Category: Politics

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Don't break it again. Fix it!

  By Campaign Finance Reform, My 2007 Campaign, Philadelphia

Campaign finance reform is only one, limited way, of fixing our broken politics. But it is one we have to save. If, however, we look at all the goals of campaign finance reform, we will see that the folks concerned about Tom Knox’s ability to spend much more out of his own pocket than other candidates can raise and spend is a serious problem. But there are ways of fixing that problem now that would improve our campaign financing system rather than taking us back to the dark ages. Campaign finance reform has a number of goals. One goal of campaign finance reform is to limit pay to play—the practice of big campaign contributors getting benefits from the city in return for their contributions. That is the prime reason that Jim Kenny’s proposal to eliminate all limits on campaign contributions in the Mayoral race is a really terrible idea. (And… Continue reading

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Finally, people are noticing the bank closings in Philadelphia

  By Banking and Finance, Philadelphia

Last month Wachovia silently closed one its North Philadelphia bank at Front and Alleghany.  It was a bank closing, like many of this city’s bank closings, that went unnoticed by much of Philadelphia and came unexpectedly to the citizens around it.  It marks a trend: the rapid closing of banks in low income neighborhoods. To add insult to injury, across the street from the vacant Wachovia bank a check cashing place opened up.  Such places are notorious for overcharging people to get their checks chased.  “Grand Reopening – Current 1 Check Cashing” read the sign. Continue reading

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A Regional Tax swap?

  By Economic Development, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Taxation

One of the major problems with politics in Philadelphia is that it is focused just on Philadelphia. However many of the most important problems we face are regional in nature. Our public transit system is clearly a regional problem. So is economic development and job growth. It is not just Philadelphia but the whole region that has been growing slowly. And many environmental problems, especially the loss of open land, are regional as well. Continue reading

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Bob Brady without Tears

  By Philadelphia

I originally wrote this as a private letter to progressive activists in the middle of December, 2006. The point I make below about Philadelphia having an unified party and thus better government is something I’d like to explore in the future. I know that lots of progressives are not terribly happy with Bob Brady at the moment. I’ve heard lots of complaints about how Jonathan Saidel was pushed out of the race pretty soon after he released an impressive paper about political reform. For a variety of reasons, mostly having to do with my running at-large and with the sense among progressives that there is no one Mayoral candidate who embodies our hopes, I don’t intend to endorse any Mayoral candidates in 07. I don’t even know who I’m voting for. So, while I’m in this undecided state, I thought I would say something about Bob Brady and why I’m… Continue reading

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Let’s Support a Vital Public Resource: Our Newspapers

  By Media Justice, Philadelphia

Reposted from Young Philly Politics In a world where it is getting harder to make a buck with ink and a printing press, isn’t it time we think about providing some public support for this vital resource? Everyone who is interested in the future of our city knows how important the Inquirer and Daily News are to us. We activists complain about them—especially when they don’t cover us as we would like by reporting every single word we say every day . But we know that without them, we would not know what is going on in the city without them, and no one would know what we do, either. The papers are not important just for the information we get from them. There is also the depth of knowledge—and evident love of the city—that makes reading long term reporters and columnists like Dave Davies, Tom Ferrick, Chris Brennan, Larry… Continue reading

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Great expectations for Philadelphia

  By Philadelphia, Progressive Politics

On Sunday, Chris Satullo, the editor of the Inquirer’s editorial page, announced a project that might help transform politics in this city: Great Expectations: Citizen Voices on Philadelphia’s Future. As I explain in this blog post, this is a project that has the potential to radically improve politics in the city. Please can find out more, and sign up to take part in the project here. A joint project of The Inquirer Editorial Board’s Citizen Voices project and the University of Pennsylvania’s Project on Civic Engagement, Great Expectations will have a number of key components. One is to engage community leaders and citizens from around the region in a series of dialogues that identify the key problems we need to solve in the next ten years if Philadelphia is to become the next great city. A second is to send editorial board writers to others cities to find the best… Continue reading

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You Want to See Broken Politics: Just Look at the Casinos

  By Casinos, Philadelphia

For the last few months, I’ve been running around the city, giving a speech to any group of three or more people who will listen that begins with the following words: “Politics in Philadelphia is Broken.” I have another five and a half months to go giving that speech…and maybe it won’t stop then because fixing politics in Philadelphia is probably going to take the progressive movement the better part of the next ten or fifteen years. It is, of course, an easy case to make. Sometimes, people shout out examples of our broken politics before I get three minutes into my speech. And no example comes up more than the ridiculous path by which our political system has taken us to the verge of bringing casinos to Philadelphia. How does this process exemplify the broken character of our politics? Let us count the ways. Continue reading

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The transit crises continues and the PTC is back.

  By Pennsylvania, Transportation

The Money Is Running Out In the spring of 2005, thanks in large part to the efforts of everyone who worked with the Pennsylvania Transit Coalition, Governor Rendell transferred (or, in transit-speak) flexed, hundreds of millions of dollars of federal highway funds to save public transit in Pennsylvania. The money runs out in December 2006. Continue reading

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The Opportunity Before Us

  By Politics, US

Late at night, on Election Day in 1980, I called my father, whose interest in politics and own effective political activity spurred my own. (My first campaign was for my Dad’s race for a Councilman in the Town of Liberty, NY, in 1963. Ever since, I have thought of Councilman as one of the most distinguished political titles.) As the returns came in, and Reagan and a Republican Senate were elected, I complained to my Dad about the tides of politics. “You’ve lived through a period of Democratic dominance, during which you at least had some hope that politics might head in the right direction,” I said. “I’m looking at twenty years of Republican dominance.” Now we have some hope that the next twenty five years will look very different. Continue reading