In case you haven’t noticed the Atlanta Regional Commission has become a major player in the future of Georgia. The ARC receives most of its funding from federal grants to aid the elderly and promote “livability”. ARC then uses that money to promote the federal objectives by working closely with local municipalities. By doing that ARC serves as a tool for the federal government to insert their social engineering ideas into seemingly local issues.

The Northpoint Livable Center Initiative which brought Alpharetta the recent MetLife mixed use project is an example and so is the LCI grant which the city of Milton is now considering.

I mention this because of a recent editorial in the Washington Examiner which says:

A third and fourth  reason for the explosion in proposed transportation spending is the president’s commitment to create two new programs –  a livability program and a new train program where Amtrak gets to masquerade as high speed rail. Both programs have strong appeal to unions and environmentalists, and combined would cost $101 billion over the next six years.

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Ray LaHood defines livability as “being able to take your kids to school, go to work, see a doctor, drop by the grocery or post office, go out to dinner and a movie, and play with your kids in a park, all without having to get in your car.”

Achieving the LaHood vision means nudging/forcing/coercing people into buses or trolleys, and creating tighter living arrangements.  The president proposes $48.1 billion over six years to implement the LaHood social engineering scheme.

So the federal government plans to spend nearly 150 billion dollars to push a liberal agenda but the conservatives are balking. Isn’t it curious that zoning issues in North Fulton County reflect that same conflict? What’s even more curious is watching which side the Atlanta Regional Commission and supposedly conservative elected officials take in that struggle.

You should read the whole thing here.

Sunburned from a beautiful weekend at the ballpark. Gotta love this February weather in Alpharetta.

Democratic lawmaker to unions: “you need to get out on the streets and get a little bloody” http://bit.ly/eHiFmH

Georgia’s biofuel dreams running on vapor… and taxpayer subsidies http://bit.ly/h72lys

Children are dying from a dangerous fad called the Choking Game. Parents need to know this is going on: http://bit.ly/fg7opd

My day began with a tragic reminder of how precious, yet fragile life is. And how quickly the world can change for a family. 

Take nothing for granted. 

Love your children.

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Update:

I have received several notes from concerned readers and I want to clarify that no tragedy has befallen my family.

A neighbor called first thing this morning to tell me that something horrible had happened to a young man that was a friend and teammate to both of our sons. As a parent the mere thought of the pain this young man’s family is experiencing overwhelms me. 

If you are so inclined, please say a prayer for his family. And don’t forget to love yours.

The Washington Post recently published an editorial by William Upski Wimsatt which addresses some of the propaganda used to stigmatize life in the suburbs. The editorial debunks many of the perceptions that urban planners perpetuate as they change quiet communities with good schools into concrete jungles. The editorial is probably most notable because of the author’s background.

Mr. Wimsatt is most widely known as the author of a book called Bomb the Suburbs. The author describes the book like this: 

“The angry title captured the mood of many of my fellow Chicagoans: resentment at white flight and the asphyxiation of city and small-town life by chain stores and sidewalk-free dead zones.”

Amazon.com describes the book as posing the question, “Should graffiti writers organize to tear up the cities, or should they really be bombing the ‘burbs?” and notes that rapper Tupac Shakur said, “The best book I read in prison.”

So I think it is safe to say that Mr. Wimsatt doesn’t look at suburban life through the eyes of a rich, racist white guy. Since Mr. Wimsatt doesn’t fit the suburban stereotype maybe he will actually get the attention of the people who dismiss the opinions of those who do.

Like when Mr. Wimsatt addresses the myth: Suburbs are white, middle-class enclaves.

Not anymore. One-third of suburbanites across the country are racial or ethnic minorities, up from 19 percent in 1990. Students in suburban public schools are 20 percent Hispanic, 15 percent African American and 6 percent Asian American.

Or the myth: Suburbs aren’t cool.

In August, Travel and Leisure featured the nation’s 26 “coolest suburbs” that “blow up the stereotype” of these communities as “boring, conformist places.” The magazine focused on older suburbs with traditional town centers, such as Mt. Lebanon, Pa.; Birmingham, Mich.; Lakewood, Ohio; and other “culinary and cultural hot spots.”

Or: Suburbanites don’t care about the environment.

Many suburbs are also beating cities when it comes to recycling. Chicago, supposedly green, recycles less than 19 percent of its waste, compared with 40 percent in Arlington, Va. And a place like Community Forklift – a vast warehouse in Edmonston, Md., where used building materials are resold for a fraction of their original cost – couldn’t afford to pay rent in the District.

I don’t mean to imply Mr. Wimsatt is a complete sell out when it comes to suburbs. He does seem to believe that people buying the single family home they prefer is somehow subsidized by the people who choose to live in dense, urban settings and he still wants to see the burbs become more urban.

But if the man that wrote Bomb the Suburbs can evolve into the man that now promotes his new book Please Don’t Bomb the Suburbs then there is hope. Hope that someday politicians, developers and city planners will also see the error of their ways and stop bombing the suburbs with urban density.

The Washington Post editorial was originally brought to my attention by a reader pointing out an article by Wendell Cox on newgeography.com which you can find here. Mr. Cox does an excellent job of addressing some of the false notions which were still perpetuated in the orginal editorial by Mr. Wimsatt.

And if the coordinated attack on suburban life is something that bothers you I highly recommend you add newgeography.com to your reading list. The website provides a skeptical and objective view of the arguments being used to undermine the suburban communities so many American families love.

 The present course of our nation is unsustainable. An article in today’s Washington Times titled “Debt now equals total U.S. economy” explains:

“President Obama projects that the gross federal debt will top $15 trillion this year, officially equalling the size of the entire U.S. economy, and will jump to nearly $21 trillion in five years’ time.”

And that doesn’t even include the money our government owes to the Social Security and Medicare systems. This article by Kevin Williamson on Nationalreview.com  explains the stunning news that Social Security and Medicare are actually $106 trillion dollars in debt!

Those numbers boggle the mind. That’s like a person making $15,000 a year with credit card balances equal to a years worth of work on top of a $106,000 mortgage.  That’s not good.

In fact too many Americans tried living that economic model and it ended up causing the economic collapse we faced in 2008. And if we don’t make changes now our children are going to face economic challenges that I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemies.

But the future doesn’t have to be scary. The United States is still the greatest nation that ever existed on the face of the Earth and we have everything we need to succeed at our disposal. But if we the people are going to turn this mess around we are going to have to start by electing people with the courage to be honest about the challenges we face.

Honest politicians are out there. We the people just need to do a better job of seeking them out and electing them.

Email from friend in Egypt: “FINALLY!  THEY GOT IT DONE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!CARS IN THE STREETS!  HORNS HONKING!”