Neighborhood Networks and MoveOn and Take on The Banksters

We Tell Them to Pay Us Back!

January 30, 2012

The financial crash of 2008 destroyed the lives of millions. The top Wall Street investment/banking firms are the clear culprits, betting their depositors’ money on exotic financial instruments that in many cases were designed to self-destruct. It’s time to demand that Wall Street pay us back.

But whom should they pay? Let’s list them.

There are the home-buyers who were pressured, or seduced, to take out mortgages that they could never pay back. There are millions of workers who lost their jobs when credit dried up and the businesses that employed them flat-lined. There are the retirees living on 401(k) plans whose stock market losses plunged them into poverty.

Then there are the cities and states whose pension funds lost trillions of dollars in value. In turn, those losses hurt future retirees as governments cut back pension benefits or changed their plans to unreliable -- and Wall Street dominated -- defined contribution plans.

Taxpayers have been doubly hit. First they will have to make up for pension fund losses. Then the recession reduced government revenues, requiring tax increases to make up the difference. Most local and state taxes are regressive, so the burden of those increases mostly fell on low and working class residents. In Philly, real estate taxes, which are a terrible burden on low income homeowners and tenants, have exploded upwards.

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Coming events

PA Progressive Summit is Coming to Philly!

February 10, 6:30 pm
- February 12, 1:30 pm
Where: In and Around Philly

The PA Progressive Summit will be held in Philadelphia this year on the weekend of February 10-12.

If you’ve been to the Summit in the past, you know it is the most exciting and important progressive political gathering of the year. Dozens of movement-building panels, workshops and opportunities to meet other progressive leaders and activists will be available, and that’s just a small part of what is being offered.

» More information

Past events

About NN

Neighborhood Networks is a culturally and racially diverse organization of Philadelphians dedicated to advancing social equality, economic justice and resource stewardship by influencing political decision-making from a grassroots level. We aim to create a powerful coalition by connecting neighbors at the division and ward levels and by forming strategic alliances with like-minded organizations throughout the City of Philadelphia and, eventually, beyond...

» Continue. . .

Why join Neighborhood Networks?

The Democratic Party? Really?

A True Democratic Party Wouldn't Cancel the Results of Party Elections

By Stan Shapiro

December 7, 2011

Yesterday Tracey L. Gordon filed suit against the Philadelphia Democratic Party for outrageously and illegally barring her from taking office as Democratic Committeeperson in the 40th Ward after she was duly elected to that position by the voters in her division. Ms. Gordon has done nothing that would remotely authorize the Party to dislodge her from her position, nor does the Party have any legal standing whatsoever to even attempt any such thing.

Tracey L Gordon was duly elected by her Southwest Philly neighbors as a Democratic Party committeeperson in Ward 40B at the primary held in May, 2010. The Party first tried to deny Gordon her right to even run in that election, but Judge Idee Fox ordered her name put on the ballot. Escalating their illegal campaign to bar Gordon, a perceived adversary of her ward leader Anna Brown, the Party had Gordon physically evicted by two Philadelphia police officers from the first Ward Committee meeting that occurred after the election. The eviction did more than harm Gordon, it trampled on the rights of the voters who elected her. They are left without any representation at all, particularly the representative of their choice.

Because what the Party did to Gordon it has done before and may well do again, the lawsuit was filed on behalf of Ms. Gordon and other individuals, as a class action. It asks the Court to bar the Party, in the future, from unseating any candidates who win election as Committeepersons within the City of Philadelphia under the pretext that they are unfaithful or disloyal to the Party or Ward, declare the practice illegal and to enjoin the Party from ever doing this again. The relief requested would invalidate the section of the Philadelphia Democratic Party bylaws that the City Committee relied upon to remove Ms. Gordon from office.

The Plaintiffs are being represented by public interest lawyers Irv Ackelsberg of Langer Grogan & Diver and Mary Catherine Roper of the American Civil Liberties Foundation of Pennsylvania. They are being supported by the recently created Philadelphia Democratic Progressive Caucus, which, prior to recommending the initiation of this litigation, had attempted to get relief through the Democratic Party structure without receiving any meaningful response. The Caucus is an activist group of duly elected Democratic Party committeepersons and members of the electorate who seek small d democratic reform of the Philadelphia electoral system to allow more progressive candidates to run and to win in Democratic primaries, and to be fully integrated into the Party when they do so.

Neighborhood Networks played a major role in the formation of the Progressive Caucus and is an active member. We will keep you posted on the progress of this lawsuit and of the Caucus' corresponding effort to insure that the name "Democratic Party" is well-deserved by the Party that wears it....

Fracked Water is On Its Way to Your Tap

But it's Not too Late to Stop It

By Stan Shapiro

November 13, 2011

It’s really unbelievable. Some of the richest corporations in the country have now decided that their profits are more important than our air, water and land. All of these precious resources are put in peril by fracking, the process these giants have come up with to mine “natural” gas from the earth.

Many of you already know the perils of fracking, so for you let me get right to the end of this story. The Delaware River Basin Commission will decide on Monday, November 21 whether or not to approve draft regulations that will end a moratorium on fracking in the Delaware River Water Shed. If the moratorium ends, that will put the drinking water of 15.6 million residents of New York and PA in jeopardy, including everyone living in Philadelphia.

A broad coalition of groups will be heading to the Commission’s hearing in Trenton to let their voices be heard in opposition to this dangerous proposal. Buses will be leaving 30th Street station that morning to help us arrive early ahead of the astroturfed supporters of fracking that the industry is expected to send. Click here to reserve your seat on the bus.

Now, for those of you who aren’t aware of what the fracking menace entails, let me summarize....

