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Sotomayor nominated to high court — first Hispanic

AP – Source: Obama picks Sotomayor for Supreme Court

AP – President Barack Obama announces federal appeals court judge Sonia Sotomayor, right, as his nominee for …

By BEN FELLER, Associated P
ress Writer Ben Feller, Associated Press Writer – 1 min ago

WASHINGTON – President Barack Obama named federal appeals judge Sonia Sotomayor as the nation’s first Hispanic Supreme Court justice on Tuesday, praising her as “an inspiring woman” with both the intellect and compassion to interpret the Constitution wisely.

Obama said Sotomayor has more experience as a judge than any current member of the high court had when nominated, adding she has earned the “respect of colleagues on the bench,” the admiration of lawyers who appear in her court and “the adoration of her clerks.”

“My heart today is bursting with gratitude,” Sotomayor said from the White House podium moments after being introduced by Obama.

If confirmed by the Senate, she would join Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg as the second woman on the current court, the third in history. She would succeed retiring Justice David Souter.

She would be unlikely to alter the ideological balance of the court, since Souter generally sides with the liberals on key 5-4 rulings. But at 54, she is a generation younger that Souter, and liberal outside groups hope she will provide a counterpoint to some of the sharply worded conservative rulings.

Obama and Sotomayor both noted the historic nature of the appointment. The president said a Hispanic on the court would mark another step toward the goal of “equal justice under law.”

Obama and Sotomayor stood with Vice President Joe Biden. It was a striking picture of diversity: a black president, a white vice president and a Hispanic nominee to the nation’s highest court.

Sotomayor said she grew up in poor surroundings and never dreamed she would one day be nominated for the highest court.

Obama has said he hopes she can take her place before the justices begin their new term in October.
Democrats hold a large majority in the Senate, and barring the unexpected, Sotomayor’s confirmation should be assured.

The Senate Republican leader, Sen. Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, issued a statement that said: “Senate Republicans will treat Judge Sotomayor fairly. But we will thoroughly examine her record to ensure she understands that the role of a jurist in our democracy is to apply the law evenhandedly, despite their own feelings or personal or political preferences.”

In his remarks, Obama made no mention of his earlier statement that he wanted a justice with empathy, although his remark that compassion was needed came close.
Sotomayor’s nomination opens a new phase in the drive to replace Souter, as liberal and conservative groups alike scour the record she has compiled in 17 years on the federal bench.

In one of Sotomayor’s most notable decisions, as an appellate judge she sided last year with the city of New Haven, Conn., in a discrimination case brought by white firefighters. The city threw out results of a promotion exam because too few minorities scored high enough. Coincidentally, that case is now before the Supreme Court.

That ruling has already drawn criticism from conservatives, and is likely to play a role in her confirmation hearing.

In one of her most memorable rulings as federal district judge, in 1995, Sotomayor ruled with Major League Baseball players over owners in a labor strike that had led to the cancellation of the World Series.

Obama referred to that in his remarks, then joked he hoped her support for the Yankees would not unduly influence New Englanders to oppose her in the Senate.
Among them is Sen. Patrick Leahy of Vermont, the chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee, who said, “The American people will want the Senate to carry out its constitutional duty with conscientiousness and civility.”

Sotomayor grew up in New York after her parents moved from Puerto Rico. She has dealt with diabetes since age 8 and lost her father at age 9, growing up under the care of her mother in humble surroundings. As a girl, inspired by the Perry Mason television show, she knew she wanted to be a judge.

A graduate of Princeton University and Yale Law School, a former prosecutor and private attorney, Sotomayor became a federal judge for the Southern District of New York in 1992. She became an appeals judge in 1998 for the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, which covers New York, Vermont and Connecticut.

She was first appointed by a Republican, President George H.W. Bush, and won Senate confirmation without dissent. She was named an appeals judge by President Bill Clinton in 1997.

At her Senate confirmation hearing more than a decade ago, she said, “I don’t believe we should bend the Constitution under any circumstance. It says what it says. We should do honor to it.”

Obama’s nomination is the first by a Democratic president in 15 years.

