Copyright 2008 The New York Sun Wed, 18 Jun 2008 16:33:03 -0400 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Brian McGuire :: Stories from The New York Sun http://www.nysun.com/authors/Brian+McGuire istoll@nysun.com (Ira Stoll) webmaster@nysun.com en-us BRIAN McGUIRE http://www.nysun.com/new-york/ny-senators-hospitals-protest-budget/27279/ Thu, 9 Feb 2006 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON - New York's two Democratic senators are casting President Bush's proposal to limit by two tenths of a percentage point the automatic annual growth of federal Medicare spending as a crushing blow to New York's health care system - firming up support from the state's vast health care lobby and frustrating budget hawks who called the plan cosmetic. Mr. Bush's proposal to lower reimbursement levels on medical services, among other measures, is expected to save the government $36 billion... BRIAN McGUIRE http://www.nysun.com/national/bushs-proposed-amtrak-subsidies-anger-those/27221/ Wed, 8 Feb 2006 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON - In a budget otherwise marked by fiscal austerity for everything but defense and security, President Bush had a generous about-face this year in his approach to at least one perennial money-losing program. And it has conservatives and liberals both hopping mad. Last year, fiscal conservatives praised Mr. Bush for proposing no direct subsidies for Amtrak. The passenger rail service had cost taxpayers more than $29 billion since its formation 36 years ago, and budget watchdogs were... BRIAN McGUIRE http://www.nysun.com/national/bushs-budget-stirs-tension-on-left-right/27111/ Tue, 7 Feb 2006 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON - In drawing up a budget that keeps spending levels roughly even with last year's but sidesteps a major overhaul of three entitlement programs, President Bush reignited tensions with Democrats, who say the plan favors the rich, and conservative Republicans, who say it does little to check future spending. Under the $2.8 trillion plan, Mr. Bush proposes to produce $65 billion in savings over five years by eliminating or reducing spending on 141 discretionary programs and by reforming... BRIAN McGUIRE http://www.nysun.com/national/menendez-must-take-stance-on-wiretapping-issue/27081/ Mon, 6 Feb 2006 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON - Just one week after voting against the confirmation of Justice Alito to the Supreme Court, New Jersey's new Democratic senator faces another thorny political decision: Whether to support a wiretapping program that President Bush has credited with helping to avert another terrorist attack on American soil. Senator Menendez, a former congressman who was appointed senator when his predecessor, Jon Corzine, was elected governor of New Jersey, was already taking heat over his support... BRIAN McGUIRE http://www.nysun.com/national/brownback-calls-for-a-stricter-stance-on-iran/27007/ Fri, 3 Feb 2006 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON - With the International Atomic Energy Agency set to formerly refer Iran today to the U.N. Security Council, a key Republican senator is calling on the White House to toughen its stance against the Iranian menace. Yet veteran analysts say the ideas being floated by Senator Brownback of Kansas may not go far enough in chastening a rogue regime that appears bent on securing nuclear weapons and narrowing freedoms. Mr. Brownback, speaking yesterday at the American Enterprise Institute in... BRIAN McGUIRE http://www.nysun.com/foreign/benedict-seeks-to-surprise-with-encyclical-on-love/26515/ Thu, 26 Jan 2006 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON - By choosing to highlight in his first encyclical letter to the world's billion Catholics the meaning of Christian love, Pope Benedict XVI is setting a papal agenda aimed at reviving a vibrant practice of the faith with a return to the basics. The new pope's 71-page letter, "On Christian Love," touches on the connection between human and divine love and addresses the charitable work of individual Christians, calling this - and not temporal authority - fundamental to the mission of... BRIAN McGUIRE http://www.nysun.com/national/pressure-on-red-state-democrats-in-alito-vote/26460/ Wed, 25 Jan 2006 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON - A straight party line vote from the Senate Judiciary Committee on Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito puts intense pressure on a handful of Democrats from states that voted for President Bush last year as the president's second nominee to the High Court in less than a year heads to the full Senate today for debate. So far, only