You say you want to change Harrisburg?

You want the Democrats in DC to show some backbone?

Come out to Philly For Change Meetup tonight and meet some of the candidates we may be asking to represent us and do just that.

For the price of admission (free), you'll also get a rousing speech from progressive activist turned two term State Representative Tony Payton Jr, who can tell you how important are the support and canvassers from the progressive community, PFC included.

You'll also get an update from the campaign of Philly For Change's choice for governor (we endorsed him two months ago) JOLTIN' JOE HOEFFEL!

You'll also get a pitch for your next Democratic Committeeperson, YOU, as we tell you how to change the party by being the party in your neighborhood!

Take a deep breath, here's who's confirmed for tonight:

***From the hotly contested 6th district Congressional race***

Famed local writer
DOUG PIKE

Physician & Iraq War vet
MANAN TRIVEDI

Once upon a time, there was a state representative in NW Philadelphia. She wasn't really a member of any political camp (Fattah, Evans, Fumo) and maybe she thought she needed the patronage of someone to stay in office, so she chose John Perzel. And so she voted with Republicans all the time.

I am talking of course about Rep. Rosita Youngblood. She represents one of the most progressive districts in the city, and yet has been not only a disappointment in office, but also a defector to our cause. Just as there as been a laser focus on the person who represents the 182nd in Center City, Rep. Josephs' seat, there should equally be the expectation that the person who represents parts of North Philly, Germantown, Mt. Airy and Chestnut Hill, is a progressive leader.

Marc Stier tried and came very close in 2004. Four others tried in 2006. Finally, now in 2008, with Perzel in a far less powerful position, there's only one candidate running against Youngblood, and he has a real shot at winning. His name is Byron Davis.

Byron Davis has been endorsed by:

-9th Ward Democratic Committee
-UNITE-HERE!
-AFSCME District Council 47
-SEIU PA State Council
-Planned Parenthood of SE Pennsylvania
-Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now (ACORN) of Philadelphia
-Liberty City LGBT Democratic Club
-The Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA) Local Union #332
-Americans for Democratic Action (ADA)
-Philly for Change

That's an impressive list of endorsements. This is the one race where there seems to be real progressive cohesion around a challenger, and an uncomplicated campaign (no write-in opponent for instance) that can be won on the ground.

According to his website, Byron is "a resident of Germantown, Byron Davis is an educator, activist, husband and father." And also from his website, here is Byron's basic platform:

3 Keys: Byron Davis believes the people of the 198th deserve a range of opportunities that have not been created by the incumbent towards improving their quality of life.

The keys to this are . . .

Service

Elected officials must live up to their positions as public servants

* Those holding elective office must truly serve the public interest

* Their service must be consistent and of high quality

* They should communicate and bring together the district’s diverse stakeholders

Responsibility

As a husband, father, teacher and community organizer, Byron is not afraid to take on difficult issues or to be held accountable for achieving results. He believes:

* True reform cannot happen unless leaders’ results are measured and compared to what they promised

* “Politics as usual” flourishes when constituents cannot see what their representatives are doing — or with, and for whom, they are doing it

* “Sunlight is the best antiseptic”

Opportunity

Byron believes the people of the 198th deserve dramatic improvements in opportunities, including:

* Increased crime prevention in our streets and schools

* Improvements in the quality of educational and job opportunities

* Business and civic development that enriches all communities for the long haul

Byron Davis deserves your money and your time. If you'd like to donate to his campaign, click here and if you'd like to join Liberty City for a lit drop in Mt. Airy on Monday evening at 6:45 PM, email me. Rides will be provided from Center City.

And if you live in the district, Byron deserves your vote.

I spent many of my formative years babysat at the knees of my grandparents and aunts and uncles in South Jersey, and I never once thought I'd volunteer to move there. I love my family don't get me wrong, but I hated how they would always call our city "Philly," and complain about the taste of our water, and were generally down on the urban environment.

But, as much as I love Philadelphia, after 28 years it's finally occurred to me that maybe they were right. Except it's not Philadelphia I find fault with, but Pennsylvania.

