DeMint: Obama “Has Lowered The Discourse”
Sen. Jim DeMint has responded to a new DNC TV ad, attacking his remarks that health care will “break” President Obama. “It’s disappointing that President Obama has lowered the discourse of this important debate with false personal attacks,” DeMint said in a statement. “Beyond the fact that the President’s accusations are patently false, it is disturbing that he and his team would respond to a policy debate with political attack ads.”
Obama’s Day Ahead
President Obama will be headed to Ohio today, touring the Cleveland Clinic at 1:15 p.m. ET, and hosting a town hall on health care reform at Shaker Heights High School. He will then head to Chicago, attending a 7:15 p.m. ET fundraising dinner at the home of Penny Pritzker, and speaking at fundraiser at the Hyatt Regency Hotel at 8:05 p.m. ET. He will depart from Chicago at 9:15 p.m. ET, and is scheduled to arrive back at the White House at 11:05 p.m. ET.
Biden: War In Afghanistan Worth The Sacrifice, “And More Will Come”
In an interview with the BBC, Vice President Biden said that the war in Afghanistan, “in terms of national interest of Great Britain, the US and Europe, [the war] is worth the effort we are making and the sacrifice that is being felt.” And he also added: “And more will come.”
Georgian President Asks Biden For U.S. Weapons
Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili reportedly asked Vice President Biden for American military aid, including anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons, in order to keep the Russians at bay and monitor a ceasefire along the border. Biden did not make any promises for military assistance.
Hillary: North Korea Has “No Friends Left”
Speaking in Thailand, Sec. of State Hillary Clinton declared that North Korea has isolated itself over its intransigence on nuclear weapons, with nearly full agreement on the new U.N. sanctions against them. “They have no friends left that will protect them from the international community’s efforts to move toward denuclearization,” said Clinton.
Pelosi Claims She Has Votes On Health Care; Stupak Says She Doesn’t
The Hill reports that Speaker Nancy Pelosi said there is “no question” that she has the votes to pass health care reform. However, Rep. Bart Stupak (D-MI), who has worked with the Blue Dogs, begged to differ: “I don’t know who’s doing her vote counting, but she doesn’t have the votes.”
Rove: ObamaCare In Trouble
In his latest column in the Wall Street Journal, Karl Rove confidently says that President Obama’s agenda on health care is in trouble — and will only get worse over the August recess: “My guess is that members of Congress are about to hear a lot from their voters on the government takeover of health care, new energy taxes, the failed stimulus, record deficits, and growing joblessness.”
House Dems Block GOP Health Care Mailing
Roll Call reports that House Democrats have blocked the House Republicans from sending out an official mailing against the majority’s health care plan, on the grounds that a chart ridiculing the plan is inaccurate. Rep. Kevin Brady (R-TX) responded, “The chart reveals how their health care bureaucracy works, and people are frightened by it,” and that Dems are trying to discredit the chart.