one Democrat, Senator Nelson, of Nebraska, has vowed to support the 55-year-old federal Court of Appeals judge from New Jersey in a confirmation vote that... BRIAN McGUIRE http://www.nysun.com/national/republicans-relocate-alito-vote/26377/ Tue, 24 Jan 2006 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON - Preparing for a possible weekend vote on Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito, Republicans have relocated to the Washington, D.C., area a strategy retreat that had been scheduled to take place later this week in Williamsburg, Va. Republican sources said the majority leader of the Senate, Senator Frist, of Tennessee, ordered a change in venue for the gathering late last week in anticipation of a plan by Democrats to stall a Senate vote on Judge Alito until after the weekend. They said... BRIAN McGUIRE http://www.nysun.com/national/alitos-vote-hinges-on-senators-in-nj/26259/ Mon, 23 Jan 2006 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON - With the Senate expected to vote on Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito as early as Friday, many court watchers are focused on a handful of Democrats from states that went for President Bush last year. Republican political strategists, though, are zeroing in on two Democrats whose states voted against Mr. Bush in the 2004 election. Republican strategists say they are hoping that strong bipartisan support for Judge Alito in New Jersey and Pennsylvania will divide the Democratic Party... BRIAN McGUIRE http://www.nysun.com/national/full-report-on-clinton-years-is-sought-by-gop/26218/ Fri, 20 Jan 2006 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON - Republican senators are puzzling over how to ensure full release of a long-awaited independent counsel's report that alleges obstruction at the highest levels of the Clinton administration but which omits by court order a large narrative chunk that some conservatives think could be damaging to the former first lady, Senator Clinton. The New York Sun reported exclusively on Monday that a 10-year probe by independent counsel David Barrett into allegations of tax fraud by a former... BRIAN McGUIRE http://www.nysun.com/national/court-hands-down-a-poser-on-abortion/26124/ Thu, 19 Jan 2006 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON - The fact that both sides of the abortion debate are applauding the Supreme Court's decision yesterday requiring a lower court to rework its nullification of a New Hampshire parental notification statute is raising questions about whether the unanimous ruling was merely a placeholder ahead of a dramatic court transition. The case, Ayotte v. Planned Parenthood, was seen as an important first test of how Chief Justice Roberts would rule on the extent to which states are free to... BRIAN McGUIRE http://www.nysun.com/national/leaders-of-gop-flinching-on-issue-of-assisted/26061/ Wed, 18 Jan 2006 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON - The Supreme Court's decision yesterday to allow doctors in Oregon to use federally controlled substances to bring about the death of terminally ill patients will open the door for Congress to make its own determination on the matter. But leading Republicans are flinching on whether they intend to step into the fray on the issue. The court's 6-3 decision, with Chief Justice Roberts among those dissenting, turned on whether the U.S. attorney general has the authority to interpret on... BRIAN McGUIRE http://www.nysun.com/national/bush-doctrine-needs-fixing-critics-say/25961/ Tue, 17 Jan 2006 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON - The strong showing for Iranian-backed Islamists in last month's Iraqi election and the expected gains by the Islamic terrorist group Hamas in the Palestinian Arab elections scheduled for later this month are prompting backers of the Bush Doctrine of spreading democracy in the Middle East to call for refinements in implementing the policy - but not for its wholesale abandonment. "The Bush Doctrine is correct, but the implementation is lousy," a former staff adviser on Iran and Iraq... R. EMMETT TYRRELL Jr. and BRIAN McGUIRE http://www.nysun.com/national/cisneros-probe-stirred-worries-of-democrats/25880/ Mon, 16 Jan 2006 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON - A long-awaited report detailing an independent counsel investigation of a former secretary of housing and urban development, Henry Cisneros, outlines a coordinated effort by Clinton administration officials to first block and then limit the probe as a way of taking pressure off an administration that was already beset by scandals. The report, by independent counsel David Barrett, is scheduled for release on