State Senator Daylin Leach Gives Pennsylvania Legislators A Reality Check

Daylin Leach is a candidate for Congress. Since Allyson Schwartz is running for the Democratic gubernatorial nomination, he's running to replace her as the Representative for northwest Philly/Montgomery County. He's campaigning hard, but that doesn't mean he's neglecting his current job as a state senator. The video above was in response to the reactionary Republican budget, which passed the House 111-92 just hours before the Sunday deadline. Gov. Tom Corbett signed it immediately, although it is likely to result in immediate credit ratings downgrades (and higher borrowing costs for the state). Last week, Moody's rated Pennsylvania the 8th worst among all 50 states in terms of liabilities to revenues. Corbett scheme to privatize state-run liquor stores and hike taxes and fees to fund a $2 billion transportation plan failed.

Daylin's speech addressed the root causes-- right-wing ideological derangement when it comes to adequately finding crucial public services, particularly public education, which Republicans have been on a jihad against.

Findings from a secret poll conducted by a prominent Republican firm [Public Opinion Strategies] proposes that Gov. Tom Corbett attack the Philadelphia teachers union to overcome widespread opposition to his education policies and bolster his faltering re-election prospects. "Taking on this fight moves Corbett's approval scores on handling education" and "boosts his overall approval numbers."

...The poll suggests that Corbett, a governor who has long suffered from low public-approval ratings, condition state aid to Philadelphia schools on major union concessions and kickstart his hobbled reelection campaign with a high-profile fight against the Philadelphia Federation of Teachers.

...The poll first establishes Corbett's low approval ratings and widespread public opposition to his education policies, finding that "not only do voters believe that public education in the state is off-track, but they overwhelmingly disapprove of the way Corbett's handling the issue."

Sixty-nine percent of respondents said that Pennsylvania public education is on the "wrong track," and 64 percent blame Corbett-- 43 percent strongly so. In the Philly suburbs, 84 percent said that the city's schools are in the wrong trac. Seventy percent statewide believe that it is Corbett's job to help find a solution.

...[T]he poll does not query voters as to their attitude toward the nearly $1 billion in budget cuts to schools orchestrated by Corbett, which have affected school districts statewide and forced many to enact extraordinary property tax hikes... Twenty-one percent of voters say that education is the most important problem facing the state, second only to the economy.

"When," Daylin reminded his fellow legislators Sunday, "a politician debating the budget says 'We have to do with less' what they really mean is that poor kids, schools and sick folks have to do with less." That kind of attitude-- and a willingness to speak out about it-- is why Blue America has endorsed Daylin. This Daylin:

When people say, “we only can spend what we have,” it’s an odd thing to say because we control what we have.

It is not like we are given a limited amount of money from an outside source and that’s all the legislature and the government can spend-- we decide what the tax rates are, we decide what the fee rates are, we decide what the tax breaks are-- we decide all of that. But we make the decision as to what we have to spend.

To say, "we can only spend what we have," ignores the fact that we control what we have. It implies that we have no choice in what policies are made in this chamber, and the effects that they have on people are something that are just forced upon us. That we are innocent vehicles for realities beyond our control-- but we all know that is not true.

Previous speakers on this budget have said, “No one wants to pay more to the state government. If you take a poll and ask the voters, 'Do you want to pay more taxes?' the answer will be 'No.'" And I agree, that is probably the answer the poll would get.

I would, however, say that I know about polling. I know a lot about how poll questions can be skewed to produce desirable answers. For instance, if a pollster asks someone, "Do you want to spend more money out of your own pocket?" in a vacuum, without that person knowing what that money is going to be spent on, most people being polled will say "no."

It becomes interesting when you ask people, "Do you think we should neglect our schools? Do you think that we should shred our social safety net? Do you think that we should not provide adequate funds to protect our air and our water?” People say "no" to that too.

Then, when you juxtapose the two issues, "Would you pay more taxes if you knew that it would make the schools better?" people say "yes." Of course, people do not say they want to pay more money to the government for no apparent purpose-- but they will say they want to spend money to make our schools and our roads better.

I believe the people of Pennsylvania and the people of the United States are not hard-hearted people. They are not indifferent to the condition of our society. If you ask people in my district (and I can only go by my district), "Do you want to invest in the public schools?" They say "Yes."

