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Obama Seeks Additional Study On Afghanistan Situation
The Washington Post reports that President Obama has asked for a province-by-province analysis of the situation in Afghanistan, on the performance of local leaders and the different needs for additional help. Said a U.S. official who request anonymity: “How do you separate those who have taken up arms because they oppose the presence of foreigners in their area, because they’re getting paid to fight us because we’re there, from those who want to restore a Taliban government? How many of the people who we’re fighting actually share al-Qaeda’s ideology?”

Obama’s Day Ahead
President Obama last night visited the remains of fallen Americans, returning home from Afghanistan. Today, Obama will deliver remarks at 11:50 a.m. ET, on the administration’s plans to help small businesses. He will meet at 1:45 p.m. ET with Minister Mentor Lee Kuan Yew of Singapore. He will meet at 2:40 p.m. ET with Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-VT). At 3:15 p.m. ET, he will sign the Girl Scouts USA Centennial Commemorative Coin Act. He will meet at 3:45 p.m. ET with senior advisers. and at 5:05 p.m. ET with representatives of the Congressional Progressive Caucus, Congressional Black Caucus, Congressional Hispanic Caucus, and Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus.

Biden’s Day Ahead
Vice President Biden will travel to Florida today. In the afternoon, he will speak at a fundraising event for the Democratic National Committee in Boca Raton, and later he will attend another DNC event in Miami Beach. He will return to Washington in the evening.

Hillary In Pakistan: I Opposed Bush, Obama Is A ‘Huge Difference’
In her trip to Pakistan, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told a group of college students that “there is a huge difference” between the Obama administration’s policies in the region and the Bush administration’s policies. “I spent my entire eight years in the Senate opposing him,” she said, to the students’ applause. “So, to me, it’s like daylight and dark.”

Obama Wins Fight On Reducing Weapons Systems
The New York Times reports that President Obama’s signing of the Defense Authorization Act yesterday represented a big victory in his effort to cancel or reduce weapons systems that had been deemed wasteful: “White House officials say Mr. Obama took advantage of a rare political moment to break through one of Washington’s most powerful lobbies and trim more weapons systems than any president had in decades.”

States Relying On Federal Stimulus To Fill Their Coffers
USA Today reports that states are relying on federal stimulus money to fill their budget gaps, which have occurred as a result of falling tax revenues in the recession. “It’s hard to imagine what happens when stimulus money runs out,”said Craig Thiel, a budget expert at the non-partisan Citizens Research Council of Michigan.

GOP Wants Businesses To Do More Against Health Care Reform
The Hill reports that Senate Republicans are frustrated that business groups have not done enough to oppose the Democrats on health care. Senate Minority Whip Jon Kyl (R-AZ) said that there are some businesses that have done nothing, and “some folks that have made some kind of a deal and may live to regret it.”

Rove: ‘Hope And Change Are On The Way’ For GOP This Tuesday
In his latest Wall Street Journal column, Karl Rove confidently predicts good results for the Republicans in this Tuesday’s elections: “Tuesday’s election will provide the most tangible evidence so far of how strong a backlash is building–and just how frightened centrist Democrats should be of 2010. For Republicans, it looks as if hope and change are on the way.”

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