philly

PA Senate Debate

Arg, I was busy for the second half of Friday and I'm at home now in NY and I didn't get a chance to watch the debate between Chuck Pennacchio, Bob Casey and Alan Sandals. But I'm told that the audio of the event will be posted on the PCN Podcast page. I look forward to that. I'll give it a thorough listen and offer my thoughts then.

But for now, initial thoughts can be read and shared at the Pennacchio blog and eRobin of Factesque liveblogged it.

The AP article on the debate.

Philly for Change 04/06

Marie deYoung, Harris Martin, Paul Lang
Joe Sestak, Tony Payton, Anne Dicker

It was quite a crowd at Lucy's Hat Shop for the monthly Philly for Change meeting. As I thought, Paul Lang was indeed there. I ran into him right as I walked in at the signing table. I saw a few familiar faces there like Duncan Black and Marc Stier and the regulars from the steering comittee, but there was an incredible amount of newbies. Jen Murphy [one of the SC members] estimated that about seventy people were there. Great turnout! And after the collection bucket was passed around, they counted up a nice $200 for the general fund. But the candidates were the ones on center stage for the night.

Marie deYoung was up first. She is running for State Representative in the 163rd District in DelCo and has already been endorsed by DelCo Dems and the PA House Dem Campaign Committee. She's a former Army chaplain and Halliburton whistleblower where she exposed Halliburton's millions of fraudulent charges through contracts in Kuwait. She plans to keep on fighting companies like Halliburton and protecting her district's constituents from greedy corporations. Her biggest platforms [after a look through her brochure] are for educational reform of the public schooling system and comprehensive reform of the state tax and budget system.

Harris Martin is running in the 18th Assembly District up in Bensalem. He is the chairman of Bensalem Democrats who helped register Dems in mass numbers and was able to tip the scales in Bensalem Township to a Democratic majority in registered voters. From what I'm told [since I rarely leave the Philly area] that's a pretty Red area so it's quite an achievement. Martin is part of the group of newbies running under the PA Clean Sweep banner.

Paul Lang took to the mic next with his run for State Senate in the 6th District in Lower Bucks County and a chip of upper Philly. I realized that it was the first time that I had heard him speak in front of a crowd politically. I have seen him in person many times and spoken to him over the phone many times, but it was good to see him in front of a crowd. He speaks well. He spoke of his service to this country during his time in the U.S. Coast Guard [retired as Lieutenant] where he broke his back using forty-year-old ageing equipment. He was told that he may never walk again. Compared to that painful experience [from which he still feels some pain]. His doctors down at Bethesda Naval Hospital and Walter Reed Medical Center joked with him that the only person they saw more often than him was none other than Dick Cheney. But he got through the initial couple of years and now getting out on the campaign trail isn't so daunting a task after going through such an accident and following intensive treatment. He touched on two local issues of contaminated water supplies and the effects of big box retailers like WalMart which are a drain on the local communities. He vowed to be committed to those issues once elected. Above Average Jane has a great interview with Paul.

Joe Sestak, running for U.S. House Rep in PA-07 in DelCo. I've heard rumblings about him for the past few weeks, but nothing of real substance. He retired a Vice Admiral after a thirty-one year career in the Navy which included a stint as Director of Defense Policy in Clinton's White House. He's only been on the campaign trail for fifty-two [or was it sixty-two] days now, so he's still a little green, but he spoke well to the crowd. A very calming voice came out of the veteran. He wants out of Iraq. He wants to fight for universal healthcare. He wants to fight to uphold womens' right to choose. He wants federal funding of embryonic stem cell research. He has a personal stake on the issues of healthcare and stem cell reasearch. His five-year-old daughter was diagnosed with a malignant brain tumor and had to go through four months of chemotheraphy. He spoke of Rep. Curt Weldon's [the incumbent GOP opponent] attacks on his family's decision to take Alexandra to the Chilidren's Hospital in D.C. instead of a hospital in PA. Sestak told of how he went to the Mayo Clinic and Johns Hopkins and CHOP here in Philly; they all told him that the best care would be back in D.C. at Children's Hospital so he did what any parent would do, go get the best care for his child where his family was already based due to his assignment at Annapolis.

