Day: June 7, 2006

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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

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Rally for the estate tax

  By Taxation

There will be a vote in the Senate on Thursday on the Estate Tax. As an excellent editorial in the Inquirer on Monday pointed out, ending the Estate Tax makes no sense. The Estate Tax only taxes a tiny proportion of people in this country. It takes a relatively small proportion of the estates of people until those estates get very large. It is an important source of federal revenue. And, one thing the Inquirer editorial did not point it, it is critical if we want to prevent a hereditary oligarchy—rule by the rich–from arising in the United States. (I know, sometimes it seems we have an oligarchy already. But a hereditary oligarchy would be worse.) Here is the plan, which I just got from Craig Kaufman and Jeff Garis of PA Action: Continue reading

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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

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Hearing on the housing trust fund

  By Housing, Philadelphia

Council Hearings are being held today (Wednesday, June 7)) and tomorrow (Thursday, June 8 ) on three ordinances related to the Housing Trust Fund, which remains in danger. Here is some information on the hearing, the ordinances that will be considered, and my view of those ordinances. I urge you to contact your council members and all the at-large council members to express your views on these bill. You can find phone, fax and email contact information for Council members on my website. Or you can use the Hallwatch Faxbank Service to send a fax to all council members who represent you. Continue reading