Most Sundays Westtown Monthly Meeting invites those gathered to join in singing. Some human along from father away and some enjoy listening to this ministry.
Archives for November 2019
Scott Wallace Speaks on Billionaire PAC Funding
Quaker Business Persons – A Fellowship Centered on Ideas
A group of Quaker business people have been gathering for years to hear each other speak on issues of common interest. Last week they hosted Scott Wallace, who recently ran for congress against Brian Fitzpatrick in Pennsylvania’s First District, losing 49-51% by about 6000 votes. The talk was titled: “Money, Politics and Quakers: How money in politics eviscerates equality in society — and what can be done about it.”
Informative and compelling, Scott was asked to put some high points of his talk into writing so that it could be shared more widely among Friends. His account follows below:
Scott Wallace’s Personal Experience
“I was naive about the corrosive power of money in politics until the US senator I worked for in the 1980’s told me the many hours he had to spend every single day raising money for reelection.”
In fact, that Senator had to raise $7000 every day for his re-election bid. That was in the ’80s; today it’s much more. Plus, time spent fundraising is time spent away from serving constituents–it’s an unhealthy cycle.
“Then (came) the shock of my own experience last year, where my Republican opponent not only welcomed money from corporate PACs, which I refused, but received over $11 million in help from super PACs funded by unlimited contributions from billionaires like the Koch brothers and casino magnate Sheldon Adelson.”
These wealthy out-of-state funders amalgamate cash to maintain a hold on power in political battles across the country. The money flows irrespective of local issues and can drown out local talent with attack ads.
In fighting back, Scott says he overestimated the voter appeal of a basic argument he made on the campaign trail. His campaign pitch was that his opponent “was for sale, (but) I’m not; I’m only working for the people.”
Scott noticed that campaign financing ensures election outcome disparities because “the most important people in America are not ordinary voters who contribute a little money (to local candidates they support), but the billionaires and the corporations. Voters are not wrong to be cynical; big money does rule.”
Quaker Values
A Buckingham Friends School Alumnus, who also served on the board of Sidwell Friends School, Scott observes that super PACs and outside billionaires’ funding “fundamentally violates (these) Quaker values: All are equal in the eyes of God, Reject all forms of discrimination; Recognize the dignity of every person.”
The Legal Framework – Limitations on Funding set by Congress Were Curbed by the Courts
In his talk, Scott told Friends that “more than a century ago, the corrupting influence of corporate money in politics was so obvious that Congress passed–and President Teddy Roosevelt signed–the Tillman Act, totally banning corporate political contributions. Over the years, Congress passed more limitations, but the courts curbed them, culminating with the Citizens United ruling from the Supreme Court in 2010, allowing unlimited political spending by billionaires and corporations — on the premise that under the First Amendment, money is ‘speech’ and corporations are ‘people.’ The day of that ruling was the birth of superPACs.”
Possible Solutions
In the search for solutions, some have come to mind.
Scott suggests the US Constitution could be amended “to allow Congress and the states to regulate the amount and timing of political fundraising and spending.” He foresees that this would require a powerful grassroots movement demanding change, and notes that a group named American Promise is making good progress building support for this around the states.
A second potential solution could be strategic litigation to convince the Supreme Court to reverse itself. The argument would be that the First Amendment isn’t flawed, but the Court’s interpretation of it was.
Back when the Supreme Court ruled on the issue, Scott says the decision was 5-4. He believes a reversal is possible.
“There are signs that one justice in the majority is having second thoughts, and at least three of the majority’s explicit assumptions are demonstrably wrong.” Organizations like the American Constitution Society and the Brennan Center are working on this.
These assumptions were:
- that disclosure of corporate contributions would surely be required;
- that fundraising couldn’t possibly distract legislators from their legislative duties;
- and that big money wouldn’t corrupt politicians.
Then, there are more modest, incremental, solutions that Scott proposed could work:
- Mandate disclosure of corporate political contributions, so voters/consumers can be informed and purchase/invest/boycott accordingly.
- (Allow) public matching funds for small (under $200) contributions, up to a 6-to-1 match, to relatively amplify the voice of small donors.
In the end, all solutions depend on people choosing to speak up, and educate themselves about politics, becoming informed voters.
