TBR 2K25 Episode 62: Again... No One Is Coming to Save You.

🌟 Episode OverviewThis week on The Barrington Report, Barrington follows up on three threads from two weeks ago — and shows what the gap between Washington’s words and your wallet looks like 14 days later. Georgia did the right thing on the gas tax, suspending 33.3 cents per gallon through May 19th, but the Strait of Hormuz is now under full U.S. naval blockade and JP Morgan is projecting $5 gas by month’s end. Texas just voted to mandate Bible-based reading lists in every public school while the federal Department of Education packs up its Washington headquarters — and most parents can’t name a single member of their state board of education. And in New York and Philadelphia, two mayors are running the same playbook: announce a crisis, propose a new tax, never audit where the last round of money went. The thesis: knowing and doing nothing is worse than not knowing at all — and trusting somebody else to do it for you is worse than both.🎹 Key Highlights⛽ Georgia Got It Right — For 33 More Days On March 20th, Governor Kemp signed HB 1199, suspending Georgia’s 33.3-cent state motor fuel tax through May 19th. Bipartisan vote, both chambers. Projected savings to drivers and truckers: roughly $400 million over 60 days. Today, Georgia gas sits at $3.71 a gallon — 42 cents below the $4.13 national average. Credit where it’s due. But credit is cheap, and accountability is the product. Maryland called the same move a budget-buster. New York’s governor called gas tax holidays “ineffective.” DeSantis in Florida — who ran on affordability — said the suspension “may get offset by further price increases,” meaning his plan is to do nothing while prices climb. Most states have the unilateral authority to do exactly what Georgia did. They’re choosing not to. And on April 13th, the U.S. Navy announced a full blockade of Iranian ports. Ship transits through the Strait dropped from 130 a day in February to 6 a day in March. JP Morgan now projects $5 gas by late April. The signature line: “A 60-day suspension during a war with no ceasefire in sight isn’t a solution. It’s an intermission.” So what happens on May 20th when the curtain goes back up?📚 The Federal Government Is Walking Away. Who Walks In? Three stories broke in 72 hours that tell the same story from three angles. Texas State Board of Education voted 9-5 along party lines to give preliminary approval to mandatory statewide reading lists that include Bible-based material — every public school in Texas required to teach from this list starting in 2030. Federal Education Secretary Linda McMahon stood up last month and celebrated the administration’s “unprecedented progress in reducing the federal education footprint” — the Department of Education is literally moving out of its Washington headquarters. And in Philadelphia, parents trying to review their children’s new social studies curriculum had to get the materials secondhand from a teacher willing to leak them — the district refused to share. The pattern: federal oversight pulling back, state legislatures moving in, parents locked out of the room. The system isn’t broken — it’s functioning exactly as designed, for the people who designed it. Children are sorted by zip code. Curriculum is decided by whatever faction controls the state Board of Education in that zip code. The Texas Bible vote is a useful story because it’s easy to have an opinion about — but the real story is that your state’s board of education has the same exact authority. The only firewall between that authority and your child’s classroom is you. Can you name a single member of the Georgia State Board of Education? If you can’t, that’s the segment.💰 Two Mayors, Two New Taxes, One Question Both Parties Don’t Want You to Ask New York’s Mayor Mamdani is celebrating a proposed $500 million luxury second-home tax, framed as “taxing the rich.” Philadelphia’s Mayor Cherelle Parker held a press conference Wednesday announcing a rideshare tax — the “Uber tax” — framed as the only way to “save all school-based jobs on the chopping block.” Same playbook in different uniforms. Before the tribal instincts kick in, this segment isn’t about whether taxes are good or bad. It’s not a defense of luxury homeowners or an attack on teachers. It’s the question both parties have spent two generations training you not to ask: where did the money already go? New York and Philadelphia didn’t run out of money last week. They’ve been collecting taxes for decades. Both have multi-billion-dollar budgets. Both have had teachers, schools, and social services as line items every single year. The pull quote: “The tax debate is downstream of the audit debate, and the audit debate almost never happens because both parties benefit from you arguing about the rate and not the receipt.” Republicans get to campaign on cutting. Democrats get to campaign on funding. Neither has to answer for where the last round of money went. And Atlanta is not exempt — MARTA debates, APS budget cycles, city revenue mechanisms that appear right before election cycles. Same script. The verdict: no new revenue should be approved anywhere — red city, blue city, purple state — until the previous revenue is accounted for. Full stop.⚖️ Reality Check* Georgia HB 1199 saves drivers ~$400M over 60 days. Suspension expires May 19th.* Georgia gas: $3.71/gal. National average: $4.13. Gap: 42 cents.* U.S. Navy announced full blockade of Iranian ports April 13th. Ship transits through Hormuz: 130/day in February → 6/day in March.* JP Morgan projecting $5 gas by late April. Diesel in Georgia already at $5.25.* President said last weekend gas prices may be “the same or maybe a little bit higher” by midterms.* Texas State Board of Education voted 9-5 to mandate statewide reading lists with Bible-based content. Effective 2030.* Federal Department of Education physically vacating its Washington headquarters.* Philadelphia parents had to get district curriculum secondhand through a leaking teacher.* New York proposed $500M luxury second-home tax. Philadelphia proposed rideshare (”Uber”) tax to fund teacher jobs.* Neither city has produced an audit of prior education spending.* Atlanta will run the same playbook within 12 months. MARTA, APS, city budget hearings — watch the calendar.🧠 Barrington’s Message“Two weeks ago I told you that knowing and doing nothing is worse than not knowing at all. I stand by that. Tonight I’m adding to it. Knowing and trusting somebody else will do it for you — that’s worse than both. The gas tax will snap back on May 20th if you don’t call your legislator. The curriculum vote will happen whether you show up to the board meeting or not. The new tax will pass whether you audit the old one or not. No one is coming to save you. That’s not a complaint. That’s a job description. The pain of truth is the work — and the work is yours. It always was. It always will be.”📬 Stay ConnectedSubscribe: barrington.substack.com Follow: @TBR24_7 on X Listen Live: ATL Talks Radio – Atlanta’s #1 Streaming Talk Radio🧩 Why You Should ListenIf you’re tired of cable news training you to argue about the rate while nobody asks for the receipt, this is your show. The Barrington Report cuts through the partisan theater to deliver civic intelligence that actually moves your gas tank, your child’s classroom, and your city’s budget — with no sponsors, no agenda, and no tribal loyalty. Pay the price of citizenship every Thursday — or somebody else will spend it for you. Get full access to The Barrington Report 24/7 at barrington.substack.com/subscribe