Politicians

What you saw was what you got with state Sen. Roxanne Jones, whose sudden death on Sunday saddened many more Pennsylvanians than the predominantly poor, urban constituents she served for 11 years. Unlike with other politicians, Sen. Jones' persona stayed the same, no matter whom she addressed, no matter where she spoke. She raised her voice - loudly - on behalf of the poor and the needy, using "in your face" debate tactics to fight cuts in social services and protect the interests of welfare recipients, AIDS patients and other unpopular citizens.

High-level politics and professional boxing have a great deal in common. Both can be sweaty, grimy, ruthless and brutal sports in which participants operate on the premise that victory is all that counts. It seldom matters to boxers and politicians how the battle is waged, so long as the opponent suffers defeat. Both sports are performed in public arenas, but as nearly everybody is aware, some of the biggest deals affecting these savage activities are carried out in either dimly lit bars or the darkest corners.

Every so often, we get told how ignorant we are. Recently, a Star-Ledger/Eagleton poll of New Jersey residents showed that only 14 percent could name both of their senators. Only 49 percent knew that the state legislature is controlled by Republicans. Only 29 percent recognized the name of Jim McGreevey, who lost a close race to Christine Todd Whitman for governor last year. Meanwhile, a recent poll by the Pew Research Center for the People and the Press shows that only 39 percent of Americans polled say they trust their government.

At the second Summit of the Americas, held last month in Santiago, Chile, 34 heads of state committed themselves to an impressive range of initiatives: Create the world's largest free-trade zone. Rethink the drug war. Strengthen democracy. Step up the fight against corruption. Enhance citizen access to education. Such initiatives present an unprecedented chance for the nations of the Western Hemisphere to work together to build better lives for their citizens. Will they make the most of it?

In the early 1980s, Philadelphia's City Council was called one of the worst in the free world. Amid fistfights and angry shouts, the public's business came last. It is better now. But that's a terribly low standard in a city where a mayor and Council functioned with civility throughout the 1990s in the city's best interests - and in a city that can't afford to be beaten down by self-serving politicians. Council is now the center of a boiling hot political fight. It's Mayor John Street's top union ally, John "Johnny Doc" Dougherty, who leads the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 98, versus State Sen. Vincent Fumo.

If you look up in the sky in New Jersey these days, you might just see pigs flying. That's because politicians in Trenton swear they are about to reform the legalized mutual back-scratching system that protects their jobs. And the prospect of legislators' cutting back on the amount of pay-to-play campaign money pouring into their own troughs has been about as likely as porkers taking wing. Understanding the pay-to-play system is easy and fun. And believe it or not, you, too, often play the game.

U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay has one. So does State Sen. Vincent J. Fumo. And now Pennsylvania House Speaker John Perzel says he is starting one. All three politicians have been linked to charities that they say benefit the community. And while their nonprofits arguably do much good - DeLay's has raised millions for troubled children, and Fumo's has helped pay for a charter school, among other things - critics say these entities create easy ways for politicians to skirt campaign-finance laws.

The politicians came to 8th and Butler streets yesterday and for a couple of minutes, Marcial Cintron was a star. With microphones shoved in his face, the struggling grocer in the cocaine- infested North Philadelphia neighborhood found himself an expert witness testifying before a congressional committee of two while a Puerto Rican city councilman translated for him. "We're visiting the neighborhood, trying to get a line on how bad the...

If it had been any other time and anybody else, it might have been considered tacky for someone to crash the Ancient Order of Hibernians' dinner yesterday in Northeast Philadelphia. But it was the Sunday before Election Day and Seamus Boyle, who was being honored as Hibernian of the Year, is as political as they come. So the politicians came and were generally well-received by several hundred members of District No. 39 of the order, which held its annual dinner at the Plumbers Union Hall on Southampton Road.

ON BEHALF of Pennsylvania's nursing home residents and staff, thank you to those local members of Pennsylvania's congressional delegation (U.S. Reps. Robert Brady, Chaka Fattah, Patrick Murphy, Allyson Schwartz and Joe Sestak, and U.S. Sens. Robert Casey and Arlen Specter) for voting for H.R. 1586, the Education Jobs and Medicaid Assistance Act, which will send approximately $668 million in additional federal Medicaid aid to Pennsylvania. Legislators who voted in favor of this bill demonstrated true leadership.