Sestak stressed accountability in his closing. He told the crowd about how a plane is launched on an aircraft carrier [Sestak was a cammander of an aircraft carrier battle group in Iraq and Afghanistan]. He described the incredible engines on a jet and the additional launch cable mechanism that adds additional takeoff thrust. He told us how the pilot cannot see underneath her/his plane and relies on her/his deck operator to give an all-clear signal after making sure everything was okay underneath by stepping in front of the jet in plain view of the pilot. The deck operator is saying to the pilot that it is okay to shut off the engine at that point with no worries that the cable will launch the plane off the deck; if it does, it would take the deck operator with it. The deck operator is telling the pilot to trust her/him and that s/he is putting their life on the line in demonstration of that trust. Sestak stressed that Weldon would never ever put himself in that kind of position because he lacks a sense of accountability.

Sherri Cohen took the mic for her mother Florence Cohen who is calling for a special election announcement to fill the void at the At-Large seat in the City Council left by the recent passing of Sherri's father. Head of the City Council Anna Verna is the one person with the power to call this election and she is holding steadfast against doing so. Sherri's been collecting signatures for months now and gaining support everywhere she goes. I believe I signed the petition several months ago at a PfC event.

Tony Payton Jr, running for State Representative in the 179th District which is around the West Frankford area of NE Philly, was up next. He is running because he thinks we can do better. We can do better to keep up the American Dream alive. The schools and communities are eroding he said. He was Deputy Campaign Manager of the Seth Williams for District Attorney campaign and a fellow in the Center for Progressive Leadership's Fellowship; he feels that his past experiences have groomed him to bring back the American Dream to the community he loves and lives in.

Last but not least was Anne Dicker whose campaign grew right out of the roots of PfC, she's running for State Representative in the 175th District which encompasses a boatload of area east of Broad St from Kensington to Bella Vista. She eschewed the squaking wireless mic and called the room to get closer around her in a tight circle. She got the crowd quite pumped up, many of the members of PfC are already working on her campaign so she knows how to hit their buttons. She called the plans for the casinos a travesty and feels that developers are trying to turn her beloved Philly into another Atlantic City. She called her 175th the coolest neighborhood in the planet to hoots and hollers [Lucy's is conveniently located in the heart of the 175th].

After the speakers, it was announced that the Minimum Wage bill passed in the House with an increase to $7.15. Marc Steir has the info here. The night closed out with a showing of a short documentary of a local Philly guy's trip do Ecuador to document the injustice the Ecuadorians are going through with outsiders coming in and mining their copper, an incredible natural resource which is used in just about everything electronic — by that I mean it's a lucrative industry to be in control of the raw materials.

I must stress that every single one of these candidates is a first timer. Get involved. Make a difference.

In the Year 2000

Just on Conan O'Brien just now had my favorite sketch, In the Year 2000 with none other than one of my favorite annoying actors Jon Lovitz. The best "prediction" for the year 2000 was by Lovitz:

In the year 2000, President Bush's approval numbers will sink so low, he will finally have to learn fractions.

Zinger!

Philly for Change 04/06

It's the first Wednesday of the month and that means Philly for Change is meeting. The last meeting I went to, they decided to not endorse anyone in the May primary for US Senate. The membership chose to not endorse Chuck Pennacchio, the strongest Progressive Democrat in the race. This group formed out of the Dean campaign touted for it's progressive ideals. Now we have a group where 35% of the eligible voters [at that meeting] decided to vote for "no endorsement" many who sadly seem to be Casey apologists. Chuck had the overwhelming plurality, but not the 75% margin for endorsement.