His announcement leaves the Senate four months — more than enough by traditional standards — to complete confirmation proceedings before the court begins its next term in the fall.
Republicans have issued conflicting signals about their intentions. While some have threatened filibusters if they deemed Obama’s pick too liberal, others have said that is unlikely.

Given Sotomayor’s selection, any decision to filibuster would presumably carry political risks — Hispanics are the fastest-growing segment of the population and an increasingly important one politically.

One conservative group did not wait for the formal announcement. Wendy Long of the Judicial Confirmation Network, issued a statement calling Sotomayor a “liberal judicial activist of the first order who thinks her own personal political agenda is more important that the law as written.”

Abortion rights have been a flashpoint in several recent Supreme Court confirmations, although Sotomayor has not written any controversial rulings on the subject.

As a federal appeals court judge in 2002, she ruled against an abortion rights group that had challenged a government policy prohibiting foreign organizations receiving U.S. funds from performing or supporting abortions.

In her opinion, Sotomayor wrote that the government was free to favor the anti-abortion position over a pro-choice position when public funds were involved.
Sotomayor’s elevation to the appeals court was delayed by Republicans, in part out of concerns she might someday be selected for the Supreme Court. She was ultimately confirmed for the appeals court in 1998 on a 68-28 vote, gathering some Republican support.

Among those voting against her was Alabama Sen. Jeff Sessions, now the top Republican on the Judiciary Committee that will hold sway over her confirmation.
“I’d say the stakes are higher for the Supreme Court,” he said recently. “The Supreme Court sometimes seems to be acting as a continuing constitutional convention, so I am concerned about that.” He said Sotomayor would be entitled to a fair hearing if nominated.

Sotomayor possesses credentials Sessions said he wanted in a pick for the high court — years of experience on the bench. Obama had talked openly about the upside of choosing someone outside the judiciary — every current justice is a former federal appeals court judge — but passed over at least two serious candidates who had never been judges.

Sotomayor has spoken openly about her pride in her ethnic background and has said that personal experiences “affect the facts that judges choose to see.”
“I simply do not know exactly what the difference will be in my judging,” she said in a speech in 2002. “But I accept there will be some based on my gender and my Latina heritage.”

From the moment Souter announced his resignation, it was widely assumed Obama would select a woman to replace him, and perhaps a Hispanic as well.
Others known to have been considered included federal appeals judge Diane Wood, who was a colleague of the president’s at the University of Chicago Law School, as well as two members of his administration, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Solicitor General-nominee Elena Kagan.

Obama came to office at a time when several potential vacancies loomed on the high court. Justice John Paul Stevens at is 89, and Ginsburg recently underwent surgery for pancreatic cancer.

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Provided by Yahoo News

By DEB RIECHMANN, Associated Press Writer Deb Riechmann, Associated Press Writer – 2 hrs 4 mins ago

WASHINGTON – It’s not all doom and gloom in the U.S. economy. Some products are bucking the recession and flying off store shelves.

Sales of chocolate and running shoes are up. Wine drinkers haven’t stopped sipping; they just seem to be choosing cheaper vintages.

Gold coins are selling like hot cakes. So are gardening seeds. Tanning products are piling up in shopping carts; maybe more people are finding color in a bottle than from sun-worshipping on a faraway beach.

Strong sales of Spam, Dinty Moore stew and chili helped Hormel Foods Corp. post a 6 percent increase in first quarter sales in its grocery products unit.

Consumers have trimmed household budgets and postponed buying cars, major appliances and other big-ticket items. Yet they still are willing to shell out for small indulgences and goods that make life more comfortable at home, where they are spending more time.

Recession shoppers also are drawn to items that make them feel safe, both personally and financially.

“The focus on the family hearth is something that has happened in nearly every recession. It’s, `How can I have more fun at home?’” said Paco Underhill, whose company, Envirosell, monitors the behavior of shoppers and sellers across the U.S. and in other countries.