New Jersey is a solidly blue state, and they are consistently on the cutting edge when it comes to progressive public policy. From civil unions for LGBT people to liberalized absentee voting laws to a very progressive income tax to abolishing the death penalty, you've got your pick of concrete progressive legislative accomplishments to chose from in NJ.

And yesterday's really topped the cake: New Jersey became one of only three states in the nation to offer paid family leave to its workers.

From the Inky:

New Jersey's version would offer workers up to six weeks' leave to care for sick family members and newborn or adopted children. During the last legislative session, another version of the bill, which would have offered up to 10 weeks of paid leave, failed to clear the legislature.

The current bill would offer workers leave at two-thirds of their salary, up to $504 per week, for six weeks. Workers would pay for the program through payroll deductions, which would cost an estimated $33 per year. Workers would be limited to one leave per 12-month period.

Federal law mandates most employers give workers up to 12 weeks of unpaid family leave, although companies with fewer than 50 employees are exempt.

Paid family leave is an essential plank in a 21st century New Deal for workers. Why?

Because when the first New Deal got started in 1933, many more households contained a full-time stay-at-home member. So when someone else got sick or ill, there was someone available to help.

This is not the case today as any of us who has cared for a sick family member can tell you. In an era where hospital stays are shorter, prescriptions are handed out like candy, and the procession of home care workers into the home of a sick family member can make your head spin, it's necessary to have someone else around full-time.

But without paid leave, when one of the worst aspects of our conversion into a service economy is that vast numbers of workers no longer have sick or vacation days, a lot of people care for their family members in lieu of earning wages, and in some cases, give up their job to do so. Paid family leave addresses this problem.

There are also obviously a lot more women in the workplace today than in 1933, which makes paid family leave an essential worker benefit for any female employee who wants to give birth. Not to mention the fact that starting a family via birth or adoption interferes with work in almost every scenario you can imagine (one parent or two, gay or straight) since we all work a lot more more hours than did our forebearers.

Paid family leave allows families to stay fiscally secure during rough times which, in the long run, benefits our shared economy. It's a shame that states are having to slowly fix this the lack of paid leave in the "landmark" FMLA bill Clinton got passed back in the 90's, but it's heartening that it is happening, and happening right across the river.

In short, I heart NJ's paid family leave.

We need this here too. Dollar for dollar, New Jersey is really setting itself up as a competitor with our region for jobs and residents in a very significant way. Decent home prices, good schools, paid family leave (and for me civil union laws) are all just a PATCO ride away in New Jersey.

And the chances of us getting all (if any) of the progressive reforms they've put in place soon are slim. So unless we decide to secede soon, it might be time to call a real estate agent...

On Tuesday, Liberty City LGBT Democratic club launched a petition addressed to Rep. Bill Keller of South Philadelphia. At that point, he was the only Philadelphia Democrat who had not agreed to co-sponsor House Bill 1400 (which will protect LGBT Pennsylvanians from discrimination in employment and housing).

Within 24 hours of the petition going out, Keller's office emailed us to let us know he would sign on as a co-sponsor of the bill. Here's what a staffer from his office had to say:

It has been brought to our attention that a petition will be circulating regarding HB 1400. Please know that the Representative has every intention of supporting the bill. Unfortunately, due to his hectic schedule he has been unable to go through all of the proposed bills. The Representative has gladly added his name to the bill and is now a co-sponsor of HB 1400.

Wow. This was a major victory for our all-volunteer group.

Right now, it is perfectly legal for an employer to decide not to hire you, or to fire you for being lesbian, gay, bi, or trans. Even though cities like Philadelphia have laws on the book that prevent employment and housing discrimination, there is no state-wide law. That means that 79% of Pennsylvanians do not have any protection against this kind of discrimination.

House Bill 1400 would protect LGBT people against discrimination in employment, housing, and public accommodations. And, it is worth noting, that there are no states in the country that have legalized same-sex marriage or civil unions, without first passing a basic non-discrimination bill like HB 1400.

