today's papers
Sin of Emission
By Jesse Stanchak
Posted Tuesday, April 3, 2007, at 6:31 AM ET
Everyone leads (and the Wall Street Journal tops its world-wide newsbox) with the U.S. Supreme Court's 5-4 ruling that the Environmental Protection Agency may regulate automobile emissions contributing to global warming. The ruling does not force the agency to regulate, but it leaves the agency open to further legal action under the Clean Air Act if it fails to do so.
The Washington Post calls the decision a "rebuke" of the Bush administration's stance on global warming. The decision saw moderate conservative Justice Anthony M. Kennedy side with the more liberal wing of court. The New York Times delves into the issue of "standing" in the case. The dissenting opinion focused not on the facts of the case but said that the defendants should never have been able to bring the matter before the court at all. The majority opinion ruled that one of the defendants, the commonwealth of Massachusetts, met all the tests for standing, which were softened out of deference for its status. That extra consideration for states was key to getting Kennedy's vote for the opinion, the paper reports. USA Today notes that the decision is a blow to the Alliance of Automobile Manufacturers, who will now likely turn to Congress for new laws to avoid having to build lower-emissions vehicles. The Los Angeles Times is the least ebullient, citing several hurdles California will have to clear to enforce its own tougher emissions limits. The WSJ looks at the economic impact of the decision.
The WP off-leads, the NYT fronts, and the other papers tease analysis of Republican presidential candidates preliminary fund-raising disclosures. Former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney brought in $21 million, $6.5 million of which reportedly came from a single day's fund raising. In the same breath, the papers all mention Sen. John McCain's disappointing $12.5 million third-place showing. The NYT focuses on Romney's support from Wall Street and from fellow Mormons. The WP chalks up McCain's performance to sluggish organization and lingering damage from the 2000 race. All the papers are careful, to varying degrees, to insist that money really isn't everything in politics.
The LAT off-leads with a scoop from Iraq, reporting that militants formerly loyal to cleric Muqtada Sadr are being siphoned off by other militant groups, some of which may have Iranian backing. Sadr is losing support because he urged his followers to freeze their activities at U.S. behest. Officials worry that if Sadr loses control of his people, it will be much harder to influence Shiite militants.
In absence of any sort of hard data from the Obama campaign, the NYT off-leads with a soft feature on how Obama raises money, drawing examples primarily from his 2004 Senate race. Readers looking for insight into Obama's current operation can likely skip it.
USAT and the LAT tease the Florida Gators' victory in the NCAA Tournament for the second year in a row.
The WP fronts the subprime mortgage industry's collapse claiming its largest victim, New Century Financial, which issued $51.6 billion in subprime loans last year.
The LAT fronts word that Sam Zell, a Chicago real estate mogul, bought Tribune Co., publishers of the LAT, the Chicago Tribune, and the Baltimore Sun, among other papers, along with several TV stations and the Chicago Cubs. Zell will take the company private, buying out stockholders at $34 a share. The paper estimates the Zell stands to make a lot of money on the deal. But before you accuse the LAT of bias, consider: The NYT points out under the fold that Zell bought an $8.2 billion company for just $315 million of his own money. The NYT also says that music executive David Geffen remains interested in the LAT, though Zell has said he does not want to break up the company, apart from selling off the Cubs at the end of the season.
Pharmaceutical giant Pfizer stands to loose billions because of health plans pushing the generic version of Pfizer's blockbuster anti-cholesterol drug, Lipitor. Now Pfizer is trying to convince doctors to help justify the more expensive drug to insurers, reports USAT.
The WP traces the origin of the document the Bush administration used in prewar claims that Iraq was trying to buy Uranium from Nigeria.
The Left Behind series, the books that woke up the publishing industry to the evangelical market, concludes with its 16th installment this week. The LAT looks at the books' influence (and commercial empire). Intriguingly, the piece suggests the books have helped the subject of the rapture become almost quaint among evangelicals.
Under the fold, the WP covers the American College of Physicians controversial decision to scale back recommendations that women older than 40 get regular mammograms. The group is concerned about overdiagnosis and overtreatment.
Decades after being nearly wiped out by the Cultural Revolution, classical musical is growing faster in China than it is in the West, says the NYT.
USAT teases a report that 911 services in some areas are imperiled by funding shortfalls. As roughly one in 20 people forgo land lines for cell phones, fewer surcharges are brought in to fund the system, since cell phone users pay smaller fees.
Only the WSJ fronts it (via the newsbox), but Ukraine's government collapsed Monday, with Prime Minister Yushchenko dissolving parliament and calling for new elections.
Someone Forgot To Tell Her April Fools' Was Sunday …
In its opinion section, the LAT recaps the conspiracy-theory views of Rosie O'Donnell, arguing that she should be ousted from her spot on the popular morning talk show, The View for spouting reckless theories about the Sept. 11 attacks.
Jesse Stanchak is an assistant documents editor at Congressional Quarterly. He covers elections in Oregon and Idaho for CQpolitics.com.
Article URL: slate.com
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