When you ask people in my district, "Do you want to hire enough water quality inspectors to go out and make sure that the industries that are providing energy in this state are doing so safely and in a way that does not harm people, animals, wildlife, or the environment generally?" They will say "Yes." They will say "yes" overwhelmingly.

If you ask, "Is it a good idea to cut off all cash assistance for the poorest people in Pennsylvania?" They say "No." And you tell them, "There are 800,000 people in Pennsylvania right now who don’t have health insurance and the state government has increased that number by eliminating Adult Basic Care and other policies that provide health care." Then ask them, "Is that a good idea?” They say "No."

If we are going to make the argument that "we are doing what the people of Pennsylvania want," we should be accurate about what the people of Pennsylvania want.

One of my other colleagues said earlier during this debate said we can’t play "Santa Claus" with state spending. And, with due respect, saying that is demeaning. We are not playing Santa Claus, we are not giving gifts on Christmas morning. When you provide health care for a sick child, that is not playing Santa Claus. When you provide enough money for someone to be able to afford a lousy flop room so they don’t have to lay down on the streets at night-- that’s not Santa Claus, that’s not a Christmas gift. When you tell a kid that lives in a poor neighborhood that we’re going to give you an education that will enable you to someday get out of this poor neighborhood - that is not a Christmas gift, that is not Santa Claus.

The idea that the people of Pennsylvania are saying, "Not one penny, not one more penny for schools-- not one more penny for any of these things-- if it comes out of my pocket!" is just not accurate.

And beyond that, other members of this body keep quoting the private sector. But the private sector doesn’t want these things. The truth is, the private sector doesn’t want us to neglect education because today's school children are the people who will be working jobs in the private sector in the next five, ten, fifteen, and twenty years. The private sector does not want us to neglect roads and bridges because that’s how the private sector's work force gets to their jobs and that’s how the private sector moves its products to market.

As we consider this budget and as we consider future budgets, this legislative body should not fall for the idea that we are forced to neglect the basic roles of government and our society.

There is one more thing that troubled me, when someone said, "Families are struggling, so we are going to have to make do with less." This implies-- well, I don’t know what this implies-- but let's be clear, no money goes to "us." We are not spending tax money on beer and knockwurst for legislators. This money is going to help poor people. This money is going to help kids all across the Commonwealth. This money is going to fix roads. This money is going to aid law enforcement. But more than that, this money is going to programs that will make it unnecessary to spend so much money in the future on law enforcement because these programs are proven to reduce crime.

Saying state government is "doing with less," is framing the discussion in such a way that somehow by spending less money, we are doing something noble.

However, when we say we are "doing with less," what we really mean is that poor kids are "doing with less." Sick people are "doing with less." Handicapped and the elderly people are "doing with less." People who have to drive over crumbling roads and bridges every day to get to work are “doing with less.” Those are the people who are "doing with less."

"We" are fine either way. It’s not "us" that has anything at stake in this budget. It’s the people of Pennsylvania who desperately need the services that, in my view, we are not funding adequately. And I just wanted to make it clear that this really is what’s at stake here.

Please help make sure this safe Democratic seat goes to the progressive, not to some pathetic corporate shill being pushed by the Establishment (nor someone's mekhutonim). You can contribute to Daylin's congressional campaign here.

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Daylin Leach Has Been An Asset For Pennsylvania And He Can Be An Asset For The Whole Country

Daylin Leach-- the Pennsylvania state Senate's "liberal lion"-- is running for the open congressional seat in Northeast Philadelphia/Montgomery County (PA-13) that Allyson Schwartz is giving up so she can run for governor. Blue America has already endorsed Daylin. Kutztown blogger, Sean Kitchen, interviewed Daylin a few days ago and I've highlighted a few points as a way of reminding you that EMILY's List has found a much more conservative candidate-- as they always do-- to try to push into this deep blue district... and is planning to pump a fortune into the race. Obama beat Romney in PA-13 by a wide margin-- 66.2- 32.9. This is exactly the kind of safe Democratic district where we should look to elect progressive leaders and not just garden variety followers of the EMILY's List brand. If you like what you hear from Daylin below, please consider a contribution to his campaign here.

Sean brought up how extremely impressed the Montgomery County DFA was with Daylin's at their meeting. Daylin:

We're very proud of the endorsements we're racking up. We're very proud of the support we're getting in the sense that the hard work we've been doing for eleven years seems to be paying off. People seem to be grateful that we've been fighting for labor, fighting for teachers, fighting for women, fighting for the environment, fighting for civil rights for LGBT people and fighting for the rights of voters to actually cast their votes-- a whole series of issues we've taken the lead on. People seem to remember and seem to be eager to help.

