?Friday, March 26, 2010 Volume 126, No. 37 Price 75¢

Health bill anger reminds many of civil rights era

Backlash comes in veiled threats to House Democrats ? Black and white

Eric Mayes Tribune Staff Writer If you thought the ugliness of the healthcare reform debate was over, think again. The anger ? very often bigoted in tone ? evident during much of the debate has already boiled over. The offices of four Democrats who voted for reform were vandalized this week with 10 Democratic members of the House reporting threats, according to The Associated Press. Democratic offices in New York, Arizona and Kansas were struck and members of Congress have reported some sort of threats, including obscenity-laced phone messages, congressional leaders have said. No arrests have been reported. ?This behavior is not only outrageous ? it is un-American,? said national NAACP officials in a statement. The NAACP has started a petition in an effort to ?send the message that degrading slurs and personal attacks have no place in Health care ? Page 4A Tea Party protesters listen as Anthony Shreeves uses a bull horn outside the Attorney General?s office on Wednesday in Nashville, Tenn. Tea party activists on Wednesday bemoaned a delayed vote on Tennessee legislation that would require the state attorney general to mount a legal challenge to President Barack Obama?s massive federal health-care overhaul. ? AP PHOTO/THE TENNESSEAN, LARRY MCCORMACK

Democrats near victory in reform fight

President Barack Obama picks up 4-year-old Barack Anthony Stroud after he spoke about healthcare reform on Thursday at the University of Iowa in Iowa City. ? AP PHOTO/ CHARLES DHARAPAK

Julian Bond: More change is needed

Struggle for equality lives on, NAACP chair says at delayed Black History Month event

Across America Commentary Op-Ed City & Region Action Line Larry Miller Tribune Staff Writer NAACP?s Chairman of the Board Julian Bond was in Philadelphia on Thursday discussing changing racial issues in America ? issues that Bond said the nation couldn?t ignore just because Barack Obama is president. With his usual focused clarity, Bond spoke at the PNC Bank?s Eastwick Center in Southwest Philadelphia, talking about the evolution of the Civil Rights Movement and the role that the NAACP played during that turbulent time in America. He said it is foolhardy to think that because President Barack Obama made it to the White House that the victories and accomplishments of the Civil Rights Movement can now be dismantled. And he was most articulate in describing

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Philly?s Flash Mobs

What?s behind the rise and tough talk from officials, City & Region

1B Today T-Showers high: 47º low: 29º the plight that the nation and Black America is now in. ?While we are now poised for greater efforts and grander victories, we?re still being tested by hardships and adversities,? Bond said. ?We?ve been rocked by an economy, where one writer said no past taxpayers covers billionaires? bets. We?ve avoided another Great Depression; instead we?ve suffered a grieved recession. The decade that just ended was the worst for the U.S. economy in modern times.? Bond said from December 1999 and December 2009, there was no net job creation and that middle-class Americans were earning less at the end of the decade than at the beginning. He said that one in eight Americans are on food stamps and many, at least 6 million, that is their only income. Tomorrow Mostly Sunny high: 51º low: 36º Sunday Cloudy high: 58º low: 48º David Espo WASHINGTON ? Capping an epic struggle, congressional Democrats applied the final touches Thursday to historic legislation enshrining health care as the right of every citizen. Republicans vowed to campaign for repeal in the fall election season, drawing a quick retort from President Barack Obama: ?I welcome that fight.? The president spoke in Iowa as the Senate voted 56-43 for legislation making changes, including better benefits for seniors and lower- and middle-class families, to the bill he signed with a flourish at the White House on Tuesday. That cleared the way for a final, confirming vote in the House, which Democratic leaders, not yet begun by press time. Passage of the two bills was the culmination of what Obama called ?a year of debate and a century of trying? to ensure coverage for nearly all in a nation where millions lack it. Taken together, the two bills also aim to crack down on insurance industry abuses, and to reduce federal deficits by an estimated $143 billion over a decade. Most Americans would be required to buy insurance for the first time, and face penalties if they refused. The second of the two bills also presented Obama with another victory, stripping banks and other pri- Democrats ? Page 4A Julian Bond, NAACP chairman of the board, spoke at the PNC Bank?s Eastwick Center in Southwest Philadelphia, talking about the evolution of the Civil Rights Movement and the role that the NAACP played during that tur- bulent time in America. ? PHOTO BY ABDUL SULAYMAN/TRIBUNE STAFF PHOTOGRAPHER SPORTS ENTERTAINMENT LIFESTYLES

Strawberry Mansion in PIAA State Championship

Devonte ?DJ? Newbill helps take them there, looking forward to college. 6B

Undeterred at Philadelphia International Records

Gamble and Huff see a bright future. 6C

?An America Icon?

New book on Tupac Shakur digs into his past. 9B

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Eagles admit to listening to offers for McNabb,

Sports

6B

Soda tax bill?s fate uncertain

Property tax hike goes to committee

Eric Mayes Tribune Staff Writer A tax-credit, intended to induce small business owners selling sugary drinks to tax those drinks rather than spread the cost of the tax across their inventory, was introduced in City Council on Thursday by Councilman Darrell Clarke. ?If a business actually applied the additional tax to the sugary product, instead of applying it across the board, which is what most people think, that individual would get a tax credit, and it would achieve its goal, creating some disincentive for purchasing sugary products,? he said. If the sugary-drink tax does not pass, the tax credit would still help small businesses bring in healthier products, Clarke said, because it would encourage business owners to invest in things like refrigeration systems that would help them stock healthier products. ?We?re still not sure the sugar tax will pass,? he said. Clarke noted it was too early to suggest how much the tax credits might be. Specific guidelines would be established by the city?s Health Department, he said. ?It?s something we need to do regardless of the soda tax,? Clarke said. Mayor Michael Nutter proposed a 2cent an ounce sugar tax in his March 4 Council ? Page 6A State Rep. Dwight Evans, left, and Mayor Michael Nutter, right, stand behind state Sen. Anthony Williams after endorsing him on Thursday for governor. ? PHOTO BY KYW1060

Nutter and Evans back Williams

Bond ? Page 5A Williams ? Page 6A COMING SUNDAY Celebrating Easter, Special Supplement Eric Mayes Tribune Staff Writer State Sen. Anthony Hardy Williams picked up two powerful endorsements on Thursday morning when Mayor Michael Nutter and state Rep. Dwight Evans threw their support behind the only Democrat from Philadelphia. ?I?m always appreciative when people recognize your work and support you in your efforts,? Williams said. ?But I?m particularly appreciative because beyond being mayor and being the chairman of appropriations, they are my friends.? Nutter said Williams was a ?very good friend? and a ?great public servant.? ?But for the efforts of Senator Anthony Williams, the city would not have been successful last year in our efforts to stabilize our finan- The Philadelphia Tribune, a reflection of you. The Philadelphia Tribune

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