Category: Pennsylvania

No comments

Against Independence

  By Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Political Organizing, Politics

This post is occasioned by the entry of Michael Nutter into the Mayor’s race. But it is not meant to be a critique of Nutter, who is someone I like in many ways despite my doubts about his ideas on taxation. (I’ll write about him and other Mayoral candidates soon.) It is, however, a critique of a style of politics that Michael Nutter, more than any other Mayoral candidate, exemplifies. You might call it the politics of independence. It is a style of politics that I grew up with, and that is important for some people in Neighborhood Networks. But it is a style of politics that I have come to distrust and that I hope will play less and less a role in Neighborhood Networks and other progressive circles in future. The politics of independence has an ideal for candidates and an ideal for voters. Continue reading

No comments

What we progressives want

  By Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Progressive Politics, US

Some time ago I started a series on the future of progressive politics in Pennsylvania. In the first post in the series I pointed out that we increasingly face a Republican majority in the General Assembly that is controlled by the radical right wing. In parts two and three of this series, I lambasted Governor Rendell and progressives like myself for, among other things, trying to govern from a non-existent center instead of defending a liberal / progressive vision of a good political community. What I haven’t done yet is try to suggest how we liberals and progressives should define and defend that vision of a good political community. I have been working on it. And today and in the next few days, I am going to lay out three themes that, I think, can define the provide a thematic sythesis of the goals progressives in Pennsylvania and in Philadelphia.… Continue reading

No comments

Learning from the minimum wage campaign

  By Pennsylvania, Political Organizing, Social Justice

I am very glad that I got back from my vacation in time for the ceremony yesterday at Sharon Baptist Church to celebrate Governor Rendell’s signing of the minimum wage bill. The Governor spoke passionately about helping the working poor. The sponsors of the bill Senator Tina Tartaglione and Representative Mark Cohen spoke as did Bill George the head of the state AFL-CIO and John Dodds, the leader of the Minimum Wage Coalition. There is an important lesson for all of us in this tremendous achievement. When I joined the Raise the Minimum Wage Coalition at one of its first meetings in April 2005¸ very few people outside of the room thought we had much chance of getting an increase in the minimum wage through a Republican General Assembly in 2006. Indeed, at the time, Governor Rendell did not even support an increase in the minimum wage. Many people thought… Continue reading

No comments

Gar Alperovitz and the next left

  By Economic Development, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Progressive Politics, Urbanism, US

In April I had the pleasure of introducing the noted political economist Gar Alperovitz at an event sponsored by the Weavers Way Cooperative in Mt. Airy. The following essay is an expanded version of my introduction. They to point to the lessons we can learn from Alperovitz and how those lessons are already being put to work in my own community, Mt. Airy. During the Carter presidency people began to notice that liberals were running of out ideas for making our country more just and democratic. Carter may have been wrong to attribute the difficulties of his presidency to a nationwide “malaise” but as a description of liberal political thought, the term seemed appropriate. At the time, my teacher Michael Walzer wrote an article in the New Republic that explained this phenomenon. He pointed out that liberals, in fact, rarely had ideas of their own. Their ideas were borrowed from… Continue reading

One Comment

Why and how we should make voting easier

  By Elections and Voting, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

Yesterday I joined a group of political activists who met with the leadership of the Committee of Seventy to urge the group to take the lead in pushing some new efforts to make it easier for people to vote. We hope a number of new initiatives will come out of our conversations, including greater efforts on the part of our city and state government and public and private businesses organizations like PGW, the Water Department, Comcast, and Verizon to inform citizens about when and how to register to vote and about when and where to vote. Continue reading

No comments

Sad day for the PA Constitution

  By Love and Sex, Pennsylvania

The Pennsylvania House of Representatives voted yesterday in favor of a PA Constitutional Amendment that would not only ban gay marriage but could be interpreted to deny both gays and straights domestic partnership benefits. What do you say about this outrageous action? The legislators who voted for it know that they are, for the first time in our history, inserting a provision that discriminates against a group of people into our constitution. They know how ridiculous it is to say that people who want to the right to marry are a threat to the institution of marriage. They know gay and lesbian friends and family members who are appalled by what they are doing. They don’t care. They are pandering to their political base and hoping to put a constitutional amendment on the ballot that will drive up turnout among the intolerant minority. Talking won’t do it. We need to… Continue reading

No comments

Bob Casey for Senate

  By Pennsylvania, US

The Case Against Casey in the Primary I have long thought that the mahoffs of the Democratic Party were making moral, strategic, and tactical mistakes in supporting Bob Casey for Senate. The moral issue is clear. I do not subscribe to the view that lifestyle and liberties issues like feminism, abortion, civil liberties, civil rights for African Americans, gay rights, stem cell research and gun control are distractions from the economic concerns that animated the New Deal coalition. While I would agree that our focus on these issues in the last thirty years has cost us politically, I would argue that the cost has been worth it. When historians look back at the last third of the twentieth century the will be impressed by the incredible strides we have made in making this country more tolerant and inclusive. And they will note that feminism has brought about the most incredible,… Continue reading

No comments

For Anne Dicker in the 175th

  By Pennsylvania, Philadelphia

The race for the Democratic nomination in the 175th district has some progressives in the city torn. Two candidates with progressive credentials are in the race, Anne Dicker and Terry Graboyes. While I think Terry would make a good state representative, I am supporting Anne. The issue for me is not just who will serve the district or who will vote the right way in Harrisburg. Anne and Terry will both do that. My concern is how best to build the progressive citizen’s movement we so badly need in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania. Continue reading

No comments

We won in the house – $7.15. The Senate is next.

  By Pennsylvania, Progressive Politics, Social Justice

The State House passed HB 257 today by a vote of 146-50!! Congratulations to everyone who have worked so hard on this issue. A delegation from the Raise the Minimum Wage Coalition was in Harrisburg yesterday lobbying swing Republicans on the bill. The amendment to raise the increase to $7.15 passed 130-66. The bill will increase the minimum wage to $6.25 on July 1, 2006 and to $7.15 on July 1, 2007. Unfortunately, a $5.15 training wage, for 60 days for workers under age 20 was also included. The Senate is next. Continue reading

No comments

Is civil disobedience justified?

  By Pennsylvania, Social Justice

Rep. Mark Cohen has commented on my last entry on the minimum wage issue, criticizing my call for civil disobedience on this issue. As much as I admire his leadership on the minimum wage issue, I have to disagree with Representative Cohen about some matters. And I want to elevate this disagreement to a separate blog entry because it illustrates many of the arguments I have been making in my not yet complete series of posts on the future of progressive politics in Pennsylvania. Continue reading