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How time flies – just a couple of hours ago, I was writing about the long-standing deadlock over Philadelphia's fiscal relief bill in Harrisburg - and then, about half an hour ago, the deadlock seems to have ended, with the Senate passing the bill, without amendments, 32-17. (KYW reports that Mayor Nutter made an "emotional" call to his cabinet to order them to "kill Plan C."
That means – not that we're even slightly surprised – that Nutter won't, in fact, shut down every branch of the Free Library, close our courts, and lay off hundreds and hundreds of cops.
Over at Philadelphia Weekly, my colleague Joel Mathis responded to my own assertion that nearly everybody – Nutter, the media, Harrisburg itself – was enacting a kind of mass bluff, and suggested:
"Well, if it’s a bluff, maybe it worked."
I don't know. Maybe it did work. But I wonder if Mayor Nutter didn't hurt his own credibility – not with Harrisburg, but with us.
If Plan C was a bluff – and I think it was – that means that there was either another plan, that we didn't know about, or there wasn't, and Nutter fully expected the passage of this bill.
If the former is the case, shouldn't Nutter have told us about the real Plan C? Shouldn't Council have been weighing in on real contingency plans, rather than holding their breath together?
If the latter is the case, it means that our institutions – library branches, police, etc. – were props in a political theatrical production.
And Philadelphians will remember that the next time that cuts rolls around.
All that being said, some congratulations are in order – to Philly, and to Mayor Nutter. May he go for a nice bike ride or something back home in Philly.
"shouldn't Nutter have told us about the real Plan C? " um, maybe you need to look up the meaning of bluff, huh?
What Plan C could there have possibly been? There's no money folks.
What Plan C could there have possibly been? There's no money, folks.
OF COURSE IT WAS A BLUFF! Please! The whole thing was ridiculous. Explain to me how he was going to shut down the courts? Seriously? With thousands of people awaiting trial/sentencing? Were we just going to empty the jails? And, of course, stop arresting people, 'cause there'd be no cops. Bullshit! And we'll just stop picking up the trash. Right. Think that was going to apply to his neighborhood, too? Or City Council's? Not bloody likely. Shutting down libraries and parks wouldn't surprise me, 'cause we've got F'd up priorities, but I didn't EVER hear him talk about layoffs in the Revenue Dept. Hmmm. The whole thing was grandstanding, partly to give him him a way to screw the unions, and partly to make the jerks in Harrisburg feel important and in control. It's all a bunch of crap. Hey, Mike and Ed, GROW A PAIR. You don't want to be unpopular in Harrisburg, so you're gonna screw Philly? Nice. I knew a guy who always said "you're talking out your ass, 'cause your mouth knows better". There's your "plan C." PS: Can someone explain to me how NOT funding the (already under-funded) pension plan actually helps anybody? Isn't that just leaving a bigger mess for someone else to clean up in the future? Like I said, nice, real nice.
Alternate title: "Nutter Hurts Philly Retailers Even More" People shopped outside the city to save 1%. Now the threshold has been cut in half. When my bills are more than my income, I cut my spending. Of course I don't have people trapped in my living room who I can just tax, either.
My read on the "bluff" the impossiblity of not funding the courts would have built in a little more time for Harrisburg in terms of back and forths with PICA. If the city was going to make a play for an emergency alternative tax plan it would have also given Nutter more ammunition to say "he was forced". The problem with that is the PA Supreme Court Mastrangelo that stops the city from passing new taxes mid-fiscal year is very well established. Its not just been cited by dozens of subsequent decisions here in PA but actually been cited several times in other states. Also what people fail to understand, the cost of the courts would have made Plan C significantly more short of money so in terms of the impact on citizens, there is no chance that "the bluff" would have made the impact less severe.
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