notwithstanding the amount, which is huge, of course? >> well, look, it's $4.4 billion, but a lot of it is also deferred maintenance, whether it's our roads, whether our parks and recreation centers and all of it -- libraries -- so it's important what we're doing to make sure that we can focus on our infrastructure. but there are also other aspects. you know, there's one thing, which is maintenance and cleaning up the skin. it's also to exfoliate to sort of grow and generate new skin, which is the, you know -- do we have any stake in robotics, advanced manufacturing? do we have any stake in any other future economy -- machine learning, et cetera? which we don't. and if we don't -- if we have our feet grounded firmly in the wet cement of history and preservation of today, eventually that cement hardens. and you have to also think about the future, use the foundation as a jumping board for the future. and i don't think we are doing that right now. it's not the mayor's fault, it's just, you know, how much money do you have and what do you focus on? >> you try to balance what you have and keeping that with some growth, always. >> yeah. and there's certain things, like, you know, building over i-95 -- it really is a shame 'cause it creates this big gash that you can't get to the river, and i think it'll kind of create a whole-different kind of a feeling and economic development and jobs that comes out of that. i think the $500 million -- i think the number is -- for parks and fixing up recreation facilities, of which $100 million comes from the william penn foundation. it's great to have folks like that willing to step in. what i was disappointed on that, though, is the mayor wanted to just kind of do it the way it should be done, and, of course, council wants its prerogatives, so they want to pick who the developers are gonna be. and that feels like the old philadelphia game. and i think that's what kind of holds us back sometimes as a city, that individual council people will be able to pick who the co-promoters and developers will be for those things. and you know why that is. that's 'cause "it's in my district," just like they have the ability to veto new development, et cetera, and it's old school. >> so, that's because it leads to patronage jobs in some cases or cronyism. >> it does. and "i know somebody, let me talk to him" or whatever kind of stuff. >> right. >> you know, monica, what i like is the fact that there is some kind of a focus on quality of life for all philadelphians, that the monies that will be funneled into the revitalization of the main streets in the city. because, you know, i walk down the streets, and it really means a lot to be able to feels as if you're in a -- a flourishing city. the other thing is the housing for low-income families and also for at-risk individuals -- the mentally ill, the drug addicts -- to get them out of the shelters, off of the streets, and in some kind of a semblance of a real home. that adds to the quality of life for me and for everybody else. because i've seen -- i mean, the homeless problem, everybody's talked about it, but i really, in the past three or four years, have seen an incredible increase in the amount of homeless people in the city, and that needs to be addressed. >> and it does need $300 million worth of bonds just for the park aspects. some of it's being paid for, along with the soda tax, as well as revitalizing some of our schools. but you do need some help from council here, so it's gonna have to get passed. >> as usual, i'm in the minority, which essentially that there's been a lot of demonstrations by the grocers association -- the spanish grocers association of north philadelphia -- because of the soda tax, which is causing a lot of losses in their stores. there's only $1 million in there for the homeless programs. and so, where your budget is, that's where your heart is. and so, the bulk of the money, no question about it, has economic-development opportunities, but most of it, which is in the i-95 corridor, south philadelphia area, and you still are totally -- if you go to north philadelphia, you still see the fact that you've got a vietnam there with the housing and the infrastructure and everything else is in incredibly poor shape. and if i had the opportunity for the budget, i would go to the neediest community -- and the neediest community happens to be in north central philadelphia. and so, i'm in the minority in terms of thinking that the budget really has some benefits economically but doesn't have any real benefits for the needy community. >> you don't see it trickling down, with creating jobs and rising the lifestyle of everyone up? >> well, the only way you're gonna create jobs is with the unions. >> no. >> and minorities have had a very difficult time getting into most of the unions in the city. and all of those jobs, as you know, in terms of construction and construction activities in that area is all union jobs. >> i hear "no" over here. >> no, look, it's not that nelson's in the minority. i think we all agree that there are many needy projects that need money. i think the nuance point that we're trying to make is it's not what we're spending money on, it's how we're spending money and who are the ones who are extracting the tax out of it. and it's not just philadelphia, brian. if you think about the federal government -- 1910, the size of government compared to gdp was 6%. today, it's close to 40%. you know, $1.4 trillion in entitlements, it costs $400 billion to spend it, and it's no different than what we're doing now. $4.4 billion budget, but by the time various non-profits and others extract their tax, not much is gonna go to the needy that you're talking about, nelson. >> and we have to do triage here. i mean, there's only a limited amount of money that you can pull out of the -- you know, the residents in this city, as well. i mean, they've already been overtaxed well, well beyond. and i agree with you about the soda tax. i think that that's really harming the communities that it was supposed to help and assist. but i agree with ajay. i mean, i think that we're all in it for the least among us. we want -- and if we raise them up and we raise each other -- it's sort of like a high tide raises all boats. >> and is this dead on arrival, though, or does this have some life enough that we can't do everything every year with the budget, so you have to start somewhere. does it have enough legs that it can stand? >> yeah, i think it -- i think he'll get pretty much everything that he wants. you'd like to see some -- and we're gonna, you know, eliminate this or eliminate that and find some cost savings. it doesn't seem like there's much of that. i think the mayor's got a good, solid, really terrific team around him in terms of some of the key spots and people who know what they're doing. i do think, when you get to things like the homeless problem, that's one that you really do see. it's amazing, the downtown. and a lot of that is tied to addiction. >> yeah. >> when you see these folks, you know, it started with oxycontin, and now it's this and it's that. and it's -- >> and not to mention, post 2008, a lot of families are still struggling from the great recession. >> absolutely, from that recession. all right, let's move on to talk about the philadelphia district attorney's race. it's getting more interesting, with the filing deadline already here. democratic side -- seven candidates. six men, one woman. we have everything from former judges, deputy d.a.s, attorneys, a managing director -- that's one of our former panelists. and we also have a republican side, but not contested there. who do you see as the front-runner, who seems to have the biggest war chest, where is it shaking out? >> i think ajay and i agree that it looks like, you know, rich negrin has the most visibility at this point. but it's too early to tell in terms of what's gonna happen, 'cause you have no idea where the party's gonna go... >> right. >> ...where johnny dock is gonna go. so, until the party really decides how they're gonna run the structure, even if they call it an open primary, they essentially -- it's a controlled race. when you have the district attorney's race, the turnout is extremely low. you usually get 15% to 20% turnout, and as a result of that, whoever the democratic party decides to push -- i think that'll be -- >> rich negrin would be the first hispanic if he gets the nomination. >> if he got in. >> and a former managing director for mayor nutter -- for the city, before that, a long-time aramark executive as well. a very solid guy. in a crowded field, though, that's really what it does, 'cause you can have 14%, 15%, 18% turnout. whoever the party endorses will be the person. i do love, though -- only in philadelphia, i feel like, getting back to the other thing -- the fellow who's been dominating, this shabazz, who has, what -- six times he's been taken to court for not paying rent, the tax liens, this and that, and, you know, it's... it does feel like old-school philadelphia. >> and can i just say one thing? how interesting it is that in the whole field, the only female is the republican. >> [ chuckles ] >> you know? the only female candidate, beth grossman, is the republican. >> no, no. judge -- >> that's true. judge deni, judge deni. >> right. all right, let's talk -- and the current district attorney, seth williams, seems to be backpedaling a bit on a promise that he made that he would not pursue life sentences for any juvenile offenders who have perhaps had their cases rechecked. and now he's saying he might need to do at least one to three cases upon review, and one of those had killed a police officer when they were 15. >> the supreme court of the united states has -- >> it's what? i'm sorry. >> the supreme court of the united states has, to some extent, really ruled upon that issue, which essentially is you shouldn't throw away the key for a juvenile, and you should have an opportunity for some reformation before you can decide that the person's gonna have a life sentence. and i think that it depends, basically, on the tragedy of the case. but just because a person commits a grievous kind of crime, i believe that the supreme court is against having lifetime sentences for juveniles. >> and they have reviewed 300 cases, so there's only two or three that they're saying are so heinous that they cannot -- irreparable corruption is what the standard is by the supreme court. >> and the judge is right. i mean, there has to be -- you know, i think the default position is you're not going to have life without parole for a juvenile. but you need to keep that open in those really heinous cases. you can't just say, "well, you know, he's a juvenile." no, there are certain cases that warrant that type of -- you can't -- capital punishment, no. >> even 30 years later is too much of a danger to -- >> absolutely. >> is killing a police officer that line in the sand for you? >> you know what? i think