RevMikeCouch1

JOBS IN PHILADELPHIA

https://phila.peopleadmin.com/postings/search

Contract Coordinator (General)	2F69-20111128-PR-01	11/28/2011	12/09/2011	City-Wide Promotional
Announced in Anticipation of Approval by the Administrative Board This is administrative contract management work. Employees in this class develop, coordinate, and monitor contract activities for a major operating division of a health or social service department or for a major department with responsibility for managing all contracts including engineering and construction contracts departmen...View Details | Bookmark | Email to a Friend

Painter 2	7H44-20111128-20-00	11/28/2011	12/09/2011	Department Only Promotional	20 - Department of Public Property
This is skilled painting work at the advanced level in City buildings and facilities. An employee in this class performs the most advanced painting assignments and may provide guidance to lower-level painters engaged in preparing surfaces and painting buildings, fixtures and equipment. Work is performed under the supervision of a trades or maintenance supervisor, and involves some physical effo...View Details | Bookmark | Email to a Friend

Custodial Work Supervisor 2	7D15-20111128-PR-00	11/28/2011	12/09/2011	City-Wide Promotional
This is second-level supervisory custodial work coordinating cleaning and general upkeep activities of public buildings and surrounding grounds. The work differs from the next lower level in this series in that the employee supervises a larger number of workers and has responsibility for more extended areas. A significant aspect of work involves scheduling and overseeing a large number of per...View Details | Bookmark | Email to a Friend

Bridge Safety Inspector 1	7G20-20111128-12-00	11/28/2011	12/09/2011	Department Only Promotional	12 - Streets Department
This is technical work inspecting bridge structures for maintenance and repair needs. An employee in this class inspects contractual bridge repair work for conformance to specification requirements, investigates complaints and accidents involving bridge structures, and recommends repairs as conditions require. Work entails hazardous conditions which include working from heights, out of doors ...View Details | Bookmark | Email to a Friend

Youth Detention Counselor 2 (General)	5B23-20111128-22-01	11/28/2011	12/09/2011	Department Only Promotional	22 - Department of Human Services
This is youth custody and counseling work, at the full performance level, monitoring and supervising the activities of a group of involuntary detained youths in the City’s juvenile detention facility. This class is differentiated from the next lower level in the series in that employees are expected to perform all job functions with relative independence and fully understand all the prin...View Details | Bookmark | Email to a Friend

Revenue Collection Representative (Enforcement)	2B18-20111128-36-01	11/28/2011	12/09/2011	Department Only Promotional	36 - Revenue Department
This is specialized revenue collection work performing a variety of projects and activities designed to effect collection of revenues owed to the City. Work is distinguished from the lower level Collection Customer Representative by its emphasis on managing multiple tax account caseloads or by responsibility for adjudicating disputed accounts. Eliciting information from customers and their re...View Details | Bookmark | Email to a Friend

Accountant	2A06-20111128-36-00	11/28/2011	12/09/2011	Department Only Promotional	36 - Revenue Department
This is accounting work at the full performance level recording, adjusting, categorizing, summarizing and analyzing financial data needed to facilitate financial planning and control by municipal agencies. Employees in this class follow city-wide and departmental accounting procedures, directives, and guidelines in researching and analyzing financial data and account status, make estimates of e...View Details | Bookmark | Email to a Friend

CHRISTOTELIC!: Community Legal Services Offer Seminar on Paying C...

CHRISTOTELIC!: Community Legal Services Offer Seminar on Paying C...: Contact: Kentia Waters Phone: (215) 227-6161 kwaters@pasenate.com Kitchen,...

Community Legal Services Offer Seminar on Paying Court Costs In PA

Contact: Kentia Waters

Phone: (215) 227-6161

kwaters@pasenate.com

Kitchen, Community Legal Services Offer Seminar on Paying Court Costs

Philadelphia, Nov. 21, 2011— State Sen. Shirley Kitchen and Community Legal Services are offering a free seminar to help individuals who owe or may owe criminal court costs and fines.

The free seminar, Culture of Collection: The New Court Payment System, takes place on Wednesday, November 30, from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the Philadelphia Recovery Community Center, Unit #6, in the Lehigh Pavilion, 1701 W. Lehigh Ave. in Philadelphia.

Attendees can find out if they owe money, how much they owe and how they can reduce or eliminate the debt and make payments.

