What's Wrong With Georgia?

[Street Knowledge]

http://m.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2015/01/whats-wrong-with-georgia/384101/#disqus_thread

“Georgia is basically a low-wage, low-tax, low-service state, that’s the approach they’ve been taking for a very long time.”

The nation's unemployment rate in November, by contrast, was 5.8 percent, which was also the November jobless rate of Georgia's neighbor and occasional rival, North Carolina.

The unemployment rate in Georgia has risen, while in other once-troubled states, it continues to fall. (Data from BLS)
Governor Deal has emphasized time and again that he believes it is the role of government to get out of the way and let the private sector stimulate the economy. Georgia was among the first states to cut back the duration of unemployment benefits available to its residents to 18 weeks from 26. The state has slashed $8.3 billionfrom public-school funding since 2003 and passed eligibility requirements for a state financial-aid program that caused a dramatic decline in the number of students in technical colleges (some of those requirements have since been rolled back).

The state also passed a sweeping tax-reform bill in 2012 that eliminated some sales taxes and broadened exemptions for the agricultural industry that small towns and counties say have wreaked havoc on their revenues. Some counties are seeing unemployment rates that indicate the recession is far from over, including Chattahoochee, with an unemployment rate of 14.4 percent and Telfair, with a jobless rate of 13.3 percent.

Areas surrounding Atlanta are faring better, with Fulton County, where Atlanta is located, posting an unemployment rate of 7.3 percent, and DeKalb seeing joblessness drop to 6.8 percent.

But even some areas not far from the city are still struggling. They include the town of Griffin, located in Spalding County, a one-time, textile- manufacturing hub where the unemployment rate in October was 9 percent. Now, workers are tearing down the old factories and shopping plazas along the road from Atlanta are empty, with no trace of the stores once located there.

 

[Street Knowledge]

Many other students in Georgia have dropped out of school after changes to funding for higher education, according to the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute. Changes to the lottery-funded HOPE grant program in 2011 led to a decline of 38,000 students enrolled at the state’s technical schools, said Alan Essig, the institute’s director (John Oliver has recently explored the folly of using the state lotteries to pay for education). Even without scholarships, higher education in Georgia is getting more expensive. Tuition and fees at Georgia public universities have increased 67 percent since 2008; at technical colleges, they’ve increased 65 percent, according to the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute.

The decline in education funding may already be directly impacting the state's economy. In December, the state High Demand Career Initiative released a report finding that some employers, including Home Depot, weren't able to find enough high-skilled workers to fill available jobs. They were forced to hire out of state, the report found.

Only about 42 percent of Georgia's young adults have earned a college credential, although more than 60 percent of jobs in the state will require a college certificate or degree.

“It’s a misconception that these so-called business-friendly policies are closely related to stronger economic growth,” said Wesley Tharpe, an analyst with the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute. “A state’s economy depends on an educated workforce, transportation infrastructure, public safety, reliable street cleaning, and snow removal.”

Transportation is a problem in Georgia, too. The state ranks 49th in the nation in per capita transportation funding, and Atlanta’s commutes are famously terrible. The state could have borrowed funds for transportation improvements, said Wald, but instead decided in 2012 to ask voters to pass an increase in sales tax to fund transportation projects. It was defeated handily at the ballot box.

 

[Street Knowledge]

To be sure, there are some positive pieces to the Georgia economy. The state has gained 93,900 jobs since the beginning of the year, not that many fewer than the 110,700 added by rival North Carolina, which has only a slightly smaller population. Industries such as retail, logistics, and hospitality are adding jobs at a rapid clip. And some of the movement in the unemployment rate can be attributed to the state's growing labor force. Georgia had 4.8 million people in its labor force in June, an all-time high, though that number has shrunk in recent months as some people gave up looking for work.

And many industries are still struggling. Georgia was hit hard by the housing bust: The state employs 30 percent fewer construction workers than it did during the peak and 20 percent fewer manufacturing workers than it did a decade ago. The state government continues to shed jobs: down 2,400 from a year ago, and down 14,700 from the peak in 2008.

So while some industries are adding positions, they aren’t growing quickly enough to make up for industries that have disappeared.

A few years back, I visited a company in Griffin that was going to benefit from a $50 billion pledge made by Walmart to buy more products manufactured in the United States. The company, 1888 Mills, had won a contract to supply their Georgia-made towels to 1,200 Walmart stores. But the factory the company showed me was mostly machines, with a few people to run them. The Walmart contract created only about 35 jobs, if that, at 1888 Mills. Even if manufacturing does come back to Georgia, and to Griffin, it won’t create many jobs.

The company illustrates the one-two punch Georgia is facing. The economy has lost industries, like manufacturing and construction that may never return the way they once were. But programs that could help retrain workers or send them back to school have been scaled back. Counties still figuring out how to make up for that lost tax revenue are facing even more revenue declines.

 

[88m3]

I'm convinced everyone there is a combination of working gray market, tax scofflaws, and living on credit.

 

[Futuristic Eskimo]

Whats with the homeless in Atlanta being so god damn aggressive?

