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Sex as a Relational Phenomena and the “Male Gaze”

  By Love and Sex

Central to the understanding of sexuality I’m developing in my book Civilization and Its Contents is that it is fundamentally a relational phenomena. What makes our actions sexual is just the physical acts we do. After all, many of those acts can be sexual or not depending on context. A female doctor examining the penis of a male patient is not a sexual act.  What makes an act sexual is that is  designed to elicit sexual desire and arousal on the part of ourselves and our partners. Two people are having sex not just because of what they do to each other but because what they do intends to express their own sexual desire and, in doing so, elicit sexual desire and arousal in their partners by their recognition of that intention–as well as by the pleasure one’s partner receives .[1] Now this general point about sexuality can be misunderstood… Continue reading

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STATEMENT: House Dems Pass Inflation Reduction Act To Lower Drug Prices, Make Health Care & Energy Costs More Affordable

  By Climate Change, Economic Development, Energy, Health Care, PA Budget and Policy Center, Statements, US

For Immediate Release Date: August 12, 2022 Contact: Kirstin Snow, snow@pennbpc.org   House Democrats Pass Inflation Reduction Act To Lower Drug Prices, Make Health Care and Energy Costs More Affordable   Historic Bill to Curb Big Pharma and Make Corporations Pay What They Owe Moves Towards Passage Harrisburg, PA — Following U.S. House passage of the Inflation Reduction Act—a bill that will enact historic drug pricing reform, reduce health insurance costs, lower energy costs, and reduce the national deficit—Marc Stier, director of the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center and Stephen Herzenberg, executive director of the Keystone Research Center, released the following statement:    The U.S. House’s vote to pass the Inflation Reduction Act makes historic progress on many fronts. It takes a huge step forward in addressing the threat of climate change by investing $370 billion in a series of incentives to encourage the replacement of fossil fuels with clean,… Continue reading

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STATEMENT: Senate Democrats Pass Inflation Reduction Act To Lower Drug Prices, Make Health Care and Energy Costs More Affordable

  By Climate Change, Drug costs, Energy, Environment, Health Care, PA Budget and Policy Center, Statements

For Immediate Release: August 7, 2022 Contact: Kirstin Snow, snow@pennbpc.org Senate Democrats Pass Inflation Reduction Act To Lower Drug Prices, Make Health Care and Energy Costs More Affordable Historic Bill to Curb Big Pharma and Make Corporations Pay What They Owe Moves Towards Passage Harrisburg, PA — Following the U.S. Senate’s passage of the Inflation Reduction Act—a bill that will enact historic drug pricing reform, reduce health insurance costs, lower energy costs, and reduce the national deficit—Marc Stier, director of the Pennsylvania Budget and Policy Center, released the following statement:    The U.S. Senate’s vote to pass the Inflation Reduction Act makes historic progress on many fronts. It takes a huge step forward in addressing the threat of climate change by investing $370 billion in a series of incentives to encourage the replacement of fossil fuels with clean, renewable energy. This legislation will put the United States on a path… Continue reading

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STATEMENT: On the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 — What it means for PA

  By Climate Change, Health Care, PA Budget and Policy Center, Statements, US, US Constitution

For Immediate Release Date: July 29, 2022 Contact: Kirstin Snow, snow@pennbpc.org Statement on the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 — What it means for PA Stephen Herzenberg and Marc Stier   We are happy to see that a deal has been reached to address growing inflation by reducing prescription health care costs, taxing corporations and the ultra-rich, and combatting climate change and reducing energy costs. We call on the United States Senate and House of Representatives to take immediate action to pass this legislation and send it to President Biden’s desk. This legislation, along with the Infrastructure law and the American Rescue Plan, again shows that Democrats are committed to meeting the needs of everyone in the country, no matter where we live or what we look like or whether we are rich and poor, by using the power of the government. Only by acting together can we ensure that we… Continue reading

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The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 — A Major Step Forward for the US and the World

  By Climate Change, Economic Development, Health Care

with Stephen Herzenberg We are happy to see that a deal has been reached to address growing inflation by reducing prescription health care costs, taxing corporations and the ultra-rich, and combatting climate change and reducing energy costs. We call on the United States Senate and House of Representatives to take immediate action to pass this legislation and send it to President Biden’s desk. This legislation, along with the Infrastructure law and the American Rescue Plan, again shows that Democrats are committed to meeting the needs of everyone in the country, no matter where we live or what we look like or whether we are rich and poor, by using the power of the government. Only by acting together can we ensure that we have the roads and bridges and public transit critical to our economy, affordable health care, and clean energy. And only by acting together can we give our… Continue reading

