Don’t know about you, but I have been looking forward to the weekend. Love my job and all, but it was a busy week, and now we’re expecting 1-3″ of snow in Atlanta. Not enough to build a snowman, but perhaps enough to build a snowhead. In any case, Charlotte will be completely beside herself when I take her out in the snow, again.
In other news, Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin’s ex-husband had his property seized at Atlanta airport for failure to pay taxes (just heard it on TV, can’t find an online link). Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson Airport has always been a make-work project for politicians. It should be privatized. If that happened, Atlanta could eliminate property taxes.
But I digress. The most important news is the snow. Open thread. What’s happenin?
dslak
Is there any problem that can’t be fixed by privatization? I’m having trouble thinking of one off the top of my head.
RSA
Cold, perhaps freezing rain here in North Carolina. I’m sure that the power lines would be more reluctant to freeze up and fall down if they had the pride associated with being privately owned.
gypsy howell
???
How do you figure?
Michael D.
gypsy howell: The privatization of AHJ Airport would inject billions into Atlanta’s economy.
George B.
The dastardly Frenchmen are invading Abu Dhabi. We must strike now, before their nuclear power plants fall into Islamist hands! Israel, another Osirak is needed, this time against the treacherous Gauls and their Bedouin henchmen.
Dennis - SGMM
Arrgh! Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson, slowly I turned, step by step, inch by inch…
Had to travel to Huntington, WV, on business from the Left Coast fairly frequently some years back and had to fly Delta. There was exactly one connecting flight to Huntington each day. If my originating flight was five minutes late I missed the connector. Recall that half of my flights orbited the Confederacy for many minutes because there were six drops of rain at AHJ: no connection and a night in a motel directly under the flight path. For some inexplicable airline reason, the flight to WV always took off but my flight from the coast had to delay landing.
Speak to me not of AHJ.
Bob In Pacifica
Wesley Snipes tried to privatize his taxes.
STEVEinSC
Couple “privatize” with “get the government regulators of the back of business,” then add in the “magic of compound interest” and we get the current collapse of the American economy, Sweet.
The Grand Panjandrum
I’ve heard Blackwater is looking to diversify.
Michael D.
It’s sad, but Blackwater would probably do a better job. And I want to hang myself for admitting such.
demimondian
You know what, Michael? Has it occurred to you that they might well not be able to do a better job? Even ignoring the market externalities which characterize transportation systems — which is not acceptable, but which gLibertarian slime seem to demand — the market burden due to essential safety regulations is significant.
LiberalTarian
You mean his airplane?
Or something else?
I had property seized at the Tuscon airport. I had a wrench in my backpack I used for my bike–I forgot it was there, and they didn’t take it from me in Sacramento. I guess they thought I was going to take apart the plane one quarter inch nut at a time.
Still, what exactly did they seize? His jewels???
D-Chance.
So Hillary weasels away another win (Nevada), yet gets fewer delegates (again, as in New Hampshire) than Obama?
So how’s that going to sit if Obama goes to the convention with the most delegates and the nomination after Hillary wins popular vote after popular vote in numerous states? Are we going to call the O-man the “nominee-select”? Act all bitter? Blame the system for allowing him to “steal” the nomination from the rightful winner?
This is going to be a fun primary season…
ThymeZone
Property taxes? Airports are generally built on bond issues and federal funds, and then operated on landing fees, terminal use fees, fuel sales, concessions, things that tie direcly to airport operations.
Can you show us some validation that Atlanta airport is funded by property taxes?
Kynn
Three days later, the answer seems to be “…nope!”
This is what happens when Michael doesn’t work on a long weekend, so he can’t sit around with his co-workers laughing at the readers of his [sic] blog.