Volume 6 Issue 8…Dedicated to the Dialogue on Race…February 28, 2003

A Regional Transportation Tax

By John Burl Smith

Lamenting a $600 million shortfall, Metropolitan Atlanta Rapid Transit Authority (MARTA) General Manager Nathaniel Ford declared expansion has reached a point of diminishing returns. Agreeing, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution (2-24-03) outlined former Georgia Gov. Roy Barnes' sleazy and illegal takeover of MARTA, the DeKalb and Fulton Counties' publicly owned transportation system. The facts show that the Georgia Regional Transportation Authority (GRTA) is to blame for MARTA's $600M shortfall.

Forecasting an epiphany for local leaders, the AJC outlined a new vision of equitable regional transportation funding. However, such pronouncements do not allay fears of "business as usual." Considering "business as usual," in January, Wayne Hill began "unofficial" private discussions with the "usual suspects," Atlanta Regional Commission (ARC) members. On February 11, 2003, MARTA representatives met with Fulton County Commission Chairman Mike Kenn, ARC board members, developer Tad Leithead and Roswell Mayor Jere Wood. This cabal scheduled a retreat to be held the following day at Callaway Gardens. The retreat's attendees rubber-stamped the ARC's transportation decisions made at "unofficial" meetings without public comment.

The new transportation proposal includes a one-cent regional sales tax; it does not repeal the current MARTA one-cent sales tax, which is levied in DeKalb and Fulton Counties. This proposal creates still another GRTA-type board to oversee the funds.

MARTA was not mentioned in order to avoid speaking in public about the need to compensate DeKalb and Fulton residents for their many years of supporting MARTA, while people like Wayne Hill made careers opposing public transportation. Classic taxation without representation, MARTA's one-cent sales tax is the sole source of dedicated public transportation funding. DeKalb and Fulton residents pay it for everyone. Yet, no one presents their views or represents their interests in making public transportation decisions.

The history of MARTA's financial problems is well known, and this new proposal is another GRTA. First, Barnes' plan called for the 13-county region to come under GRTA's board; it was supposed to replace the ARC. Secondly, it made DeKalb and Fulton County residents solely responsible for paying MARTA's one-cent sales tax. Over their objections, Barnes claimed MARTA as the regional transportation hub, but refused to compensate DeKalb and Fulton residents, its owners. Supported by legislators, like Vernon Jones, now DeKalb CEO, Barnes assumed MARTA's purse strings, giving the state total control of all federal mass transit funds coming to Atlanta (MARTA). This allowed the state to use the MARTA tax as matching funds to qualify for public transit grants and to repay bonds. Even though it is prohibited by law from giving MARTA one cent, through GRTA's takeover, the state diverted MARTA funds to start up bus service for Clayton and Gwinnett. This created MARTA's $600M shortfall.

A slap across South DeKalb residents' faces, Barnes forced MARTA to rescind plans to build an I-20 rail line and to redirect it west to service Cobb and Douglas Counties, which do not pay the MARTA one-cent sales tax. However, the most egregious aspect of this outrageous episode is the state's refusal to compensate DeKalb and Fulton County residents for taking their publicly owed transportation system, which they supported. Other counties that are now enjoying its benefits refused to pay the MARTA tax. Adding insult to injury, under Barnes, the legislature extended the one-cent MARTA tax levied only on DeKalb and Fulton Counties until 2047. Go to www.thedish.ws, click on MARTA Tax Sucks.Com for more on this issue.

Other Essays by John Burl Smith

Bit of History

Manifest Destiny: American Nationalism (1840-1860)

"We must ever maintain the principle that the people of this continent alone have the right to decide their own destiny." ( James Knox Polk, the 11th US President's 1845 message to Congress.

John O'Sullivan, editor of the influential Democratic Review, coined the phrase "Manifest Destiny" in 1845 to describe the idea of a United States of America (USA) that stretched from the Atlantic to Pacific Ocean. It implied divine sanction for the USA to "overspread the continent allotted by Providence for the free development of our multiplying millions." It was deemed inevitable that lands west of the Mississippi River that were claimed by Mexico, England and a number of indigenous tribes should be settled by whites. President James Polk personified the concept of manifest destiny. He did more than any other president, except Thomas Jefferson, who presided over the Louisiana Purchase, to increase the land area of the United States of America.

Polk championed manifest destiny as a principle of freedom. His expansionist agenda led to the Mexican War (1846-1848). The conflict engendered enthusiastic warmongering among average US citizens, while prominent writers and politicians saw the war as the kind of show of brute force they had always detested among the European powers. A US success story, the war left a legacy of distrust of los yanquis among Mexicans. In defeat, Mexico signed the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, ceding to the US nearly half of its northern territories for a bargain price of $15 million and agreeing to the Rio Grande boundary of Texas. In acquiring New Mexico and California, Polk achieved his goal of expanding US national boundaries from "sea to shining sea."