Quaker Self Portrait: Yardley Friends Meeting
Yardley Friends Meeting gathered recently for a pot luck dinner to welcome a dear friend officially joining our YFM community. Our Pot lucks are always warm and welcoming and a great way for our community to enjoy each other’s company and get to know each other on a deeper level. No one goes home hungry and every one is always glad they came.
Quaker Self Portrait: Gwynedd Meeting
Last spring I was asked to design a new “Welcome Business Card” for my meeting, Gwynedd Friends. This card was to have an inviting image on the front with a place on the back for the name and contact information of someone who was available for information and support. Upon reflection I realized that the most inviting image I could think of was of the people who make up our spiritual community.
On September 8, I took that picture with the instruction that everyone look at the camera as if it was a dear friend that they hadn’t seen for a while. The member and attenders of Gwynedd Friends Meeting had no problem with that instruction and the result is the photograph you see here.
Quaker Self Portrait: Middletown Friends Meeting at Langhorne
These families gathered at Middletown Friends Meeting on a recent fall evening for Stone Soup, a beloved annual tradition at our meeting. Everyone brought vegetables to add to the soup. While some Friends were in the kitchen chopping veggies and stirring the soup pots, the young people were busy making pumpkin and apple pies. We shared fellowship and a simple meal and then posed for this picture, taken by David DiMicco.
Welcoming T.J. Jourian
Quakers Engage with Their Congressional Representatives in Washington DC
On Friday, November 15th, about 40 Friends from the Philadelphia Yearly Meeting (PYM) area joined 438 other Friends from 43 states across the United States for meetings on Capitol Hill, in Washington, DC.
They came together for a day of FCNL-orchestrated meetings with congressional representatives. Conversations centered on the authorization of open-ended war and were supported by the year-round work done by a small group of Quakers in the Philadelphia area. These Friends work with FCNL to impact global and national issues through political processes open to all members of the American electorate. [Read more…] about Quakers Engage with Their Congressional Representatives in Washington DC
General Secretary Report to Councils
Mid-November 2019
Business and Finances:
- Our annual audit field work was completed this week. This year new requirements in audit format are in effect and we have different people in the controller role. The process has been smooth so far.
- Key staff, governance and granting group members have been meeting, talking and sharing documents to resolve issues and support the highest effectiveness of the Greenleaf Fund which supports those who are aging.
- PYM staff, archivists from Swarthmore and Haverford College Libraries and members of the laid-down Record Services Group are making plans for supporting PYM’s and monthly and quarterly meetings’ archival processes.
Program and Ministry:
- Continuing Sessions was held at Arch Street Meeting House. Reports and minutes are posted on the web (www.pym.org/news).
- We launched the Quaker Self Portrait project which includes a census of how many people are attending our meetings on Sundays and an invitation to share what our meetings look like with selfies, quilt squares or any way a meeting would like to (haikus?!). It also included a “soft launch” of an invitation to individual Friends to share more detailed demographics such as race and gender identity in order to create a baseline of our community demographics.
- We hosted 15 Friends at the first Friends in Fellowship this year with Taiya Smith (Solebury Meeting) speaking on carbon pricing and climate change. Tayia is a highly regarded China expert specializing in climate issues. She was key to designing and managing the U.S.-China Strategic Economic Dialogue (SED) under Secretary of the Treasury Hank Paulson. During Obama’s presidency she served as the point person on Darfur, working with the Sudanese government and rebel factions. She has also been a Presidential Management Fellow in the State Department’s Bureau of Population, Refugees and Migration (based in Washington) covering Ghana, and Cote d’Ivoire.
- Held a first meeting of key Friends to explore how Philadelphia Yearly Meeting can enhance and sustain new and important expressions of Quakerism, under the direction of the Quaker Life Council.
- The Community Engagement staff team met with staff at Pendle Hill to continue relationship building and seeking opportunities for collaboration.
- Middle School Friends had a wonderful Fall Gathering at West Chester Meeting, 10/18-10/20.
- Young Adult Friends is continuing ministry in migrant justice through involvement in “Drive PA Forward Campaign” connecting with YAFs who work with New Sanctuary Movement and Hebrew Immigrant Aid Society.
