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McCain Challenges Obama In Private Meeting
CNN reports that Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) challenged President Obama on Afghanistan policy, at a meeting yesterday with members of Congress: “Three GOP sources told CNN that Sen. John McCain used the meeting to directly challenge the president on his exit strategy. The sources said that Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell deferred to McCain, who questioned the concept of announcing now plans to begin withdrawing in July, 2011. These sources said the president responded to McCain by promising that the withdrawal would be based on conditions on the ground.”

Obama’s Day Ahead
President Obama will have lunch with Vice President Biden at 12:35 p.m. ET. He will meet with Sen. Evan Bayh (D-IN) at 3:25 p.m. ET, and will meet with Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-SC) at 4:10 p.m. ET.

Biden’s Day Ahead
Vice President Biden will attend President Obama’s daily briefing at 10:40 a.m. ET, and will have lunch with Obama at 12:35 p.m. ET. Then at 1 p.m. ET, Biden and Secretary of Commerce Gary Locke will present three U.S. organizations with the 2008 Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award, and Biden will deliver remarks at 1:30 p.m. ET. He will meet with Sen. Dick Lugar (R-IN) at 3 p.m. ET.

Taliban: Troop Surge Will Only Increase Our Resistance
The Taliban has responded to President Obama’s announcement of troop increases in Afghanistan: “This strategy by the enemy will not benefit them. However many more troops the enemy sends against our Afghan mujahideen, they are committed to increasing the number of mujahideen and strengthen their resistance.”

Still No Plan On Paying For War
The Washington Post reports that there is still no clear answer on how the Afghanistan and Iraq wars will be paid for, as their total cost is set to exceed $1 trillion. “I generally am in favor of paying for what we do,” said House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD), “but because of the economic crisis that confronts us, that [war tax] effort is complicated.”

Minority Republicans Hold Their Own Oversight Forums
Roll Call reports that House Republicans have now embraced a tactic that was previously employed by the Democrats when they were in the minority: Holding minority-only forums — in place of genuine committee hearings — on oversight issues that the majority isn’t handling. Said Rep. Darrell Issa (R-CA), at a forum yesterday on ACORN: “I regret that this forum today is necessary because in fact the Oversight and Judiciary committee chairmen have refused to do the kind of oversight that needs to be done.”

Biden: Party-Crashers ‘Acted Like They Knew Everybody In The Room’
Vice President Biden said the White House party-crashers didn’t seem out of place at the event. “I just assumed like everyone else they were guests. They acted like they knew everybody in the room,” said Biden, who added that they acted “like they were my old buddies.”

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