“People are much more focused on their homes and their immediate happiness and they’re buying things that they can use themselves — seeds, fishing equipment. Lipstick and chocolate are small rewards that make you feel better.”
Profits in the first three months of 2009 at Hershey Co., the nation’s second-largest candy maker, surged 20 percent and beat Wall Street’s expectations. Kraft Foods Inc. reported double-digit growth in macaroni and cheese dinners — the consummate comfort food.

Recessions, it seems, are good for love, too. Over the final three months of 2008, condom sales rose 5 percent and Match.com reported its strongest performance in seven years.

But economic woes are as rough on the tummy as they are on the wallet. Chicago-based market researcher Information Resources Inc. reports that sales of laxative liquids and powders rose 11.5 percent for the 52 weeks ending April 19. Sales of stomach remedy tablets, including Pepto-Bismol and Phillips brands, climbed 8 percent.
As expected during any economic slump, recession shoppers looking for deals have boosted sales at discount chains such as Wal-Mart Stores Inc. Dollar Tree Inc. sneaked into this year’s Fortune 500 for the first time, at No. 499.

There’s a general tendency to trade down, according to Leo J. Shapiro & Associates, a consulting firm in Chicago. That means eating dinner at the kitchen table instead of restaurants, buying used cars and shopping at do-it-yourself auto parts stores. It means spending less on clothes. Sales at luxury retailer Saks Inc. fell 32 percent last month. Sales at Goodwill Industries International stores in the U.S. and Canada jumped by 7 percent in March.

“If you’re used to eating out, maybe you’re now buying a high-end steak at the supermarket,” said Bill Patterson, a senior analyst in Chicago with Mintel International, which supplies consumer, product and media intelligence. “If you eat at home mostly, maybe you are going down from the branded product to a private label.”

People are not drinking as much beer or wine at bars and restaurants, but they haven’t stopped drinking. The Wine Institute says that despite the recession, U.S. sales of California wines totaled about 467 million gallons last year — 2 percent more than the year before. But people are looking more closely at cheaper selections: The overall retail value of California wine sales fell slightly from 2007, the institute said.

Those on the go are not shying away from footing the bill for sturdy running shoes. Sales increased 2 percent in 2008, said Tom Doyle at the National Sporting Goods Association in Mount Prospect, Ill.

“Runners aren’t going to hurt themselves to save a few bucks,” he said. Likewise, sales of bicycle helmets are up as parents continue to spend money to protect youngsters, he said.

The financial meltdown produced more interest in home safes. Coin dealers are awash in customers as investors big and small see the safety of gold.
Sunshine Minting Inc. in Coeur d’Alene, Idaho, which supplies gold blanks to the U.S. Mint, doubled its work force in 2008.

“It just came on like gangbusters,” said president Tom Power, who struggled to hire, train and get new equipment to handle demand that doubled, then tripled. “You can’t just flip a switch and jump up production overnight.”

Guns are selling well, too. Total firearms sales rose 27.5 percent at Smith & Wesson for the three months ending Jan. 31. It’s not a sudden interest in hunting behind the increase; hunting firearm sales at the company declined during the quarter by 46 percent.

Gun sales are being driven by concern that the Obama administration will tighten gun laws. But people also are feeling a level of fear and heightened interest in self-reliance as they weather the recession.

“They are looking down the road going `What could happen here?’” Underhill said. “I think a lot of Americans are truly scared. One of the things that tickles is our pioneer ethos, which is, `I feel better with a year’s supply of toilet paper’ and `Maybe I should start canning and pickling.’”

Many people already are.
The number of home vegetable gardens is predicted to jump more than 40 percent this year, compared with two years ago, according to the National Gardening Association. Sales of vegetable seeds such as green beans, tomatoes, cucumbers, squash and lettuce climbed 30 percent as of March at W. Atlee Burpee, a large seed company in Warminster, Pa. It organized a basic training course called “root camp” for hundreds of would-be gardeners this month outside Philadelphia.

Still, when the economy grinds to a halt, people clench their teeth. That could mean spending money at the dentist.

There’s no statistical evidence, but dentists such as Dr. Matthew Messina in Cleveland, Ohio., are seeing more people with tooth-grinding injuries.

