Published in the Harrisburg Post-Gazette, July 1, 2010 Though Gov. Rendell and legislative leaders have reached an agreement, we still face a potential budget catastrophe. Only Republicans — gubernatorial nominee Tom Corbett, Lt. Gov. Joseph Scarnati, Senate Majority Leader Dominic Pileggi and House Minority Leader Sam Smith — can prevent it. Continue reading
Published in the Philadelphia Dailiy News, June 21, 2010 A SPECTER is haunting American politics – it’s the great and growing fear of budget deficits. In Washington, public policies critical to restoring the health of our economy are being delayed because of the deficit. Outside Washington, politicians and opinion leaders, and some citizens, are wringing their hands about our deficits. Some of these opinion leaders, with foundation backing, are holding a series of public town halls about the deficit, including one in Philadelphia on June 26. We need to stop and think seriously about the kind of problem the deficit presents and how we should deal with it before we let hysteria lead us down the wrong path. We need to stop and think, first, about the difference between the immediate and the long-term budget deficit. Right now, our economy is recovering slowly from the most serious recession since the… Continue reading
Yesterday, on the steps of the Montgomery County Court House health care advocates from Health Care for America Now, the Pennsylvania Health Access Network, Pennsylvania Communities Organizing for Change and Penn Action calling on Attorney General Tom Corbett to resign his office. Montgomery County Times-Herald coverage of the action, including video footage, can be found here. We took this action because Corbett has politicized an office that should be entirely above politics. Continue reading
Memorial Day was a big deal in the village in which I grew up, Liberty, NY. And thinking about the difference between the Memorial Day celebrations of my youth, and the non-celebration of this holiday today, makes me not so much nostalgic for the past but concerned about our future. Continue reading
I went to a 194th state representative district candidate event last week at Roxborough Memorial Hospital. It made clear to me why, when we decide which candidate to support, we progressives have to get out of the habit of looking at the elaborate questionnaires candidates produce and focus on what their history tells us about where their heart is. Sometime in the next two years, the person who wins this election is going to have to make a decision about a new piece of legislation before him or her. It might be late at night and there won’t be time to call some advisor to find out what is the right thing to do. There won’t be time to determine whether the legislation violates a core ideal of Democrats or progressives. The next representative for the 194th district is just going to have to use his or her judgment and… Continue reading
There has never been a time in the fifty four years of my life when political action is more important and can have a greater impact on our future. That’s why I’m marching to Washington today and urging you to take join Melanie’s March To the Finish Line. Before I became a full time political organizer three years ago, I taught political philosophy and American politics for twenty five years. Like most people trained in philosophy and the political and social sciences, I’ve always been somewhat dubious about the ability of people to bend history. Most of the time, I believe, the forces that shape history overwhelm what we do as individuals. That’s true for Presidents and Congressional leaders. And it’s even more true for citizens. That doesn’t mean we shouldn’t act politically. Historical forces act through us But, for most of my life, as someone who was an activist… Continue reading
Last night you heard President Obama say that we have to pass health care reform this year. Reports today that Speaker Pelosi and Majority Leader Reid are working on a plan to move the reform legislation through Congress. I know that many of you are disappointed and angry that we have not yet succeeded. I am, too. But I taught and studied American politics for many years before I became an activist, and I know that what we have seen in the 19 month long fight for health care reform is the usual course our politics takes on the most important questions. Continue reading
The Massachusetts Senate election tomorrow is critical to the future of this country and especially to the future of health care reform. It’s likely to be a low turnout election, so everything we do here in Pennsylvania to help get Coakley supporters to the polls will make a big difference. There are two local places where you can join phone banks to call likely Coakley supporters and urge them to vote tomorrow. UFCW Local 1776, 3031A Walton Road, Plymouth Meeting, PA. 19462. Now until 8:00 pm today and 10:00 am to 7:00 pm tomorrow. Organizing for America PA Headquarters, 123 South Broad Street, Suite 820, Philadelphia, PA 19107 Shifts at 4:00 pm today; 10:00 am, 1:00 pm and 4:00 pm, tomorrow. I don’t have to you how important this election is. Democrats have the bare minimum 60 votes we need to control the Senate. And, with Republicans determined to oppose… Continue reading
Love is just like a faucet it turns off and on Love is like a faucet It turns off and on Sometimes when you think it’s on baby It has turned off and gone Billie Holiday Fine and Mellow Your love is like a faucet You can turn it off and on Albert King Don’t Throw Your Love on Me So Strong And I have felt A presence that disturbs me with the joy Of elevated thoughts; a sense sublime Of something far more deeply interfused, Whose dwelling is the light of setting suns, And the round ocean and the living air, And the blue sky, and in the mind of man; A motion and a spirit, that impels All thinking things, all objects of all thought, And rolls through all things. William Wordsworth Tintern Abbey We usually think that power, strength, and achievement in politics and the world of ideas—and… Continue reading
Reposted from Young Philly Politics Just a quick note about two styles of politics. Continue reading