it's not just who you do this horrible tragedy and tragic act against, but it's also look at the individual. i mean, has there been a certain sense of, you know, this person's really in a different place than they were when they were 15 years old, now at 45 or 50. but it should be rare, too, as well. >> right. and redemption and rehabilitation can be done at the same time even if you keep someone in custody for the rest of his life. >> a lot of kids do stupid things. >> yeah. >> and particularly boys tend to grow a little slower than women do. >> but i think compassion as well as redemption and second chances should be part of our creed as a society. and i think we ought to revisit these issues. >> governor wolf, meantime, is making it unofficial, but it seems to be that he's going to run for a second term. but he has some opponents on the other side, of course. at least four republicans have thrown their names into the hat as a possibility, as well. how do you feel about the way that's shaking out? he did say, at least, that he is proud of his gains in school funding, how he's treating the heroin epidemic that you mentioned before, also that he's trying to liberalize the beer and wine sales. so, he's had some accomplishments, but some people would say that's not enough. >> you know, one of the things that struck me is what an interesting way to announce you're running for re-election -- at an editorial board meeting. i mean, not at a rally, not at a press conference, but at an editorial board meeting for penn live, which is, i guess, the harrisburg patriot newspaper. >> mm-hmm. >> so, it's a unique kind of approach. look, the governor was off to a really slow start. i feel like he's gotten some traction over the last year in terms of finding out, realizing that "i have to work with the legislature. i'm not the king, i'm the governor. so, if i don't get the others to agree with me, then i get no" -- and he's got some good staff around him. i still think he's gonna have a long haul to get re-elected, and it'll be interesting to see what happens. >> any of the four republicans that you like? i can name their names. there's u.s. rep mike kelly, senator jake corman, and lieutenant governor jim cawley. >> um... >> among others. >> and speaker turzai. >> right. there's a number of others. >> yeah, i think he has a good shot at maybe -- >> well, wagner has the lead on the republican side. he's got the money. >> trash-hauling business, right? >> yeah. he's very -- he made a lot of money on the public -- the public good. but the real problem's gonna be is when you're running against someone, that's when the issues really come up. and since he's running against someone who may have a lot of negatives, you tend to raise the level of the other candidate. so i don't think, until that happens -- right now, he doesn't have the best approval rating, but maybe the candidate that he's opposed to will have a lower approval rate, or maybe no one knows who wagner is, and so that essentially helps the candidates. >> i think he looks too close to trumpish, and i think if you had a race against governor wolf, against someone like jim cawley, now it becomes a really tougher race, one, because of the lack of enthusiasm. there's an enthusiasm gap with the current governor right now. even though the democratic base is up in arms, even though there's an anti-trump sentiment and the dems are going to come out to vote, it's not going to be about because they're coming out to vote for the current governor as much as they're coming out to vote against the republican candidate. >> i agree. >> if the republicans had a moderate-to-somewhat-progressive and likeable candidate -- like a jim cawley -- it becomes a tougher race for the governor. >> i don't see jim cawley -- he's a former lieutenant governor, bucks county republican. terrific guy to do it. he's now running the united way. and if you're in that role, and he's doing a good job doing that, and it's a good job in terms of what you do, it's a good job in terms of compensation, i don't see a person like that saying, "you know what? i'm gonna walk away from this. i hope this works out, and what would i do next?" >> he might not, but i'm talking about the kind of a profile -- >> yeah, the kind of -- i agree. >> the type of person that would be... >> before we go to break, quickly, a couple of bills in harrisburg of interest. one of them is, perhaps, a retread of the gun law attempt that was struck down by the pennsylvania supreme court. it was act 192 that tried to tell local governments, you can't have a tougher gun law than the state allows. the nra is in the thick of that. anybody concerned that we're doing this on sort of a backdoor approach to try to get more gun control again? >> well, it was my understanding that under the pennsylvania constitution, it's the state that governs gun legislation, so i'm not really sure how local municipalities can have gun laws that are stricter or, you know, divide from the constitution itself. so, i mean, as far as the gun legislation and being able to challenge these municipalities is concerned, that's one issue. but, from my perspective, i don't know how municipalities can have local gun legislation that conflicts with the state laws, because it's the state that really lays out what you can and you can't do with respect to restricting guns. >> unless your state is really two places, which is an urban and a suburban area. >> exactly. pennsyltucky. >> yeah, there's no question