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Blog Post #2: Curfew

Posted by Johnathan Neris in AMGOV-004 on
Representative: Maria D. Quinones-Sanchez
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Maria is a very outstanding women in my point of view. She was born on November 21st in Philadelphia, PA. The 7th district is represented by her and what she does. She's been in office since 2008 and will stay in office until 2012. Out of the office she is a wife and a mother with two kids. In the November 6th election of 2007 she had a whopping number of votes with 80% of them. Out of all of the district representatives, Maria is the youngest one. Not only known for the reduced crime rates by her but also the increase in the economic opportunity, she has accomplished amazing achievements.

When the whole "Curfew law" was being put into action, Maria was all in for it. She wasn't going to fight against it because she knew this would help not only in the city but also around the 7th district as well. Even though I don't agree with her and the whole curfew, I do believe she is doing it for the right reason. Maria and I are similar in different ways, for example we're both Latinos and making a different in the world. I say that we're both making a difference in the world because when she's doing work around the city, I am as well with my community service.
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philly2-1

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Lobbying Blop Post #2 - Federal Election Campaign Contribution Regulation

Posted by Elisa Hyder in AMGOV-004 on

                Financial reform on election campaigns has been active since 1907. Over the years, different acts were passed in order to regulate and ban certain lobbyist contributions, and these were all consolidated into the Federal Election Campaign Act in 1971. However, between 2007 and 2010, there were three cases in which the Federal Election Commission (FEC) was taken to court. On the last case, Citizens United v. FEC, the Supreme Court ruled that banning contributions from corporations and lobbyists violated their Constitutional right to “political free speech.” This ruling then led to the DISCLOSURE Act. Now, the question is not whether to ban lobbyist contributions, but how should these contributions be regulated? I researched people in politics that directly represent me about their positions on finance reform and regulation on election campaign contributions. Living in Congressional District 1 of Pennsylvania, I am represented by Representative Robert Brady, Senator Robert Casey Jr., and Senator Patrick Toomey.

                Robert Brady was sworn into office for his 8th term representing Pennsylvania’s First Congressional District on January 5, 2011. He is a Democrat, born and raised in Philadelphia, and graduated from St. Thomas High School. He currently serves as Ranking Member of the Committee on House Administration, helping to lead the Committee’s oversight of federal elections and budget authorizations for expenses of House committees. He has consistently advocated for legislation that supports the well-being of financially disadvantaged communities. So, how has he voted in the past on financial reform on election campaign contributions? Over the years, he has consistently voted in favor of regulation on lobbyist contributions and soft money. He voted yes on campaign reform banning soft-money contributions and on requiring lobbyist disclosure of bundled donations, helping to clear up some of secrecy that goes on with campaign contributions. He also supported criminalizing false or deceptive information about elections. This is helpful to me since it seems as though, despite having accepted contributions from several individuals along with corporations and lobbyist groups, Representative Brady is in favor of at least regulating these contributions and making sure they are fair and lawful.

                Robert Casey Jr. is  Democrat, born in Scranton, Pennsylvania, and  joined the Senate in 2007. Since becoming a Senator, Senator Casey has definitely been focused on the people. He has consistently worked to help turn around the economic crisis, and voted on tax cuts to help businesses hire more employees. He has also worked on several areas of reform such as Health Care reform. And, such as with Rep. Brady, Senator Casey voted yes on requiring more public lobbyist financial disclosure. He has also accepted lobbyist contributions in past and was quoted as saying, “I’ve accepted money from lobbyists. The question is what impact does that money have on our vote. Everyone who knows me knows that I’m very independent. I’ll be focused on needs of Pennsylvanians – not special interests in D.C.” This statement and his vote for more lobbyist disclosure leads me to believe that his position is the same as Rep. Brady in the sense that supports regulation on lobbyist contributions. He believes that the money should not get in the way of what people in government vote and decide on.

