Would Michael Nutter Deny Cheap Fuel to Philadelphia’s Poor?

Philadelphia, criticism, politics, poverty February 18th, 2007

The Philadelphia City Paper did a brief interview with mayoral candidate Michael Nutter this week.

Nutter spent a good amount of time discussing why the current mayor’s ego is destroying the city — the word “narcissist” came up, with emphasis — and how the press owes it to Philadelphians to investigate the smoke-and-mirrors resume of current front-runner Chaka Fattah, who, Nutter says, while boasting of bringing low-cost heating oil to Philly, fails to mention that he got it from Hugo Chavez.

While I am no fan of concept of Fattah for Mayor, and have similar questions about what exactly the candidate has done for Philadelphia lately and his vision for the city, this attack by Nutter is wrongheaded, poorly thought out, and displays a remarkably cavalier attitude toward Philadelphia’s poor.

I don’t know if Mr. Nutter has noticed, but fuel costs this year are higher than ever before. For example, when I bought my house nearly four years ago I could fill my tank for about $300.00, at a cost of about $600.00 for the entire season. This winter, $300.00 doesn’t even buy half a tank. The weather was warm up until the middle of January, but when it got cold, we went through the 100 gallons in a matter of weeks, and may well end up pushing $900 for the season if the cold lingers in March. I’m gainfully employed and split my bill with my housemates, and it’s still a squeeze on our individual funds: for those that live at or below the poverty line, it’s the difference between heat or eat. Does the candidate understand that the 2002 census indicates that more than 21% of Philadelphians live at or below that line? Or that we’ve had 17 fire-related deaths this year alone? Here’s one related to electric space heaters. Here’s another. Are you starting to see a pattern here?

Our share of Citgo’s 100 million gallons of fuel oil discounted by 40% of the delivery price isn’t some kind of luxury Philadelphia can afford to sniff at because it comes from that nasty socialist who talks shit on our oh-so-saintly president George Bush: it is a necessary resource for these families.

Despite the ugly rhetoric, the Venezuelan government has been rather generous to the United States when we’ve needed help. In response to Hurricane Katrina, Venezuela was one of a handful of countries that provided direct fuel relief as well as money, a group that didn’t include many of our other suppliers including Russia, the Saudis and Canada.

I’m not sure why Nutter would single out the Chavez regime for criticism, as if it were somehow more tainted than our other current suppliers, other than to saddle Fattah with the negative popular associations surrounding Chavez. Read here how our neighbors in Delaware welcomed Citgo’s gift.

Surely Michael Nutter cannot be suggesting he would sever that relationship to make an empty political point on the backs of our neediest neighbors.

3 Responses to “Would Michael Nutter Deny Cheap Fuel to Philadelphia’s Poor?”

  1. Pachacutec Says:
    February 19th, 2007 at 3:56 am

    Hey, man, can you do me a favor? Please email me. I have a potential favor to ask. I really appreciate it.

    Best!

    Pach

  2. Susie from Philly Says:
    February 20th, 2007 at 5:32 pm

    Brendan, I think you summed it up nicely. There is a big difference between those who have studied the poor and those who have actually been poor. I don’t think Nutter gets it.

  3. Brendan Calling - I hear the voices, and I read the front page, and I know the speculation. But I'm the decider, and I decide what is best. » Lazy Journalists Spreading Myths: A Letter to Monica Yant Kinney Says:
    June 4th, 2007 at 12:47 pm

    [...] of Hugo Chavez, the President of Venezuela who supposedly “hates America”. As I’ve written before, this simply isn’t true. So I wrote to Ms. Kinney: no response yet. Dear [...]

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