No, Glenn Beck, we don't suck
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No, Glenn Beck, we don't suck
An IOM editorial in the Daily News:
Watch out, Philadelphia. You are not safe downtown. There are gunmen hiding in the Liberty Bell, and that Betsy Ross impersonator might take you for everything you've got.
At least, that's the fantasy world inhabited by right-wing radio host Glenn Beck, who declared on his show earlier this week that "Philadelphia sucks."
It's easy to laugh at Glenn Beck (boy, is it easy!). However, it's less amusing to think how his rhetoric might affect how others view Philadelphia. After all, Beck's program is carried by 22 affiliates across the state. That includes every corner of Pennsylvania, from Pittsburgh to Erie to Harrisburg.
That's troubling, because on Tuesday, there was a huge power shift in state government when Tom Corbett was sworn in as governor. Corbett hails from Pittsburgh, and none of the top leaders in the Legislature is from our city. And though the two-day-old Corbett administration hasn't yet taken an ax to the city, there's an expectation around Pennsylvania that things are about to get ugly for Philadelphia.
That would be a mistake. Because Philly doesn't suck. For those who are unlucky enough to live in other parts of the state, it's popular to portray Philadelphia as a needy, greedy metropolis that eats up a big part of the state's resources.
The facts say the opposite.
A study released last month by the Economy League, a nonprofit municipal-research agency, dispels the myth that Philadelphia and its surrounding region are a mooch on the rest of the state. (Find "Southeastern Pennsylvania and the Commonwealth Budget" at economyleague.org/issues/economy.)
Southeastern Pennsylvania is home to about a third of Pennsylvania's population, but makes up about 40 percent of the state's economy.
According to the Economy League report, the five counties of southeastern Pennsylvania (and parts of South Jersey) combined represent the ninth-largest gross domestic product in the world, according to PricewaterhouseCoopers.
Philadelphia is the economic engine in the region, meaning that the entire state's economy would be in trouble if Philly suddenly fell into the Delaware.
But our contributions go beyond jobs and the economy. Philadelphia and the surrounding counties are vital for the troubled state budget.
The region generates about 37 percent of total revenue for the general fund. We receive only about 31 percent of state spending. That means the rest of our taxes are distributed to other parts of Pennsylvania. What's the opposite of a mooch - a sugar daddy?
The region does need much of the aid it gets from the state if it's going to continue to be an economic engine. State funding is particularly important to programs that provide a social safety net to the most vulnerable among us, including homelessness, mental health, and other social services. (The region does have a slightly higher percentage than the rest of the state of people living in poverty.)
While the bad-old Philadelphia image still lives in the minds of some lawmakers and lame commentators like Glenn Beck, the rest of us should understand the 21st-century reality: that the state would be in dire straits without the Philadelphia region . . . and vice versa.
The enlightened know that our strength and future rest in recognizing our interdependence.
They also know that the biggest danger in walking around Independence Hall at 6 p.m. is not getting shot, but not getting a table at one of the hot restaurants.
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As someone who would watch/listen/read to Beck his petulant remarks about Philly are disapointing. he gets no more money from me as I am done with him.— Earl J
Earl, I'm glad you finally woke up about Beck. His comments on national politics are no more reality-based than his remarks about Philly.
Beck got it wrong. Center City is not somewhere I worry about walking around as long as you don't stray too far away. But North Philly, West Philly is a different story...I don't like driving through there during the day never mind at night. Philadelphia, PA and the US all would be better off if they reduced welfare benefits and forced everyone on them to reapply. There are plenty of able bodies in certain areas of Philly who collect Social Security long before they are in their 60's because they know how to game the system and they teach their community how to game it as well. Same goes for Access cards. The Russian community in the NE is known to use Access cards yet afford BMWs and Mercedes. The working middle class is getting hosed by both the elites (the politicians) and those in poverty who choose to live in poverty. I'm all for helping those in need but not those who choose not to work.— ResponsibleAmerican- Dear ResponsibleAmerican,
The vast majority of Americans want decent paying jobs to support their families. When unemployment jumped to 17% (including the underemployed) it wasn't because a virus suddenly infected 15 million Americans with the layabout bug. It was because they were fired by corporate America which could no longer finance their businesses because the real parasitic class, the investment bankers, blew up everyone's money. And then, of course, they went to the government and got the largest welfare payments on record to replace that money and keep it for themselves. So Responsible, if you're looking for villains and scapegoats, don't look at the down and out who the elites are shunning along with you. Look at those who have been robbing all of us at an epic scale.— Stan Shapiro - GLENN BECK,
YOUR RIGHT PHILA FBI & POLICE DO SUCK!
Http://www.Facebook.com/FightCorruptionUSA -
- Come on Philly, are you really THAT (comments) shallow?— Ruler4You