January 19. Details of it have been disclosed to The New York Sun by... BRIAN McGUIRE http://www.nysun.com/national/democrats-divided-on-filibuster/25916/ Mon, 16 Jan 2006 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON - A small contingent of partisan Democrats is committed to delaying a vote on Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito, but a growing sense of inevitability about the nomination among others in the party is making the stalling strategy a tough sell. Judge Alito, President Bush's choice to replace Justice Sandra Day O'Connor, survived three days of questioning last week without suffering a single serious blow. Frustrated Democrats, reluctant to cede Justice O'Connor's seat without a fight... BRIAN McGUIRE http://www.nysun.com/national/bid-to-delay-vote-on-alito-in-the-works/25821/ Fri, 13 Jan 2006 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON - Democratic efforts to block Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito flopped during three days of questioning before the Senate Judiciary Committee this week, but a document obtained by The New York Sun suggests that a strategy to delay confirmation for political purposes could be in the works. The language of the document, which is not signed, suggests it was prepared by a Republican staffer in response to a behind-the-scenes plan by Democrats. It notes that the committee's Republican... BRIAN McGUIRE http://www.nysun.com/national/alito-calmly-turns-aside-heated-questioning/25724/ Thu, 12 Jan 2006 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON - In responding to questions about his involvement with a conservative student group at Princeton University, Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito calmly deflected Democratic efforts to block his confirmation - but not before the character attack triggered an open feud among members of the Senate Judiciary Committee and drove the veteran judge's wife from the hearing room in tears. Democrats who were unable to ruffle the 55-year-old appeals court judge on Tuesday, the first day of... BRIAN McGUIRE http://www.nysun.com/national/alito-called-pretty-amazing-so-far-as-leahy-jokes/25657/ Wed, 11 Jan 2006 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON - Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito's largely technical responses to questions on contentious legal issues such as abortion and about his ethical judgment and past professional associations deflated Democratic hopes that they could put the veteran jurist on the defensive. His Republican supporters, meanwhile, were emboldened to predict that one of the most hyped hearings in memory will turn out to be a dud. Democrats staked out an aggressive questioning strategy in opening... BRIAN McGUIRE http://www.nysun.com/national/alito-hearing-could-be-most-partisan-in-decades/25592/ Tue, 10 Jan 2006 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON - Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito can expect severe questioning from a bloc of Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee this week in a confirmation hearing that promises to be the most openly partisan in nearly two decades. The committee will begin a grueling three days of questioning today on issues ranging from abortion to civil liberties to Judge Alito's past association with conservative groups. In particular, Democrats are expected to zero in on a handful of decisions and... BRIAN McGUIRE http://www.nysun.com/national/fossella-asks-homeland-security-to-rethink/25188/ Tue, 3 Jan 2006 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON - A Republican congressman from Staten Island is calling on the Department of Homeland Security to rethink a possible change in the way it distributes funds for urban areas such as New York, warning that a proposal to expand the department's funding programs to include natural disasters and health crises could lead to a decrease in funds the city receives each year for terrorism prevention. The Associated Press reported yesterday that the Department of Homeland Security is set to... BRIAN McGUIRE http://www.nysun.com/national/democrats-try-to-block-kavanaugh-bid/25168/ Fri, 30 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON — With so much attention focused on Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito, President Bush’s lower-court nominees have drawn relatively little notice in recent months. But a quiet maneuver last week by Senate Democrats aimed at blocking one of the president’s closest advisers from the federal bench has set the stage for a potentially ferocious battle early next year. Mr. Bush’s staff secretary and a former clerk to Justice Kennedy, Brett