the state can legislate, but there are fringes around that an urban community could do things in terms of registration and other activities which essentially make it a little harder for the obtaining of weapons. but the state legislation can always usurp whatever legislation's done by the city. and i would hope that there's some sensitivity. there's a different need in upstate than there is in urban america. >> absolutely. >> with the killings in chicago, killings in philadelphia. >> do you think you need more guns down here? is that what you're saying? for defense? is that what you're -- >> i would love to see harder access to guns in urban america. >> absolutely. all right, we'll take a break. "inside story" continues right after this. >> "inside story" is presented by temple university. remarkable change isn't easy, but for those who take charge, it comes naturally. explore temple's impact. visit temple.edu/impact. fios is not cable. we're wired differently. maybe that's why we've been ranked highest in customer satisfaction by jd power 4 years in a row. and now you can love fios too. get our best offer of the year. 150 meg internet with equal upload and download speeds, tv and phone. all for $79.99 per month, for the first year with a two-year agreement. plus get hbo for a year and free multi-room dvr service for two years. go to getfios.com or call 1.888.get.fios get the best. get fios. ♪ >> welcome back to "inside story." last week, millions of women around the globe celebrated international women's day to, of course, tout successes and gains in business, science, other areas, but also to pinpoint places that need growth. and one of them, interestingly, in pennsylvania, we have a couple of graphics to show you -- was really startling to a lot of people, and that's in the political realm. we have some areas, room for growth. certainly, pennsylvania has never had a female governor, senator, mayor in philadelphia. but here's a statistic for you... and our population, as many people know, is 51% majority female, 49% male. here's another one that's sort of an eye-catcher. pennsylvania's entire congressional delegation is -- and always has been -- male. it's one of 13 states without female representation. so, if half the state wants to be represented by someone who maybe could feel their needs more -- whether they could is debatable -- but anyway, how do they go about building on that and changing the scene to at least equate it a little bit? >> well -- >> go ahead, ajay. >> well, i was just -- we've never had a female mayor and never a female governor and never a u.s. senator who's a female, no current congressman. i think a lot of it is you have to build a pipeline and you have to make sure that -- you can't just have the marketing materials and organizations at all levels, but also provide the opportunities -- in addition to mentoring -- the right opportunities, and make sure that they have the same advancement, equal access to opportunity as opposed to equal access to outcome, as well. so, you have to do both. and i think that starts at the leadership level. if you have more women and those who are thinking about these issues, they will make it beyond just the marketing materials, make it a daily practice. >> we've had katie mcginty, who ran for office, we had d.a. lynne abraham. we've had people who have risen up but haven't necessarily conquered those particular jobs. >> yeah, there have been great successes, especially -- i mean, i look to lynne abraham. she's one of my heroes. and she really is an iconic figure in philadelphia -- controversial, but iconic. i -- to build on what ajay is saying, i think he's absolutely right. there has to be a pipeline. there has to be a -- sort of like a bullpen. you have to have mentorship, but you also have to make sure that it is cross-philosophical, that it's not just focused -- i see a lot -- unfortunately, from my perspective -- i see that there's a lot of philosophical ghettoizing, whereby there's a lot of mentorship and there's a lot of support for someone who would be considered either a progressive or a democrat, especially in this city. there needs to also be a base of support for those who are more conservative, republicans, people who have more, let's say, traditional values. >> and do you see any of the changes happening, or is it stagnant? >> you know, you're seeing changes, you know, and i think you're seeing more of an extreme focus on, you know, more women on boards of directors, et cetera, et cetera, things like that, which is important. dianne semingson locally is kind of moving ahead and pushing hard on that issue. it is interesting that one of the earliest states that had a u.s. senator was maine -- margaret chase smith, right? back in the late '40s, '50s. and so, you wonder if it's somehow when there's an urbanized environment, as there are in pennsylvanias of the world, versus a more rural, kind of less of an organizational structure around politics, it gives more of an opportunity for women to lead through the process. >> again, you know, i disagree. women have been discriminated throughout the world, and including here. if you look at the pay rate and equal pay, they still only get 79 cents on a dollar for the same job that the men do. there was a study done that, at that rate, it would take at least to the year 2021 for a white woman to succeed. it would take for african americans 2022, and for latinas 2023. so, it is a discriminatory factor that exists, and as