Family Leave and Baseball Update

Family Leave: A good article on how federal tax cuts further the problems of state financial woes can be found here, one on John Edwards (with some commentary in reply) over here and a discussion on the Nevada v Hibbs case.  [some dead links]

This last one surprised some, perhaps a bit too much by upholding the right of workers to sue their state employers for violating federal family medical leave rules. The real surprise in my eyes is that Chief Justice Rehnquist wrote the 6-3 opinion, one that broadly upheld the right of Congress to pass laws that enforce equal protection for women in tones that one would expect from one of the Court's liberals.

He also did so by holding it is reasonable to assume that states are guilty of discrimination since congressional power to "enforce" the Fourteenth Amendment's Equal Protection Clause has been held by past cases to not include requiring benefits for their own stake, even if it would promote equality in general. Thus, its recent "federalism" and "state immunity" cases are not to be read too broadly.

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Baseball Update: Nothing like the Red Sox to make the Yanks get back on track ... taking two out of three, they are back to within 1/2 game. Clemens didn't get 300 quite yet, but Detroit is the weekend sacrificial lambs, so he should get it then ... and it looks like they will even be up a 1/2 after today's game. 

Bit of a scare though when the out-of-practice (two sweeps interrupted by the Boston series would do that) Rivera gave up a 5-1 ninth-inning lead, but they won it in the bottom of the inning via a bases-loaded walk (after an error aided triple). 

The Mets won two of three from the Phillies, thus continuing their stream of good games, going back to the San Francisco split. They even look like they can play defense. The Braves are in town though, and an early interference (ball hitting runner) and failed suicide squeeze (no runs in the inning) and quickly given up lead are marring the Maddux v Glavine match-up thus far.

Meanwhile, after a pretty lackluster relief effort in the one game the Mets lost against Philly, Cone officially retired earlier today, the same day John Franco was put on the active roster. Cone won't win those last six games for a round 200, but Franco should play in two more games to be in 1000.