Philadelphia Health Care Town Hall

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Sunday August 02, 2009 · 2:25 PM PDT

2009/08/02 · 14:25

Just got back from the Philadelphia Health Care town hall held at the National Constitution Center this afternoon at 3 pm. Figured I'd share a few impressions for whatever it's worth.

I didn't take a rough count, but it seemed like a decent sized crowd. They ran out of chairs, and so I took a seat on a ledge near the back of the gathering.

The anti-health care reform folks were out in force. Lots of people with blue stickers that said "Tell Washington No." I saw a few red Tea Bagger shirts and one fellow in a faux-Colonial hat wearing a T-shirt that said something about torches and pitchforks keeping America safe since 1791 or such. There were also a number of folks from the SEIU who were pro healthcare for all, and they were handing out stickers.

Conshieguy

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Sunday November 02, 2008 · 1:29 AM PST

2008/11/02 · 01:29

I was surprised on Saturday night to find myself dialed into a conference call with Barack Obama. My cell phone rang, at maybe 9:30 p.m. Philadelphia time, and on the phone was....Jon Carson from the Obama campaign. There were some brief words from David Plouffe, and some inspirational stories from the field by Jon Carson, and then Barack Obama came on. The message was basically "we've done amazing things together, but let's not muff this at the last minute - let's GOTV."

Conshieguy

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Saturday October 11, 2008 · 11:39 PM PDT

2008/10/11 · 23:39

I was encouraged by reading all the many National Coming Out Day diaries - from lbgt folks, and also from straight supporters! My story is fairly typical of gay folk who came out in the mid-1980's - but I'll share it all the same.

Conshieguy

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Sunday September 16, 2007 · 4:53 AM PDT

2007/09/16 · 04:53

It's a sad but true observation that many Democrats - likely even many Daily Kos readers - focus so much on state and national races that they don't vote in odd-numbered years. It's also true that, in order for Democrats to build the local party infrastructure to carry those important House, Senate, and Presidential races, it's important to have Democrats in power at the municipal and county level. Having Democrats in those local offices - county commissioner, prothonotary, judge of elections, township supervisor, school board director - provides a foundation for successful races at the state and national level.

Voters in the Philadelphia suburbs, particularly in Montgomery County, have a historic opportunity in 2007 to swing control of Pennsylvania to the Democratic party for years to come. The Montgomery County Democratic Party is fielding a powerful slate of candidates for county and local offices, headed by former US Rep. Joe Hoeffel running for County Commissioner. (Joe is teamed with longtime Democratic commissioner Ruth Damsker.)

(Join me over the flip....)

Poll

11 votes Show Results

Are you voting in 2007?

11 votes Vote Now!

Are you voting in 2007?

I voted in the primary, and plan to vote in November

8 votes

I didn't vote in the primary, but plan to vote in November

0 votes

I have no idea who the local Democratic candidates are

0 votes

I like having Republicans govern our town and run our public school

1 vote

What's a prothonotary?

1 vote

I like pie

1 vote

ME-Sen - why not?

Conshieguy

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Wednesday August 23, 2006 · 11:31 AM PDT

2006/08/23 · 11:31

This isn't a diary informed by any special insight, but just a question: why are the netroots not doing more to challenge Olympia Snowe, Sen-Maine. I've read diary after diary that the GOP is done in the Northeast, that there's a big Dem wave on the way, that change is gonna come. Lamont just beat Lieberman in the primary, in a race in which Lieberman thought he was entitled to be Senator-for-life. And yet the silence about Maine is deafening. Read More

Help turn Pennsylvania Blue

Conshieguy

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Monday August 21, 2006 · 6:18 PM PDT

2006/08/21 · 18:18

Pennsylvania voters have a golden opportunity to take back control of the Pennsylvania House of Representatives. Voters are still furious about legislators' voting themselves a pay increase - and there are more Republicans than Democrats. One Republican representative who has to go is Kate Harper, currently representing PA's 61st House district in Montgomery County. Read More

PA Marriage Protection Amendment Dies in Committee

Conshieguy

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Monday July 03, 2006 · 5:16 PM PDT

2006/07/03 · 17:16

I apologize if this has been diaried previously; I've been out of town for a few days. HB 2381, the so-called Marriage Protection Amendment, died in committee in the wee hours of July 2nd. The amendment was overwhelmingly passed in both houses, but with different wording; the PA House version would have endangered civil unions and domestic partner benefits, while the PA Senate version did not. The bill was eventually referred to the PA House Rules committee, where it died. Because of the demise of this bill, the earliest this could go before PA voters is 2009. Read More

PA Marriage Protection Amendment Passes State Senate

Conshieguy

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Thursday June 22, 2006 · 3:59 AM PDT

2006/06/22 · 03:59

Some more bad news from Pennsylvania for its lesbian and gay citizens - HB 2381, the misnamed "Marriage Protection Act" was passed by the PA state senate by an overwhelming margin of 38-12. The only consolation is that the language explicitly banning civil unions and domestic partner benefits was stripped out of the bill during the debate in the Senate.

