House Democrats Urge Pelosi To Reject Proposed Excise Tax

By Meagan Wiseley - University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

Rep. Joe Courtney (D-Conn.) presented a letter to Speaker Nancy Pelosi today urging her to reject any excise tax on high-cost benefit health care plans. The letter comes in response to the Senate Finance Committee’s proposal for a 40 percent tax on “cadillac plans,” or plans that feature expensive premiums.

“The proposed tax on benefits undermines a basic principle of the reform proposals - to build on the employer-based heath care system,” said Courtney.

Courtney said he hopes the letter will send a clear signal to House leadership that an excise tax on heath plans will be an “additional and substantial tax burden” on working class families and middle class individuals.

Beyond the “cadillac” plans, Rep. Pete Stark (D-Calif.) said that he believes this tax will impact a larger number of individuals around the country who have higher coverage plans because they live in “high-cost regions” or have “high-risk jobs."

Rather than an excise tax, Stark suggested a surcharge in the House health reform bill which would raise taxes on those making $500,000 a year or more. “Over 99 percent of earners would not be affected by the surcharge,” said Stark.

In addition to Reps. Courtney and Stark, 156 other members of the House Democratic Caucus have cosigned the letter.

Obama Urges Physicians To Speak Out For Health Reform

By Meagan Wiseley - University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

Today, President Barack Obama invited 150 physicians from each U.S. state to the White House in an attempt to showcase the medical community’s support for his health care reform proposals. Obama said the physicians have experienced first-hand the problems with the U.S. health care system.

“These men and women here would not be supporting health insurance reform if they really believed that it would lead to government bureaucrats making decisions that are best left to doctors,” said Obama. “They wouldn't be here today if they believed that reform in any way would damage the very critical and sacred doctor-patient relationship.”

One doctor in attendance is an official from the American Medical Association, Obama said. The AMA is "the nation’s largest organization representing physicians from every state and nearly every medical specialty... [and is] committed to achieving health system reform," according to its website.

Obama said that nurses and physicians know the system best and urged them to “speak out strongly” on why heath care reform is needed. With their help, the President said he is confident that some form of health reform will pass through Congress this year.

Effective Counterinsurgency Strategy Necessary For Victory In Afghanistan, Says Expert

By Meagan Wiseley - University of New Mexico, Talk Radio News Service

In a presentation Friday, President and CEO of the Institute For the Study of War Dr. Kimberly Kagan said that in order to accomplish President Barack Obama's stated mission in Afghanistan, which is to defeat, dismantle and destroy al-Qaida, then the U.S. must continue counterterrorism strategies and implement a counterinsurgency strategy in Afghanistan.

Commander of U.S. forces in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal’s assessment of the War in Afghanistan stated that “the mission requires a better application of existing assets, but it also requires additional resources.”

A report released Friday by ISW states that there are not currently enough forces in Afghanistan to execute a proper counterinsurgency strategy and, in addition to requiring more forces, the U.S. must prioritize it’s objectives within Afghanistan.

According to ISW, counterinsurgency must focus on “critical population centers” including the central Hemland River Valley, Kandahar City, Tarin Kowt, Khost, Paktia and the region known as Greater Paktia.

A Research Analyst at ISW, Jeffrey Dressler, presented his report on Securing Hemland and said, “a comprehensive population-centric counterinsurgency strategy is actually what’s needed to gain the initiative, to secure the population and then to defeat the insurgency. This is going to require additional resources, time and a united effort between Afghan forces and the international community in Helmand.”

The ISW report also stated that “coalition counterinsurgency operations must be coordinated and mutually-reinforcing to achieve decisive effects and prevent the enemy from fleeing during the operation, only to return to the area later.”

President Obama is currently reviewing the U.S. strategy in Afghanistan and General McChrystal’s assessment.

Afghanistan And Pakistan Stability Linked, Say Experts

By Meagan Wiseley - University of New Mexico, Talk Radio News Service

In a hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee Thursday, expert witnesses agreed that the U.S. should neither abandon Afghanistan or substantially increase U.S. military forces in Afghanistan in regard to a stable Pakistan.

Maleeha Lodhi, a former Pakistani Ambassador to the U.S. said, “a precipitous withdrawal would repeat the strategic mistake of the 1990s when the U.S. abandoned Afghanistan to the chaos that nurtured al-Qaida. Nor should the West risk being trapped in a Vietnam style quagmire, a war without end and with no guarantee of success.”

Steve Coll, President of the New America Foundation proposed a strategy that falls between withdrawal and militarization.

“It would make clear that the Taliban will never be permitted to take power by force in Kabul or major cities. It would seek and enforce stability in Afghan population centers, emphasize politics over combat, urban stability over rural patrolling, Afghan solutions over Western ones and it would incorporate Pakistan more directly into creative and persistent diplomatic efforts to stabilize Afghanistan and the region”, said Coll.

Senate Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Ranking Member Dick Lugar (R-Ind.) introduced the Enhanced Partnership with Pakistan Act, which Congress passed earlier this year, that will triple non-military assistance to Pakistan to $1.5 billion a year for the next five years.

Committee Chairman Kerry noted that “[U.S.] actions in Afghanistan will influence events in Pakistan and we must take that into account. But the ultimate choices about the country’s future will be made by the Pakistanis themselves.”

Senate Finance Committee Rejects Amendment For Tighter Abortion Regulations

The Senate Finance Committee voted no today to an amendment introduced by Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) which states that “federal tax payer dollars will not be used to pay for subsidized abortions or the new plans and programs created in this bill.”

The amendment failed by a 10-13 vote.

Prior to the introduction of the amendment, the America’s Healthy Future Act stated “federal funds continue to be prohibited from being used to pay for abortions unless the pregnancy is due to rape, incest or the life of the mother is in danger.”

In its current state, the bill requires insurance companies to segregate private money, which comes from premiums, and federal money to ensure public funds are not being used to pay for abortions.

Sen. Hatch’s amendment also stated that women would have the choice to purchase a separate policy that includes abortion coverage.

Prior to the Committee’s vote, Chairman Baucus said, “Basically this is a health care bill, this is not an abortion bill. We are not changing current law.”