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Picking the Right Target for Occupy Philly

  By Occupy Philly, Political Organizing, Progressive Politics

The Occupy Philly meeting last night was one of the best examples of direct democracy in action I’ve ever seen. We had some serious talk about where and when to being Occupy Philly. People listened to each other and changed their minds as the discussion proceeded. We made a decision. And we did it in less time than expected. Decisions to come There is a lot more to be decided and understood. We are just at the beginning of figuring out in detail what this movement is going to be and how it will impact the future of our country. But most of those decisions can come later. We all know what this movement is broadly about—the increasingly unequal distribution of power, wealth, and income in the United States. It’s a movement that aims to reverse the decline in American Democracy which we have all witnessed in the last 30… Continue reading

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2011-09-11

  By Twitter feed

Anyone need Canon 5 and 8 inkjet cartridges? Free! # Tree of life still at the Ritz. Wonder if the audience is people who fell so deeply asleep they haven't managed to rouse themselves. # Allyson Schwartz sent an email asking for help in the NY special. Crossed my mind that she helped make that election necessary. # Republicans to unemployed: Drop Dead. # Continue reading

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2011-08-14

  By Twitter feed

If O won't ask Congress to increase debt to create jobs then he should demand taxes on the rich, who are not spending, to create jobs. # OMG Moronic news "analysis" gives O exactly the wrong advice. The problem is jobs not deficits. http://t.co/aHpynoK # If the country's credit is so bad, why are people rushing into treasury bonds, driving down interest rates? # The stock market is down because investors are starting to recognize the increasing likelihood of a double dip recession. # If the stock market decline were due to S&P, interest rates would be heading up. Instead they are down. #dumbreporting # Hey, were more gays allowed to marry recently? My marriage has felt a little shaky and I was wondering if that perhaps was the cause. # Continue reading

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2011-08-07

  By Twitter feed

@AlexU_A "Proof" in the vernacular means "evidence," which you can't avoid by waxing epistemological. # @price_laborecon We're arguing about slutwalk. Sorry you don't have a pony. # John Stuart Mill called conservatives the "stupid party." It's still true. http://t.co/cffhsrQ # @AlexU_A The proof you are wrong is that rates of sexual violence vary enormously from one place and time to another. # @AlexU_A "It's natural" is the refuge of reactionaries. It's what justified conquest, rape, unregulated markets. # @AlexU_A And third, that SOME men are predators of women is not a natural but social / cultural thing. We can change it. # @AlexU_A And second, should the whole world should be like a ghetto for women? Because if you are right, it doesn't matter how they dress. # @AlexU_A First of all, middle class white kids do march through black neighborhoods with $ buying drugs. # Rick Perry got Cs… Continue reading

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2011-07-31

  By Twitter feed

@bettina27 At least. Beach boys and SF Giants. You can tell them apart by the different colored beards. # Thank you Harry Swengler, master plumber, who at our Hotel years ago taught me what I need to fix my toilet today! # Anyone know a good plumber in NW Philly? # Starting third day of intensive watering to keep our garden, especially the new plantings, alive. # Continue reading

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Some Personal News: I’m Leaving Penn ACTION

  By About me

Dear Friends, I’ll be leaving Penn ACTION at the end of the month. Last year, as the HCAN campaign was winding down, US Action asked me to become Executive Director at Penn ACTION with the hope of building a state wide grassroots political organization. We’ve done a lot of good work over the last year. But, as you all know, this is a difficult fundraising environment and we haven’t been able to raise enough, either in Washington or in Pennsylvania, to keep the project going at the level we had reached or to expand it further. So US Action decided to pull back on the project and Crystal Martzall, who did so much to make our work a success, and I will be leaving it. For the time being, Robin Stelly, who has done such great work in Bucks County will keep organizing there and will try to do as… Continue reading

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Democrats threaten Medicaid, Too

  By Health Care, Published op-eds

Originally appeared in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Tuesday, July 05, 2011 After a public outcry stopped the Republican plan to radically transform Medicare, a new threat to our health care is coming, this time from a surprising direction. In the negotiations with Republicans about raising the debt ceiling, the Obama administration has proposed new rules for federal matching of state expenditures for Medicaid — we call it “medical assistance” in Pennsylvania — and CHIP, the Children’s Health Insurance Program. These rules are troubling. They would lead to substantial cuts in federal support programs that provide health care to low-income children and parents, people with disabilities and senior citizens, including the 62 percent of seniors in Pennsylvania whose nursing home care is paid for by medical assistance. States now receive different matching rates for different groups of people. The federal government pays 50 percent to 75 percent of the costs for people currently… Continue reading