- Young Adult Friends Leadership has changed. Here is the new lineup. This new group will have dinner at Friends Center after Thanksgiving.
- Clerks: Mary Tierney and Catherine Campbell.
- Pastoral Care: Eleanor Barba and Kimani Keaton.
- Recording Clerk: Carl Stanton.
- Young Adult Friends met at Pendle Hill on Thursday 11/14.
- Quaker Life Council has asked for support in the process of recruiting members for the Sessions Coordinating Committee and the Program Committee. If people have ideas of who could serve on either one, please contact Zachary Dutton.
Communications and Technology:
- We initiated new tech to track traffic on our website.
- We added a “Quaker Directory” (https://www.pym.org/quaker-directory) to the website (this is an ongoing project).
- We started using a news aggregator tool (Feedly) to find Quaker news from around the world.
- A report and minutes from Continuing Sessions was up on the PYM website within a day of the event with both a news article on the morning program and the finalized minutes posted Monday. Our news feed featured the work of the group of Friends who volunteered at Annual Sessions to help in anti-racism work. Later that week, we pushed out antiracism information and tools in the weekly email.
- Staff training on an integrated Salesforce email system was given.
Staff and Administration:
- The Executive Director of Arch Street Meeting House (ASMH), Lynne Calamia, resigned after nearly seven years of service. During that time historic preservation of the meetinghouse property became paramount and we secured funding for improvements to our interpretational programs. Lynne created important partnerships with the historical community and led the campaign to have Arch Street Meeting House named as an International Site of Conscience.
- Caroline Boyce, of Inter-Mission LLC is serving as Interim Executive Director at ASMH and is supporting the board in the search for the next Director.
- Lucas Richie began working with PYM as the Grants Associate (following the promotion of Nick Gutowski to Director of Grantmaking). Lucas brings recent experience with the Bread & Roses Community Fund and with Quaker Voluntary Service – as well as with PYM.
- We are in the final stages of the search for Middle School Friends Program Assistant, Children & Families Program Assistant, and Events & Resources Coordinator. The Advancement & Communications Coordinator search is in full swing. The searches for program and development positions at ASMH have been suspended while the Executive Director search is prioritized; interim support options are being explored.
- Staff made waffles for lunch in the GenSec office one afternoon.
Inclusion and Anti-Racism:
- The Associate Secretary for Program & Religious Life and the Youth Religious Life Coordinator attended Niyonu Spann’s Beyond Diversity 101: Race training at Pendle Hill the week of 10/22. They shared their experience with staff over lunch.
- Staff has explored how we want to arrange support for ourselves as we engage in anti-racism and inclusion training and taken steps to put that support in place.
- The General Secretary was invited by the Pastors Wives of the Church of God in Christ in the Pittsburgh region to accept an award for Quakers for our historic work in anti-slavery and to provide the Response to the Opening Remarks at the awards dinner. She offered remarks on our complex history and continued need to address racism. Friends from Pittsburgh Friends Meeting were invited to attend, and several did.
Staff visits:
- Melinda Wenner Bradley, Youth Religious Life Coordinator, visited the Chester Quarter retreat and presented about support for youth and families in local meetings.
- Melinda visited Gwynedd Meeting for worship and led multi–generational program on 10/27.
- Grace Sharples Cooke visited Third Haven and Chester River Meetings, and had lunch with Friends from Upper Darby Meeting.
- Christie Duncan-Tessmer, General Secretary, attended FGC’s annual meeting of the Central Committee.
- Christie attended FCNL’s annual meeting.
- Christie attended the Friends Fiduciary Investment Committee meeting and Finance Committee meeting.
Newtown Meeting Gun Violence Awareness Day
Newtown Friends Meeting played a pivotal role in supporting Heeding God’s Call and other faith communities in putting on a Gun Violence Awareness Day. Read more about it here. If you’re interested in organizing something similar or other work around gun violence prevention, contact Heeding God’s Call Executive Director Bryan Miller, bryanheeding@gmail.com.
Quaker Self Portrait: Downingtown Friends Meeting
A selection of happenings at Downingtown Friends Meeting. Meeting for worship in November Presentation on their service trip to West Virginia by young Friends. The Cake Walk at the 43rd annual Friends Fall Festival October 2019