Top Items:
Washington Post:
Alito Likely To Become A Justice — Liberals See Slim Chance Of Blocking Confirmation — Samuel A. Alito Jr., an appellate judge who could shift the Supreme Court significantly to the right, appeared headed for the high court yesterday after completing three days of interrogation without a serious misstep.
Discussion:
RedState, Blogs for Bush, Viking Pundit, Below The Beltway, Manufacturers Blog, Wonkette, Hugh Hewitt, Confirm Them and Carol Platt Liebau
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Adam Liptak / New York Times:
Few Glimmers of How Conservative Judge Alito Is — WASHINGTON, Jan. 12 - In over 18 hours responding to some 700 questions at his Supreme Court confirmation hearings before the Senate Judiciary Committee, Judge Samuel A. Alito Jr. mostly described a methodical and incremental approach to the law rooted in no particular theory.
Michelle Malkin:
A WOMAN THE DEMS DON'T WANT TO HEAR — This is U.S. Appeals Court Judge Maryanne Trump Barry, a Clinton appointee who gave a glowing endorsement of her colleague, Sam Alito, earlier today, along with six other judges from the appeals court who appeared before the Senate Judiciary Committee to support Alito.
Discussion:
PoliPundit.com, Confirm Them, Generation Why?, The Anchoress, Ace of Spades HQ, Bench Memos … and Confederate Yankee
Charles Lane / Washington Post:
A Right Cautious Nominee — Measured Replies Paint Picture With a Conservative Tint — Samuel A. Alito Jr. did everything he could do to avoid saying how he would rule on the big issues that might come before the Supreme Court if, as now seems likely, he is confirmed by the Senate and succeeds Sandra Day O'Connor.
New York Times:
Pro-Choice Senators and Judge Alito — There are many reasons to be concerned about the nomination of Judge Samuel Alito Jr. for the Supreme Court, but for a small group of moderate Republicans who strongly identify themselves as supporters of abortion rights, there is a special problem …
Economist:The brainbox and the blowhards — Samuel Alito, George Bush's …
Discussion:
Washington Times
Jeff Goldstein / protein wisdom:Biden v Alito — the abridged Senate Confirmation Hearing questioning, 3
Clark Hoyt / Knight Ridder:Knight Ridder's Alito story: Factual and fair
Discussion:
The Moderate Voice
Jonathan Weisman / Washington Post:
Deficit Could Top $400 Billion — Driven by the cost of hurricane relief, the federal budget deficit is expected to balloon back above $400 billion for the fiscal year that ends in September, reversing the improvements of 2005, a White House official told reporters yesterday.
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Edmund L. Andrews / New York Times:
Deficit Will Climb in 2006, White House Says — WASHINGTON, Jan. 12 - The White House acknowledged on Thursday that the budget deficit would climb back above $400 billion this year, erasing the brief improvement last year and complicating President Bush's vow to cut the deficit in half by 2009.
Elisabeth Bumiller / New York Times:
In New Orleans, Bush Speaks With Optimism but Sees Little of Ruin — NEW ORLEANS, Jan. 12 - President Bush made his first trip here in three months on Thursday and declared that New Orleans was "a heck of a place to bring your family" and that it had "some of the greatest food in the world and some wonderful fun."
Discussion:
BAGnewsNotes
Michael Barbaro / New York Times:
Maryland Sets a Health Cost for Wal-Mart — ANNAPOLIS, Md., Jan. 12 - The Maryland legislature passed a law Thursday that would require Wal-Mart Stores to increase spending on employee health insurance, a measure that is expected to be a model for other states.
Discussion:
TigerHawk, The Conspiracy to Keep …, Fantasy Life, EconLog, Sisyphus Shrugged and Preemptive Karma
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ABCNEWS:
Surge in Sale of Disposable Cell Phones May Have Terror Link — Phones Can Be Difficult or Impossible to Track; Large Quantities Purchased in California, Texas — Jan. 12, 2006 — Federal agents have launched an investigation into a surge in the purchase of large quantities of disposable cell phones …
RELATED ITEM:
Reliapundit / THE ASTUTE BLOGGER:HAS THE NYTIMES NSA LEAK LED TO A SURGE IN DISPOSABLE CELLPHONE PURCHASES?
Discussion:
The Anchoress
William Tate / The American Thinker:
The controversy following revelations that U.S. intelligence agencies have monitored suspected terrorist related communications since 9/11 reflects a severe case of selective amnesia by the New York Times and other media opponents of President Bush. They certainly didn't show the same outrage …
Discussion:
Dr. Sanity, Dean's World, The Anchoress, In the Bullpen, THE ASTUTE BLOGGER, PoliPundit.com and NewsBusters.org
TigerHawk:
Alito roundup: Ted Kennedy tramples on freedom of speech and association — AJStrata makes a point that — with a little tweaking — reveals the desperation of the Democrats on the Senate Judiciary Committee: … AJStrata is on to something here, at least, as I say, with a bit of a tweak.
Discussion:
San Francisco Chronicle, The Strata-Sphere, Captain's Quarters, Betsy's Page, Decision '08, Pajamas Media and Power Line
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New York Times:
Iran and the Bomb — Fortunately, Iran is believed to still be several years away from being able to produce nuclear weapons. But it has now embarked on a course that can have no other plausible intent. — Turning its back on generous European and Russian offers that would have guaranteed …
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James Wolcott:
NOXIOUS FUMES — In a feeble attempt to draw attention to itself before it sinks into the briny deep under the dead weight of its founders Charles Johnson and Roger L. Simon and its undistinguished blogroll, Pajamas Media showcases an attack on me by Michael Fumento, and seldom has a writer been more aptly named.
Discussion:
Rook's Rant
Brian C. Anderson / City Journal:
The Plot to Shush Rush and O'Reilly — Talk radio, cable news, and the blogosphere freed U.S. political discourse. The Left wants to rein it in again. — The rise of alternative media—political talk radio in the eighties, cable news in the nineties, and the blogosphere in the new millennium …
Macollvie Jean-Francois / Sun-Sentinel:
Young men with bats kill homeless man, injure 2 others in downtown, beachside Lauderdale — FORT LAUDERDALE - Young men armed with baseball bats or sticks attacked three homeless men, killing one and hospitalizing the two others early Thursday morning in the city's downtown and beachside areas, police said.