What good is a group that is built to organize and get out the vote if it is not going do go out, organize and get out the vote? Yes, I am personally involved in the Pennacchio campaign as a many hours a week volunteer and I took it a little personally, but let's get real here. Blech.

I missed last month's meeting where they apparently had another round of endorsement votes [it wasn't announced via email], but I'll be there tonight where some local candidates will be speaking including maybe Paul Lang who is running for State Senate in PA-06 which is mostly Bucks County, but has some Philadelphia in it as well.

Tonight starting at 7p at Lucy's Hat Shop - 247 Market St.

Philly Dem Establishment v. Blogs

This Philadelphia Public Record article has been making the rounds for the past day [BooMan, MyDD, Young Philly Politics] and it's quite an interesting read. As I see it, the Democratic City Committee [chaired by Mr. Bossman Rep. Bob Brady] are taking a two pronged approach to the Progressive movement here in Philadelphia.

Party Chairman Congressman Bob Brady announced the formation of the new Finance Committee earlier this week. It will be a PAC chaired by Councilman Michael Nutter, with its treasurer, former Democratic City Committee Chairman Martin Weinberg.

First they're taking aim at the DCC Party Treasurer John Dougherty, also the leader of the Electricians Union Local 98, and taking a slight to his union members getting involved in local politics. A decision was made from the Local 98 national office to make a push to get more of their members involved in the political process. They encouraged their membership to run for uncontested committeeperson seats. Apparently, here in Philly, many took it upon themselves to run in contested races. Dougherty is getting the blame for this and Brady is mad as fucking hell about it. This relates to the efforts of groups like Neighborhood Networks, Philly for Change, Liberty City Dems and the Committee of Seventy [non-partisan] in encouraging people run for public office and get more involved in their communities which I wrote about here last month.

The DCC is pushing Dougherty out of the office since he refused to resign after a heated midday meeting with Brady at the Walnut St executive committee office a few weeks ago. This PAC, chaired by City Councilman Michael Nutter who is running for Mayor in 2007, will seemingly take on the responsibilities a Treasurer's office should be doing. And they're getting a former [I'm assuming] über party man in former DCC Chairman Weinberg to handle the money in this new PAC.

[Party Secretary and Ward Leader Carol] Campbell believes the Finance Committee's operation will help move the party into the future. "We need to understand the Internet and to teach our people how to use it. We need to battle the bloggers on their own turf. This takes additional resources."

Secondly, they're taking the battle to the bloggers. This is genuinely laughable and scary at the same time. Yes, they could be talking about neo-conservative, right-wing blogs, but based on the way the established/entrenched Dems have reacted to the Progressive movement to get young people involved in the governmental process, I see it as an attack on people like me, the people at YPP, BooMan, MyDD, Marc Stier, Philly IMC and others who want change for the better.

I recall reading Tim Tagaris's post from March 4, 2005 on MyDD on how unresponsive the Dem leadership at the state level were to a PA Dems blog. And now, here in Philly they want to take the fight to us? Ha. Who is the voice they're going to get to do this shit. Who is going to read the posts by a Brady lackey saying things like "xxx blogger is wrong! Brady is right! Vote Brady! Don't go to xxx's site, they're bad!" And where are these resources coming from? Shouldn't the DCC be more concerned about keeping our libraries open? They'd rather have a staff blogger argue with us when we want more money poured into our libraries? How about fixing some potholes? And that trash on the streets? Is some staff blogger going to tell us we're wrong in wanting this? Is s/he going to tell us that our desire to take back our party is wrong and that we should be a top down party instead of a party of the people? Fuck that shit.

And Nutter's organizational involvement in this race makes the 2007 Mayor's race that much more of a shitfest.

But who knows, Ms. Campbell may have misspoken. But based on the very recent actions as well as the not so recent actions of the DCC here, I don't think so.

John Perzel

I don't know the guy, but his record tends to speak for itself and the record holder is John Perzel. And he is the Worst. Person. Ever.