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The Inflation Reduction Act of 2022 – A Major Step Forward for the US and the World

  By Climate Change, Economic Development, Economic Justice, PA Budget and Policy Center, Politics, Public Policy, Statements, US

With Stephen Herzenberg We are happy to see that a deal has been reached to address growing inflation by reducing prescription health care costs, taxing corporations and the ultra-rich, and combatting climate change and reducing energy costs. We call on the United States Senate and House of Representatives to take immediate action to pass this legislation and send it to President Biden’s desk. This legislation, along with the Infrastructure law and the American Rescue Plan, again shows that Democrats are committed to meeting the needs of everyone in the country, no matter where we live or what we look like or whether we are rich and poor, by using the power of the government. Only by acting together can we ensure that we have the roads and bridges and public transit critical to our economy, affordable health care, and clean energy. And only by acting together can we give our… Continue reading

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PBPC on the PA Budget: This Is NOT a Budget for the People

  By Budget, Memos, PA Budget and Policy Center, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Budget

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: July 7, 2022 Contact: Kirstin Snow, snow@pennbpc.org To: Members of the PA General Assembly, State Legislative Staff, Political reporters, Editorial Board Writers, and Columnists From: Marc Stier, Director, PA Budget and Policy Center Statement on Proposed Budget: PA Budget & Policy Center – This is NOT a budget for the people The new Pennsylvania Budget is a deep disappointment for Pennsylvania. At a time when the state is flush with cash, the Republican-led General Assembly has failed to meet the immediate needs of the vast majority of Pennsylvanians or invest enough in our future. Yet the budget does include an unnecessary and costly long-term cut in corporate taxes causing a one-year loss of $250 million in revenue in the current fiscal year will grow, to $2.25 billion per year at the end of eight years. Yet the state will still not ask wealthy, multinational corporations to pay… Continue reading

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Marc Stier: We Need a Budget for All Pennsylvanians

  By Budget, PBPC Blog posts, Pennsylvania Budget, Published op-eds

Originally published at the TribLive.com on July 6, 2022. The last few weeks of public debate in Harrisburg have been deeply revealing of the different approaches of the two parties. One of those parties has been trying to bring people in our state together. The other has been trying to divide us. One party has seriously addressed real issues we all care about. The other has been making issues up so they can turn Pennsylvanian against Pennsylvanian. All Pennsylvanians share some common interests; no matter where we live in the state, what we look like, how rich or poor we are, or what work we do, we want jobs to be created and wages to grow. We want to be able to afford the necessities of life — food, clothing, shelter, health care and transportation to get to work, do errands, and see family and friends. Our well-being doesn’t just… Continue reading

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STATEMENT: We The People – PA on the State Budget Negotiations

  By Budget, PA Budget and Policy Center, Pennsylvania, Pennsylvania Budget

It appears that state budget negotiations are continuing and we may have some announcement of a budget deal in the next day or so. We The People – PA will release another short statement when we have some details. But today we want to comment on the last few weeks of public debate in Harrisburg because it’s deeply revealing of the different approaches of the two parties. One of those parties has been trying to bring people in our state together. The other has been trying to divide us. One party has seriously addressed real issues we all care about. The other has been making issues up so they can turn Pennsylvanian against Pennsylvanian. All Pennsylvanians share some common interests; no matter where we live in the state, what we look like, how rich or poor we are, or what work we do, we want jobs to be created and… Continue reading

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The Fourth of July and Frederick Douglas

  By Philosophy, Racial Justice, White Supremacy and Structural Racism

I’ve re-read and posted Frederick Douglas’ essay, What To The Slave is the Fourth of July, every year for the last seven or eight years reasons I explain below. It’s one of the most important pieces of political writing by any American. It’s never been more important as a reminder of the original sin of our country, racism. But this year, I’m sad to say that it’s also never been more questionable because the end of Douglas’s piece is a paean to the ideals of the Enlightenment and their power to overcome the darkness of racism and bigotry. That power is fading before us. We need to do everything we can to restore it, before it is too late. I’m going to leave the rest of what I usually write about the text here, even though I’m far less confident than I’ve ever been that we can live up to… Continue reading