Native Americans signed numerous treaties with the federal government that permitted growing numbers of settlers to occupy tribal lands. The US unilaterally abrogated these treaties, and its superior military was deployed to forcefully remove tribal inhabitants. To hasten their removal from vast expanses of Western territory, the buffalo, a staple of native life, was driven to the brink of extinction. The federal buffalo eradication program destroyed indigenous culture and means of survival. Incidents in which thousands of indigenous people were massacred litter the nation's western expansion progress. The remaining tribes were simply removed from their ancestral lands and relegated to desolate reservations to accommodate white settlers.

From 1840-1850, manifest destiny was a hotly contested issue. The balance of power between free and slave-holding states changed with each territorial acquisition. The Compromise of 1850 offered an uneasy truce. However, it dissolved into a bloody dispute, which did not end until 1865. At war with itself, American nationalism or the old manifest destiny was placed on a shelf. After the Civil War, it was replaced with imperialism as the nation looked beyond its shores for territorial conquests. (Sources: American History: A Survey and http://www.paulsilhan.com/ ) Bit of History Homepage

Venue for an Artist

Facing West from California's Shores

By Walt Whitman

Facing west from California's shores,

Inquiring, tireless, seeking what is yet unfound,

I, a child, very old, over waves,

towards the house of maternity,

the land of migrations, look afar,

Look off the shores of my Western sea,

the circle almost circled;

For starting westward from Hindustan,

from the vales of Kashmere,

From Asia, from the north, from the God,

the sage, and the hero,

From the south,

from the flowery peninsulas and the spice islands,

Long having wander'd since,

round the earth having wander'd,

Now I face home again, very pleas'd and joyous,

(But where is what I started for so long ago?

And why is it yet unfound?)

About Me: US poet Walt Whitman (1819-1892) knew John O'Sullivan; his first short stories were published in the Democratic Review. Whitman supported the Free-Soil Party, which opposed the expansion of slavery and Southern influence. Yet, Whitman embraced manifest destiny and envisioned the US encompassing Central America and the Caribbean. Whitman wrote in a newspaper article, "'manifest destiny' certainly points to the speedy annexation of Cuba by the United States." (Source: Quoted in David S. Reynolds, Walt Whitman's America: A Cultural Biography (New York: Knopf, 1995), 136) Venue Homepage

The Inevitability of War

By Mumia Abu-Jamal

It is impossible for us to read a newspaper, watch a newscast, or listen to radio without receiving the undeniable message that war with Iraq is inevitable.

Why is this so? Why, in a nation that claims to be a democracy, is it inevitable, almost unquestionable, beyond the realm of questioning, that war against a sovereign nation is virtually, a done deal? Where are the voices of dissent? ... of divergent opinion?

If this be a democracy, it is a democracy of fear; fear stimulated and exploited by political leaders in Washington, D.C., and underwritten by the shameless cheerleading of the corporate media.

Iraq, we are told, is a rogue government, and its leader, Saddam Hussein, is a new-age Hitler. It seems like every time the government wants to demonize someone, they call him "Hitler." It always works, doesn't it? It doesn't matter that the U.S. government was quite friendly to Hussein and the Ba'ath regime when they were at war with their neighbor, Iran.

Let's think a little about the *real* Hitler, and the Nazi regime during wartime. During WW II, when millions of Americans, British and the French lived in dread of the Nazis, do you know that a number of US firms traded with the enemy? Companies like Chase Bank, Ford, International Telephone and Standard Oil?

The Hitler tank divisions were built by Adam-Opel and Ford of Cologne, wholly owned subsidiaries of General Motors and the Ford Motor Company. Speaking of Ford, did you know that Hitler awarded the Nazi's highest civilian honor, the Grand Cross of the German Eagle, to American automaker, Henry Ford?

Charles Higham in his 1984 book, "Trading With the Enemy" wrote: "Suppose the public had discovered that the Chase Bank in Nazi-occupied Paris after Pearl Harbor was doing millions of dollars' worth of business with the enemy with the full knowledge of the head office in Manhattan ...? Or that Ford trucks were being built for the German occupation troops in France with the authorization from Dearborn, Michigan? ... Or that ITT built the Focke-Wulfs that dropped bombs on British and American troops? Or that crucial ball bearings were shipped to Nazi-associated customers in Latin America with the collusion of the Vice-Chairman of the U.S. War Production Board in partnership with Goering's cousin in Philadelphia when American forces were desperately short of them?"

Let's be clear -- many American corporations got rich when Hitler's war machine was raging. They didn't care about Hitler then nor about so-called "Hitlers" now. It's about oil, the money it brings, and the power it unleashes. Don't let war be inevitable; fight the corporate lies. Hood Notes Homepage

The Dark Knight-Batman/White Ninja/Zorro went to movies to see "Daredevil." When asked to sum up this unusual super hero, the Dark One/Ninja/Zorro said, "He was great because he sensed danger and saved people." Back to the Bat Cave

Disgruntled wants to know: Deftly deploying democracy and freedom like weapons of mass destruction, the propaganda claims armed conflict is essential to free Iraqis. If that were the case, why do US plans for those poor savages, their land and natural resources call for long-term military occupation?