Kavanaugh, is one of six... BRIAN McGUIRE http://www.nysun.com/national/documents-show-alito-as-cautious/25104/ Thu, 29 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON - As a young lawyer in the Department of Justice, Samuel Alito argued against asking the Supreme Court to review a Black Panther lawsuit, documents released yesterday show. It was the third time in less than a month that papers from the Supreme Court nominee's early career in the Reagan administration show him pressing for a more restrained approach to legal challenges than his colleagues at the time. The Black Panther case involved a $100 million lawsuit the group had filed against... BRIAN McGUIRE http://www.nysun.com/national/clinton-efforts-raise-the-ire-of-liberals/25031/ Wed, 28 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON - Liberal challengers of Senator Clinton's re-election bid said yesterday that the grants and contracts she secured earlier this month for contributors to her political action committee will help their efforts at casting the former first lady as an ally of big corporations and a politician for hire. A former union leader, Jonathan Tasini, who recently decided to challenge Mrs. Clinton, largely because of her support for the Iraq war, said he is not surprised Mrs. Clinton secured... BRIAN McGUIRE http://www.nysun.com/new-york/schumer-clinton-earmark-funds-for-contributors/24957/ Tue, 27 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON - Senators Clinton and Schumer are asking the Pentagon to spend $123 million of its wartime budget for New York projects that the Department of Defense didn't ask for - but that in many cases are linked to the senators' campaign contributors. The two Democratic senators announced the projects - from a genomics research project at the American Museum of Natural History in Manhattan to cancer research on Long Island - in press releases this month, touting the impact they would have on... BRIAN McGUIRE http://www.nysun.com/new-york/republican-challenging-clinton-talks-taxes/24960/ Tue, 27 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON - With Jeanine Pirro's announcement last Wednesday that she was dropping out of the U.S. Senate race, and with Edward Cox still on the sidelines after entering the race and then withdrawing, the former mayor of Yonkers, John Spencer, is, for the moment at least, the last significant Republican standing who wants to run against Senator Clinton in 2006. So who is John Spencer? In an hour-long phone interview, the 59-year-old father of five talked about his past, including a period of... BRIAN McGUIRE http://www.nysun.com/national/senate-democrats-soften-iran-resolution/24913/ Fri, 23 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON - A Senate resolution condemning the president of Iran for anti-Semitic comments he made earlier this month is riling its Republican sponsors on Capitol Hill. They claim Senate Democrats forced them to strip language from the document expressing support for self-determination and a national referendum in the country. Senator Santorum, a Republican of Pennsylvania, drafted the resolution after a December 14 speech in which Mahmoud Ahmadinejad called the Holocaust a "myth" and... BRIAN McGUIRE http://www.nysun.com/national/bush-criticizes-schumer-clinton-on-usa-patriot-act/24686/ Tue, 20 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON - President Bush sharpened his attack yesterday against senators who blocked reauthorization of the USA Patriot Act, zeroing in on a handful of lawmakers from New York and other target-rich states. In remarks during an hour-long White House press conference, Mr. Bush said it is "inexcusable" for senators to ask the administration to monitor and capture terrorists while at the same time preventing it from carrying out the effort by blocking what he described as a "vital tool." Mr... BRIAN McGUIRE http://www.nysun.com/national/bush-we-are-winning-the-war-in-iraq/24609/ Mon, 19 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON - Faced with persistent concerns about progress in Iraq, President Bush yesterday pointed to successes there, such as last week's elections, defended his decision to invade the country despite difficulties securing it, and reached out to critics of the war with a plea for patience. In a prime-time speech from the Oval Office, Mr. Bush said that while certain aspects of the war have not gone as planned, others are cause for optimism. His speech came on the same day that Vice President... BRIAN McGUIRE http://www.nysun.com/national/clinton-wants-rice-to-be-tougher-on-iran-president/24559/ Fri, 16 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON - Senator Clinton launched