Category: Politics

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This year the action is Montco

  By Elections and Voting, Pennsylvania

For a long time it is has been obvious to anyone who pays attention to politics that the future of the Democratic Party in Pennsylvania rests on our ability to control the counties that surround Philadelphia. Here, and elsewhere in the country, suburban counties that have historically voted Republican are rapidly turning Democratic. Whether moved by liberal views on sexual and lifestyle issues or by an aversion to the Republican War Machine or, in some cases, by the liberal economic views of a large contingent of professionals and managers, suburban counties are voting Democratic. Indeed the position of these suburban counties is similar to that of white Southern counties in the 1970s. White Southern counties were already voting for Republicans in Presidential and Senatorial elections by the mid-seventies. They started voting for Republican Governors and US Representatives soon after. And then finally, they started voting for Republican local officials and… Continue reading

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My new gig

  By Health Care, Pennsylvania

For the past nine years I have been a citizen-activist while holding down a full time job as a teacher at Temple University. But no more. Now I’m a paid political organizer. I recently took my first ever job doing politics, as the Health Care Campaign Manager for the State Council of SEIU. I’m really excited to be working with SEIU. Over the years, I’ve worked closely with both SEIU Local 32BJ and more recently SEIU Local 1199p on a number of projects: The Pennsylvania Transit Coalition, the Raise the Minimum Wage Coalition, the Philadelphia Campaign for Housing Justice and most recently, the Philadelphia Health Care Coalition. SEIU locally has been at the forefront of almost every progressive effort. And at the state and national level, SEIU has been leading the way to both health care reform and a reinvigoration of the labor movement. My primary aim at SEIU will… Continue reading

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SEPTA to city: stick it

  By Philadelphia, Transportation

I did something unusual for a transit activist the other day. I didn’t protest SEPTA’s new fare increases for tokens and transfers. Instead, I said that while I had some doubts about whether fares needed to be increased as much as SEPTA claimed, I thought it was much better for transit agencies to have regular, small increases than to sock riders heavily every five or six years. And I also said that along with proposing small increases in tokens and transfers, SEPTA should drop its appeal of Judge DiVito’s decision blocking their plan to eliminate transfers. The new fare increases are meant to make up for the revenues lost due to Judge DiVito’s decision. Until the SEPTA Board Meeting last Thursday, SEPTA said that it would rescind these fare increases if the courts allow the elimination of transfers to proceed. At that meeting they adopted a proposal that brings the… Continue reading

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Retirement letter from Thomas Paine Cronin

  By People, Politics

Tom Cronin recently sent the following letter to some his friends and allies among community and labor leaders in the city. It is worthy of a wide readership among progressives. As a preface, let me just say that Tom has been one of the most important voices among labor leaders in favor of progressive public policy. And he has done more than anyone else in the labor movement to forge broad coalitions. I’ve worked closely with Tom on a number of issues–especially transit funding, raising the minimum wage, and most recently inclusionary housing. I’ve learned a great deal from him about coalition building and the importance of militancy. More than one one he has encourged us to push our politicians as hard as possible–to the extent of engagining in sit-ins in their offices. I would say that he will be greatly missed. But, while he won’t be leading DC 47,… Continue reading

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Civil liberties, sexual equality and Larry Craig

  By Sexual and gender equality, US

I’m sure we are all having fun over another example of Republican hypocripsy on gay issues. But is anyone else disturbed about Craig being arrested for merely propositioning someone–and doing it in a way that most straight men would hardly recognize it as such? I can see why laws against people actually having sex in a public restroom might be a good idea. But laws against a fairly subtle come-on? What is the point—except to harass gay men. After all,  straight men make sleazy come-ons, too. And in public. Craig’s actions were actually pretty subtle. I’ve seen a lot sleazier (and, sometimes, borderline violent) come-ons from straight men. But, of course, in our sexist and homophobic society lots of people laugh at sleazy straight come-ons and want to see much less sleazy gay ones prosecuted. It’s not just come-ons but public sex. I’ve seen women giving men head or a… Continue reading

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Feeling the pain of the MTA and SEPTA

  By Philadelphia, Transportation

I don’t often feel sorry for government agencies. But, in the aftermath of yesterday’s shutdown of parts of the New York City subway system after a major rainstorm flooded subway tunnels right before rush hour, I’m sharing the pain of the Metropolitan Transit Agency (MTA). We have very little tolerance for failure in the United States whether it be personal failures, the failures of corporations or—what is most intolerable—the failure of public agencies to do their jobs. Most of the time, we should have high standards. People should do their jobs and businesses and governments should provide the goods and services they are supposed to. I’m not here to make excuses for a Philadelphia Police Department that can’t get a handle on violent crime or a Department of Human Services that regularly loses tracks of children at risk. But accidents happen. And when those accidents are due to circumstances that… Continue reading

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Transfers forever

  By Philadelphia, Transportation

The Confusion Over Transfers Conceptual confusion has marred the transfer debate ever since SEPTA wrongly justified eliminating transfers by saying that they would not be necessary once an electronic fare system was in place. I spent some time trying to correct the confusion in blogs and my emails. But the politics of saving transfers took precedence over the clarifying the difference senses of “transfers.” So now is a good time to get some clarity about the multiple meaning of “transfers” and, also, about what moving to an electronic fare system might mean for our fare structure. Two meanings of “transfers” We use the word “transfers” to talk about two different things. The first is what, from now on, I’m going to call “paper transfers” that is, the physical mechanism by which SEPTA implements a reduced fare for someone who takes two (or more) different buses or trains on one trip… Continue reading

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Will Philadelphia home rule go up in smoke again?

  By Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Smoking

The General Assembly is moving forward with plans to enact a state wide smoking ban. But, in the process, it is likely to weaken the ban already in place in Philadelphia. And, even worse, it is likely that the General Assembly will prohibit Philadelphia and other cities and towns from making laws more stringent than the new state law. So, once again, teh state will override the right of Philadelphians to make laws that concern only ourselves. . The Senate passed smoking ban legislation a week and a half ago. It bans smoking in many public places but it exempts 25 percent of the space in casinos and private clubs. And it also allows smoking in businesses in which less than 20 percent of revenues come from food sales, which will allow smoking in many bars. What’s worse, the bill prohibits municipalities from enacting smoking laws that are tougher than… Continue reading

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The fire next time

  By Philadelphia, Progressive Politics

I sent this to a group of progressive activists who were meeting in Philadelphia in June 2007. I couldn’t attend because my daughter was graduating from middle school at that time. The May 2007 primary was disappointing for many of us. But I thought then, as I still do now, that good things would come out of the effort many of us had made during and before that primary. While I very much want to hear what you all have to say, I don’t think you will lose much from my absence as I’m still too close to the recent election to have had the time and energy to think through what it all means for the progressive movement in this city. Continue reading

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On ward politics and street money

  By My 2007 Campaign, Philadelphia, Progressive Politics, Ward politics

Originally posted at Young Philly Politics. A number of my responses to comments made at YPP are below There is an article in the Inquirer today that briefly reports on some of my experiences with ward politics during the last election. I was disappointed by the article, in part because I thought I was talking off the record with the reporter and in part because the article is misleading about the role that wards and street money played in my campaign or other grass roots campaigns. (The Inquirer will be running a clarification about part of the article tomorrow.) I plan to write about this subject in detail later, because these are two subjects that most people interested in Philadelphia politics do not understand very well and about which I learned a great deal in the last five months. Here are some preliminary points. Continue reading