The Philadelphia Courts have recently stepped up collection efforts for individuals owing costs, fines, supervision fees, restitution and bail to the criminal courts. One in five Philadelphians owe money to the court.

“Individuals who are not current with their costs risk loss of public benefits, wage garnishment, sheriff’s sale and other financial consequences. Forgoing this debt is not a risk worth taking,” Kitchen said. “There are affordable options and payment plans. I encourage everyone who owes payment to the courts to attend this free seminar and learn the steps they need to take.”

For more information, call Community Legal Services at 215-227-2400, e-mail rvallas@clsphila.org or visit www.senatorkitchen.com

How to Improve Education for Young Black Philadelphians The cure for low test scores has already been discovered. So why aren’t we using it?

Are Philadelphia’s black children stupid? Why is it that they consistently lag behind all other kids in school? How is it that while 85 percent of Asian, 75 percent of Caucasian, and 55 percent of Latino students are proficient or advanced in math, as determined by this past spring’s Pennsylvania System of School Assessment (PSSA) tests, only 53 percent of African-American students are? And in reading, what’s the reason that number is 72 percent for Asians, 70 percent for Caucasians, but just 47 percent for African Americans? Why is it even worse for black fourth- and eighth-graders with 68 percent of those fourth-grade students scoring below basic levels of achievement in reading on the 2009 National Assessment of Education Progress test and 46 percent below the basic levels in math? And for the eighth-graders, why are 58 percent below in reading and 60 percent below in math? Also, why are six of the state’s 10 worst-scoring high schools on the PSSAs predominantly black in Philly? There is one of two explanations for all of this.

The first explanation could be that black youngsters are, in fact, stupid. That means they are genetically predisposed to be at the bottom. The brains of their African ancestors—and therefore the brains of these students—are not as evolved as those of other ethnic groups. Or maybe, just maybe, there’s another reason.

The second explanation could be that today’s low test scores are the result of yesterday’s racist broken promise of a quality education that was supposed to have been delivered first with the Brown v. Board of Education “separate but equal is unconstitutional” decision in 1954, then with the Brown II “all deliberate speed” vague decision in 1955, and then again with the Brown III “we really mean it this time” decision in 1978 that wasn’t completely implemented until 1998. 1998! That was only 13 years ago. That’s the explanation, goddammit! That, along with today’s inequitable school funding and incomplete curricula, is precisely the reason for such poor academic performance by African-American children. Better stated, that is the educational disease inflicted upon black students. But there’s a cure in Philadelphia. And it was discovered by the victims themselves.

On November 17, 1967, a mass movement for much-needed Afrocentric programs came together when approximately 5,000 black students peacefully marched to the School District headquarters to peacefully demand a complete education as well as (including but not limited to) the equitable appointment of more African-American board members, administrators, and teachers, and the renaming of schools to honor blacks who fought for civil and human rights instead of whites who enslaved blacks. There were 25 demands made by student representatives who had been trained to calmly and skillfully debate and negotiate and to do so peacefully. Then the police arrived. Then, as eye and ear witnesses reported, Frank Rizzo arrived and yelled “Get their black asses!” And then the peace ended. Without any provocation whatsoever, the cops on foot and horseback began attacking, clubbing, beating, tear-gassing, and arresting defenseless and innocent children. But those courageous students didn’t give up. They understood that real change, meaning real revolution, is not a one-day march. It’s an ongoing and incremental process, one that requires the participants to be willing to remain actively involved for the long haul. That’s why they never gave up. That’s why they sought the help of Walter D. Palmer in the spring of 1967.

Palmer was the director of cardiopulmonary care at Children’s Hospital from 1957 to 1967 and is a Howard Law School graduate. He founded Black Men at Penn and also the Walter D. Palmer Leadership Learning Partners Charter School that focuses on student leadership, character development and social justice. The students sought his help because he was known throughout Philadelphia and nationwide as one of the “premiere grassroots organizers in the 1960s” (and later in the 1970s as well). He created the culturally and politically powerful Black People’s University that helped set the African-American agenda in this city from 1954 to 1984. And beginning in 1966, he was director of Grassroots Organizing for Model Cities. Because of his solid reputation as an uncompromising strategist, the students from Gratz, Germantown and elsewhere, along with a young unknown activist named David Richardson, requested his wise counsel. He gave it to them by speaking with them, not by lecturing to them. He asked what they wanted and needed from the school district, and he showed them how to get it. In short, he was the political and cultural brains behind the historic and well-planned November 17, 1967 protest, and he helped students to articulate their demands—most of which the district agreed to as a result of the impressively persuasive student arguments.

