More Troops in Afghanistan

The US commander in Afghanistan, General Stanley McChrystal, will request more troops in Afghanistan this week, but the Obama administration will decide on a solution once a review on war strategy is completed. Defense Secretary Robert Gates wasn't planning on presenting the troop request from General McChrystal to President Obama until strategy discussions on the Afghan mission were finished. Pentagon press secretary Geof Morrell, told reporters that it was "premature to consider additional resources" until an evaluation of the war effort submitted by General McChrystal was fully reviewed. He went on further to say that Secretary Gates understands that it's a huge decision for the president and he wants to make sure that he and the president feel comfortable with their decision before sending troops off to battle. Secretary Gates hasn't publicly indicated his stand-point but his perspective could play an important role in Obama's decision. The exact number of troops Gen. McChrystal plans to request is still unclear, but it is estimated to range from 10,000 to 30,000 to help defeat the "tide" against Taliban insurgents. The defense secretary hadn't decided whether or not more troops are needed in Afghanistan. The head of central command, General David Petraeus, said that "the most senior leadership" plan to have many important meetings over the next several weeks to discuss the future in Afghanistan. Democrats in Congress continue to feel anxious over the Afghan mission because of the rising numbers in casualties, a disputed election and the decrease in public support for the war. It's estimated that there are about 65,000 US troops in Afghanistan right now and it is expected to reach 68,000 by the end of the year. Gen. McChrystal's request for more troops is crazy and absurd because I think this war has been going on for too long already and more and more troops continue to lose their lives in war.

Health Plan Without Republican Support?

The Democratic chairman of the Senate Finance Committee, Senator Max Baucus proposed a health care system that has been outlined by the president and has been criticized as being overly expensive by republicans. The Finance Committee is supposed to meet next week to vote on the plan and then after combining it with another bill, Majority Leader Harry Reid, plans to begin debating on the Senate by late this month or early next month. Baucus believes that "we can't let this opportunity pass," as his $856 billion plan is designed to protect millions of Americans who have unreliable health insurance or simply no health insurance at all. Experts believe the proposal would reduce the number of the uninsured by 29 million over the coming decade. They also predict that the plan would lower the federal deficits by $49 billion during the same period and savings estimated to be in the hundreds of billions of dollars that might also result in the coming decade. Many of the bill's important provisions would be delayed until 2013, after the next presidential election. Baucus has made the main compromise of allowing cooperatives, instead of the federal government, to sell insurance in competition with private industry to gain Republican support. But it's had a great impact in this unsuccessful search for Republican support as it wasn't welcomed well and was judged harshly by others. Supporters believe the co-ops would compete successfully with private companies and it would also help maintain the cost of insurance low, but the Congressional Budget Office believes that it is "unlikely to establish a significant market presence," as a result it is more likely to strengthen advocates of government competition. Baucus remains optimistic as he told reporters that he expects to gain bipartisan support before the bill emerges from committee by next week. His plan would require insurance companies to sell coverage to everyone seeking it, without leaving out those with pre-existing medical conditions. It would also create insurance exchanges in the states where companies could sell policies that meet a criteria set by the government, with financial support available for lower-income people and families who are unable to afford coverage; any policy offered for sale in the exchanges would have to cover dental, prescription drug, mental health and vision services. His plan sounds like a fair plan so hopefully he is able to gain support from both Democrats and Republicans in the time coming. Most Americans are waiting and hoping for a bipartisan plan to be introduced really soon.

Withdrawal Plan for Iraq

The U.S. Ambassador to Iraq, Christopher Hill, informed Congress that it is still on track to remove combat troops in Iraq by next August despite all of the new attacks. But lawmakers are concerned that even though violence has decreased, Iraqi troops aren't ready to take control of the country and maintain security with little or no help at all from the U.S. Hill believes that the recent bombings in Iraq has demonstrated that the Iraqis have moved past fighting a civil war. He is confident that the Iraqi government is able to stand on its own even though it is still necessary to deal with al-Qaida. He also believes that Iraqi forces have progressed over time and that now they are respected from ordinary Iraqis because they are committed to their job when they provide security for them. In July, Defense Secretary Robert Gates spoke about the possibility of bringing home some 5,000 troops early from Iraq if violence continues to decrease despite this year's upcoming Iraqi national elections. While Lt. Gen. Charles Jacoby believes that only time will tell when Americans should be withdrawn completely from Iraq. Meanwhile, the American commander in Iraq told reporters at the Pentagon, that it is too soon to tell whether troops will be withdrawn by next year. Republican Senator of Indiana addressed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee saying that while the president and vice president continue to talk about withdrawing troops by next year, they "don't have a clear understanding of how that withdrawal will occur." But despite everything, Hill remains confident that America is prepared to withdraw all of its combat troops by next August and that the U.S. is working on developing a relationship with Iraq. Time is the only factor that will determine when it's appropriate to remove all troops stationed in Iraq and it's important to make this one of the main issues in the country because American troops have been in Iraq for a really long time.

More Americans Living in Poverty

The government is looking at whether to adopt the National Academy of Science's formula to count the number of Americans that are living in poverty; this formula would take into consideration the costs of medical care and other important necessities like transportation, child-care and housing costs. This new formula would show a significant rise in the poverty rate among older Americans as it would increase the poverty rate for Americans 65 and over from 3.6 million Americans to 6.8 million Americans. The new measure would consider everyday costs of necessities besides just food. If this formula is adopted it would eventually lead to changes in how billions of dollars for the poor are spent on health, housing, nutrition and child-care benefits. The overall poverty rate would also increase from 12.5% to 15.3%, this would mean a total of 45.7 million people. The rate for children under 18 living in poverty would decline to 17.9% and the number of single mothers who receive food stamps, would decline in rates of poverty. Large cities with higher costs of living might see higher rates, while rural areas in the Midwest and the South might actually see declines. The rate for "extreme" poverty, that is falling below 50% of the poverty line, would decrease because of housing and other benefits and immigrant poverty rates would increase because of the costs of transportation and low involvement in the government. All of these changes have been discussed for years and both Democrats and Republicans agree that it is necessary to adopt a new measure because the older one is outdated. This formula should be considered to be adopted because all these factors would influence how money gets spent and it would actually benefit many Americans. Americans who don't receive any or little help, would be assisted and it would also be very significant because the government is dealing with an economic crisis right now and the money that is being spent to help the poor should take into regard all of the circumstances that people live under. Just like other issues that are already discussed, it will take a long time to decide whether or not this measure is going to be adopted.