Ridge Trails Pennsylvania's Specter By 3 Points, Quinnipiac University Poll Finds; New Democratic Senator Tops Toomey By 20 Points  —  Newly-minted Democratic Sen. Arlen Specter would whip old Republican rival Pat Toomey 53 - 33 percent if the 2010 Pennsylvania U.S. Senate race were held today …

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

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.

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 …

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 …

Gingrich: ‘Obama endangering Israel’  —  Article's topics: AIPAC, Barack Obama, Newt Gingrich  —  Former US House speaker Newt Gingrich on Sunday blasted the Obama administration for setting itself on a collision course with Israel and endangering the Jewish state, ahead of his address …

U.S. Options in Pakistan Limited  —  Nation Rife With Security Issues, Infighting, Anti-American Sentiment  —  As Taliban forces edged to within 60 miles of Islamabad late last month, the Obama administration urgently asked for new intelligence assessments of whether Pakistan's government would survive.

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.

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.

Bush Library Raises $100 Million in 100 Days  —  George W. Bush often has said that historians will vindicate his presidency.  And since he left office, he's moving fast to give them the tools.  —  Longtime financial backers of the 43rd president have raised more than $100 million …

Worries Rise on the Size of U.S. Debt  —  The nation's debt clock is ticking faster than ever — and Wall Street is getting worried.  —  As the Obama administration racks up an unprecedented spending bill for bank bailouts, Detroit rescues, health care overhauls and stimulus plans …

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 …

Credit Card Law Is First Up in Congress This Week  —  The Senate is set to take its crack at credit card companies this week after the House voted overwhelmingly to limit the ability of credit card issuers to change interest rates on their customers.  —  As senators await the name …

Sarah Palin's “Revelation”  —  This is unfinished business - a news event that got swallowed up by the release of the ICRC report, the OLC Memos and the Senate Armed Services report.  But given this blog's coverage of governor Palin's various strange stories about Trig …

Jack Kemp  —  The happy warrior.  —  Former pro football quarterback, former congressman, former HUD Secretary and 1996 Republican vice presidential nominee Jack Kemp died on Saturday of cancer at age 73.  He may have been the most influential American politician in history who never became president.

Fiat Steps Up Plans for Opel  —  ROME — Fiat SpA Chief Executive Sergio Marchionne is stepping up his plan to acquire a majority stake in General Motors Corp.'s German unit Opel, the next phase of his ambitious campaign to forge one of the world's biggest auto makers by crafting a three-way alliance among Fiat, Chrysler and Opel.