Today, July 8, in Washington and about 50 cities around the country, including Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, and Erie, a new movement for health care reform will be born, Health Care for America Now! (HCAN).

The Philadelphia HCAN kickoff will be held at 1 pm in the Caucus Room (Room 401), at City Hall. Confirmed speakers include

• Liz McElroy, political director, AFL-CIO Central Labor Council.
• Randy Barge a Presbyterian minister and board member of the Philadelphia Unemployment Project.
• Carolyn Banks, a member of Acorn who has had issues related to access to health care.
• David Grande, MD, of National Physician’s Alliance

We have invited the members of City Council, and Philadelphia State house and Senate members.

Reprinted with permission, The Morning Call 2008, June 24, 2008

In 1965, Communist China was one of the poorest countries of the world. Chairman Mao Zedong created a program known as ''The Barefoot Doctors'' to provide health care for impoverished people. The Barefoot Doctors offered basic care to people for whom no other medical care was available.

In 2008, we live in the world's richest country. Yet the Pennsylvania Senate Republicans have taken a page from Chairman Mao. Rather than help the uninsured purchase affordable health insurance, they are calling on volunteer physicians and oversubscribed health clinics to give medical care to 334,000 Pennsylvanians.

Their proposal is absurd.

That is the title for a blog post I've wanted to use for years.

SEPTA has named a consumer advocate, Kim Scott Heinle, who is going to focus on msking the agency "available, responsive, honest and open."

Details are here: http://www.philly.com/inquirer/local/20080425_SEPTA_names_customer_advoc....

I was a little skeptical of the appointment of an insider, Joe Casey, to replace Faye Moore as General Manager of SEPTA, although I said at the time that I have found most of the SEPTA managers I've worked with to be honest and responsive individuals who seem caught up in a system that too often was unresponsive and prone to dissembling. I knew Joe Casey just a little but he seemed like a decent guy.

The transfer issue is finally, totally over. Today was the last day for SEPTA to file an appeal of last month's Commonwealth Court decision that kept transfers in place. (Technically the Commonwealth Court declared that SEPTA's appeal of Judge DiVito's decision to block it from eliminating transfers was moot because SEPTA had already adopted a different fare plan, one that kept transfers.)

SEPTA did not appeal.

I don't know why SEPTA made this decision, since they typically play everything out to the end. I suppose one reason is that they saw that they were unlikely to prevail.

But I'm going to be an optimist today and hope that SEPTA's decision is a sign that SEPTA is going to be a better partner for the city and for transit riders.

Yesterday, the State Department of General Services (DGS), which is building the Convention Center Expansion, ignored a ruling by the State Historical Commission, and started demolishing two historic buildings that stand in the path of the new building.

This is doubly disappointing. It is important that we save these buildings. And the way in which the DGS, and our political leaders, are acting is truly despicable. Evidently it was too expensive to violate the trust of the people the way we usually do them in this state--which would have meant that the demolition would have started at 2 am. Instead, the state has acted at the next most nefarious time, when the holiday season is upon us and we were celebrating, among other things, a decision that we thought would protect these buildings.

The whole story is below. Read it. And then email Governor Rendell and ask him to order the DGS to stop destroying our heritage.

The Commonwealth Court ruled today against SEPTA in its appeal of Judge DiVito’s injunction against SEPTA’s decision to eliminate transfers. And, as I will explain below, it was not just the great legal work of Mark Zecca and Stella Tsai but also the opposition of citizens to the elimination of transfers that made the difference.

The city woke up to some good news in the Inquirer—Governor Rendell is evidently going to try to broke a compromise on the Convention Center labor dispute. So Council is not likely to adopt Frank DiCicco’s proposal to open the expansion of the Convention Center to non-union contractors

This is a tough issue for those of us who are both pro-labor and pro-minority. There is no question that many of the building trades have fewer minority and women members than they should, given the demographics of the city and region. And there is no question that racism is a main reason for these low numbers.

And yet, while I don’t doubt the good intentions of Frank DiCicco and the other supporters of this proposal, opening work at the Convention Center to non-union contractors is not a good solution, for many reasons.

A year and a half ago, a small group of people, chastened but activated by the result of the 2004 election and by our frustration with politics in Philadelphia, called a meeting to start a new group, Neighborhood Networks.