what became a bipartisan attack against Secretary of State Rice yesterday, criticizing America's top diplomat for not responding forcefully enough to anti-Semitic comments by Iran's president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. Mr. Ahmadinejad drew harsh rebukes from Israel, America, and Europe on Wednesday for calling the Holocaust a "myth" and for suggesting that Israel be relocated to Europe, Canada, or Alaska. A spokesman for the State Department, Sean McCormack... BRIAN McGUIRE http://www.nysun.com/national/anti-alito-tour-is-drawing-small-crowds/24519/ Thu, 15 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON - A grass roots effort aimed at fueling opposition to Supreme Court nominee Judge Samuel Alito has become a target of mockery for the nominee's conservative allies instead - the latest skirmish in an ongoing turf battle among interest groups almost four weeks ahead of the confirmation hearing. Earlier this month, the liberal activist group Alliance for Justice kicked off a nationwide tour against Judge Alito in which members travel from town to town distributing literature and... BRIAN McGUIRE http://www.nysun.com/national/lawmakers-dispute-ny-security-budget/24432/ Wed, 14 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON - With a Republican congressman from Long Island set to hold private negotiations today with a senator from Maine about increasing New York's share of the federal anti-terrorism pie, two Maine congressmen who voted last spring against increasing the share for states such as New York reaffirmed their commitment to the current spending formula. The House of Representatives agreed by an overwhelming 409 to 10 vote in May to lower to 0.25% from 0.75% the minimum share of federal homeland... BRIAN McGUIRE http://www.nysun.com/national/bush-to-stress-iraqi-need-for-democracy/24293/ Mon, 12 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON - President Bush will deliver the third in a series of speeches on the Iraq war today, four days ahead of parliamentary elections in that country that will mark a major test of Mr. Bush's tough rhetoric over the past two weeks in the face of critics from both political parties. A White House spokesman, Trent Duffy, said that Mr. Bush's speech today before the World Affairs Council in Philadelphia will focus on the importance of helping Iraqis build the institutions they need to... BRIAN McGUIRE http://www.nysun.com/national/kean-senate-security-fund-delay-is-obscene/24198/ Fri, 9 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON - The chairman of the National Commission on Terrorist Attacks Upon the United States yesterday sharply criticized senators for blocking a bill that would increase federal security dollars for target-rich states like New York. Thomas Kean, who earlier this week called current formulas for allocating security funds "scandalous," focused his attack yesterday on a handful of senators from small states who are resisting a proposal that would lower the amount of money that goes to their... BRIAN McGUIRE http://www.nysun.com/national/presidents-strategy-at-midterm-focuses-on-pro/24013/ Tue, 6 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON - With fresh evidence of a growing national economy, President Bush yesterday outlined the tax-cutting strategy he will use to boost a beleaguered Republican Party ahead of next year's midterm elections. Speaking to workers at a John Deere plant in Kernersville, N.C., Mr. Bush invoked President Reagan twice during a speech in which he called on Congress to extend the temporary tax cut package that was enacted in 2003. He also highlighted recent signs of sustained economic growth and... BRIAN McGUIRE http://www.nysun.com/national/who-got-schumed-ny-senators-vie-for-top-billing/23932/ Mon, 5 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON - At first it looked like Schumer had been "Schumed." Schumer, of course, is the senior senator from New York. "Schumed" is the verb Capitol Hill staffers devised several years ago in honor of the press-friendly Democrat. Loosely defined, it's "the act of taking credit for the work of a colleague." Mr. Schumer's colleagues have long complained that he has a strong tendency to steal their thunder on legislative, and even personal, announcements. A famous example comes from a former... BRIAN McGUIRE http://www.nysun.com/national/ex-solicitor-general-defends-judge-alito-assails/23867/ Fri, 2 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON - The former U.S. solicitor general who authored a Reagan-era brief against the abortion ruling Roe v. Wade lashed out yesterday at one of the Democratic senators who will be voting on Judge Samuel