TOURISM...
TRENTON, NJ (AP) - The state's transportation chief on Monday said a state or federal gas tax break would jeopardize funding for critical bridge and roadway projects just as the state is expecting a robust summer tourism season.

Republican presidential candidate John McCain and Democratic candidate Hillary Rodham Clinton back a federal gas tax holiday to try to help stave off rising gas prices. Democratic candidate Barack Obama doesn't support the idea.

New Jersey Gov. Jon S. Corzine on Monday a gas tax holiday isn't his ``favorite idea,'' but argued Clinton's proposal is at least paid for with a new tax on oil company profits and would last just a few months, from Memorial Day to Labor Day.

Corzine, who has endorsed Clinton's presidential bid, last week said New Jersey couldn't afford a state gas tax holiday amid state budget woes.

``I want to say it's not my favorite idea, but realistically she is paying for it and it is a three-month period,'' Corzine said.

Corzine later released a statement to make clear he doesn't support a federal gas tax holiday.

Corzine's comments came in a discussion he joined with Daniel Tarullo, an Obama economic adviser.

``This is not going to undermine our long run ability to invest in alternative energies and other things,'' Corzine said of Clinton's proposal. ``I think it's more about stating that we are interested in what the small guy and middle-class is doing.''

He said rising gas prices are hitting truckers and commuters hard.

``People really, really are pressed right now because the cost of living is incredible for middle-class to moderate-income families, and I think that's what Sen. Clinton is addressing here,'' Corzine said.

Still, he said it's unlikely Congress will approve the plan in time.

``I think it's very unlikely you could get a windfall profits tax through the Congress in a year let alone between now and May 31,'' Corzine said.

Tarullo said that would make it impossible to pay for revenue lost by the holiday.

``Let's not undermine the funding we have to improve our transportation infrastructure,'' Tarullo said.

Transportation Commissioner Kris Kolluri meanwhile told an Assembly tourism committee skyrocketing fuel prices makes it more likely New Jersey will see a robust tourism season.

``People will want to vacation closer to home,'' Kolluri said.

But he said a three-month federal gas tax break would cost New Jersey $190 million in federal transportation aid that's already been allocated for bridge and roadway projects that mean 6,300 jobs.

``New Jersey's robust tourism economy is dependent on maintaining the scarce resources that we currently devote to transportation infrastructure,'' Kolluri said.

But Sen. Jennifer Beck, R-Monmouth, called for Corzine to support the proposed summer gas tax break. She said it's not a long-term solution, but would help.

``New Jerseyans are feeling the pinch of higher fuel prices,'' Beck said. ``They need relief and they need it now.''

The state's transportation improvement fund is slated to run out of money in 2011. The governor's plans to significantly increase highway tolls to pay for improvements received no legislative support.

HOME PRICES...
SEATTLE (AP) - According to a new study, home values in the first quarter of this year were down 7.7 percent from a year earlier.

The web site Zillow.com, which tracks home prices, says more than half of homeowners who purchased during the market peak in 2006 owe more on their mortgages than the home is worth. Zillow says the rates of negative equity run much higher in the once-hot housing markets of California, Florida, Phoenix and Las Vegas.

CLINTON-OBAMA...
EVANSVILLE, IN (AP) - The two biggest prizes left in the ongoing battle for the Democratic presidential nomination are up for grabs today.

There's little expectation that the Indiana and North Carolina primaries will settle the long-running race between Hillary Rodham Clinton and Barack Obama. Both candidates are predicting that they'll still be campaigning in June.

Clinton has a proposed a summer-long gas tax holiday in an effort to secure the support of her blue-collar base. She continued to push the plan in a series of campaign events that stretched into the early hours of this morning.

Obama is dismissing the plan as a ``stunt.'' His stance is backed up by 230 economists, including Nobel Prize winners, who oppose the temporary tax break.

A pair of Obama victories would all but knock Clinton out of the race. Obama is favored to win North Carolina but his lead has shrunk. Polls show Clinton with a small lead in Indiana.

Altogether, 187 delegates are at stake in the two states.

MCCAIN...
WINSTON-SALEM, NC (AP) - Republican John McCain is castigating Democrat Barack Obama for voting against John Roberts as Supreme Court chief justice.

McCain offered an olive branch to the Christian right in a speech about the kind of judges he would nominate planned for Tuesday at Wake Forest University. The far right has been deeply suspicious of McCain, the expected GOP presidential nominee, because he has clashed with its leaders and worked against them on issues like campaign finance reform.

McCain promised to appoint judges who, in the mold of Roberts and Supreme Court Justice Samuel Alito, are likely to limit the reach of the Roe v. Wade decision that legalized abortion.

``They would serve as the model for my own nominees if that responsibility falls to me,'' McCain said in his prepared speech.

Obama likes to talk up his image as someone who works with Republicans to get things done, McCain said. Yet Obama ``went right along with the partisan crowd, and was among the 22 senators to vote against this highly qualified nominee,'' McCain said.

Hillary Rodham Clinton, Obama's rival, also voted against Roberts, although McCain focused his criticism on Obama.

Tuesday's primaries North Carolina and Indiana, the biggest prizes left in the nomination battle between Clinton and Obama, were likely to overshadow McCain's address. His advisers said the timing was not deliberate and that they accepted the invitation for him to speak several weeks ago.

McCain often is viewed as an independent because he antagonizes fellow Republicans and likes to work with Democrats. Some conservatives dislike his decision to join the ``Gang of 14,'' a group of senators - seven Republicans and seven Democrats - who averted a Senate showdown over whether filibusters could be used against Bush judicial nominees.

On Monday, McCain told reporters he didn't know whether conservatives would forgive him for that decision.

``You'll have to ask them, but I think I was right to do it; we got all but two of the president's nominees through the Senate,'' McCain said.

Despite the controversy, his actual record is very conservative, particularly on social issues like abortion, gay rights and gun control. However, he said once, in 1999, that the landmark Roe v. Wade decision allowing abortion should not be overturned.

But that was a blip in an otherwise unbroken record of opposing abortion rights for women. McCain has repeatedly voted against federal funding for abortion; he has opposed federal Medicaid funds for abortion even in cases of rape or incest.

He voted to require parental consent for abortion and voted to criminalize anyone but a parent crossing state lines with a minor to help get an abortion. McCain also supported a ban preventing women in the military from getting abortions with their own money at overseas military hospitals.

He also has cast conservative votes on judges. In fact, McCain has never voted against a Republican nominee for the Supreme Court or federal courts, the Democratic National Committee pointed out.

``Promising four more years of radical judges who are bent on rolling back our basic rights and freedoms is just one more example of why John McCain is the wrong choice for America's future,'' DNC spokeswoman Karen Finney said.

MOTHER'S DAY...
According to a poll cited in this morning's edition of Newsday, people will be spending about $0.51 less on Mother's Day this year.