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Don't break it again. Fix it!

  By Campaign Finance Reform, My 2007 Campaign, Philadelphia

Campaign finance reform is only one, limited way, of fixing our broken politics. But it is one we have to save. If, however, we look at all the goals of campaign finance reform, we will see that the folks concerned about Tom Knox’s ability to spend much more out of his own pocket than other candidates can raise and spend is a serious problem. But there are ways of fixing that problem now that would improve our campaign financing system rather than taking us back to the dark ages. Campaign finance reform has a number of goals. One goal of campaign finance reform is to limit pay to play—the practice of big campaign contributors getting benefits from the city in return for their contributions. That is the prime reason that Jim Kenny’s proposal to eliminate all limits on campaign contributions in the Mayoral race is a really terrible idea. (And… Continue reading

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Finally, people are noticing the bank closings in Philadelphia

  By Banking and Finance, Philadelphia

Last month Wachovia silently closed one its North Philadelphia bank at Front and Alleghany.  It was a bank closing, like many of this city’s bank closings, that went unnoticed by much of Philadelphia and came unexpectedly to the citizens around it.  It marks a trend: the rapid closing of banks in low income neighborhoods. To add insult to injury, across the street from the vacant Wachovia bank a check cashing place opened up.  Such places are notorious for overcharging people to get their checks chased.  “Grand Reopening – Current 1 Check Cashing” read the sign. Continue reading

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The Politics of Hope

  By A political memoir, About me, My 2007 Campaign

By AC Missias from A Smoke Filled Room January 19, 2007 As long as we’re coming clean with early picks, let me say I strongly support Marc Stier for City Council At Large. It’s not just because I’ve enjoyed his lengthy chewy blog posts, but because I’ve been able to see him in action on the Neighborhood Networks Steering Committee (and on several critical early subcommittees), and he’s one of the most impressive folks working in the political and activist realms right now, and extremely dedicated to the principles he propounds. He seems to work 36 hours in a day, and yet still bring a sense of humor to difficult discussions, and all of those things mean that causes in which he is involved simply make progress faster than they would without him. Marc seems always to be incredibly well informed on every issue facing the city (he picks the brains of the experts… Continue reading

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A Regional Tax swap?

  By Economic Development, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Taxation

One of the major problems with politics in Philadelphia is that it is focused just on Philadelphia. However many of the most important problems we face are regional in nature. Our public transit system is clearly a regional problem. So is economic development and job growth. It is not just Philadelphia but the whole region that has been growing slowly. And many environmental problems, especially the loss of open land, are regional as well. Continue reading

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It’s Best Done With Scissors: Miles, Groucho, and the Art of Composition with Tape

  By Music

RIP James Brown James Brown was one of the three or four most important popular musicians in my life. Most of the popular music to which I listened—and more importantly to which I danced—was either by James Brown or influenced by him. And Brown’s reach went far beyond popular music. I wrote this essay, It’s Best Done With Scissors: Miles, Groucho, and the Art of Composition with Tape, for a group of on-line friends a few years ago. I’ve never published or posted it before. But it occurred to me that today might be a good day to do so, in honor of the life of James Brown. Most of it is not about James Brown at all, but about the most important musician in my life, Miles Davis. But in the middle of this essay, I detail a number of ways in which Miles’ electronic music of the 1960s… Continue reading

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Just as we thought: It was broken politics all the way down.

  By Casinos

I have been writing for months about how politics is broken in this city including the politics of casinos. As if we needed on more example, the PA Gaming Control Board today selected the Foxwoods and Sugarhouse casino sites. This decision was made not because of what’s best for the city, but because of insider politics. Continue reading

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Bob Brady without Tears

  By Philadelphia

I originally wrote this as a private letter to progressive activists in the middle of December, 2006. The point I make below about Philadelphia having an unified party and thus better government is something I’d like to explore in the future. I know that lots of progressives are not terribly happy with Bob Brady at the moment. I’ve heard lots of complaints about how Jonathan Saidel was pushed out of the race pretty soon after he released an impressive paper about political reform. For a variety of reasons, mostly having to do with my running at-large and with the sense among progressives that there is no one Mayoral candidate who embodies our hopes, I don’t intend to endorse any Mayoral candidates in 07. I don’t even know who I’m voting for. So, while I’m in this undecided state, I thought I would say something about Bob Brady and why I’m… Continue reading

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Let’s Support a Vital Public Resource: Our Newspapers

  By Media Justice, Philadelphia

Reposted from Young Philly Politics In a world where it is getting harder to make a buck with ink and a printing press, isn’t it time we think about providing some public support for this vital resource? Everyone who is interested in the future of our city knows how important the Inquirer and Daily News are to us. We activists complain about them—especially when they don’t cover us as we would like by reporting every single word we say every day . But we know that without them, we would not know what is going on in the city without them, and no one would know what we do, either. The papers are not important just for the information we get from them. There is also the depth of knowledge—and evident love of the city—that makes reading long term reporters and columnists like Dave Davies, Tom Ferrick, Chris Brennan, Larry… Continue reading

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Great expectations for Philadelphia

  By Philadelphia, Progressive Politics

On Sunday, Chris Satullo, the editor of the Inquirer’s editorial page, announced a project that might help transform politics in this city: Great Expectations: Citizen Voices on Philadelphia’s Future. As I explain in this blog post, this is a project that has the potential to radically improve politics in the city. Please can find out more, and sign up to take part in the project here. A joint project of The Inquirer Editorial Board’s Citizen Voices project and the University of Pennsylvania’s Project on Civic Engagement, Great Expectations will have a number of key components. One is to engage community leaders and citizens from around the region in a series of dialogues that identify the key problems we need to solve in the next ten years if Philadelphia is to become the next great city. A second is to send editorial board writers to others cities to find the best… Continue reading