Georgians vote against improving their roads!

The Economist magazine recently has criticized the voters in the state of Georgia who voted heavily against a referendum held there. The question put to the voters in a July statewide primary  was pretty simple; - to impose a temporary 1% sales tax in order to fund some much needed transportation projects. Money raised in the 12 regions of Georgia would be used to improve roads within each area. It would come up for renewal after ten years; if required revenue would be raised before then, the tax would go away. But, in nine of the 12 regions the voters said - no. "Tea-partiers" thought it was too much, and Sierra Club supporters considered it too little. But, what it did was to prove to the authorities that the people had minds of their own. To put a similar vote to the people must wait another 4 years - the approving of a ballot measure, creating a new list and voting again would take that long.  Let us hope that Georgia finds simpler solutions perhaps to their transport requirements.