Category: Political Organizing

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Diverse Coalition of Organizations Launch “PA’s Choice” Budget Campaign

  By John Neurohr, PA Budget and Policy Center, Political Organizing, Press release

A diverse coalition of groups from across the state, including education advocates, community service organizations, faith-based groups, environmental groups and labor organizations launched the “Pennsylvania’s Choice” campaign today to bring attention to the devastating consequences of budget cuts across the commonwealth and to advocate for a Pennsylvania budget that best serves the people. If Pennsylvania continues to enact unbalanced state budgets, the commonwealth will run a deficit that grows every year. Without new tax revenues, Pennsylvania will not be able to maintain the needed funding for education, human services, the environment, or community and economic development. “Pennsylvania’s Choice” partners will be organizing in areas across the state, bringing together community members to make clear to elected officials that, if the state cannot secure new revenues, these communities will face devastating cutbacks to programs in these and other areas that are critical to Pennsylvanians every single day. Utilizing earned media events,… Continue reading

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What Has to Change and What Doesn’t: A First Look at Klein

  By Environment, Philosophy, Political Organizing, Politics, Progressive Politics, Public Policy

Introduction I’d been planning to read “This Changes Everything (TCE)” for a few months, both because I want to learn more about the climate change issue and because I want to learn more about Naomi Klein’s take on the world. I’ve doing preliminary work on a project of my own on progressive political and policy strategy. (I’m also finishing another book now about sexuality and politics but I always work on two projects at once.) I finally started the book a week or so ago because my friend Cate Poe invited to join an on-line reading group. I’m only about half way through at the moment so this is a preliminary report, some of my initial thoughts on the book. I normally wouldn’t write anything until I was done with a book and spent a good deal of time thinking about it, but I feel some obligation to Cate to… Continue reading

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What Do Do-Nothing Legislators Do?

  By A political memoir, Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Political Organizing, Politics, Progressive Politics

There is a class of legislators who pundits sometime pick on for not being “effective.” They are politicians who typically stand a little to the left (for Democrats) or right (for Republicans) of their party. Then tend to come from relatively well-off, safe districts. Their constituents are more ideological than most and less in need of the pork barrel projects that are the stock in trade of other legislators. And they often serve in the minority party in the legislature, so they have little impact day to day legislative business. That gives them some freedom to push the envelope on policy by taking stands in advance of public opinion. Sometimes they push the envelope simply by being who they are—a woman, an out gay or lesbian, or the member of some other minority. These politicians are often criticized because they don’t have a lot of legislative achievements. They don’t have… Continue reading

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Having fun while doing good or managing activism fatigue

  By A political memoir, Political Organizing

Introduction Last weekend I appeared on a panel at the PA Progressive Summit called Don’t Stop Believing: Managing Activism Fatigue. The panel was created by three psychologists who thought that it would helpful for activists to get some advice about managing the stress, anxiety, and  exhaustion that often leads to burnout. I was asked to comment on their advice, based on my experience as an organizer. My remarks were well received so I’ve decided to write up my notes. I won’t try to present the ideas of my fellow panelists. They were very good but I don’t think I could do them justice. Instead will present the concrete recommendations I gave activists based on my own experience. I was drafted to be on the panel in part under false pretense. After ten years as an political activist, organizer and sometime candidate—the first six of which I did as a volunteer… Continue reading

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Occupy Philly Goes to Washington (and Why It Is So Important to Keep Going).