A key to Palmer’s strategy was those arguments—arguments that had to be based on solid and unimpeachable scholarly research, especially since the demand for a complete education, by necessity, had to be Afrocentric. In other words, it had to inspire these black children. It had to make them believe that they could master not only reading, writing and arithmetic but also the sciences and the advanced mathematics and the advanced grammar.

That’s when he reached out to Edward W. Robinson, Jr., the renown historian, professor, U.S. Senate-appointed first black member of the Federal Reserve, Pennsylvania governor-appointed Deputy Secretary of State, Mayor-appointed Assistant Managing Director, attorney, and—most pertinent—the author of the first Philadelphia curriculum for teachers of African history, called “The World of Africans and Afro Americans.”

In fact, it was Robinson who, in 1967, proved to superintendent Mark Shedd by documented scientific experimentation that, when children were taught about the beauty, grandeur, sophistication and intellect of their African ancestry, their mathematical achievement went from an “average of Cs to high Bs.” In order to improve and excel, those students needed to know that the first human on the planet was from the Nile Valley region of East Africa 200,000 years ago. They needed to know that geometry, calculus and algebra came out of Africa. They needed to know the truth, which is precisely what the doctors—I mean the students—ordered. This was the cure. And they inspired Palmer and Robinson to organize and compile it. But much of it has been sitting stagnant in the labs for 44 years instead of being distributed in the schools, despite the fact that as recently as 2004, the superintendent requested and approved it for infusion into the official school curriculum.

In honor of the 44th anniversary of those enlightened black students’ fight for complete education, a demonstration will be held on November 17 at 12:30 p.m. at the school district building at 440 North Broad Street. It will be headed by today’s students, along with Palmer and Robinson, to demand the immediate distribution of that proven cure. The ‘ritin’s still on the wall, next to the readin’ and the ‘rithmetic—and the revolution continues.

A New Civil Rights Movement in Alabama

Who is behind the attacks on our voting rights?

If Charles and David Koch have their way, millions of eligible Americans won't be able to cast a vote in 2012.

In recent years, the billionaire political operatives have used their vast fortunes to finance the drafting, promoting and introduction of model bills restricting people's ability to vote, and so far legislatures in 38 states have introduced Koch Brothers-supported legislation. All told, this is the most aggressive and widespread attack on the right to vote since the voting rights restrictions that paved the way for segregation.

This week, Brave New Films debuts a new video shining the spotlight on the Koch Brothers and their role in the voting rights attacks. "Koch Brothers Exposed" is a call to action for all Americans concerned about protecting this most fundamental of rights.

Watch the video and then sign the Stand for Freedom pledge today to fight back:

http://action.naacp.org/voting-rights-video

The voter suppression laws take many forms: prohibitive voter registration requirements, sharply reduced early voting periods, government-issued photo ID requirements, and discriminatory laws that disproportionately deny voting rights to people with felony convictions.

As I note in the video, these attacks on voting rights are only the beginning. The reason that you take away somebody's right to vote is so that you can take away the rest of their rights.

Everything we care about is at stake: the right to equal opportunity, the right for every child to attend a quality school, for clean water to drink and clean air to breathe, and basic protection of civil and human rights.

The NAACP is organizing aggressively to stop these rollbacks. On December 10th, International Human Rights Day, we will organize a series of rallies and events around the country. In New York City, we will begin our march at a demonstration outside the Koch brothers' offices, and continue on to a rally at the United Nations Building.

Please join the resistance against these fundamental attacks on human rights. Click the link to watch this new video from Brave New films, then sign the Stand for Freedom petition today and share it with your friends, colleagues and family members:

http://action.naacp.org/voting-rights-video

The NAACP has never stood on the sidelines when the extremists of any era attacked the voting right of Americans. We will fight the Koch brothers and their ilk, and with your help, we will prevail.

