Specter: GOP priorities contributed to Kemp death  —  Sen. Arlen Specter, Pennsylvania Democrat, said part of the reason he left the Republican Party last week was disillusionment with its healthcare priorities, and suggested that had the Republicans taken a more moderate track, Jack Kemp may have won his battle with cancer.

4th-Grader Questions Rice on Waterboarding  —  Ex-Secretary of State Stresses Legality  —  Days after telling students at Stanford University that waterboarding was legal “by definition if it was authorized by the president,” former secretary of state Condoleezza Rice was pressed again …

The Case Against Sotomayor  —  Indictments of Obama's front-runner to replace Souter.  —  This is the first in a series of reports by TNR legal affairs editor Jeffrey Rosen about the strengths and weaknesses of the leading candidates on Barack Obama's Supreme Court shortlist.  —  RELATED CONTENT

GOP turns to Bush aides for advice  —  Republicans looking to recover from Bush-era defeats are turning to an unlikely source for advice: top aides to former President George W. Bush.  —  Former White House press secretary Dana Perino, former Bush counselor Ed Gillespie …

N.Y. Times to File Notice It Will Close Boston Globe  —  The New York Times Co. said last night that it is notifying federal authorities of its plans to shut down the Boston Globe, raising the possibility that New England's most storied newspaper could cease to exist within weeks.

Falling Wage Syndrome  —  Wages are falling all across America.  —  Some of the wage cuts, like the givebacks by Chrysler workers, are the price of federal aid.  Others, like the tentative agreement on a salary cut here at The Times, are the result of discussions between employers and their union employees.

BofA and Citi in last push on stress tests  —  Citigroup and Bank of America are working on plans to raise more than $10bn each in fresh capital, even as they launch last-ditch attempts to convince the US government they do not need to bolster their balance sheets.

Ancient tsunami may have hit New York City  —  Such a wave today would flood Wall Street and the Long Island Expressway  —  A huge wave crashed into the New York City region 2,300 years ago, dumping sediment and shells across Long Island and New Jersey and casting wood debris far up the Hudson River.

Deal on climate bill remains elusive  —  Congressional Democrats headed into the weekend without an agreement on a climate change bill, raising doubts an accord will be found in time for a scheduled markup this week.  —  There is broad support within the party on the bill's overarching goal …

Proposals Would Transform College Aid  —  Obama Plan to Expand Federal Control of Lending Includes Creating Entitlement  —  President Obama's health-care goals may be garnering attention, but his higher-education proposals are no less ambitious.  —  If adopted, they could transform …

N.Y. Fed Chair Faces Questions on Goldman  —  The Federal Reserve Bank of New York shaped Washington's response to the financial crisis late last year, which buoyed Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and other Wall Street firms.  Goldman received speedy approval to become a bank holding company …