The Other Issues

The ones that aren't being talked about

	print	email	reply	rss feed

Published: Oct 29, 2008

Illustration by Don Haring Jr.

A couple of weeks ago, City Paper told you how the presidential election could have major repercussions for heroin users: If the next president were to lift a ban on federal funding for needle exchange programs, the spread of disease through needle use could be significantly curbed. Then we got to thinking: There must be other ways the election is going to matter that don't get talked about on the Sunday morning talk shows. Here's a list of Things You Haven't Realized the Election is Going to Affect.

Even if you don't use file-sharing programs like BitTorrent, you probably visit Web sites with lots of graphics. When you do, you're using more bandwidth than some other users. Your broadband provider would prefer you use less, unless you're paying more for it. Indeed, some companies, including Philadelphia-based Comcast, limit bandwidth for peer-to-peer file-sharing programs.

The presidential candidates differ on what to do about this issue. Obama is a co-sponsor of the Internet Freedom Preservation Act, which would establish "network neutrality" on all broadband networks — prohibiting providers from charging Web sites for faster download speeds or discriminating bandwidth based on a Web site's content. McCain would prefer to let companies do as they please. If the bill passes Congress, the next president will have an opportunity to sign it into law or veto it.

—Timothy J. McLaughlin

Condom distribution in prisons is not a topic Joe the Plumber would necessarily broach at his kitchen table. Nevertheless, it is a considerable public health issue. Although inmates are technically prohibited from engaging in sex with each other, it still happens with regularity, and nearly 650,000 inmates are released every year around the country, many with an STD they picked up while incarcerated. AIDS activist coalition ACT UP recently won a battle to allow easier access to prophylactics in Philadelphia correctional facilities, but worries that McCain's opposition to government financing of condom distribution could unravel its efforts.

—Maureen Coulter

For years, it was believed that U.S. attorneys — prosecutors who are essentially the federal government's versions of district attorneys — were appointed by the president and carried out their jobs in a nonpartisan manner. Until December 2006, that is, when seven attorneys were abruptly fired because they wouldn't do the Bush administration's bidding.

With that in mind, it'll be interesting to see who the next president appoints to be the U.S. attorney for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania. (It's not clear if Laurie Magid, who currently holds the job on an acting basis, will be appointed.) Between 2001 and 2008, Bush appointee Patrick Meehan ferreted out crooked politicians across Democratically controlled Philadelphia: His indictments led to the convictions of former city Treasurer Corey Kemp and former Councilman Rick Mariano. Whatever else he did, clearly Meehan helped rid the city of some self-serving public officials. Would a McCain appointee focus on legitimate corruption? Would an Obama appointee scrutinize members of the president's own party?

—Tom Namako

Forming a union is tough: You have to persuade workers to risk alienating their employer by supporting the effort. Most unions prefer to organize via a "card check" — collecting signed cards from union supporters over a designated period of time. Employers tend to prefer secret-ballot elections (right now, they may recognize a card check but can demand an election). The Employee Free Choice Act, currently stalled in Congress, proposes to limit the circumstances under which an election is required to certify a union — a majority card check would often suffice.

Joe Biden and Barack Obama are co-sponsors of the EFCA. John McCain voted against it and has vowed to veto it. Whoever is elected president will likely have the opportunity to sign or veto the legislation.

—Timothy J. McLaughlin

When an area is severely polluted (think Love Canal), it is dubbed a "Superfund" site by the government, and the EPA is charged with cleaning it up. Polluters pay for a majority of Superfund projects, but when a specific polluter can't be identified for a site, or that polluter can't pay, the feds foot the bill.

There are nearly 40 Superfund sites in Philadelphia awaiting cleanup. Sen. Obama is currently co-sponsoring legislation to expand Superfund financing. Sen. McCain has not taken a stance.

—Timothy J. McLaughlin

Community Development Block Grants (CDBGs) are government funds used to assist low- to moderate-income people by erecting and maintaining public facilities, battling urban blight and preserving and restoring historic properties. This is a big deal for Philadelphia, which has more than its share of historic buildings, and not all of them along Independence Mall.

A Democratic administration would result in an increase of CDBGs, predicts Marc Stier, co-founder of the activist group Neighborhood Networks. Obama has a record of supporting these grants, and recently assured a local crowd of his investment in cities. McCain's campaign has not spoken much about urban policy.

—Maureen Coulter

Crossing some barren, six-lane monstrosity of a street, or trying to bike to work, it's easy to feel like human beings got cut out of roadway planning long ago. Complete Streets, a nationwide movement to make streets friendly to pedestrians, bicyclists and the disabled, would like to change that. John Boyle, advocacy director of the Bicycle Coalition of Greater Philadelphia, says his group would like to see the government mandate that federal money go only toward roads that accommodate all users. Neither McCain nor Obama has taken a stand on the issue, although Obama at least mentions bicycles in his policies; McCain does not.

—Isaiah Thompson

How This Feels
The Fishtown Effect
The Can't-Voters
My Concession Speech