Afghan People Are More Optimistic, Claims Senator Levin

By Sofia Sanchez-Talk Radio News Service/University of New Mexico

Sen. Carl Levin (D-MI), Chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, followed up a recent trip to Afghanistan by reporting that there is an upswing of confidence among the Afghan people.

“The Afghan people are more optimistic about their future, our visits and polling confirm this. 70% feel they are headed in the right direction, 60% think their kids will have a better life than they do and the Taliban remains extremely unpopular,” said Levin during a press conference Monday.

Levin focused on what he believes to be the number one mission in Afghanistan, which is to train and equip the Afghan army.

“It is absolutely essential that they understand that our presence there ... is not open ended," said Levin. “Our primary goal is to help the Afghan security forces to get to the point where they are able to take the predominant role in defending and protecting the Afghan people.”

New numbers supplied by General David Rodriguez on the ground shows that the amount of Afghans undergoing training has gone from 3,000 recruits in November ’09 to 11,000 in January ’10.

“The bottom line is: I think we are on the right track. We have a long way to go in Afghanistan, but there are some signs of progress," said Levin.

Leahy Lauds Passage Of Federal Anti-Hate Crimes Legislation

Travis Martinez - University of New Mexico/Talk Radio News Service

A decade of work done by the Senate culminated in the passing of Federal hate crimes legislation on Thursday. The legislation now heads to President Barack Obama’s desk where it will await his signature.

The fight, which began almost 11 years ago, was a long-time priority of the late Senator Edward Kennendy (D-Mass.), who worked closely with Senator Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) to finally advance the bipartisan Matthew Shepard Hate Crimes Prevention Act as an amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act.

Said Leahy, "This historic hate crimes provision will improve existing law by making it easier for Federal authorities to investigate and prosecute crimes of racial, ethnic, or religious violence.”

Senator Carl Levin (D-Mich.), Chairman of the Senate Armed Forces Committee, defended his reasoning for including the provision within the Defense bill.

“This is domestic terrorism... When you attack someone because of membership in a group, you are attacking this country itself. This belongs in the Defense Reauthorization Bill!” he exclaimed.

Both Senators also responded to recent actions by Senate Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to include a public option in the Senate’s health care bill. The Senators argued that a public option was very important in that it would represent progress in the legislation, but noted that any such provision must include an op-out for states, which they said would promote competition.

Cash For Clunkers Program Goes Into Drive

By Courtney Costello- Talk Radio News Service

Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood kicked off the CARS (Car Allowance Rebate System) program Monday at the Department of Transportation in Washington.

CARS is essentially an incentive buyers program for fuel efficient vehicles.

According to LaHood, the program, also known as “Cash for Clunkers,” will help struggling consumers buy cost efficient and energy efficient cars. It will also help dealerships overcome the bad economy and it will help lower green house admissions.

LaHood explained that any car purchased through the program must be more fuel efficient than the car being traded in.

“This experiment has worked very, very well in other countries, including Germany where new car sales in June were up 40% from the previous June...We have experience in other countries that proves that it works,” added Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.)

Rep. Betty Sutton (D-Ohio) said, “We have an exciting road ahead of us here in this nation, with this CARS program we’re going to shore up and strengthen our manufacturing...We’re not only going to make it possible for our auto and related industries to compete, of course, were going to make sure and make it possible for them to succeed."

As of today, 16,000 dealers have submitted applications to participate and 1.5 million Americans have visited the program's website (cars.gov), said LaHood.

The program will run until November 1st, 2009, or until funding for the program runs out. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration expects that 250,000 “clunkers” will be taken off the road as a result of the program.

Also present for the announcement were Reps. Sander Levin (D-Mich.) and John Dingell (D-Mich.)