                Patrick Toomey serves along side Senator Casey and is a Republican. Unlike Senator Casey and Rep. Brady, Senator Toomey was not born in Pennsylvania, but Rhode Island instead. He just joined the Senate this January, and I can actually remember his several campaign commercials that aired during his election process. He has taken a position in favor of restoring fiscal discipline to Washington and economic opportunity for all Americans and has worked for such position. However, his position of federal election campaign contribution reform has not been as consistent. In September of 1999, he was against banning soft money and issue ads. Then, in July of 2001, he voted yes of banning soft money donations to national political parties. But, voted against just that in February of 2002. So, it is a little hard to tell where Senator Toomey is coming from. He, too, has accepted contributions from corporations and lobbyists, along with my other representatives. Senator Toomey still requires a little more looking into.

                So, based off of this information I have gathered on my three representatives, Rep. Brady and Senator Casey seem to be the ones I should contact and discuss further on regulation on lobbyist contributions in government. Rep. Brady, being from Philadelphia, seems to have the background most in common with myself, though Senator Casey does not seem to be all that much different. I would probably only contact Senator Toomey just to understand his most current position on regulations, though I will not focus a little less on him. All in all, Representative Brady seems to be my closest bet in favor of my lobbying case.  

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Ian McClendon D-Band The Triangles on Greys Ferry Gateway Project: District Representatives

Posted by Ian McClendon in AMGOV-004 on
​Ian McClendon
10/26/11

D-Band

The Triangles on Greys Ferry Gateway Project: District Representatives


The process of this Gateway Project has gotten attention in the past and also made slight progress in advancing Greys Ferry. A earlier meeting conducted on March 29th with two State Representatives Babette Josephs and Terri Paone. Both from the Council President’s Anna Verna’s office.

The area that concerns my lobbying topic is of the 2nd District run by the Council President Anna Verna. She has been in office for 9 terms. Verna was seen as a main asset to fixing Philadelphia’s financial problem. In her Anna Verna’s description on the City Councils website she seems to be more in house renovations, financial debts, and business taxes. Not so much for city street reconstruction. Then again Verna’s district consist of all of Center City, South and Southwest Philadelphia. And not to mention, again, that she is the President of City Council. There must be a lot on her to do list for her to tend to three triangles on Greys Ferry.

Of the two State Representatives, Babette Josephs was the more distinguished government official than Terri Paone. As I was browsing her site Babette looks like more of a people person.
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Blog Post #2: Lobbying against curfew: Representative

Posted by in AMGOV-004 on
I am still against curfew, I'm represented by Maria D. Quinones-Sanchez from the 7th district. She represents the 7th district, she is known as the first Latina to serve in the Philadelphia city council. I am going to figure out her thoughts on my lobbying topic, curfew. She was born November 12 in Philadelphia, PA. She is married with 2 kids. She has been in office since 2008 till 2012. She had a high of, 80% of votes November 6 of 2007. She was guaranteed a 4 year term.
In the past "Cyber Action" has completely disagreed with the curfew law that was set. This group in particular is basically setting a goal making sure everyone in the community is trying to get the council members to not agree with the law at stake about curfew. It seems as though council woman Maria D. Quinones-Sanchez was agreeing with the law that was being made about curfew. I believe that she is for the curfews and that she is not about to stand down in any way to make the curfew law, out.
It's ironic how she is Latina and I am also. Yet I feel we have nothing in common. I noticed she had done some pretty outstanding things in her time such as; focus on education throughout the city, focus on crime and public safety etc; her accomplishments are in a way similar to my community service. I help around the neighborhood and volunteer at the PSPCA. We both have a connection where we both interact with the community in a positive way.
A little more about Maria D. Quinones-Sanchez:
- She is from the 7th district
-  The youngest in city council
-  Known for her reduced crime rates
-  Known for her increase in economic opportunity
-  Known for outstanding achievements
-  Made history November 2007 by having 80% of votes and being Latina
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: Lobbying Assignment #2 - Researching Officials -

Posted by Douglas Wallace in AMGOV-004 on
Chaka Fattah was a resident of Philadelphia Pennsylvania and attended Overbrook High and eventually went on to Community College of Philadelphia.  He got his MGA from U-PENN’s Fels institute of Government. Fattah first served in the House of Representatives in 1983 until 1988 and then as a State Senator from 1988 to 1994.