Standing for Freedom,

V.E.S.S.E.L.S

Believe & Speak

With Your Vote

Sign Up to be a VESSEL>>

Support the VESSELS Program With A Donation>>

Top 10 Things Voters Should Know as They Go to the Polls>>

VESSELS Voting Checklist>>

2012 Calendar of Events>>

Download the VESSELS Flyer>>

A NON-PARTISAN CIVIC PARTICIPATION PROJECT

“But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellence of the power maybe of God and not of us. We are hard-pressed on every side, yet not crushed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down but not destroyed … we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, ‘I believed and therefore I spoke,’”
2 Corinthians 4:7-9; 13a (NKJV)

VESSELS are people of faith -- clergy, pastors, ministry and community leaders, men, women and young adults -- firmly committed to increasing civic participation in communities that traditionally have been disenfranchised or discriminated against. VESSELS provides a non-partisan way to engage in the political process that resonates with the identity of faith communities. VESSELS stand firmly against apathy, disengagement and voter suppression tactics. VESSELS create opportunities to conduct non-partisan voter registration, voter information and voter (issue) education to maximize the participation of informed voting age African Americans in the electoral process in every special, local, state, national election.

Seven Things African American Pastors, Faith Leaders and Ministries Can Do Consistently and Continually to Ensure Ongoing Civic Motivation and Participation -- Inform Others To:

• Vote with a vision and values in mind for the environment, schools, families, jobs, a better city, a better county, a stronger state!
• Equip themselves and others with a spirit of “light to shine out of darkness”!
• Strengthen the presence of their church and community at every precinct!
• Stand and support participation in the democratic process!
• Encourage and embrace their individual and collective power to make wise decisions about representation in the state house, the Governor’s mansion and the halls of Congress.
• Leave excuses and apathy at home -- they know their vote does count in every election!
• Step into the voting booth, pause, pray, give thanks for the opportunity to speak with clarity, cast their vote and give praise for good stewardship of one of God’s many blessings -- the right to vote!

Micah Leadership Council

Micah Leadership Council is a formal network of ministers and emerging faith leaders:

• between the ages of 25-40
• self-identified as progressive
• engaged in their communities with faith-based organizations and/or places of worship committed to civic engagement and social justice

Members of the Micah Leadership Council will have the opportunity to support VESSELS by merging the success of traditional Civil Rights strategies of mobilizing and organizing with today’s communication opportunities and social media networks, bridging the gap between generations, and helping young African American adults recognize the power they wield and the difference they make when they vote!

Women of VESSELS

According to the Pew Research Center, the voter turnout rate among eligible African American women voters increased 5.1 percentage points, from 63.7% in 2004 to 68.8% in 2008. Overall, among all racial, ethnic and gender groups, African American women had the highest voter turnout rate in November's election -- a first. With African American women making up 53% of the African American vote, they have the potential to shape and effect the 2012 national, state and local elections. The VESSELS project provides African American women with non-partisan, civic engagement tools, techniques, and activities that they can utilize in their respective ministries and communities.

FALL REVIVAL: REV. DR. JEREMIAH WRIGHT, JR.

BERACHAH BAPTIST CHURCH, MAKING A DIFFERENCE! FALL REVIVAL, NOVEMBER 14 & 15 2011, GUEST REVIVALIST, REV. DR. JEREMIAH WRIGHT, JR. PASTOR EMERITUS, TRINITY UNITED CHURCH OF CHRIST, CHICAGO, IL, 7:00PM NIGHTLY, AT 6327 LIMEKILN PIKE, PHILADELPHIA, PA 19138.

What can Pastors and Ministry leaders (you) do? Public Policy

→Pulpit→Pews→People→Polls=Power in 2012! © As the messengers, the Herald’s, the forerunners you know the message cannot be changed. V.E.S.S.E.L.S. incorporates the “us” who are light, who are willing to “give up something to gain something else”, and who in addition to prayer will do the following:

· 1 of 5 = PUBLIC POLICY – This is a “Teachable Moment”! SPEAK UP and do voter education Pastor, Preacher, Minister, Bishop, Elder, Teacher, Evangelist, Doc no matter what, we must, as Disciples of Christ, communicate on the issues that impact all whether single or married, middle class or “potential” class, weak or strong by allowing 5 minutes weekly on topics during Bible study, leadership meetings, Sunday announcement readings to educate, raise awareness and empower.

