The Red and the Blue

City Council Chambers

Here is a quick run down of how City Council works.

There are two types of City Councilmembers: at-large and district Members.

The at-large Councilmembers are elected citywide and hold seven spots.

There are ten district members that represent different geographic areas in Philadelphia. Penn’s Council member is Jannie Blackwell, representing the 3rd District of Philadelphia, which is basically all of West Philly. Read more…

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A short documentary by the American News Project on fundraising in DC. Entertaining and informative. 7min 20 sec.

And now, for some information on who is funding the campaigns of our very own Congressman for the 2nd District of Pennsylvania, Chaka Fattah.

• 25% of Fattah’s money comes from individual donations. In the 2007-2008 campaign season, he raised $69,700 from individuals.

• 75% ($204,157) of the money came from political action committees (PACs)

However, to put this into perspective, the average amount of money raised by a congressperson in 2007-2008 was $1.4 million. Fattah is in the bottom quintile in terms of fundraising, raking in 19.5% ($274,080) of that amount.

Read more…

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Taxes were due yesterday. W00t w00t. So were financial aid forms. Now, I have to make a major complaint. Why do all of the financial aid forms simply ask us for the SAME information that is on our taxes? This would make sense if they didn’t have access to our taxes, but one of the first things they want in your financial aid package is…a copy of your tax forms.

And why do we have to pay $25 for the CSS Profile? It is simply another regurgitation of the information that you can find…in our tax forms.

Same with the Business/Farm Supplement. All of that information is on Schedule C…in your tax forms.

Personally, I think these CSS profiles are extortion. The same information is given in tax forms, the FAFSA and the Penn financial aid forms.

I know my Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) better than I remember my mom’s birthday. I’ve entered my AGI into so many fields, forms, and…you probably don’t want to know where else I’ve put it. Read more…

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The intersection of 7th St. and Arch St. (view map) defines irony. It is the type of wry irony that makes you sad but forces you to smile at its bitter poignancy.

701 Arch Street is home to the African-American Museum in Philadelphia. Right across the street at 700 Arch St. is a Federal Detention Center.

According to the Bureau of Justice Statistics, the rate of incarceration for black males was 4,618 for 100,00 people as of June 30, 2007. White men are incarcerated at a rate of 773 per 100,000. That is a rate of 4.62% vs. 0.77%.

Out of the 2.1 million incarcerated men, 35.4% are black. That comes out to 724,500 men, or 4.4% of the U.S. black male population. According to the Washington Post, 1 in 10 black males between the ages of 24 and 30 are behind bars. The article also notes that the increase in prison population over the last decade has been due in part to tougher sentencing guidelines.

So at what point do we blame the environmental factors over personal responsibility (or vice-versa?). Sounds like a familiar debate, doesn’t it?

Another factor worth pondering is how the justice system contributes to these skewed results. The racial disparities among prisoners are fascinating and disturbing, especially when the population of a city like Philadelphia is split roughly in half among blacks and whites (45% and 47.6%, respectively). Read more…

Uncategorized crime, Philadelphia, philly, race

A map of Philadelphia's Wards

When Obama came to Philly for the Pennsylvania primary he ruffled some feathers by declaring that he would not dole out street money to the local Democratic political machine.

In a venerable city like Philadelphia, street money is one of those lubricants that keeps the system flowing. It pays for transportation expenses, food, buttons, literature and people to get out the vote on election day.

Committee people are the biggest recipients of street money on election day, receiving between $50 and $400 for working 14 hours getting people to the polls. These political workers are elected officials from Philadelphia’s smallest political unit: the division. Philly has over 1,600 divisions, each containing between 100 and 1,200 registered voters. Each division elects two four committee people, one two Democrats and one two Republicans. (Edit: thanks to Adam Lang for the correction)

In turn, these committee people elect the ward leaders who hand out the cash.

The Los Angeles Times reports that Rep. Bob Brady, also the head of Philadelphia’s Democratic Party, ripped a $50 bill in half and gave it to two workers. Whoever brought in the most votes would receive both halves.

There are 66 wards in Philadelphia, containing approximately 30,000 people and between 10 and 50 divisions. They are led by ward leaders elected by the committee people. Each ward has a Democratic and a Republican leader. (Note: some wards are split up into two. i.e. 39a and 39b)

So why are ward leaders important?

Read more…

Uncategorized Bob Brady, Democrat, Democratic Party, division, street money, ward

Courtesy of ivopenchevbg at flickr.com

The Red and the Blue has fresh blood: College junior Yanik Ruiz-Ramon will showcase a unique focus on Philly politics.

In Philadelphia politics, all roads lead to the stone behemoth straddling the intersection of Broad and Market streets. City Hall is the nexus of Philadelphia wheeling and dealing, housing the executive, judicial, and legislative branches for 1,450,000 cheese-steak wielding Philadelphians.

City Hall was constructed to represent Philadelphia’s industrial dominance in the 1870s. The ornate style is French Second Empire, another way of architecturally screaming that we have money. This political palace took 30 years to finish, beginning in 1871. A large reason for the delays were good ol’ fashion Philly politics. Political boss Boies Penrose tried to take control of the state-created Building Commission. There were also fights over everything from design to construction.

City Hall was supposed to be the tallest building in the world, reaching 549 feet, but it took so long to finish that by 1901 it was dwarfed by the Eiffel Tower and the Washington Monument. During construction, electricity and elevators were also invented, so builders had to start retrofitting the building before it was even finished. Read more…

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