Tea Party Wins Big in Georga

Score a big win for the Tea Party! If winning the senate nomination for Ted Cruz convinced skeptics that the Tea Party was alive and well a ballot referendum  in Georgia should make sure that point is well taken. The Tea Party allied itself with the local NAACP and the Sierra Club, raised $15,000 and won a no vote on a ballot referendum by a lopsided 37% to 63% margin. The referendum, dubbed T-SPLOST (Transportation-Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax), would have raised the sales tax in the Atlanta area by $.01 and was touted to raise $8.4 billion over 10 years. It had the blessing of Rino Governor Nathan Deal and Obama cheerleader Mayor Kasim Reed but Taxed Enough Already carried the day. The revenue was to fund various transportation projects in the Atlanta metro area and relieve what everyone agrees is a horrendous traffic problem but the Tea Party and its ad hoc allies insisted on budget restraint without new taxes. So much for the "balanced approached" and shared sacrifice.
Aside from the political actors the opposition faced down the local Chamber of Commerce and various corporate sponsors including Home Depot, Coco Cola, and Delta Airlines that put together an $ 8 million war chest.

Republican State Sen. Renee Unterman had an interesting take on why the Tea Party, although victorious has no real future. The Tea Party does not donate a lot of money to political campaigns. "If you don't invest money, you're not a true player," Unterman said. "Money is what makes the world go around." Right, and give our best to Dave Dewhurst and Dick Lugar, Renee.