To our surprise, over two hundred and thirty people attended our inaugural event.

Since then, we have played a critical role in enacting ethics reform charter changes and in pushing for gun control. We helped lead the fight to raise the minimum wage and we supported a slate of progressive candidates in the 2007 Democratic primary. We have been a mainstay of the Philadelphia Campaign for Housing Justice and we have called for an end to the war in Iraq. We have fought against casinos and for the Cohen wage tax rebate.

Not long ago, we held an interesting debate here about Inclusionary Housing with some of us (including me) seeking a bill that directs most of the money to those with the lowest incomes in the city and others (including Ray) worried about the difficulties for those in the middle of the income scale.

The wonderful world of Philadelphia politics has brought us a compromise to please everyone.

The members of the Pennsylvanian’s United for Affordable Health Care and the Pennsylvania Health Access Network met with policy staff of the Rendell Administration and the policy chair of the Democratic caucus, Todd Eachus last week. From what we heard, the administration and the caucus are working together to forge a bill to extend health insurance to most of those with out it. The bill has a chance of being passed by the House of Representatives this year—that’s right, before the session ends on December 19.

This Wednesday, November 28th at 11:00am in Room 400 of City Hall, a critical hearing on Darrell Clarke’s deeply flawed Inclusionary Housing bill will be held. The Philadelphia Campaign for Housing Justice urges all progressives and community activists to attend the hearing

To learn more about how Clarke’s bill differs from the bill drafted by the Philadelphia Campaign for Housing Justice (PCHJ), and why the PCHJ bill is superior to Clarke’s please visit our website:

http://www.philahousingjustice.org.

Sponsored by West Philadelphia Neighborhood Networks

Sunday, November 11
7:00 PM

Abbraccio’s
820 S. 47th Street

Speakers:

Marc Stier, Health Care Campaign Manager for SEIU PA State Council. SEIU is a founding member of Pennsylvanians United for Affordable Health Care and the Pennsylvania Healthcare Access Network.

Chuck Pennacchio, Executive Director, of Health Care 4 All PA

I’m stealing someone’s wi-fi now so I can report on what I’m hearing about turnout

In my division 21-24 in Mt. Airy, it has been slow and steady all day with no real rush in the morning. We have about 175 voters right now. That might get us to 45%. We have about 903 total registered voters and typically do 70-75% in primaries and 90% in presidential generals.

I just heard about a division in Germantown, Ward 12, that had about 50 voters an hour ago. I don’t know the division but most division in ward 12 have 300 voters or so, if I remember correctly. So they could get to 40-50%

A friend in Overbrook, ward 34, said that there were 15 voters at 7:30 which is low but not abysmal for that time of day.
I’m told by people running state wide judicial campaigns that if turnout is “not absysmal” in Phlly which I think means about 20%, our state wide candidates have a shot.

So far, it looks to me like we are doing better than not abysmal.

I did something unusual for a transit activist yesterday. I didn’t protest SEPTA’s new fare increases in tokens and transfers. Instead, I said that while I had some doubts about whether fares needed to be increased as much as SEPTA claimed, I thought it was much better for transit agencies to have regular, small increases than to sock riders heavily every five or six years.

And I also said that along with proposing small increases in tokens and transfers, SEPTA should drop its appeal of Judge DiVito’s decision blocking their plan to eliminate transfers.

The new fare increases are meant to make up for the revenues lost due to Judge DiVito’s decision. Until today SEPTA said that it would rescind these fare increases if the courts allow the elimination of transfers to proceed. At today’s meeting they adopted a proposal that brings the transfer decision back to the board if the court rules in SEPTA’s favor.

Tom Cronin recently sent the following letter to some his friends and allies among community and labor leaders in the city. It is worthy of a wide readership among progressives.

As a preface, let me just say that Tom has been one of the most important voices among labor leaders in favor of progressive public policy. And he has done more than anyone else in the labor movement to forge broad coalitions. I've worked closely with Tom on a number of issues--especially transit funding, raising the minimum wage, and most recently inclusionary housing. I've learned a great deal from him about coalition building and the importance of militancy. More than one one he has encourged us to push our politicians as hard as possible--to the extent of engagining in sit-ins in their offices.