a result, if you don't have economic power, you know how much money you're losing -- not only in social security? according to this study, if we had equal pay today, we would take care of 30% of the poor people in this country. if we had equal pay. >> so, what part are you disagreeing that i said? i just wasn't sure -- >> i disagree -- i disagree that we essentially are allowing people to get into the pipeline to grow. >> oh, no. >> there's large -- there's large discrimination... >> can i -- >> ...against women and women opportunities. >> but can i -- can i say something, please? and i respect you and i love you, your honor, i really do. but i think -- >> that's the study that i'm talking about. >> but we're conflating here -- >> but, yeah, "i love you." >> we're conflating the situation of women at an international level and women in the united states. can i say this -- as an immigration attorney who deals with women from third-world countries and who this week had three different gender-violence asylum claims -- absolutely, women internationally are discriminated against. but to say that the american woman is at a disadvantage with respect to the -- you know, the world, that's not true. we have -- >> christine, i disagree. >> those numbers -- >> all right, go ahead. i mean, we do have disadvantages. we don't have to walk 20 miles to get water, as they do in africa every day. >> those numbers are u.s. numbers. >> explain how i'm discriminated against. >> i'll tell you how. let's just take from the top level. we at the business community are struggling to find a woman to celebrate, because there are four or five that we keep celebrating. that's because -- there's talent there, they're not moving up the ranks. >> but how is being a ceo 500 a metric? >> that pushes down to everything else. if you have leadership, the policies also govern, because we're all biased. so it's discrimination at all levels -- the policies and the opportunities, all those things are... >> we'll have to leave it at that. >> how? >> ...flow downwards. >> hold on. inside stories of the week coming your way next. >> the facts are the facts. data is data. ♪ at ikea, we believe that everything you need should be within reach. in an affordable dream kitchen that works as hard as you do. save up to 20% at the ikea kitchen event. at ikea, we believe that everything you need should be within reach. in an affordable dream kitchen that works as hard as you do. save up to 20% at the ikea kitchen event. >> "inside story" is presented by temple university. remarkable change isn't easy, but for those who take charge, it comes naturally. explore temple's impact. visit temple.edu/impact. >> time for inside stories of the week, and let's start with nelson. >> well, it's international women's month, and i really think we should honor a major accomplisher, dr. carmen febo, who for 10 years has labored and finally accomplished this week the opening of a new cultural and museum in the heart of north philadelphia, in the hispanic community. 25,000-square-foot facility, which is incredibly beautiful and available to that community. >> christine. >> monica, crocheted hats have become a symbol of rising up in a movement, particularly in support of women. on friday, it was -- to my great horror -- national abortion providers appreciation day. and so, in that vein, i crocheted my own hat in baby blue, and...this is in honor of life. >> all right. ajay. >> shoutout to erinda shenu -- sheno. she just won $10,000 from our foundation 'cause she had the winning essay for the covering letter prompt. and the prompt was, gandhi wrote a letter to hitler four weeks before the outbreak of world war ii, and the essay talked about whether or not there's role of civility in popular discourse, especially when we disagree with people. so, erinda, congratulations. >> terrific. brian. >> here's what a woman can do -- dawn zier, the brilliant ceo of nutrisystem, where i'm fortunate to serve on the board, in less than five years, has taken this company from $7 a share to $49 a share. she's gonna be honored at widener university this week, this thursday, at the voices of leadership, where ceos like ellen kullman -- also a woman -- joe neubauer, vernon hill, others, gerry lenfest have all been honored before. so, that's what a woman can do. >> terrific. and that's "inside story" for this week. thanks so much to you for watching, and thanks to our insiders for their ideas. >> and thank you. >> and thank you so much. have a great week. thank you. see you next week. thank you. ♪ the following is a presentation of espn on abc. a unique combination of features creates one of the most fun venues in american motor sports to open the verizon indycar season. it's the firestone grand prix of st. petersburg. start with a vibrant, lively downtown, full of shops, straunlts, a lot of fun. a waterfront. a ballpark. an airport runway. put those together with palm trees. high-tech, high-speed race cars. racing stars from america and around the world. the result can only be some fast, florida fun.

Related Keywords

Vietnam , Republic Of , United States , Temple University , Pennsylvania , Philadelphia , Petersburg , Sankt Peterburg , Russia , Florida , Spain , Chicago , Illinois , Americans , America , Spanish , American , Nelson Diaz , Jim Cawley , Joe Neubauer , William Penn , Katie Mcginty , Lynne Abraham , Beth Grossman , Vernon Hill , Mike Kelly , Jake Corman , Seth Williams , Brian Tierney , Ajay Raju , Ellen Kullman ,