Bush to speak in Philadelphia today

President George Bush will make a quick stop in Philadelphia today to speak to the Chamber of Commerce and help kick off his presidential campaign. And according to an ACT-UP -- the AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power -- member Norman Baker, the President's visit will be met with protests against his domestic policies. After arriving at the Philadelphia National Airport at about 11 a.m., Bush will speak at the Franklin Plaza Hotel at noon and leave the city shortly after 1 p.m. According to Baker, ACT-UP will be outside the hotel protesting with interesting "visual displays." Bush's last visit to Philadelphia was in September, when he toured a Universtiy-sponsored drug treatment program at the Veterans Administration Hospital and went to a fund-raising dinner for Republican Senate candidate Richard Thornburgh. Nearly 7,000 protesters turned out to show their objection to his domestic policies. The protests turned violent when ACT-UP and other protest groups which included University students pushed their way through police barricades across from the hotel where the fund-raising dinner was held. Police hit many protesters on their heads and bodies with nightsticks. Eight protesters were arrested and one was taken to Hahnemann University Hospital for a head injury. Last Tuesday night Bush delivered his State of the Union address and began his campaign for re-election. Bush's speech called for a reduction in nuclear arms, a lowering of the capital gains tax and giving a $5000 tax credit to first-time home buyers, reformation of the health care system and the strengthening of the American family.

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