Chaka Fattah has stood up for some what I believe would be good initiatives. One of my favorites would be the Clean Energy Act of 2010. However it seems like he is mostly involved in students and student education which is understandable considering his background and where he was taught. Most of his “Major Achievements” has a lot to do with education and some of his other achievements has a lot to do with energy efficiency.

To relate to Chaka Fattah I would attempt to relate on on a level of what I feel about education and I respect that he is very involved with education because that is the key to the future and keeping these young people off the streets. The government takes money away from our schools and the sports teams and don’t realize that sports and after school programs give children something to do. I think he would respect where I’m from and what school I go to and all of the things I am involved with and that would give me a great impression and something to connect on.

From there it could be a nice transition to energy efficiency and how I worked at the EPA. From there I would go into the whole fracking thing and talk about the effects of that in the waters and how water relates a lot to energy and it’s efficiency. Without water there is no life and I would also talk about how fracking is horribly regulated an something should be changed about that. He has a good history with wanting to switch ways in which we use energy.

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Lobbying Blog #2 - Representative

Posted by Dylan Lonergan in AMGOV-004 on
My next step, as a lobbyist in favor of the curfew, is to figure out who represents me and what their thoughts are.  I am represented by Darrell L. Clarke.  Clarke represents the fifth district of the city of Philadelphia.  According to Clarke's city council page, District 5 encompasses North Central Philadelphia, Strawberry Mansion, Lower Hunting Park, Ludlow, Yorktown, West Poplar, Fairhill, Brewerytown, Francisville, Spring Garden, Fairmount, Logan Square, and parts of Northwood, Fishtown, Northern Liberties, and Center City.

Darrell Clarke, currently in his third term, is involved in quite a bit in the city of Philadelphia, being on a number of committees, most relevant of which is Public Safety.  He is in charge of the Fiscal Stability and Public Property Committees, is vice chairman of the Appropriations Committee, and is a part of the Committee on Rules, Committee on Commerce and Economic Development, Committee on Parks and Recreation, the Transportation and Public Utilities Committee, the Education Committee, and the Committee on Housing, Neighborhood Development, and the Homeless.  Clarke appears to be very passionate about public safety, and his more notable endeavors involve public safety.  This mostly involves gun violence, but it's not much of a stretch to assume that curfew would be relevant to his interests, either.

He has pushed for laws in the past requiring firearm tracing, the registration of ammunition, licensing, and the inability for people with histories of abuse to purchase firearms.  He is also installing a large number of cameras around the city so as to discourage and reduce crime.  He also voted in favor of bills involving gun violence prevention, particularly ones advocating "one gun a month," which prevents an individual from purchasing two guns in a single month.

He also seeks to improve the neighborhoods and commercial corridors of his district, and was in favor of protecting the city's long time residents from being forced out due to development.  This came with lowering taxes for the city's long time residents, and giving them further opportunities to lower income tax if need be.  He is also concerned with quality of life, which involved passing legislation that prevented alcohol advertisements from being within 1000 feet of schools and other "child-friendly" areas, and also legislation that mandated that take-out places on residential blocks close at decent hours.  This would prevent loitering and noise in these residential areas late at night.

It seems he is opposed to loitering and noise late at night, then.  He may indeed be in favor of this curfew.  However, I couldn't know for sure until I looked further into it.  Turns out he hasn't involved himself in the curfew yet.  I ran into an article (this one in fact), but Darrell Clarke does not comment on the curfew, just some other bill he's sponsoring.  What a shame and a pity.
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Public Officials Help with Stem Cell Research

Posted by Blase Biello in AMGOV-004 on
​I am a proud South Philadelphian and my house is located in the 2nd Congressional District of Philadelphia, which is represented by

Democratic Congressman Chaka Fattah.