 

[wheywhey]

Many other students in Georgia have dropped out of school after changes to funding for higher education, according to the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute. Changes to the lottery-funded HOPE grant program in 2011 led to a decline of 38,000 students enrolled at the state’s technical schools, said Alan Essig, the institute’s director (John Oliver has recently explored the folly of using the state lotteries to pay for education). Even without scholarships, higher education in Georgia is getting more expensive. Tuition and fees at Georgia public universities have increased 67 percent since 2008; at technical colleges, they’ve increased 65 percent, according to the Georgia Budget and Policy Institute.

When the Georgia Hope scholarship changed its rules in 2011 no one got grandfathered in. You now need a 3.0 to maintain your scholarship even in technical school. Apparently some students at Georgia Tech lost their scholarships. Georgia Tech now offers valedictorians and salutatorians from Atlanta Public Schools automatic scholarships regardless of SAT score. The scholarship is guaranteed even if the GPA goes below 3.0.

http://www.thecoli.com/posts/9587794/

 

[Dominique Wilkins]

Nathan Deal and the dumbass voters...thats the problem

 

[HideoKojima]

Deal keeps cutting education and it's going to show in our job market. nikkas not going to be prepared for any post-highschool objectives. He poured more money into education when it was time for reelection though. fukking crook. Cats are too stupid when it comes to voting these fukks into office.

 

[Robbie3000]

When the Georgia Hope scholarship changed its rules in 2011 no one got grandfathered in. You now need a 3.0 to maintain your scholarship even in technical school. Apparently some students at Georgia Tech lost their scholarships. Georgia Tech now offers valedictorians and salutatorians from Atlanta Public Schools automatic scholarships regardless of SAT score. The scholarship is guaranteed even if the GPA goes below 3.0.

http://www.thecoli.com/posts/9587794/

That's fukked up for STEM students. A 2.6 engineering GPA is like a 3.6 Liberal or Business GPA.

 

[☑︎#VoteDemocrat]

Nathan Deal and the dumbass voters...thats the problem

This.

ATL is carrying the state on its back and its not even funny.

 

[Dominique Wilkins]

Deal keeps cutting education and it's going to show in our job market. nikkas not going to be prepared for any post-highschool objectives. He poured more money into education when it was time for reelection though. fukking crook. Cats are too stupid when it comes to voting these fukks into office.

and its not just Deal

its all the dumbass rednecks. Hell, Cobb County just cut $350mil from Education and gave it to a fukking Baseball Stadium.

 

[Dominique Wilkins]

Honestly, this state needs another Ivan Allen. A progressive-minded dude that will represent all sides but is also pro-business.

I really like what Kasim is doing in Atlanta, but you know all the racist fukks in the rest of the state will give him the obama treatment.

 

[HideoKojima]

and its not just Deal

its all the dumbass rednecks. Hell, Cobb County just cut $350mil from Education and gave it to a fukking Baseball Stadium.

motherfukkers... These rednecks don't know this shyt is hurting them too. My high school couldn't afford books but the school across town received random ass flat screens in random places throughout the school. It's disgusting... I hate how my state is ran. Schools gonna close while stadiums are going to be built.

fukk the cobb county police too

 

[wheywhey]

Solved: Nathan Deal’s mysterious overseas adventure
January 21, 2015 | Filed in: Nathan Deal.
Comments 79

Gov. Nathan Deal skipped town over the weekend for an economic development trip. Just where he went is being treated like a state secret.

Gov. Nathan Deal/AJC file
His office won’t disclose where the state’s top elected official journeyed or whom he visited. His public schedule is blank. His name was on the agenda for Monday’s Martin Luther King Jr. commemoration but he wasn’t there. And his speech to lawmakers on the budget-writing committee is scheduled for Thursday, two days after the main group’s meeting.

We have a pretty good idea where he went. Two officials with knowledge of his trip say he’s across the pond in the United Kingdom. Deal’s office won’t confirm or deny this, of course, adding to the intrigue.

Update: State economic commissioner Chris Carr confirmed the team was, indeed, in the U.K. when he posted on Facebook a few minutes ago: “Back from the UK. Great trip. We’ll go anywhere and everywhere to bring jobs and investment to Georgia!”‬

This was never a repeat of the Mark Sanford scenario. Sanford, now in Congress, famously disappeared for an extramarital rendezvous with his Argentine lover while serving as South Carolina’s governor.

There were plenty of business potentials in the UK for Deal’s team.

The country is Georgia’s No. 4 foreign trade partner, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, behind Canada, China and Mexico. It’s home to countless firms seeking expansions, including a booming auto industry, aerospace business, shipbuilding center and pharmaceutical manufacturers.

And don’t forget this: A trio of Deal aides trekked to London to scout business opportunities (and take in a Falcons game) just weeks before the election.

http://politics.blog.ajc.com/2015/01/21/nathan-deals-mysterious-overseas-adventure/

 

[Robbie3000]

motherfukkers... These rednecks don't know this shyt is hurting them too. My high school couldn't afford books but the school across town received random ass flat screens in random places throughout the school. It's disgusting... I hate how my state is ran. Schools gonna close while stadiums are going to be built.

fukk the cobb county police too

Lower middle and poor whites are the biggest obstacle to progress in this country. Their hatred won't let them vote for their interests.