· 2 of 5 = PULPIT– This is a “Prophetic Moment”! SPEAK UP about voter suppression Pastor, Preacher, Minister, Bishop, Elder, Teacher, Evangelist, Doc whether you know it in your state or not it impacts our ability to fully exercise our right to participate in the political process as a people. Educating all persons of voting age NOW about potential obstacles to voting will motivate proactive action today to avoid challenges, frustration, or disenfranchisement on Election Day. We know “what man meant for evil, God means for good.”

· 3 of 5 = PEW – This is a “Discerning Moment”! SPEAK UP for voter registration Pastor, Preacher, Minister, Bishop, Elder, Teacher, Evangelist, Doc to take place every week between now and the week before the last day to register to make sure every person who can register is registered in your congregation/worship center. The Brennan Center for Justice (www.brennancenter.org) reports new voting laws (photo ID, proof of citizenship, reducing early and absentee days, restoring voting rights) “could make it significantly harder for five million eligible voters to cast ballots in 2012.” Share as never before “no weapon formed against us will prosper!”

· 4 of 5 = PEOPLE – This is a “No Excuse Moment”! SPEAK UP on voter verification and protection Pastor, Preacher, Minister, Bishop, Elder, Teacher, Evangelist, Doc and ask the question “Are You Ready?” Access the congregation and charge them to consistently question others through the use of worship website, Facebook page, twitter, blog, text, monthly newsletters, Saturday-Sunday program/bulletin/remarks/preached word so that the power of love and light and the Good News prevail.

· 5 of 5 = POWER – This is a “Courageous Moment”! SPEAK UP and demand voter participation Pastor, Preacher, Minister, Bishop, Elder, Teacher, Evangelist, Doc from all who are eligible to vote. V.E.S.S.E.L.S. know about sacrifice and the need to sacrifice “other-oriented” time in this election season is imperative. Let us engage and promote for every election “all options” participation - early voting, absentee voting, and Election Day voting. Let us truly “Trust in the Lord, and do good.”

What is the motivation for action?

· Every 1 in 3 African Americans was not registered to vote in 2008[1]

· In 2010, as in 2008, young African Americans led the way in youth voter turnout. Young African Americans voted at a rate of 27.5% compared to 24.9% of young whites, 17.6% of young Latinos and 17.7% of young Asian Americans[2].

· An estimated 2 million African American are ineligible to vote because of state laws regarding formerly incarcerated persons (felons)[3]

… we have the same spirit of faith, according to what is written, ‘I believed and therefore I spoke,’ knowing that He who raised up the Lord Jesus will also raise us up with Jesus …” 2 Corinthians 4:7-9; 13a (NKJV)

Why should African American faith leaders care?

“I Am A Vessel and I Vote” is about creating, strengthening V.E.S.S.E.L.S., those you see, and minister, speak, preach to. Those who recognize the Black Church as “my, mine, ours”, members of the 79% who note religion as “very important” and the 76% who pray daily as well as the 53% who attend service at least once a week. (Source: The Pew Research Center in 2007 and the American Religious Identification Survey of 2008). It is about you as clergy, pastors, ministry and laity leaders who are firmly committed to increasing civic participation in communities that traditionally have been disenfranchised or discriminated against. It is for the least, the lost, the down trodden.

… persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down but not destroyed…

Why should African Americans care?

· Federal Debt Reduction Cuts

o 18% of African American children receive Social Security survivor benefits;

o 7.4 million (22.5% of the total) African American families are served by the US governmental Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program [SNAP], formerly known as food stamps.

· Health Care Reform

o Of the total number of new HIV infections in US women in 2009, 57% occurred in blacks, 21% were in whites, and 16% were in Hispanics/Latinas.;

o 3.9 million African Americans when last reported in 2006 are on Medicare and 24% are Medicaid recipients.

· American Jobs Act

o 20% of the federal employee workforce is African American;

o 16.2% of the unemployment population is African American.

· Pro-Corporate Court

o As a result of corporate spending (Citizens United) in the 2010 elections, states saw an increase in voter suppression (voter identification, purging of voter rolls, disenfranchisement of formerly incarcerated persons) laws and activities;

o Labor, employment, and anti-discrimination cases continue to reach roadblocks to justice.