My vote would've gone to the team behind Bob Casey: Casey himself, Sen. Harry Reid, Sen. Chuck Schumer and to a lesser extent, Gov. Ed "The Hoagiemeister" Rendell who initially told Schumer that Casey probably shouldn't be the guy, but now, he's all gung ho [I think because he didn't want a Dem challenger in the Gov. race]. But I guess I missed the vote on this one. But all PA voters can vote for Chuck Pennacchio in the May 16th Democratic Primary!

Donate to Pennacchio

Today is the final day to donate to Chuck Pennacchio's Senate campaign for this fiscal quarter. All of the grassroots groups all over the state are wonderful, but it's quite rewarding to be able to have the actual candidate go out and campaign with them, but that takes money. Gas money. Food money. Literature money...

Chuck Pennacchio decided long ago to not accept PAC money so that he would only be accountable to his constituents instead of special and corporate interest groups. The money going to his campaign goes straight Chuck's efforts as the entire staff is volunteer [myslef included]. There are no consultant fees, the campaign is truly about Chuck and not formed through needless focus groups to feel out issues. The money donated by individuals go towards sending Chuck across the state [he's been to ~300 events since the 2004 election], billboards [like the one pictured above], radio spots [coming soon!] and campaign material like buttons, flyers, posters, etc...

$5 is an extra couple gallons of gas for the car to get Chuck to that next town down the road. $25 pays for reams of paper for literature drops while canvassing. $100 helps pay for plane tickets across the state when time is short. Every little bit helps and goes a long way.

Just SIX WEEKS until the May 16th Democratic primary!

More from Factesque.

Photo via Pennacchio blog.

Air America Radio Turns Two

Today is Air America Radio's second anniversary. I've been listening for it all along the way. I was so thrilled on launch day, I was out in my car during my lunch break to catch it for half an hour. I vividly remember Randi Rhodes rip into Ralph Nader resulting in him hanging up on her live on the air.

As much as fathead Limbaugh and bully O'Lielly want them off the air, they aren't going anywhere. They have over eighty stations across the US including XM Satellite Radio and growing.

Here's to them and here's to hoping they'll be back on the radio dial here in Philly soon. Until then, I'll be listening via their stream online.

I'm On the Ballot

I keep forgetting to post this because people have been asking me this in person for the last week, but it looks like I'm on the ballot.

I called up the Board of Elections and they said that if I wasn't served with papers to appear in court to defend my petition that it was not challenged and that I was indeed on the ballot.

I don't know which method City Hall employs to serve people with papers, I'm assuming certified, registered mail with return receipt or something, but I didn't get anything. Nobody in a trench coat served me with a warrant or anything either.

So, as of now, I'm on the ballot.

Give Me Your Tired

The New Colossus
Not like the brazen giant of Greek fame,
With conquering limbs astride from land to land;
Here at our sea-washed, sunset gates shall stand
A mighty woman with a torch, whose flame
Is the imprisoned lightning, and her name
Mother of Exiles. From her beacon-hand
Glows world-wide welcome; her mild eyes command
The air-bridged harbor that twin cities frame.
"Keep ancient lands, your storied pomp!" cries she
With silent lips. "Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,
I lift my lamp beside the golden door!"
by Emma Lazarus

I don't think I ever read the full poem before, but after reading Paul Krugman's latest, I thought I should.

Three weeks ago ~300K marched in the streets of Chicago in protest of HR 4437: Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005.

This passed Saturday, the 25th, ~500K marched in the streets of Los Angeles in protest of HR 4437: Border Protection, Antiterrorism, and Illegal Immigration Control Act of 2005.

On Monday April 10th, there will be a similar march here in Philadelphia, San Antonio, Chicago, Denver, Las Cruces, LA, Milwaukee, NYC, Tuscon and Washington for a National Day of Action on Immigrant Rights. The Philadelphia rally will be at LOVE Park from Noon to 2p [I hope it will last longer than that].

The borders are porous, but the answer is not erecting a 700 mile long wall in haste.