Evidently transparency only goes so far in the Nutter administration.

It was widely reported that the budget plan adopted by Council retained the Cohen Wage Tax Rebate but delays implementation of the program for another year until 2014.

Now it is itself is a bit of a farce to delay the beginning of the program until after the next election for Mayor or Council. Michael Nutter wouldn’t claim to be serving the interests of the business community by promising a big BPT cut in 2014 but doing nothing now.

But now it seems that this farce is the least of our problems.

Stan Shapiro recently sent an email that said

It turns out that the Cohen rebate has actually been stunted, not just postponed. Under the law as it is now, the rate for low wage workers would go down to 1.5% no matter what, in yearly half percent increments starting in 2012.

Some notes on the Presidential Race

Larry Farnese's victory is a major win for progressives.

That’s true for three reasons.

1. Larry is a real progressive, totally committed to open and transparent government and determined to use government to make lives better for everyone, including those who are outside the mainstream of economic life.

2.Farnese’s victory moves forward the transition to a new kind of politics. Larry has been attacked for his alliance with Senator Fumo’s team. But what the people making those attacks fail to understand is that Larry made that alliance without giving up his ideals. He is someone who understands that Philadelphia politics is not just going to be about factions jockeying for patronage, contracts, and power in the future. Ideas and innovative public policy are going to play a larger role. Farnese may now be a Fumocrat, but he is a new breed of Fumocrat.