… we are perplexed, but not in despair …

VOTING LAW CHANGES IN 2012

INTRODUCTION

Legislators introduced and passed a record number of bills restricting access to voting this year. New

laws ranged from those requiring government-issued photo identification or documentary proof of

citizenship to vote, to those reducing access to early and absentee voting, to those making it more

difficult to register to vote. In total, at least nineteen laws and two executive actions making it more

difficult to vote passed across the country, at least forty-two bills are still pending, and at least sixtyeight more were introduced but failed.

As detailed in this report, the extent to which states have made voting more difficult is unprecedented

in the last several decades, and comes after a dramatic shift in political power following the 2010

election. The battles over these laws were—and, in states where they are not yet over, continue to

be—extremely partisan and among the most contentious in this year’s legislative session. Proponents of

the laws have offered several reasons for their passage: to prevent fraud, to ease administrative burden,

to save money. Opponents have focused on the fact that the new laws will make it much more difficult

for eligible citizens to vote and to ensure that their votes are counted. In particular, they have pointed

out that many of these laws will disproportionately impact low-income and minority citizens, renters,

and students—eligible voters who already face the biggest hurdles to voting.

This report provides the first comprehensive overview of the state legislative action on voting rights

so far in 2011. It summarizes the legislation introduced and passed this legislative session, provides

political and legal context, and details the contentious political battles surrounding these bills.

Overall, legislators introduced and passed the following measures:

• Photo ID laws. At least thirty-four states introduced legislation that would require voters

to show photo identification in order to vote. Photo ID bills were signed into law in seven

states: Alabama, Kansas, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Wisconsin. By

contrast, before the 2011 legislative session, only two states had ever imposed strict photo ID

requirements. The number of states with laws requiring voters to show government-issued

photo identification has quadrupled in 2011. To put this into context, 11% of American

citizens do not possess a government-issued photo ID; that is over 21 million citizens.

• Proof of citizenship laws. At least twelve states introduced legislation that would require

proof of citizenship, such as a birth certificate, to register or vote. Proof of citizenship laws

passed in Alabama, Kansas, and Tennessee. Previously, only two states had passed proof of

citizenship laws, and only one had put such a requirement in effect. The number of states with

such a requirement has more than doubled.

• Making voter registration harder. At least thirteen states introduced bills to end highly

popular Election Day and same-day voter registration, limit voter registration mobilization

efforts, and reduce other registration opportunities. Maine passed a law eliminating Election

Day registration, and Ohio ended its weeklong period of same-day voter registration. Florida VOTING LAW CHANGES | 3

and Texas passed laws restricting voter registration drives, and Florida and Wisconsin passed

laws making it more difficult for people who move to stay registered and vote.

• Reducing early and absentee days. At least nine states introduced bills to reduce their early

voting periods, and four tried to reduce absentee voting opportunities. Florida, Georgia, Ohio,

Tennessee, and West Virginia succeeded in enacting bills reducing early voting.

• Making it harder to restore voting rights. Two states—Florida and Iowa—reversed prior

executive actions that made it easier for citizens with past felony convictions to restore their

voting rights, affecting hundreds of thousands of voters. In effect, both states now permanently

disenfranchise most citizens with past felony convictions

THIS IS WHY, WE NEED YOU TO VOTE! RALLY TODAY IN HARRISBURG.

Pennsylvania Update

State house passed photo ID bill in June, sent to Senate for consideration. Senate in session this week then off until October. House version of bill likely to be amended – would include broadening forms ID, not clear if non photo ID would be included. But everyone will have to show ID and poll workers will have to sign and confirm that person showed ID. Fair # of Senators on fence about the bill – pressure has been on them all summer.

Reps want to have ID bill on Governor’s desk by November – so they are having a rally on Oct. 19 in Harrisburg. Are trying to identify people who don’t have required ID and it would be difficult to get. Need those stories told. Problem has been identifying people who are willing to speak!!!

