Author: Marc Stier

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Yes, I Am Asking You To Vote For a Republican: Singer and Schmidt for Commissioner

  By Philadelphia, Progressive Politics, Voting

Are you really asking me to vote for a Republican? That’s the question I get all the time, when I encourage people to give one of their two votes for City Commissioner to Al Schmidt. (The other one, of course, should go to Stephanie Singer.) I’m a liberal / progressive Democrat. I don’t recommend people vote for Republicans often. I’m pretty sure the last time I voted for Republicans it was for my dad for Village Justice in my hometown of Liberty, New York. New York elections have some peculiarities. One allows for cross-party endorsements. My dad was a Democrat but, knowing they could not beat him for reelection, the Republicans endorsed him. And knowing that I might not ever have a chance to vote for a Republican again, I voted for him on the Republican line. We have some electoral peculiarities in Philadelphia as well. One of them mandates… Continue reading

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Why You Should Go to DC in Support of a Financial Transactions Tax

  By Economic Justice, Occupy Philly, Political Organizing, Progressive Politics, Public Policy, Social Justice, Taxation

Heal America! Make Wall Street Pay! Event The National Nurses Union (NNU) is holding a rally and lobby day this Thursday, December 3, in Washington, DC in support of a financial transactions tax. The event is co-sponsored by the AFL-CIO and other progressive organizations. Here in Pennsylvania, Health Care For America Now (HCAN) is working with the local NNU affiliate PASNAP, to bring people to the rally by bus. The buses are FREE and will leave at 7:00 am from two locations, Temple University Hospital and 16th and JFK Boulevard. After a 11:30 rally, there will be a chance to do some lobbying on Capitol Hill and there may be a meeting with the staff of some of our members of Congress (or, if we can arrange it, the members themselves). The bus will leave Washington to return to Philly at 5:00 pm. Box meals will be provided in both… Continue reading

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2011-10-30

  By Twitter feed

I'm at Annenberg Center for Performing Arts (3680 Walnut St, at 37th St, Philadelphia) w/ 2 others http://t.co/r6hHeVw4 # I'm at Pod (3636 Sansom St, btw 36th & 37th, Philadelphia) http://t.co/b1hPz9O7 # I'm at Bucks County Community College Tyler Hall (275 Swamp Road, Newtown) http://t.co/rS5lg9hj # I'm at Distrito (3945 Chestnut St, at 40th St, Philadelphia) w/ 3 others http://t.co/VodVO78r # I'm at Rave Motion Pictures (220 S 40th St., at Walnut St., Philadelphia) http://t.co/50PMtRvF # I'm at Restaurant Nan (4000 Chestnut St, 40th, Philadelphia) http://t.co/cF8KQBzK # I'm at Adam Kowalski Post (133 Shurs PB., Philadelphia) http://t.co/ZD5OqJcp # I'm at Black Pearl (7200 germantown ave, Philadelphia) http://t.co/SDtkxGXb # I'm at Vietnam Cafe (814 S 47th St, Philadelphia) http://t.co/dx4yFf3k # I'm at Rave Motion Pictures (220 S 40th St., at Walnut St., Philadelphia) w/ 3 others http://t.co/uuWYjQi5 # Continue reading

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2011-10-30

  By Twitter feed

I'm at Annenberg Center for Performing Arts (3680 Walnut St, at 37th St, Philadelphia) w/ 2 others http://t.co/r6hHeVw4 # I'm at Pod (3636 Sansom St, btw 36th & 37th, Philadelphia) http://t.co/b1hPz9O7 # I'm at Bucks County Community College Tyler Hall (275 Swamp Road, Newtown) http://t.co/rS5lg9hj # I'm at Distrito (3945 Chestnut St, at 40th St, Philadelphia) w/ 3 others http://t.co/VodVO78r # I'm at Rave Motion Pictures (220 S 40th St., at Walnut St., Philadelphia) http://t.co/50PMtRvF # I'm at Restaurant Nan (4000 Chestnut St, 40th, Philadelphia) http://t.co/cF8KQBzK # I'm at Adam Kowalski Post (133 Shurs PB., Philadelphia) http://t.co/ZD5OqJcp # I'm at Black Pearl (7200 germantown ave, Philadelphia) http://t.co/SDtkxGXb # I'm at Vietnam Cafe (814 S 47th St, Philadelphia) http://t.co/dx4yFf3k # I'm at Rave Motion Pictures (220 S 40th St., at Walnut St., Philadelphia) w/ 3 others http://t.co/uuWYjQi5 # Continue reading

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What Movement Building is About or Why We Don’t We Have a Laundry List of Demands

  By Occupy Philly, Political Organizing

I’ve gotten pretty sick of hearing journalists and others say that the Occupy Wall Street movement has no “clear ideas or demands.” I keep wondering where political critics were when the Tea Party first arose as I don’t recall anyone calling the Tea Party out along these lines, other than to kill “Obamacare” and cut taxes. But since the mainstream media—that liberal media you read so much about—seems to have different expectations for left and right, I want to take a moment and explain why the OWS movement hasn’t been characterized by ten point plans or laundry lists of demands. Continue reading

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Not a Scandal

  By Philadelphia, Political Organizing, Progressive Politics

A number of Philadelphia progressives, and some editorial writers and columnists, are hot and bothered because the Democratic Party has asked judges up for a retention vote in the November election to make a substantial contribution in order to be included on the official party ballot. I am one progressive who is utterly unmoved by this supposed scandal. The criticisms of the party, and its chair, Congressman Bob Brady, are based on three false assumptions. The first is that judicial elections should be non-political in nature. Anyone who has followed the decisions of the courts of the United States, including the Supreme Court, in the last century, and especially in the 2000 Presidential election, can see through the myth that the judicial process is somehow non-political. Democrats and Republicans tend to interpret the laws differently and in ways that reflect their different ideals.  Much the same is true in the… Continue reading

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2011-10-09

  By Twitter feed

Unbelivable. Meeting ended early. We're on our way. #occupyphilly # @phillyjwj I meant am 😉 #occupyphilly #tiredfingers # @phillyjwj 9pm I think. # 9am #occupyphilly # Date October 6 #occupuphilly # Correction City Hall chosen as location #occupyphilly # Love park chosen as location for #occupyphilly # Considering Love Park as site for occupation #occupyphilly # 900+ @ Arch St Methodist Church #occupyphilly # If it were easy, winning the World Series wouldn't mean as much as it will! # Continue reading

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Twitter Weekly Updates for 2011-10-09

  By Twitter feed

Unbelivable. Meeting ended early. We're on our way. #occupyphilly # @phillyjwj I meant am 😉 #occupyphilly #tiredfingers # @phillyjwj 9pm I think. # 9am #occupyphilly # Date October 6 #occupuphilly # Correction City Hall chosen as location #occupyphilly # Love park chosen as location for #occupyphilly # Considering Love Park as site for occupation #occupyphilly # 900+ @ Arch St Methodist Church #occupyphilly # If it were easy, winning the World Series wouldn't mean as much as it will! # Continue reading

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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