Disgruntled feels: Stampede! Advised to put the duct tape away, but stay on code orange high alert, we are wound tight. Filled with fright, we are primed for flight. Anything can cause a stampede. The term aptly applied to two incidences in which people died, but only one qualified. At the Chicago club where twenty-one blacks died after security guards pepper-sprayed a feminine fistfight, the media called the mad dash to exit a stampede. In the West Warwick pyrotechnics incident, ninety-seven died, but reporters did not see the rush to exit that inferno a stampede, even though many of the dead were trampled. Other than fistfight versus fire, the difference is black and white. In describing whites acting like cattle, stampede is unacceptable, but it is alright for the progeny of people once treated like chattel.

Disgruntled says: To honor a campaign pledge, Georgia Gov. Sonny Perdue has devised a scheme to have his cake and eat it too! His state flag referendum is a choice between two Confederate symbols to be voted on before the November presidential election. Some "black leaders" are calling for a boycott of the referendum. Those offended by Confederate symbols have called for a boycott of the state. If blacks boycott the referendum, its passage is guaranteed. Either these "black leaders" are the victims of faulty reasoning or they are helping Perdue fulfill his campaign promise! More Disgruntled Moments

More Lieberman in 2004?

Eight Democrats are vying for the party's presidential nomination. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, Al Gore's 2000 running mate, is a candidate. Gore-Lieberman promised to "fight for the people," a promise they abandoned. Lieberman could have joined the Congressional Black Caucus in challenging Florida's Electoral College votes. He did not! Nothing has happened to convince blacks he will fight to make sure our votes count this time. In fact, just the opposite!

Once installed in office, Bush jawboned down the economy to create a climate conducive for tax and spend policies that favored the wealthy. A wealthy do-nothing Democrat, Lieberman has either sided with Bush or been silent too often to be the party's standard bearer; he does not represent its core constituency. A conservative hawk, Lieberman will not challenge Bush. A Lieberman candidacy ensures Bush's reelection and the continuation of policies that kills people of color for oil. Politics Page

On Zionism!

By Dot

An in-depth look at Israeli settlers by Samantha M. Shapiro (The Unsettlers, New York Times Magazine, 2-16-03) profiled 65-year-old Moshe Zar, a Zionist and longtime friend of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Shapiro likens Zar to "a Wild West-style vigilante mayor." Though he holds no official post, he inspires awe among Jews and fear in Palestinians. Zar made a name for himself in the 1980's as a member of the Jewish Underground, a terrorist group. Since the late 1970's, he has been buying Palestinian land. A number of Palestinians have accused him of falsifying the contracts.

Zar's hilltop mansion in the West Bank near the Palestinian town of Nablus contains a map of his Zionist vision of the state of Israel; it "includes all of the West Bank and portions of Jordan and Lebanon." The formula for uprooting Palestinians resembles tactics used to expand the territorial boundaries of the USA.

Israelis build settlements on or near Palestinian lands. The Zionist regime of Prime Minister Ariel Sharon fully supports these settlements, which violate UN resolutions. Israeli soldiers with their superior armament provide protection. While the Israeli enclaves expand into modern cities with all the amenities, the Palestinians that farmed and lived in the area for centuries are relegated to refugee camps. The homes of Palestinians accused of terrorism are destroyed, and their families are barred from occupying the land.

In settling the American west, pioneers cared little about the indigenous people they displayed. This same attitude is seem today among the young Israelis who see killing Arabs as a good idea. According to one, "The Torah says we should kill all the Arabs. Not just Arabs who maybe terrorists. Everybody." With superior firepower and powerful allies, such as the West, especially the US, Zar's vision of Israel encompassing the entire West Bank and parts of Jordan and Lebanon is practically a fait accompli. Zionism is the new manifest destiny. But, will Israel be satisfied once this much land has been acquired? Or, will its tentacles reach for more lands like those of its staunchest ally? DISHing It Up Hot!

Email HQ2600@aol.com Rooting Out Evil: There is no more important work than exposing for all the world to see the dangerous turn U.S. domestic and foreign policies have taken. That's why I signed up to become an honorary weapons inspector on the Rooting Out Evil website. Certainly, the United States under the leadership of George W. Bush qualifies as a misguided missile, dangerous to global peace and security.

Email ahuguley@ix.netcom.com A country proudly built upon the subjugation of other nations, as its "manifest destiny," is hardly likely to be any different towards the nations of the world. Yet, just as with Nazi Germany and its deadly aspirations towards a thousand-year Reich, the blame can only be placed upon the world for allowing this to happen again. The evils that the nations of the world are willing to allow and overlook concerning the subjugation of indigenous nations are the same evils that the nations of the world shall ever remain prey to. We reap what we sow and all that is required for evil to succeed is for good people to do nothing. If justice is only to be pursued when it isn't an inconvenience for a complacent majority, it will only be a matter of time before a complacent member of the majority becomes a needy member of the minority for whom justice shall remain the majority's inconvenience.

Email womens.vigil@verizon.net On March 8, stand up for peace and justice on INTERNATIONAL WOMEN'S DAY! Join thousands in Washington, D.C. for the CODE PINK 4 PEACE march and rally! More Mailbox

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