Two major recent changes : 1. Senate Majority leader – wants to introduce proposal that would change how electoral votes are allocated – right now winner takes all he wants them distributed via winner of each Congressional district 2. Some state Republicans want to completely dismantle both the Electoral College and the voter ID bill

Redistricting Commission has not submitted its proposed maps

Will lose Congressional seat – go down from 19 to 18 and 12 of those seats are Republican

RETURNING CITIZENS (EX-OFFENDERS) SUPPORT SUMMIT

1st Annual

RETURNING CITIZENS

(EX-OFFENDERS)

SUPPORT SUMMIT

Keynote Speaker: State Representative Kenyatta Johnson

Saturday-November 5, 2011

9:00am – 4:00pm

Refreshments will be provided

Berean Institute

1901 W. Girard Avenue Philadelphia, PA 19130

Sheet Metal Union Pre-Apprenticeship Program

GED & College Enrollment

Employment & Resume Preparation

Barber/Cosmetology Training

Entrepreneurship

Voter Registration

Criminal Record Expungement

VOTE! REMEMBER WHAT THEY DID TO DR. ACKERMAN AND OUR CHILDREN IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM!

“All of us wish to acknowledge the substantial debt we owe Dr. Ackerman for her hard work and dedicated service to the District. In 2008, when she was recruited to leave her tenured professorship and come to Philadelphia, less than 50 percent of the District’s students were at or above statewide standards for reading and math proficiency. Dr. Ackerman immediately set out a comprehensive plan to target reforms that would close the achievement gap while raising the District’s performance across the board. The aggressiveness of Dr. Ackerman’s five-year strategic plan, Imagine 2014, was outweighed solely by her personal commitment to demonstrating that given the right systemic reforms, all of our children can achieve.

“We see tangible evidence of the progress the District has made toward that goal in just three short years under Dr. Ackerman’s leadership. Dr. Ackerman and her team earned praise from President Obama and Education Secretary Arne Duncan for an intervention approach aimed at turning around the District’s struggling schools under the Empowerment, Renaissance and Promise Academy initiatives. Dr. Ackerman did not shy away from taking on the tough issues that had been neglected for decades such as rightsizing the District through a five-year master facilities plan aimed at better utilizing our resources and implementing new accountability measures for staff. And Dr. Ackerman demonstrated real results: three years of gains in test scores; a 29% decline in violent incidents; 7% gains in the six-year graduation rates; and lastly, Parent University where more than 40,000 parents took courses throughout the past three years.

Philadelphians! VOTE! EX-OFFENDERS CAN VOTE IN THE STATE OF PA! V.E.S.S.E.L.S

November 08, 2011 is V-Day: ARE YOU READY TO BE A VESSEL? ARE YOU READY TO VOTE?

V.E.S.S.E.L.S ARE PEOPLE OF FAITH - CLERGY, PASTORS, MINISTERS, AND COMMUNITY LEADERS, MEN, WOMEN, AND YOUNG ADULTS - FIRMLY COMMITTED TO INCREASING CIVIC PARTICIPATION IN THE COMMUNITIES THAT TRADITIONALLY HAVE BEEN DISENFRANCHISED OR DISCRIMINATED AGAINST.

REMEMBER WHAT THEY DID TO DR. ACKERMAN AND OUR CHILDREN IN THE PUBLIC SCHOOL SYSTEM. CITY HALL IS MORE CONCERN ABOUT PHILADELPHIA POLITICS THAN OUR CHILDREN IN PUBLIC SCHOOL.

YOUR VOTE COUNT AND YOUR CAN CHANGE THIS CITY!

BE A V.E.S.S.E.L.

Warren Buffett Would Most Likely Pay No Income Tax Under Herman Cain's '999' Tax Plan: Analysis

Warren Buffett might want to pay more taxes, but if Republican presidential candidate Herman Cain gets elected, Buffett might not pay any taxes at all.

If implemented, Cain's "999" tax plan would eliminate taxes on capital gains, significantly reducing Buffett's tax rate because his ordinary income, outside of capital gains, comes to about $4.9 million. Cain's plan would cap corporate, income and sales tax at 9 percent. According to an analysis prepared for Yahoo's Lookout by the American Institute of Certified Public accountants, the 999 plan would leave Buffett paying around $440,000 in income tax, or 1.1 percent of his approximate $40 million in currently taxable income.

As ThinkProgress notes, after deducting charitable deductions, which Cain plans to preserve in his tax plan, Buffett would likely pay no income taxes at all under 999. While the Berkshire Hathaway CEO hasn't disclosed all of charitable donations, it seems likely they would surpass his taxes.

The prospect of Buffet paying no taxes might shock, especially in the face of his recent commentary. Inhis August New York Times op-ed, he stated that the $6,938,744 (or 17.4 percent of his taxable income) he paid in taxes last year wasn't enough.

