You can listen to it on Jason Pye’s blog. There isn’t a lot I agree with Sen. Douglas on (he favors a state-level proposal similar to the Fairtax, he’s one of the staunchest opponents of commuter rail in the Legislature), but he is philosophically consistent at least. He described himself as “ambivalent” toward school vouchers, saying, “Government never pays for anything that it doesn’t put regulations on.” I’d advise anyone who supports school vouchers to be careful what they ask for precisely for that reason.
In the same interview, he did make this puzzling statement about the upcoming S.B. 10, which would allow vouchers for special needs children:
I like Senate Bill 10. I think that [state Sen.] Eric [Johnson] is onto something there. I think it would open a number of avenues for our disabled students that they don’t have right now. I’m not prepared to say right now that I’ll vote for it, but I am prepared to say that I’m looking on it very favorably, and that I think there’s a lot of merit to it.
I guess we’ll find out just how ambivalent toward vouchers the senator is in the upcoming session. Perhaps he’s being diplomatic so as not to upset Sen. Johnson. Or, perhaps he’s talking out of both sides of his mouth.
I thought it was kind of a softball interview myself. Where were the tough questions? Like why do you want to interfere with a company, Bank of America, and their standards for charitable giving? What do you think about the war in Iraq? Why are we there and what are our men and women dying for? Should we just blindly support the military? What do you think about the influence of religious conservatives in your party and their impact upon public policy? If you think that transportation decisions should be made only based on a “free market” approach, then why do you support subsidization of roads, but not public transit? If we want a free market, then why don’t we charge a toll for highways so that it could compete with public transit? Just to name a few things I would have like to hear …
Ah yes, the Boy Scouts thing. I had forgotten about that. Was he the one behind the whole thing?
Not sure if he was the ringleader, but he certainly was a loud supporter on Peach Pundit of the effort by Ehrhart to punish them.
MARTA Board Chairman Ed Wall sure knows how to schedule his time. In addition to his business, which issues bonds to the same local governments he interacts with as MARTA Chair, he served as Vernon Jones’ “advisor” on his new police chief search, despite the fact Jones already appointed a search committee.
http://www.ajc.com/metro/content/metro/dekalb/stories/2006/12/22/1223metchief.html
Ex-Dallas chief picked to head DeKalb police
By TY TAGAMI
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 12/23/06
Jones said he sought the advice of two men before making his decision: Ted Jackson, a retired FBI agent; and Ed Wall, who represents DeKalb on the MARTA board of directors and whose agency employs its own police officers.
Wall said he, Jackson and Jones began interviewing Bolton and four other candidates around Thanksgiving and reached a decision last week. The names were selected from the same list of eight candidates from which Jones’ committee had drawn its three finalists, Wall said.
Wall said Bolton has “great ideas” about community policing, “roving” police precincts and retraining of officers.
http://www.ajc.com/search/content/metro/atlanta/stories/2006/12/08/1208martatax.html
MARTA to ask for sales tax extension
Three major projects could go forward
By PAUL DONSKY
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 12/08/06
MARTA plans to ask Fulton and DeKalb counties and the city of Atlanta to extend the penny-on-the-dollar sales tax that provides the bulk of the transit system’s revenue.
Without the extension, the tax is set to drop to a half-cent in 2032 which has severely limited MARTA’s ability to finance any new projects.
Ed Wall, chairman of the MARTA board of directors, said the tax extension could free up to $1 billion in bonding capacity that could be used to build new rail and bus lines.
DeKalb County CEO Vernon Jones said he’s open to extending the sales tax because it includes specific projects that would bring new service to DeKalb.
“It sounds very compelling,” he said.
“I have a lot of confidence in the MARTA board chairman and its members, and so I’m very willing to work with them to do what’s best for the citizens of DeKalb County and MARTA.”