Across the Nation

Ashcroft begins confirmation hearings

WASHINGTON - Attorney General-designate John Ashcroft yesterday defended his ability to separate personal beliefs from the duties of the office, saying his quarter-century in public life demonstrates that he can uphold laws that conflict with his opinions and religious faith.

At the opening day of his confirmation hearing as President-elect George W. Bush's most controversial nominee, Ashcroft told the Senate Judiciary Committee that as Missouri's attorney general and governor, he frequently put aside his own beliefs to enforce and uphold the laws.

Ashcroft cited the central Supreme Court decision that upholds a woman's right to an abortion, Roe v. Wade, as a case he believes was "wrongly decided'' as an original matter but now is the "settled law of the land'' that he would be duty-bound to uphold.

"I am personally opposed to abortion. But ... I well understand that the role of attorney general is to enforce the law as it is, not as I would have it,'' the former Missouri senator told the committee, on which he served until his re-election defeat in November.

In a dramatic display capping his opening statement, Ashcroft raised his right hand and pledged "as a man of faith, I take my word and my integrity seriously, so when I swear to uphold the law, I will keep my oath, so help me God.''

Clinton's final budget shows hefty surplus

WASHINGTON - President Clinton issued a farewell budget yesterday projecting nearly $2.5 trillion in non-Social Security surpluses over the next decade. He made one last pitch to use a part of the money for some favorite programs while cautioning against jeopardizing prosperity by ignoring "fiscal prudence."

Clinton's final budget will essentially serve as a place holder for the incoming administration. President-elect Bush will present Congress with his own spending plan soon after taking office.

Bush has cited the slumping economy as a reason Congress needs to pass his $1.3 trillion tax cut.

Clinton used his last budget report, which was just a bare-bones version of the budget documents that a president normally sends Congress, to laud his handling of the economy over the past eight years and warn against deviating from his path of using most of the surplus to pay off the national debt.

The Clinton budget basically showed what would happen to the government's books over the next decade if all programs stayed in place and grew only at the rate of inflation.

Under these assumptions, which included no new policy proposals, Clinton projected the overall surplus to total $5 trillion from 2002 to 2011.

Calif. lawmakers tackle power crisis

SACRAMENTO, Calif. - Increasing the pressure on state lawmakers to craft a temporary solution to California's power crisis, a major power supplier threatened Monday to force Southern California Edison and Pacific Gas & Electric into bankruptcy court unless the utilities pay their bills due this week.

The move by Dynegy Inc. of Houston upped the ante on a day when legislators huddled with financial experts and lawyers but reached no agreement on a mechanism for the state to buy electricity for Edison and PG&E at rates far lower than they pay now - allowing the utilities breathing room to restructure their massive debts.