Alito for saying the Supreme Court nominee should have told senators about work he did on the brief. Charles Fried, a professor at Harvard Law School and President Reagan's lead attorney in front of the Supreme Court from 1985 to 1989, told The New York Sun that a 1985 memo in which a... BRIAN McGUIRE http://www.nysun.com/national/alito-abortion-tack-mirrors-oconnor/23778/ Thu, 1 Dec 2005 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON - In a twist in the battle over Judge Samuel Alito, Democrats yesterday attacked the conservative Supreme Court nominee for a 1985 memo in which he advanced arguments seeking to limit abortion rights markedly similar to those Justice O'Connor - the socially liberal justice he aims to replace - has used to broaden such rights. As a young lawyer in the U.S. Justice Department, Samuel Alito advised Reagan administration officials against directly assaulting Roe v. Wade in favor of an... BRIAN McGUIRE http://www.nysun.com/national/health-exception-seen-as-central-to-high-court/23709/ Wed, 30 Nov 2005 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON - The protection that abortion enjoys in America despite challenges on the state level is largely due to a federal requirement that all restrictions contain an exception for the life or health of the mother. The case that the Supreme Court will hear today presents a challenge to this legal mechanism, as the justices will hear arguments for and against a New Hampshire abortion law that lacks such an exception for minors. The case, Ayotte v. Northern New England, was filed after the... BRIAN McGUIRE http://www.nysun.com/national/bush-pushes-for-changes-on-immigration/23662/ Tue, 29 Nov 2005 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON - President Bush delivered his toughest words yet on border security and illegal immigration yesterday, telling an audience in Arizona that he will lead efforts at hardening the border and returning those who are caught crossing it. But in reiterating his support for a guest-worker program that would include provisions allowing workers now here illegally to stay, Mr. Bush may have handed hard-line immigration opponents within his own party an issue to run on during next year's... BRIAN McGUIRE http://www.nysun.com/national/new-german-chancellor-sends-conciliatory-signals/23567/ Mon, 28 Nov 2005 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON - The new German chancellor, Angela Merkel, sent conciliatory signals to America during her first week on the job and said in a magazine article published today that she hopes to have "a more intensive" relationship with President Bush than her openly anti-American predecessor, Gerhard Schroeder. Yet the president's response to Mrs. Merkel's goodwill has so far not been as effusive. A 51-year-old conservative who grew up in communist East Germany, Mrs. Merkel met with President... BRIAN McGUIRE http://www.nysun.com/national/sd-senator-warns-democrats-against-obstruction/23239/ Fri, 18 Nov 2005 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON - The South Dakota Republican who defeated a former minority leader of the Senate by focusing on his efforts to block President Bush's past judicial nominees warned his Democratic colleagues yesterday that they would meet a similar fate if they move to block Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito. Senator Thune's successful campaign against Senator Daschle focused on the effort of Democrats in the Senate to block several of Mr. Bush's nominees to the federal Court of Appeals through... BRIAN McGUIRE http://www.nysun.com/national/schumer-assails-alito-on-pattern/23169/ Thu, 17 Nov 2005 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON - Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito's honeymoon with Democrats came to an abrupt end yesterday, as the minority leader of the Senate and Senator Schumer of New York rejoined an ideological battle over the courts that had been on a low flame for the past two weeks. The rumblings from Mr. Schumer and Senator Reid of Nevada apparently were timed to coincide with an advertising campaign against Judge Alito that is being organized by a coalition of liberal judicial activist groups. One... BRIAN McGUIRE http://www.nysun.com/national/senate-vote-on-war-offers-hint-of-mccain-2008/23083/ Wed, 16 Nov 2005 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON - The Senate's adoption of a statement calling on President Bush to detail America's progress in Iraq and to create the conditions for withdrawal next year provides a glimpse into the campaign strategies of senators who are looking to succeed Mr. Bush in 2008. The Senate yesterday easily defeated a proposed