Sean wondered why he even wants to go work in Congress-- with the nihilists and luddites in control of the Republican Party in Washington. Of course, there's Harrisburg...

Have you been to Pennsylvania? It's not much better here. There's two things. Number one: there's obviously there's some issues that you deal with in Congress that you don't deal with in the state legislature: foreign policy issues, etc. Even more than that... I've taken on a lot of issues and what I've learned is, you learn the issue backward and forward, you give a great debate on TV, you write a brilliant editorial, you get on the floor and you give an impassioned speech and the reporters all write that you gave a great speech-- and at the end of the day you don't change a single vote. And what I've discovered is, changing your colleagues votes is not going to happen. You have to change the public's perception on an issue. And we've seen that with marriage equality. In the last three or four weeks politicians have been falling all over each other to say, 'Oh, yeah, I'm for it... I've always been for it, oh yeah, absolutely.' And that's because the public has moved on it. So, I feel my job, if I want to be effective, is to try to move public opinion, rather than change [the opinion of] the guy sitting at the desk sitting next to me in the Senate. And Congress is a much bigger platform to try to change public opinion. And that's where I can contribute something.

I followed up with Daylin on the phone about why foreign policy is so important to him that he mentioned it so prominently as a reason for going to Washington. I was especially interested since he almost always talks about solving domestic problems, especially problems that impact the lives of ordinary working families. Those issues always seem to be what drives him. His response, though, was inspiring. "Among the reasons I want to go to Washington is to affect foreign policy in a way that a state legislator simply can't. I remember when I served in the PA House. Whenever a soldier from Pennsylvania was killed in Iraq, we would recognize their sacrifice on the House floor. The soldier's parents would come and I would watch them as they stood in the guest box as their local Representative would speak about their life. These people had just lost a child and were barely able to function. Some couldn't even stand on their own power. I found these, all too frequent memorials devastating. I just felt so helpless, completely unable to have any influence on the insane, endless war that Congress had voted to authorize. I knew then that somehow I had to do whatever it took to put myself in a position to help ensure that this sort of thing never happened again." And, yes, Daylin very much wants to end the U.S. occupation of Afghanistan and bring our troops home safely.

  Sean wanted to talk about marijuana legalization, which Daylin has championed in the state legislature. "This is such a horrible, pernicious policy we have on prohibition," said Daylin. "It hurts so many people, it costs so much money, it makes no sense, and, frankly, this is what we call 'a dead issue walking.' This is going to happen. We're going to have an end to prohibition; we're going to have marriage equality; and we're going to look back and wonder why these things were ever controversial. There's two reasons for that. Number one is demographic-- young people have no interest in prohibition. And number two is exposure. As more and more states end prohibition, like Colorado, like Washington, like, essentially, California... as more and more of that happens, people will see that whatever horror stories have been painted by the other side just never come to pass and so it's going to be harder for them to make that case. We feel very good about it. We wish it could be quicker. Every day that prohibition remains in effect is an injustice, where someone's life is being ruined because of it. Hopefully within the next few years we can get this done."

And then Sean turned the conversation towards the Establishment's Austerity Agenda and, specifically, Chained CPI. Daylin was right on point.

Look, the last thing we should be doing is balancing our budgets on the backs of seniors, who worked all their lives and now rely on their, often meager, Social Security check to get by. If there is a shortfall in Social Security... there is an easy way to fix it. Rather than cutting benefits to people who need them most, why not uncap-- right now you pay your payroll tax, your Social Security tax, on your first $113,000 in income. Over that, you don't pay a dime and that's unfair. That means Bill Gates is paying a rate much, much lower than his secretary for the Social Security benefits. Why not at least raise the cap? We can get a bunch of money in that way; we don't have to cut benefits for seniors. That seems to make a lot more sense to me.

