Death in Afghanistan

MOD: Reports that a soldier has died today in Afghanistan, the soldier was from the " A Company 4 RIFLES, part of the 3 RIFLES Battle Group ". Thus since 2001 the UK has lost 267 of its Armed Forces Personnel in Afghanistan, of that total it has lost 234 in combat operations and 33 due to illness, accidents or other incidents.

Obama's House Troubles - Health Care Reform

Bloomberg.com: Reports on the problems that President Obama is having with his own Democrats in the House of Representatives when it comes to health care reform. This will be the real test for President Obama, can he manage the House like LBJ and Reagan, can he get Congressmen/women to vote for a Bill that could see them thrown out of office in November. At the end of the day charm is not enough, JFK had charm in abundance but could get nothing pass the Congress, the heavy lift was done by by LBJ, his successor and former Senate Majority Leader. The Congress has to be afraid of a President, if they see him or her as a voter loser they will thrown him or her over the cliff, Obama needs to show that he can get votes, so far his record is bad, Obama can not expect the loyalty of moderates and blue dog Democrats, they want to come back to Washington D.C, thus lets see if Obama is a moderator or President.

Pelosi on Health Care Reform

The New York Times: Reports that Speaker Pelosi has made it clear that she is willing to throw members of her own party under the bus for health care reform, the article states the following, " ( Pelosi )...confident she will be able to get the votes....even if it threatens the political careers of some members of her party. ". Lets recall Speaker Pelosi is a extreme liberal, she has a safe liberal seat in Congress, thus moderate and blue dog democrats have a simple choice, health care reform or re-election, its that simple and brutal folks, the question the House should ask would Speaker Pelosi sacrifice her political career to protect moderate and blue dog democrats, lets be honest we all know the answer. Thus members who face tough re-election fights have only one sane choice, ditch Pelosi and come back to Washington D.C.

Reconciliation - Health Care Reform

The Hill: Reports on the White House path to to health care reform after the Health Care Reform Summit at the White House, the article states the following, ".....Obama effectively endorsed the use of budget reconciliation rules to pass a final bill through the Senate on a simple-majority vote. ". Thus we come to the most simple route, that the House passes the Senate version of health care reform, then the Senate through reconciliation do the changes as demanded by the House. The problem is that there are not the votes in the House to pass the Senate version of health care reform, the blue dog Democrats would be throwing their political careers under the bus for the liberal leadership Congress. It was amusing to see that Speaker Pelosi expect moderate and conservative Democrats to throw their careers away while she is in a safe district, if she had offered to walk the blank first one would take notice of the Speaker. Thus time for House members to throw Pelosi under the bus as to allow themselves the chance to get re-elected.