Trump tweeted this first thing in the morning. “Our relationship with Russia has NEVER been worse thanks to many years of U.S. foolishness and stupidity and now, the Rigged Witch Hunt!” The Russian Foreign Ministry tweeted in response: “We Agree.” #notmypresident #whichsideareyouon? Continue reading
I’ve been organizing my personal files, paper and electronic, and just rediscovered this piece. I wrote June 9, 2006 pretty soon after I started my blog. I didn’t post it because a young friend of mine who knew I was thinking about running for office talked me out of doing so. She was a little worried that it wasn’t serious enough and the Viagra joke bothered her. But having reread it–and being 6 years older and coming off of major surgery– I still like what it says about the importance of cross-generational collaboration and about the pleasures and pains of aging. And while I’ve lost touch with some of the young people I was working with in 2006, many of them are still friends and allies, and others have been replaced, in some cases by younger versions of themselves. Staying engaged with young people is still important to my life as a health appreciation for the knowledge and occasional wisdom that comes with age. Continue reading
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
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
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
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
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
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
I saw Steve Coleman and Five Elements last night at Johnny Brenda’s. It was an extraordinary performance by Coleman along with Jonathan Finlayson trumpet; Miles Okazaki, guitar; an Damion Reid, drums. I hadn’t seen Coleman perform live in five or six years at his last performance with a larger group at the Painted Bride. Continue reading
I’ve been a little perplexed about that odd mailer that the Brian Sims campaign has circulated, accusing Babette Josephs of siding with “sex offenders” instead of “Philadelphia’s Children,” partly because I’ve never thought much about those laws and partly because it struck me as a strange issue to raise. So I’ve been doing a little research on the subject. And what I’ve found is disappointing, both with regard to Brian’s policy views and his political acumen. The only clue to the vote of Babette’s that Brian is criticizing is a citation of a 2006 Daily News article which does not mention any legislation at all. Instead, it quotes Lynn Abraham attacking Babette for such a vote while endorsing her opponent in the Democratic primary that year. So it is entirely unclear from the flier what vote the Sims campaign is criticizing and so far, I haven’t been able track down… Continue reading