Category: Public Policy

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What the Court Did, Why, and What it Means for Politics and Health Care Policy

  By Health Care

We got very good news from the Supreme Court today. There are no constitutional barriers to the ACA going fully into effect. The exchanges, subsidies for insurance and the expansion of Medicaid will provide affordable insurance for over thirty million people who don’t have it now. Over a hundred million people will be protected from losing their insurance or paying more if they have pre-existing conditions or are older or women. And the provisions already in place—that make preventive care free, that reduce pharmaceutical costs for seniors, that enable people 26 and younger to stay on the insurance of the parents—will remain in place. This is all great news. And it would not have happened without all the hard work you did in support of what became the ACA. That work didn’t stop after the legislation was passed. As I explain more below, the decision today was in no small… Continue reading

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Two Thoughts in Advance of the Supreme Court Decision

  By Health Care

Can we progressives not attack each other after the decision? I’m going to be writing more about the ACA and the Court after we hear the decision. But here is one plea in advance of the decision: can we progressives not get in a circle and start shooting at one another? That means, can the single payer folks not lead off with “if Obama only had pushed single payer through Congress we wouldn’t have to worry about the Court today?” Everyone who pays any attention to Congress knows that single payer had no chance in 2009-2010 and it does the progressive cause no good to make up stories about what is politically possible and what is not. More importantly we need to unite against the enemy, which is not the supporters of Obamacare but the corporate conservatives who, if they get their way today, are going to go after Medicare… Continue reading

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What’s the Rush? Save the Cohen Wage Tax Rebate!

  By Philadelphia, Philadelphia Taxes, Taxation

One of the last accomplishments of long time progressive Councilmember David Cohen—a rebate on the wage tax for those with low incomes—may be repealed tomorrow. It shouldn’t be. There are good policy arguments both for and against the wage tax rebate. I’ll come to some of them in a moment. But, frankly, at the moment those arguments are secondary. The key reason not to repeal the legislation tomorrow is that the decision to put off AVI for a year means that Council is going carry out a broad examination of taxation in the city next year. The Cohen wage tax rebate is not scheduled to go into effect until 2016 anyway. So there is plenty of time to reconsider it as we think through the future of taxation in Philadelphia. Any city like Philadelphia has to balance considerations of progressivity and economic growth. While, progressive taxation has very little negative… Continue reading

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AVI Without Tears

  By Philadelphia, Philadelphia Budget, Taxation

I have an op-ed in today’s Daily News about AVI. I think the argument there is correct, but it is highly compressed. I’ve tried to set out my argument at a little greater length here. (Note that in the op-ed and in this piece I made a mistake and said that AVI shifts the tax burden from residential to commercial property. It does the opposite. I’ve corrected it here. Councilman Green’s proposals minimize the shift.) So much has gone wrong in the city’s move to the Actual Value Initiative (AVI), that many people are fearful about its consequence. And one of the things that has gone wrong is that people who know better are playing on this fear for their political purposes, I think the fear is over blown. AVI is a good thing if it is implemented properly and I think it can be implemented properly this year. Continue reading

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Homeowners, Don’t Fight the AVI—It’s Good for You

  By Philadelphia, Philadelphia Taxes, Taxation

 Originally published in the Daily News, May 29, 2012 A great fear seems to have come over the city as the heavy footsteps of a monster called AVI come ever closer to us. It’s time to recognize, however, that that monster is a friendly creature who will benefit most of us. Partly because tax matters are hard to understand and partly because Mayor Nutter wants to raise more revenue for schools from the real-estate tax, public discussion of AVI — Actual Value Initiative — has become confused. No one trusts any government, and some people in office or thinking of running for office can’t resist the temptation to be demagogues about any issue. So, the confusion has created the false belief that AVI is just a tax increase in disguise. We desperately need to get back to some basics: AVI is about tax fairness. And, under it, most Philadelphians will see… Continue reading

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Not Such a Big Deal

  By Philadelphia, Public Policy, Taxation

Tom Ferrick wrote an insightful, useful but in some respects strange article about Philadelphia taxes in Metropolis the other day. There is a lot to be learned from him it and as much to be learned from understanding where it goes wrong. (This is the second time in a few weeks I’ve disagreed with Ferrick so let me just say that he’s one of the few writers on Philadelphia politics who is truly indispensable. He make me think hard when I disagree with him. If you don’t read Metropolis, you should.) The end of The Deal Ferrick argues that in moving to AVI, Philadelphia is about to undo what he calls “The Deal.” The Deal is the implicit bargain that the city has made with homeowners: we will pay a stiff wage tax which people don’t pay in the suburbs as well as an extra 2% in sales taxes. But in… Continue reading

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The Silence is Deafening—Our Broken Politics and the Schools

  By Education, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

Under tremendous financial pressure that is the result of recession and drastic cutbacks in funding from Harrisburg, the SRC is about to blow up our school system. The SRC plan reshuffles the chairs on the Titanic but as far as I can see does little to stop the ship from sinking. They Mayor tells us we have no choice (and by the way, support my property tax proposal.) And so far, not one politician in this city, not one member of Council, not one State Representative or State Senator has made a public statement about this devastating news. Why not? Continue reading

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Will Mayor Nutter Lead a Movement to Save Our Schools?

  By Education, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

Michael Nutter talked a great deal about education during his reelection campaign. His inaugural speech focused on education. He said he wanted to take on responsibility for the schools. But today the SRC announced that the School District in Philadelphia is going to be drastically downsized. Many schools will be closed. More students will attend charter schools. In a school system that has already suffered devastating cutbacks, even if some of these changes make for a more efficient use of resources, the overall consequences for our kids cannot be good. None of the suggested administrative changes deal with the fundamental problem–we don’t have the resources to provide our kids with the minimal requirements of a decent education. We don’t have money for enough quality teachers, teacher training, school books, and counselors. And the financial problem we face comes from Harrisburg and Governor Corbett’s relentless attack on school funding. That has me… Continue reading

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Send Tim Holden Packing on Tuesday

  By 2012, Health Care

Voters in the 17th Congressional District in Pennsylvania have an opportunity to do something really important, not just for themselves, but for the entire country: defeat Congressman Tim Holden. who represents the Republican wing of the Democratic party.   It is obviously important to the 17th District to have a member of Congress who actually support their interests, not those of the corporate rich. And it’s important to the Democratic Party and the country as a whole to rid ourselves of members of Congress who fail to do the minimal in standing up for the ideals of our party. Defeating such members will send a critical message throughout the Democratic Caucus: Democratic members of Congress are accountable to us. And, as I explain below, defeating Tim Holden will remove from office a whining, gutless, dishonest example of the American politician at his worst. Continue reading

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Stacie Ritter, Obamacare, and Me

  By About me, Health Care, Progressive Politics

This is a story mostly about what Obamacare means to my colleague and friend Stacie Ritter. But is not just a story about a woman whose family has and will continue to benefit from the Affordable Care Act. It’s also about how the struggle for health care for her family has changed Stacie and made her into one of the most important health care activists in Pennsylvania and in the country as a whole. And it’s also a story about me, because in my four years of work as a health care activist and as Director of Health Care for American Now in Pennsylvania no one has inspired me more than Stacie. Meeting Stacie Ritter I met Stacie almost by chance in early September 2009. She was scheduled to speak in support of health care reform in Carlisle, Pennsylvania at an event organized by the premier labor and progressive radio… Continue reading