Melissa Labant, the accountant who prepared the analysis for Yahoo, did note some potential flaws in the calculations. However, the rough estimate is pretty accurate, based upon the information Buffett has released, and the scarce details of the plan Cain has touted:

For instance, Buffett may or may not be subject to the alternative minimum tax, and he may or may not have foreign tax credits created by taxes he paid in other countries. We also don't know the exact amount of his charitable giving. Nor do we know whether Cain's plan would exempt all such giving, or make distinctions between different types of contributions, as some tax systems do.

This latest revelation is just one of the ways critics have derided the 999 plan as Cain has risen in the polls. Critics have been quick to point out that under this plan, some, especially less affluent Americans, would see a rise in taxes.

Currently, tax cuts for the rich cost Americans about $11.6 million every hour. Under "999" it's possible that that expense could get even larger wealthy, though federal corporate and sales tax percentages set at 9 percent may offset the number to some degree.

The possibility that millionaires and billionaires such as Buffett may pay no income taxes is coming at a time when many Americans are calling for higher taxes on the wealthy. A recent study showed that a quarter of millionaires actually pay less in taxes than some of the middle class.

On Ellis Island, African American Ministers Leadership Council Are First to Sign Immigration Reform Covenant

By Miranda | May 7, 2010 - 2:07pm

Members of the African American Ministers Leadership Council and African American Ministers in Action gathered on Ellis Island to sign an immigration reform covenant.

On Wednesday, members of People For the American Way Foundation’s African American Ministers Leadership Council (AAMLC) and African American Ministers In Action (AAMIA) gathered on Ellis Island to pledge their unified support for a dignified, just, and tolerant approach to reforming the country’s immigration laws. The ministers, from five states and diverse denominations, were the first to sign a multi-faith covenant calling for “immigration dialogue and reform that will inspire hope, unite families, secure borders, ensure dignity and provide a legal avenue for all of God’s children working and desiring to reside in this country to drink from the well of justice and equal protection under the law.”

The covenant, which lays out seven principles for a respectful immigration reform debate, will be circulated among faith leaders of diverse traditions and ethnicities across the United States.

“We believe immigration reform is important for this nation. As faith leaders from various faith traditions, we stand united with one message and that is a message of love,” said Leslie Watson Malachi, director of African American Religious Affairs.

Watson Malachi put together the covenant in response to what she called the “increasingly nasty and divisive political and social tone of the immigration debate.”

Rev. Robert Shine

“For years, we have witnessed rhetoric around immigration reform that is deceptive, harmful, and pits communities against each other,” she said. “What took place in Arizona last month, when the state essentially legalized racial profiling in the name of immigration reform, demonstrated the mean-spirited, inhospitable atmosphere that is moving across state lines. This covenant is a statement that faith leaders will reclaim civility, lead a genuine, compassionate conversation, and not stand for racially divisive tactics that undermine the dignity of human beings.”

Members of the AAMLC were quick to sign on.

“We are concerned about all people, from all walks of life, all backgrounds, all races, all nationalities, ethnic origins, etc.,” said Reverend Melvin Wilson of St. Luke AME Church in New York, one of the original signers, “But the tone of the current discussion of immigration has been so negative, so divisive, we are just not going to sit idly by and let the talking heads speak without providing a counter-voice.”

Rev. Patrick Young signs the covenant as Rev. Dr. E. Gail Anderson Holness looks on.

“To sign this covenant is important for multiple reasons,” said Reverend Byron Williams, of Resurrection Church in Oakland, California, who was among the first leaders to add his name to the document. “First of all, it’s important on the issues of equality, and justice, and fairness and dignity. But it also makes an important statement that we have African American pastors coming together. Our ancestry does not take us by Ellis Island, but the concept of liberty is one that’s as deep in our community as it is for anyone that’s come to these shores looking for a better life. It’s those deeply held values of liberty, justice and fairness that are the bedrock of American principles.”

Watson Malachi plans to continue promoting the messages of unity and dignity through education and awareness efforts that include informative dialogue sessions, roundtable conversations with faith leaders from African, Caribbean, Latino, African American and other communities.

The full text of the covenant can be found here.

People For’s report on divisive and dishonest rhetoric in the debate on immigration reform is here.