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Before, we go into Chaka Fattah and his policies here's some quick information about him:
 -Born on November 21, 1956. 
-First assumed office on January 4, 1983. 
-Served as a member of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives from the 192nd district from 1983 - 1988. 
-Served as a member of the Pennsylvania Senate from the 7th district from 1989 - 1994. 
-CURRENTLY member of the U.S. House of Representatives from PA's 2nd district since January 3, 1995. 
Fattah's Community Interests/Policy Initiatives: 
-One of his major contributions was his Communities Commited To College (H.R. 1579). This "provides a 50% tax credit to donors who contribute to “qualifying scholarship trusts” which are partnerships between local school districts and community based organizations. (from http://1.usa.gov/rP4dHA) 
-Student Bill of Rights (H.R. 1295) makes public schools more valuable by assuring that highly effective teachers work there, early childhood education is started, and theres a college preparatory curriculum. 
More policies can be found here : http://1.usa.gov/rP4dHA

Now, when it comes to my main point, and what I'm lobbying for - More federal funding for medical stem-cell research - Chaka Fattah is a complete supporter. In fact, Chaka Fattah has voted IN FAVOR of 6 different stem cell research enhancement acts including: 
-Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act (2005)
-Stem Cell Therapeutic and Research Act of 2005
-The Alternative Pluripotent Stem Cell Therapies Enhancement Act (2006)
-Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2005 (voting in 2006 to overturn Bush's veto against stem cell research)
-Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007
-Stem Cell Research Enhancement Act of 2007 (once more before Bush vetoed against again) 
Data from : http://bit.ly/rZKurc

It is safe to say that Chaka Fattah is in favor of stem-cell research and definitely believes in all of its potential medical benefits, similarly to the way I look at the future of stem-cell's usage in the medical science field. 
More Fattah info here : http://bit.ly/cCa1cM & http://1.usa.gov/aI4IFi


A member of the U.S. Congress who is one of the most influential bill creator when it comes to stem-cell research is congresswoman Republican Diana DeGette of Colorado's 1st Congressional District. 

DianaDegette 

More about Diana Degette here. http://degette.house.gov/


Diana DeGette sponsored the Stem Cell Research Advancement Act of 2011 (H.R. 2376). This bill was introduced on June 23, 2011 but has not yet been passed by the House, therefore; it has not reached the Senate nor the President (Obama). This bill calls for the Secretary of Health and Human Services to conduct stem-cell research as long as the stated requirements are met. The requirements often change but these are the summarized requirements for the 2011 Act.
-the stem cells have been donated to the vitro fertilization clinics
-determined that the embryos couldn't be used in any female and were going to be discarded. 
-individuals that donated embryos have signed required papers.
-keeps the Secretary of HHS "from using any funds for the conduct or support of human cloning." 
More details can be found here: http://bit.ly/t6zoOz


Both of these public officials share common viewpoints with me when it comes to stem-cell research and some of their other acts/policies. There is no doubt in my mind that Fattah will continue to vote in favor for Stem Cell Research Enhancement Acts as will DeGette. I hope that they continue to advocate for the advancement of stem-cell research due to the medical breakthroughs that can potentially result from their support and advocations. 
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Lobbying for funding for Philadelphia After school programs: Blog post #2

Posted by Natalie Sanchez in AMGOV-004 on
​Natalie Sanchez

Congressman Robert Brady and Senator Robert P. Casey Jr. are two of the several political leaders that represent me and can, quite possibly, support my lobbying case. 