We Endorse Six for November 8

And Three Really Need Your Help

October 30, 2011

You might not know it from the (lack of) media coverage, but there’s an important election coming on Tuesday, November 8. Up for election will be the Mayor, the entire City Council, the City Commissioner’s Office, the Sheriff’s Office, the Register of Wills Office, and many judicial offices. There will also be two ballot questions that are being considered.

Neighborhood Networks does not endorse in all of these races. We exist to advance progressive policies, through electoral means and otherwise. We only endorse candidates when their election would clearly advance our larger goals. In this election there are six candidates in contested races that meet that test. They are, Kathryn Boockvar, for Commonwealth Court, Stephanie Singer, for City Commissioner, Al Schmidt for City Commissioner, Cheri Honkala for Sheriff, Blondell Reynolds Brown for Council at-Large and Cindy Bass for City Council in the 8th District.

Only three of these candidates are in difficult races, Boockvar, Schmidt and Honkala. Please do everything you can to help their very important candidacies. Let’s look at them one by one.

Cheri Honkala (Ballot Number 321), is the candidate you want to win if you’re at all inspired by Occupation Philly, which reminds of daily of the lethal foreclosure mills that are the big banks. Although the Sheriff has among his/her duties the actual physical eviction of foreclosed and evicted families, Cheri says she will not throw any family into the street. She says the ones who really should be punished are the banksters who have stolen billions in economic wealth right out from under us, and who in the process, have sunk millions of hard-working families into desperation. While the banksters’ debts remain uncollected and until they pay us back, Cheri is not going to torture their victims by throwing them into the street. By gumming up the eviction gears, Cheri would force the system to come up with humane ways to help families who, due to no fault of their own, are face to face with disaster.

You can help Cheri by contributing to her campaign and/or volunteering to help her get out the vote. Go here to help.

Kathryn Boockvar (Ballot Number 202) is running for Commonwealth Court judge. Commonwealth Court is vitally important for workers and residents of cities since it hears most cases involving labor rights and the powers of local government. Boockvar has a strong history as a lawyer of working for the rights of the poor and dispossessed, and to expand the franchise, all of which she would be able to advance strongly if elected to the Court.

In her early practice Boockvar directly represented low-income families struggling with unemployment and disability problems while working at two different legal services programs for the poor. She then started a private practice that focused on employment discrimination, unemployment compensation, pension rights, social security disability, and civil rights litigation. Lastly she worked as staff attorney with the Advancement Project to ensure that voting rights and election administration laws were enforced fairly, effectively, and accurately, so that no eligible voter was wrongly disenfranchised. She is superbly qualified to serve as a judge of Commonwealth Court where she would strongly advance the interests of justice for all.

Click here to find ways to help Kathryn Boockvar.

Al Schmidt (Ballot Number 119), running for City Commissioner, is the first Republican candidate that NN has endorsed for anything. We do this knowing full well the horrors that the Republican Party has inflicted on us all, and that it plans to further inflict on us to the extent that more of its candidates are elected. But under state law, there are three City Commissioners, and one must be a member of a minority Party. That means that no matter what we do there will be one Republican Commissioner. And this one happens to have a strong commitment to open and transparent elections, and to expanding the franchise (while most of his Republican colleagues are committed to restricting it.)

In answering NN’s questionnaire, Al pledged to run an open and transparent office and to work with community groups to encourage voter registration and turnout. In his own words, he further commits himself to “aggressive outreach programs to registered voters as soon as they are eligible to vote, and to educate voters on the importance of voting and making their voices heard.” This is very similar to the program of Stephanie Singer, the Democrat that NN has endorsed for this position, and who is almost assured of election. With both Singer and Schmidt in office we will have a majority of Commissioners committed to expanding the electorate, which is the only way progressive candidates across the board can be elected in sufficient numbers to foster progressive policies.

We urge you to support Al Schmidt for City Commissioner. You can learn more about Al by going to his website here.

There are other good candidates on the ballot. We ask you to look for these first, and do everything you can to get them elected....

What's The Point of the Occupiers?

Everyone Knows

October 9, 2011

Some people say they don’t know what the message of these occupations is. But we know what it is, and it’s what NN has been saying from its beginning.

What we’re all saying, what 99% of us are feeling, is that there’s a justice gap in this country, and it’s getting worse. And it starts with the fact that the jobs, especially the good jobs, are going away. They’re being replaced - if at all - by jobs that make phony paper assets, and that, under the motto of “drill baby drill,” are literally destroying our planet.

The occupations are saying no more. It’s time for our elected officials to produce the jobs they promised, to do it soon, and to do it in the millions. We want strong labor unions. We want public spending to rebuild our country, and we want to restore robust public services that employ millions of teachers, medical workers, and other desperately needed caregivers. And we want the super-rich to pay us back.

So when you see people complaining that they don't know what this is all about, say you know. Just think about it. It's as obvious as your flattened pension, your lost job, your home that's just floating away as if hit by a flood. And then, do something. One thing to do is come rally with NN, MoveOn, SEIU and others on Wednesday Oct. 15 [POSTPONED FROM OCT. 12] at City Hall. Check our calendar below on the left for more info....

NN Endorses Three Great Candidates in Fall Election

Honkala for Sheriff, Boockvar for Commonwealth Court, Bass for Council in the 8th District

September 19, 2011

Neighborhood Networks is endorsing three great candidates for election on November 8, Cheri Honkala for Sheriff, Kathy Boockvar for Commonwealth Court Judge, and Cindy Bass for Council in the 8th Councilmanic District. You'll see our reasons why by clicking on the link below.

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