiefly raise taxes when needed. When they shirk they're responsibilities because they're affraid of Grover Norquist and anti-tax/anti-Government Tea Party Patriots, they should be impeached, recalled or voted out of office.

We need a Northern Arc. We need additional lanes along 75/575. We need 140 widened. We need State 20 widened. We need, need, need and increasing Gas Taxes and a small increase in state income taxes would provide the financial resources. Tolls and T-Splost aren't required.