Robert Brady is Philadelphia's congressman. He represents us, District 1 (the city of Philadelphia) in the house of representative. He was born and raised in Philadelphia. Later in his life he became a carpenter and joined both the Carpenter's union and the teacher's union. His main priorities are to defend the rights of veteran officials and other members of the armed forces. Despite his emphasis towards the rights of soldiers, he is pushing to withdrawal American soldiers from Afghanistan. Some of his other priorities directed towards making more laws for the development of Philadelphia and helping people with low economic income. He also supports laws that supply Americans with quality healthcare and prescription drugs. 

Senator Robert P. Casey Jr is an advocate for the state of Pennsylvania in the Senate. His main goals are to create laws that will better our economy, raise employment rates in America, and benefit the children in the same. In the past, he has supported laws that have covered more than 14 million children in America with health care and that work to raise business tax cuts in order to raise the rate of employment in the U.S. He also supports America's  economy and pushed to make it stable. An example of this is his opposition to China's devaluation of its currency,which raises the unemployment rate in America. He wants to help stabilize our economy. 

I feel like both of these political leaders share something in common with me. Robert Brady and I are alike because we were both born and raised in Philadelphia and feel a strong need to help those less fortunate then us. Senator Robert P. Casey Jr and I are similar because we both support the rights of children and want to make conditions better for them in America.

I feel like Senator Robert P. Casey Jr will be more likely to support my lobbying case because he is more concerned with the rights of children than congressman Brady is. Congressman's Brady's interest's are concentrated more broadly on the rights of the citizens of Philadelphia in general, and not specifically of the children of Philadelphia. Congressman Brady might also support my lobbying case, as he works to help people with disadvantages. Some students in Philadelphia are at a disadvantage because of where they live- they feel unsafe in their own neighborhoods. This is what has compelled me to support after school programs in Philadelphia public schools. It might also compel Congressman Brady in the same way. 

Sources: 

http://casey.senate.gov/about/biography/

http://www.brady.house.gov/index.cfm?sectionid=40&sectiontree=6,40  



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Net Neutrality - Blog post #2

Posted by William Marsh in AMGOV-004 on
In the ongoing debate of net neutrality, the people representing me on a federal level are the House Representative for the 1st district of Pennsylvania, and the Senators of Pennsylvania. These elected officials are as follows: Robert Brady is my Representative, and Robert Casey Jr. and Patrick Toomey are Pennsylvania's Senators.

Robert Brady has served seven terms, and is currently serving his eighth term as the Representative of Pennslyvania's first Congressional district. Robert Brady has consistently earned high marks ("A" or 100 percent, depending on the grading system) from every national human rights organization that scores Congress. Robert Brady is a huge advocate for improving the quality of life for financially disadvantaged people, as well as the well being of veterans. In addition, he voted no on H J Res 37, a bill intended to stop the FCC from enforcing rules that would keep the internet a free place, which supports my cause.

Robert Casey Jr has been a Pennsylvania senator since 2007. He's very interested in the U.S job market. He's made many pushes to give tax breaks to small companies, and eliminate tax incentives for large companies to send U.S jobs overseas. He is also a huge supporter of future generations, and is an avid advocate for child education and child care. He voted yes on S Amdt 3907, an amendment to a bill that prevented telecommunication providers from performing surveillance on their consumers through the services they provided. This is another key point in net neutrality, that internet service providers cannot do anything with the information sent through their service unless it violates a law/terms of service.

Lastly, Patrick Toomey, even though he was elected to the first Congressional district of Pennsylvania just this year, he had previously served the fifteenth Congressional district of Pennsylvania from 1999 to 2004. He is very interested in improving the economy, and as such serves on many boards and committees regarding the economy. He voted yes on H.R.3709, a bill that prevents local and state governments from taxing internet access for another five years. Even if it's not the most related bill to net neutrality, it does illustrate some interest in maintaining internet accessibility, one of the founding principles of net neutrality.

Although it seems that net neutrality is on the back burner of legislation, based on these voting records, I think it's fair to say that they would all be in support of net neutrality, or at the very least neutral.
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