amendment by Senator Levin, a Democrat of Michigan, which would have required Mr. Bush to set a timetable for the withdrawal of American troops from Iraq. But the decision by the... BRIAN MCGUIRE http://www.nysun.com/national/roe-v-wade-an-issue-ahead-of-alito-hearing/23046/ Tue, 15 Nov 2005 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON - Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito's rejection of a constitutional right to abortion on a 1985 job application may not harm him as it would have previous nominees. Consensus is growing among a group of liberal law professors who advise Democrats in the Senate on judicial confirmations that Roe v. Wade is on shaky legal ground. According to records released yesterday by the National Archives, Judge Alito stated in a job application for a top Justice Department position that it was... BRIAN McGUIRE http://www.nysun.com/new-york/some-republicans-blame-bushs-ratings/22992/ Mon, 14 Nov 2005 00:00:00 EST Among the most troubling losses for New York Republicans in last week's elections may have been in rural Rensselaer County, the home district of the state Senate's Republican majority leader, Joseph Bruno. In a possible sign of Mr. Bruno's own vulnerability, his picks for county judge and Rensselaer mayor both lost to Democrats. One top Republican, who asked not to be identified, said that Mr. Bruno refuses to accept blame for last week's defeats. He said Mr. Bruno told colleagues at a dinner... BRIAN MCGUIRE http://www.nysun.com/national/romney-and-mccain-draw-large-crowds/22910/ Fri, 11 Nov 2005 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON - As President Bush struggles with his lowest-ever approval ratings and the national Republican Party reels from two gubernatorial defeats and an increasing sense of unease among voters over its foreign and domestic policy goals, two potential Republican presidential candidates tested themes apparently aimed at distancing themselves not only from their party's current woes but from the growing Republican pack. In two speeches that were delivered within an hour of each other on the... BRIAN McGUIRE http://www.nysun.com/national/democrats-accuse-alito-of-impropriety-regarding/22837/ Thu, 10 Nov 2005 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON - Democratic senators who have been unable to paint Supreme Court nominee Samuel Alito as a conservative ideologue have turned to another tactic that has served them well in recent weeks: accusations of ethical impropriety. Those efforts could prove less successful against Judge Alito than similar ones against top Republicans have been, if similar questions about past Supreme Court nominees are any guide. The ranking Democrat on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Senator Leahy, of... BRIAN McGUIRE http://www.nysun.com/national/democrats-win-contests-in-virginia-new-jersey/22735/ Wed, 9 Nov 2005 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON - Democrats easily won the governors races in Virginia and New Jersey last night, while a ballot initiative banning gay marriage in Texas drew broad support and several ballot proposals backed aggressively by Governor Schwarzenegger appeared headed for defeat. Political analysts saw the Democratic victory in Virginia by Lieutenant Governor Tim Kaine, despite a last minute push for his Republican opponent by President Bush, as a possible prelude to Democratic gains in next year's... BRIAN McGUIRE http://www.nysun.com/foreign/embassy-downplays-chirac-response/22741/ Wed, 9 Nov 2005 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON - As French citizens and police officers braced for more violence last night, officials at the French Embassy here sought to portray the uprising as stemming from youthful frustration over a lack of recognition and not reflective of the general mood among the country's Muslim minority. The French government declared a state of emergency, invoking a 50-year-old Colonial-era law and imposing a 12-day curfew on French citizens last night, the clearest sign yet that officials in Paris... BRIAN McGUIRE http://www.nysun.com/national/alito-seen-sailing-toward-confirmation-despite/22696/ Tue, 8 Nov 2005 00:00:00 EST WASHINGTON - Is Judge Samuel Alito Jr. sailing toward confirmation? Last week's decision by President Bush to replace retiring Justice Sandra Day O'Connor with Judge Alito drew fire from those eager to criticize a nominee they thought could shift the court to the right. A more restrained rhetoric has taken over in recent days, however, with Senate staffers and conservative activists predicting that the ferocious battle many expected over Justice O'Connor's seat may never flare up. "There's...