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Blue America Welcomes Pennsylvania State Senator Daylin Leach

Pennsylvania's 13th congressional district, Northeast Philadelphia and Montgomery County-- is one of the most liberal districts in the state. Obama beat McCain 65.4-33.7% in 2008 and did even better last year-- 66.2-32.9%. The current congressmember, Allyson Schwartz is giving up the seat to run for governor. She was reelected in November with 69% of the vote, 66% in Montgomery County and 74% in the parts of the district within Philadelphia. She's always been extremely cautious to not get out ahead on any contentious issues and tends to vote very conservatively for a Democrat in a safe seat, especially on issues of economic justice. This is the perfect time to replace her with a real leader and a courageous fighting progressive. State Senator Daylin Leach fits the bill perfectly. Take a look at the video up top. You have to admire a politician who brags about an "F" from the NRA and who launches a congressional campaign talking about introducing the first same sex marriage bill in the Pennsylvania state legislature.

With his record of achievement, Daylin is a natural for Blue America. He's been taking on tough issues that most politicians are afraid to get anywhere near-- from legalizing marijuana and pushing marriage equality to labeling genetically engineered food. He's been a major opponent in the state legislature of Republican efforts to privatize and voucherize public education and has been one of the leading voices against GOP efforts at voter suppression. He supports the Grayson Takano No Cuts approach to dealing with Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid. "At a time when corporate profits, executive compensation, the stock market and wealth disparity are at near record highs, it is obscene to even consider balancing our budget on the backs of seniors and veterans," he told us. "I fully supported President Obama's election, but I can't support any drift towards corporatism to appease tea-party extremists... Republicans are, on a daily basis, showing their complete indifference to the poor, kids, the elderly and public safety as they not only perpetuate sequestration, but gloat about it. The clock ticks as America waits for some actual human beings with a soul to emerge from the Republican caucus."

The gun lobby is very strong in Pennsylvania and the NRA is a very potent force there. That doesn't seem to deter Daylin one iota. This is what he told us about the battle over gun safety yesterday:

Lets wrap our mind around this. Congress said that it is our national policy that we don't want to know if someone is a violent felon before we allow them to buy a mass-killing machine. This is what it looks like when a country loses its mind.

Further, the idea that any restriction with the word "gun" in it somehow violates the 2nd Amendment is based on ignorance of how the Constitution works. No constitutional right is absolute. We have a right to free speech which is far more unambiguous than the "right to keep and bear arms." Yet there are all kinds of speech which we can Constitutionally restrict. You can't libel someone or lie in advertising, or yell "fire" in a crowded theater. You can say you are against the war in Iraq, but you can't do it through a megaphone in a residential neighborhood at 3:00 AM.

Ironically, most of these restrictions are based on the state's interest in preserving public safety. Similarly, limits on violent people, or juveniles, or spouse-beaters having guns, or the number of guns you can buy per month, or how many bullets you can have in a clip at a time are perfectly reasonable, and more to the point, Constitutional restrictions that in no way impact anyone's 2nd Amendment rights.

State Rep. Brian Sims is the first out LGBT member to be elected to the Pennsylvania legislature. He's from a neighboring district and he's enthusiastically supporting Daylin's congressional run. Sims gained a lot of notoriety when, in fighting GOP attempts to prohibit state-run insurance from covering abortions, he reminded his colleagues that "Each of us put our hand on the Bible and swore to uphold the Constitution; we did not place our hands on the Constitution and swear to uphold the Bible." This weekend he told us that "Daylin Leach has been a leader on LGBT civil rights in the Pennsylvania legislature for the last decade which is why I have endorsed him. This is a pivotal time in Washington for issues of equality, and we need proven leaders like Daylin who have a record of fighting for our rights. I know that Daylin will be our champion in DC."

Daylin doesn't mince words when it comes to protecting the civil rights of any groups of people. Speaking about his fight for LGBT equality, he reminded us that, "Martin Luther King said 'the arc of history is long, but it bends towards justice.' So what is it bending away from? It bends away from bigotry, and discrimination and social acceptance of the idea that its OK to treat people as lesser human beings because they are different from us. In the long run, those attitudes make history sick."

He's been a stalwart fighter against the Republicans in their crackpot war against women. "It is beyond my comprehension how anyone with a mother, wife or daughter could accept anything less than full equality for women. Equality of income, of access to health care, of opportunities to succeed, these are the basic demands that anyone who has a woman he cares about should have." You want the best in Congress-- not someone who the best you can say is that he's better than a Republican? Daylin's your man. We're very proud to endorse him. Please consider contributing to his campaign on the Blue America ActBlue page. Come over to Crooks and Liars today at 2pm (ET)-- 11am on the West Coast-- and meet Daylin at our live blog session.

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