Schumer: Dems ‘Very Close’ To 60 Votes
Appearing on Meet The Press, Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) said that Democrats are approaching 60 votes for a compromise public option: “The liberals, they like it stronger, but they’re willing to live with level playing field, opt-out. The more moderate Democrats, there are some who actually like it. As long as it’s a level playing field, they’re comfortable with it. There are others who say that, ‘I’m not sure I like it, but I won’t hold up passage of the bill.’ I think we’re very close to getting the 60 votes we need to move forward, and my guess is that the public option level playing field with the state opt-out will be in the bill. But Leader Reid will make that decision after he talks to everybody several times.
Abdullah Calls For ‘Dramatic Increase’ In American Troops In Afghanistan
Appearing on Fox News Sunday, Afghan presidential candidate Dr. Abdullah called for a “dramatic increase” in the number of American troops in his country: “If the situation is not reversed from deteriorating further the security situation, so the future of this country will be at risk, and the future of the engagement of the international community will be at risk. So this situation requires a sort of dramatic increase in the number of troops in order to stop — stop it from further deteriorating and reversing it. The permanent solution is in a road map that Afghanistan stands on its own feet in a few years down the road, troops — number of troops could be decreased in Afghanistan, finally, and eventually will stand on its own feet.”
McCain On Cheney’s Afganistan Remarks: ‘We Ought To Look Forward’
Appearing on Face The Nation, Sen. John McCain (R-AZ) did not condemn former Vice President Cheney for saying President Obama was “dithering” on Afghanistan — but said instead that we should move forward: “Well, I understand the vice president. I have a great respect for him. But I think we ought to look forward, and that is, to support the president, I intend to, when he makes the decision — which I believe he will — to implement McChrystal’s strategy agreed to by Petraeus, Mullen. I believe that Secretary Gates is also supportive, or otherwise I don’t think any of the defense ministers of NATO would have endorsed the McChrystal strategy just a couple of days ago.”
Feingold: ‘I Thank God’ Obama Is Thinking About Afghanistan — Unlike Bush And Cheney Did With Iraq
Appearing on Face The Nation, Sen. Russ Feingold (D-WI) gave a direct rebuttal to Cheney: “So let me just say, I think what the vice president said was terrible. The notion that President Obama is dithering? He’s doing his job. He’s being thoughtful. He is wrestling with, frankly, one of the toughest decisions I’ve ever seen a president have to make. He is listening to the military leaders. He’s listening to experts. He’s listening to his own vice president and others. He’s trying to get this right. And I don’t know if he’s going to end up agreeing with me. But I thank God that we’ve got a president that’s thinking about this, instead of getting us into a further mistake, such as President Bush did with Iraq.”
Hatch: ‘We Ought To Rely’ On McChrystal’s Recommendation
Appearing on State of the Union, Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-UT) called upon President Obama to agree to Gen. Stanley McChrystal’s troop request. “We have to worry about corruption but we also have to work with whoever is put in there,” said Hatch. “And whoever is put in there, you’re going to find some corruption,” he added. “The fact of the matter is I think we ought to rely on the hand-picked general, by President Obama, Gen. McChrystal, who said that we’ve got to have more troops.”
McConnell: ‘All The Nervousness Is On The Democratic Side’
Appearing on This Week, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell said that Congressional Democrats are “nervous” on health care reform:” Well, look, I’m not going to predict the outcome. What I do know is that all the nervousness is on the Democratic side. You saw that last week, and with 13 Democratic defections on this effort, to do this Medicare reimbursement issue without paying for it, by sending the bill to our grandchildren, we know there is nervousness among Democrats over this increasing view that Congress is acting like a teenager with their parents’ credit card, not worried about who’s going to have to pay the bill.”
McCaskill: Bill Will Get Done This Year — And Affect A ‘Fairly Limited Number Of People’
Appearing on This Week, Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-MO) predicted that a health bill will get done this year — but reminded viewers that even then it will be a limited solution: “I think it gets done this year and I think we end up with some kind of opportunity to go to a public not-for-profit option among many private options that people that currently don’t have insurance — and keep in mind, not everybody can even go to this exchange and buy insurance with any kind of subsidy. This is going to be a fairly limited number of people — 25 million to 30 million are the estimates — that would even be on this insurance exchange. By and large, most of this country is going to continue to get their health insurance through their employer.”
Cornyn: Virginia Gubernatorial Race A Referendum On Obama’s Policies
Appearing on Meet The Press, Sen. John Cornyn (R-TX) claimed that the expected Republican victory in the Virginia gubernatorial race should be seen as a referendum on President Obama’s policies — though he did not say anything about the super-close New Jersey race, which he was also asked about: “Well, I think the Virginia governor’s race particularly is going to be referendum on the policies that the American people have seen coming out of Washington these days. While the president remains personally popular, his policies are not. And the more people learn about them, the more they learn about the growing debt–and indeed, the vote we’ll have on increasing the debt ceiling I think will bring that into focus–then I think they–we’ve seen them reject them. And I think that’s what will happen in Virginia.”