“The body responds the same way to a real threat, `There’s a burglar in the house,’ as it does to a perceived stress like `I’m worried I’m going to lose the house,’” Messina said.

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By RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR – 16 hours ago
WASHINGTON (AP) — Health insurance companies, facing the threat of a government health plan, offered on Tuesday to reduce rates for millions of women and accept close federal regulation of their industry.

The higher premiums now affect 5.7 million women, many of them self-employed people who must buy their own coverage.

The industry is trying to head off creation of a government health plan that would compete with them to enroll middle-class workers and their families. President Barack Obama and many Democrats favor such a plan, but the companies say it would drive them out of business. Employer groups are also leery, fearing a public plan would entice young, healthy workers by offering lower premiums.

“We are not asking people to trust us, we are asking people to trust government,” Karen Ignagni, president of America’s Health Insurance Plans, told a Senate panel that is crafting sweeping legislation to overhaul the nation’s $2.5 trillion health care system.

Although the bill won’t be written for weeks, insurers and other interest groups are trying to shape it now.

Instead of a government plan as a check on their industry, insurers are offering to accept a series of consumer protections they contend would add up to a fairer marketplace and cut into the ranks of the 50 million uninsured.

“We are comfortable with that,” Ignagni told the Senate Finance Committee at a session on how to cover the uninsured. She was part of a large panel including representatives from business, labor unions, insurers, consumer groups and public policy centers.

Finance Committee leaders want to bring a bill to the Senate floor this summer. The broad outlines will follow Obama’s campaign proposal, which builds on the current system of shared responsibility among employers, government and individuals.
Most Americans — men and women — are covered through employer plans, which are prohibited from charging higher premiums because of gender, poor health or other similar factors. Only about 9 percent purchase their own health insurance.
It’s in this group that women face higher rates. That’s health care costs for women tend to go up during childbearing years. Some policies don’t cover maternity care.
Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., suggested such practices amount to discrimination.
“The disparity between women and men in the individual marketplace is just plain wrong and it has to change,” said Kerry.

Ignagni readily conceded. “We don’t believe gender should be a subject of rating,” she said.

Lowering premiums for women will not necessarily mean that men will have to pay more. Many factors go into setting insurance rates. Age, for example, carries much greater weight than gender.

Insurers have already offered to stop denying coverage to sick people, and to end the practice of charging higher premiums to those with a history of health problems. In exchange, the industry wants Congress to require all Americans to carry health insurance, either through an employer plan, on their own, or a current government program like Medicaid.

What insurers want to avoid is a new government plan that would be open to middle-class workers and their families. Obama says such a plan would help keep private industry honest.

“I do not accept the premise that to keep the (private) plans honest you need a public program,” said Ignagni.

The industry’s concessions have yet to convince many Democrats.

“The bottom line is you need somebody who is not a private insurance company to be in the mix and there are many of us who feel very strongly about that,” Sen. Charles Schumer, D-N.Y. “It would be giving all of you in the insurance industry an unfair advantage not to have a public plan.”
Schumer said he believes Congress can write rules for a new public plan that would not give it an unfair advantage over private health plans. For example, the public plan would not get taxpayer subsidies beyond paying for startup costs, it would have to follow the same coverage rules, and doctors and hospitals would be free to opt out.

For some Democrats, particularly liberals in the House, support for a public plan is already a compromise because their real preference is for a “single-payer” plan — a government-run program for everyone, like Canada and many European countries have.
Underscoring the strong feelings about that, Tuesday’s meeting began with Capitol Police ejecting protesters who interrupted senators by shouting in favor of a single-payer plan. Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., has said that’s not on the table.

“We want a seat at the table,” shouted one protester.
“We want police,” Baucus responded.
Capitol Police removed eight people.

Baucus and many others, including President Barack Obama, say single-payer is not practical or politically feasible.

“Everything is on the table with the single exception of single-payer,” Baucus said recently. “This country is not going to adopt single-payer, at least not at this time.”

Associated Press writer Erica Werner contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.

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