Ron Panepinto Jewelers
Jim Stevenson
700 Sansom St. 215-923-1980
9371 ROOSEVELT BLVD. PHILADELPHIA, PA 19114 215-698-7000 JStevenson@ChapmanAutoGroup.com
Vol. XI. No. 13 (Issue 478)
www.PanepintoJewelers.com We Buy Gold & Diamonds
Serving Citywide Political, Labor, Legal and School Communities of Philadelphia “The good things we do must be made a part of the public record”
Value 50¢
March 26, 2009
Without Tort Reform, Hospitals Will Close Northeastern Now 17th To Go “Just why the citizens of Philadelphia aren’t parading in protest outside of their local State Representative’s office at this moment in time doesn’t make sense,” said vascular surgeon Dr. James J. Tayoun, founder and former president of Politically Active Physicians Association, now called Patients And Physicians Alliance, commenting on the closing of Northeastern Hospital in Port Richmond. His organization has been championing for medical-tort reform BEST OF St. Patrick’s for the past 10 years. Day celebrations that cov“Don’t blame the Mayor or City ered city was annual Council,” he added, “for the closing Breakfast celebration of the city’s 17th hospital in recent hosted by Judge Jimmy years. The problem has been the reLynn, candidate for Comfusal of the State Legislature to pass monwealth Court. With tort reform. They’ve given us Bandhim are members of St. aid legislation to stem a hemorrhage Malachy’s College Tradiof doctors who have been forced to tional Band from Belfast, take their practices to other states or Ireland. Other St. Patrick just curtail what they did do or just Day pictures can be found close up due to the high insurance inside pages. rates they have to pay.” Dr. Tayoun’s sentiments have been expressed by thousands of doctors who have had to give up their practices, and hospitals that have had to close some of the services they deliver or go out of business. Northeastern Hospital will no The Philadelphia Parking Authority will use its administrative compliance longer be an acute-service hospital as machinery to Insure Vendors pay the taxes they owe the city. It will now re(Cont. Page 43) quire all vendors and placard parking applicants to show they are current on city taxes In a letter to City Controller Alan Butkovitz, Executive Director Vince Fenerty announced the PPA will begin “checking each of its vendors to insure that all are current with their tax obligations to the City. “While the PPA requires all of its vendors to provide a Business Priviby Tony West When the time comes to square away the City’s business – and that time has lege Tax identification number, it has never taken the added step of checkcome – the elephant in the boardroom is benefits. And for 20,000 civil servants, the elephant is literally a matter of life and death. ing to make sure vendors have no Of the roughly $2 billion gap in the 5-year budget Mayor Michael Nutter outstanding tax liabilities with the is trying to close, roughly half of that is caused by a gigantic shortfall in fund- City before receiving payment from ing for the City’s pension and health-care obligations. Health-care costs are the PPA. Now we will check each soaring out of control for the City as they are for all other payors in America. vendor for compliance,” Fenerty Pension set-asides are determined by accounting rules that carry the force of said. In a letter to City Controller Alan law, although they can be tweaked and bent by experts. Before last autumn’s Wall Street crash, the City had already done some bending and its pension Butkovitz, Fenerty pledged to introduce additional support. fund needed strengthening. (Cont. Page 19)
Lynn’s Legendary Feast Day
FAVORED to gain endorsements from both Democratic and Republican City Committees are Iraq-Afghanistan veteran Judge Pat Dugan and Judge Dan Anders.
Endorsements Favor Four Sitting Judges by Joe Shaheeli The coveted endorsements from both the Democratic and Republican City Committees bring to a climax the scurrying for the many offices open in this May primary, especially among Judicial candidates. Endorsements will be handed down by the Democratic City Committee at a press conference this Friday at noon at its headquarters at 1421 Walnut Street. Its Policy Com-
mittee, which conducted interviews during the week, will submit its recommendations to the ward leaders for approval an hour earlier. The Republican City Committee has made some of its endorsements, with add-ons to follow depending on who stays in the race. They have endorsed sitting Judges Angeles Roca, Dan Anders and Joyce Eubanks for Common Pleas. Others endorsed for (Cont. Page 2)
PPA Backs City Tax Collections
Round Two: Unions Vs. Nutter
Why Mayor Needs Concessions and Why Unions Say No Excerpts from Mayor Michael Nutter’s address to City Council Mar. 19, 2009 On Jan. 15, just two months after closing the first billion-dollar deficit in our current Five-Year Plan, I announced that we had been hit by an economic hurricane – a second billion-dollar gap had opened up in our next plan. Again, the driving forces were declining tax revenue and huge losses in our Pension Fund, requiring millions of additional dollars from taxpayers to support our Fund, the safety net for our retirees and current workforce…. And so, today, I’m calling upon Pete Matthews, president of District Council 33; Brian McBride, president of the firefighters’ Local 22; John McNesby, (Cont. Page 19)