  By Economic Justice, Occupy Philly, Political Organizing, Progressive Politics

Last Thursday I led a group of people to Washington, DC to attend a National Nurses United rally in support of a financial transactions tax (FTT) and to meet with two of Senator Bob Casey’s legislative aides. Some of the people with us are heavily involved in Occupy Philadelphia. Others were HCAN, MoveOn or Neighborhood Networks supporters. They all are either sympathetic to or take part in Occupy Philly events. There were 1500-2000 spirited people at the rally. It was nice to meet some folks at the Occupy DC camp. And our meeting with Senator Casey’s staff members impressively showed me why the Occupy Movement is so incredibly importance to this country right now. Meeting with Senator Casey’s Staff Senator Casey is sympathetic to our goals. His staff said that he would look at the FTT and that it fits with his support of taxing the wealthy. His aide, Jennifer… Continue reading

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Why You Should Go to DC in Support of a Financial Transactions Tax

  By Economic Justice, Occupy Philly, Political Organizing, Progressive Politics, Public Policy, Social Justice, Taxation

Heal America! Make Wall Street Pay! Event The National Nurses Union (NNU) is holding a rally and lobby day this Thursday, December 3, in Washington, DC in support of a financial transactions tax. The event is co-sponsored by the AFL-CIO and other progressive organizations. Here in Pennsylvania, Health Care For America Now (HCAN) is working with the local NNU affiliate PASNAP, to bring people to the rally by bus. The buses are FREE and will leave at 7:00 am from two locations, Temple University Hospital and 16th and JFK Boulevard. After a 11:30 rally, there will be a chance to do some lobbying on Capitol Hill and there may be a meeting with the staff of some of our members of Congress (or, if we can arrange it, the members themselves). The bus will leave Washington to return to Philly at 5:00 pm. Box meals will be provided in both… Continue reading

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What Movement Building is About or Why We Don’t We Have a Laundry List of Demands

  By Occupy Philly, Political Organizing

I’ve gotten pretty sick of hearing journalists and others say that the Occupy Wall Street movement has no “clear ideas or demands.” I keep wondering where political critics were when the Tea Party first arose as I don’t recall anyone calling the Tea Party out along these lines, other than to kill “Obamacare” and cut taxes. But since the mainstream media—that liberal media you read so much about—seems to have different expectations for left and right, I want to take a moment and explain why the OWS movement hasn’t been characterized by ten point plans or laundry lists of demands. Continue reading

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Not a Scandal

  By Philadelphia, Political Organizing, Progressive Politics

A number of Philadelphia progressives, and some editorial writers and columnists, are hot and bothered because the Democratic Party has asked judges up for a retention vote in the November election to make a substantial contribution in order to be included on the official party ballot. I am one progressive who is utterly unmoved by this supposed scandal. The criticisms of the party, and its chair, Congressman Bob Brady, are based on three false assumptions. The first is that judicial elections should be non-political in nature. Anyone who has followed the decisions of the courts of the United States, including the Supreme Court, in the last century, and especially in the 2000 Presidential election, can see through the myth that the judicial process is somehow non-political. Democrats and Republicans tend to interpret the laws differently and in ways that reflect their different ideals.  Much the same is true in the… Continue reading

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Picking the Right Target for Occupy Philly

  By Occupy Philly, Political Organizing, Progressive Politics

The Occupy Philly meeting last night was one of the best examples of direct democracy in action I’ve ever seen. We had some serious talk about where and when to being Occupy Philly. People listened to each other and changed their minds as the discussion proceeded. We made a decision. And we did it in less time than expected. Decisions to come There is a lot more to be decided and understood. We are just at the beginning of figuring out in detail what this movement is going to be and how it will impact the future of our country. But most of those decisions can come later. We all know what this movement is broadly about—the increasingly unequal distribution of power, wealth, and income in the United States. It’s a movement that aims to reverse the decline in American Democracy which we have all witnessed in the last 30… Continue reading

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You are my heroes

  By Health Care, Political Organizing

I spoke tonight at the beginning of the health care week being put on by the Penn Democrats. With the news that Harry Reid had decided to put a public option in the bill he intends to bring to the floor, it was a good night to be speaking. I gave a different kind of speech than usual, putting our campaign for health care reform in the context of the revival of progressive politics. I’ll write that up soon. But on this very good day for our campaign when we have seen some inkling of success coming from our hard work over the past fifteen months, I did want to post the following reconstruction of my closing remarks. I said at the beginning of my talk that the election of Barack Obama was the start of the rebirth of progressive politics in America. And I said that to keep this… Continue reading