Before Tuesday, every member of the Philadelphia Democratic delegation to the state House had signed on as a co-sponsor of this bill--months ago--except Representative Bill Keller. We figured if we couldn't convince all of the Democrats from Philadelphia to support this bill, it'd be tough to pass in Harrisburg.

So we decided to target Keller, and get him to co-sponsor the bill too. And, apparently, it worked.

The bill has strong momentum statewide with over 77 co-sponsors (78 including Keller), and it will hopefully be voted on, and passed into law this session. However, as great as it will be when passed, the road to full legal rights for LGBT Pennsylvanians is still quite long even with HB 1400 as law.

That's why we've invited Representative Keller to attend our candidate's night next week. There are many other issues that matter to the LGBT community--like improving the options for LGBT foster kids, creating better healthcare options for our community, providing services to queer seniors, securing same-sex marriage, and more. Keller is facing a primary opponent in his South Philadelphia district, and we'd like to know where he--and his opponent--stand on these issues.

In fact, we have invited all of the candidates running in contested state house races to speak before Liberty City, to tell us what they plan to do for the LGBT community in Philadelphia if elected. If you'd like to join us at our State House Candidate night, click here to RSVP.

In the meantime, I am proud that our Liberty City petition had an impact largely because I think it is really important that every single one of us be able to effect meaningful change. Our democracy is supposed to be owned by all of us. But it does not always feel like our individual voices matter. It may be on a small scale, but this petition is some proof that the collective voices of the grassroots can be powerful.

Well, the wait is almost over. The Bureau of Elections is posting and updating the list of candidates as the petitions come in. Check it out here.

No huge surprises so far, though Doc is officially on the ballot in the 1st (some doubted it would actually happen). Thomas Blackwell, Bill Keller, Angel Cruz, Jewell Williams, and Curtis Thomas are all being challenged, and there are 2 Dem challengers to Harold James in the 186th. And there is a second challenger to Rosita Youngblood--other than Byron Davis--in the 198th.

Most interesting to me was the filing of a Richard Costello as a Democrat against John Perzel in the 172nd. Did I miss this--is this THE Rich Costello former head of the Fraternal Order of Police?

Let the games begin!

Who doesn't love Ed Rendell? I used to cook him bacon cheeseburgers at the Lombard Swim Club where I worked in high school, and as I told Jennifer at the fundraiser last night, I don't know a native Philadelphian who doesn't have some weird, personal memory of him from the Mayoral years (again, mostly involving food).

Which is why his words, in Philadelphia, count.

So listen up ward leaders in the 179th state leg district--Rendell thinks you made a mistake. In fact his exact words from last night's fundraiser for Tony Payton Jr. were:

If we let them beat back Tony, it's a huge blow to independent politics in the Democratic party and the city of Philadelphia...and to young people.

He said a lot more, but I only got so much. Click here to see a terrible cell phone vid I took (the sound is the part that counts).

For those of you who don't know, Rep. Tony Payton Jr. is the youngest member of the PA House. He was first elected in 2006, and has since proved a valuable member of the unnamed, but growing, progressive caucus of the Democratic party in Harrisburg.

Tony ran without the blessing of the party in 2006, and beat a well-organized write-in candidate. Now, purely out of spite, City Commissioner Marge Tartaglione and former City Council-person Dannny Savage have prevented Tony from getting the Democratic party endorsement again.

Again according to Rendell:

Tony is a tremendous breath of fresh air in Harrisburg...if he'd gotten the endorsement, it would have been an easy reelection, but now it will be a tough battle and he needs every dime...which is why I gave him $5,000.

Hear that ward leaders? Hear that Congressman Brady?

Ed Rendell thinks you made a mistake, and not matter what your differences with the Guv may be, he is a Democratic governor in his last two years of power. This is the time big stuff is gonna be able to happen, and if the Guv wants Tony, you'd better deliver him.

I don't know Democratic City Committee rules real well, but maybe you could undo last Saturday's endorsement?