For this amendment to be finalized, the bill has to be passed again by both houses of the PA legislature, and then go to a vote by the people. Probably the best chance to stop this thing is for Dems to gain control of at least one house of the PA legislature, so this nonsense doesn't come to a vote again. If this goes to a vote by PA's citizens, I'd be amazed if it passed with less than 75% in favor. (PA may be a blueish state in terms of votes for president, but when it comes to gayfolk, it's red - nearly every gay-friendly legal development has come about by court rulings.)

So-called "Marriage Protection Amendment" advances in PA

Conshieguy

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Tuesday June 06, 2006 · 7:25 PM PDT

2006/06/06 · 19:25

Just a short diary to note that the misnamed "Marriage Protection Amendment", HB 2381, passed the Pennsylvania House of Representatives by a vote of 136-61. The bill will move on to the Senate, where, given Pennsylvania's extreme conservatism outside Pittsburgh and Phila, it will likely pass by an equally lopsided margin.

As a gay man in a nearly 17-year covenanted relationship, I have no words....

Marriage in PA - Defeat HB 2381

Conshieguy

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Tuesday April 25, 2006 · 2:35 AM PDT

2006/04/25 · 02:35

There have been several diaries in recent weeks about HB 2381, a bill in Pennsylvania which would restrict marriage the union of one man and one woman, and bar marriage-like recognition to relationships that fall outside this definition. HB 2381 would bar civil unions, and would have the potential to ban domestic partner benefits, adoption rights, and a multitude of other means by which gay couples have tried to attain some degree of protection for their relationships. In other states such as Ohio, these bills have also undermined heterosexual "living together" relationships that have not been formalized in marriage - courts would not issue spousal protection from abuse orders, courts have forced unmarried partners to testify against each other as the right not to testify against a spouse was deemed off-limits to such couples.

This bill is on the calendar for today - website is
http://www.legis.state.pa.us/...

If you live in Pennsylvania, please, please contact your legislator and ask them to vote against this truly poisonous piece of legislation.

PAHouse - HB 2381 Marriage amendment vote today??

Conshieguy

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Tuesday April 04, 2006 · 4:54 AM PDT

2006/04/04 · 04:54

Speculation is increasing that the PA House will vote today on HB2381, a so-called "marriage protection amendment" that would have the potential to shut unmarried couples (gay and straight) out from domestic partner benefits, adoption rights, hospital visitation rights, and numerous other protections. If you're a PA resident (or know someone who is), please call (or have the person you know call) your PA state representative now to try to head off this attempt to scribble bigotry into the Pennsylvania state constitution. Full disclosure, I called my own rep (Republican) as well as a rep in a neighboring district (Democrat) whose campaign I'd assisted with. Today is the day to head this off - or to live with the consequences of not having successfully done so.

PA Marriage "Protection" Amendment - call your state rep

Conshieguy

Community (This content is not subject to review by Daily Kos staff prior to publication.)

Monday April 03, 2006 · 9:22 AM PDT

2006/04/03 · 09:22

As other diarists have noted, the PA House is considering HB2381, a so-called "marriage protection amendment" that would not only amend Pennsylvania's constitution to limit marriage to a definition of "one man and one woman" but would have the potential to disrupt domestic partner benefits, adoptions, and other options open to committed couples who are not legally married. The language is so broad that heterosexual couples not legally married could be affected.

A number of websites have speculated that a vote on the amendment could come as early as tomorrow, Tues, April 4. Please phone your state representative and ask them to vote against this malicious legislation

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Philadelphia Health Care Town Hall

A conference call from Barack Obama

My NCOD diary

All Politics is Local

ME-Sen - why not?

Help turn Pennsylvania Blue

PA Marriage Protection Amendment Dies in Committee

PA Marriage Protection Amendment Passes State Senate

So-called "Marriage Protection Amendment" advances in PA

Marriage in PA - Defeat HB 2381

PAHouse - HB 2381 Marriage amendment vote today??

PA Marriage "Protection" Amendment - call your state rep