All Blog Posts from Political Hotsheet

Republicans in Congress came out swinging today against President Obama's new new multibillion-dollar stimulus and jobs proposals, calling for completely different measures to revive the economy.

"Clearly, the president is trying, yet again, to get Americans back to work... he essentially announced a 'stimulus II' program," House Republican Whip Eric Cantor (Va.) said at a press conference today, CBS News Capitol Hill Producer Jill Jackson reports. However, he added, "I absolutely disagree that we can spend the way out of recession."

Cantor was joined by freshman Republican members of the House today to criticize Mr. Obama's plan. They said it would be more effective to cut the corporate tax rate from 35 percent to 25 percent, permanently eliminate the death tax, pass free trade agreements with Panama, Colombia and South Korea, and to reduce the deficit.

The president's proposals today included new spending for infrastructure projects like highways, deeper tax breaks for small businesses and tax incentives for energy-efficient home improvements.

"Instead of passing another big spending bill, we should keep government out of business, keep taxes low and expand trade," said Rep. Lynn Jenkins (Kansas). "It's time to empower entrepreneurs and small businesses instead of the federal government."

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Michaele and Tareq Salahi, the aspiring reality-television stars whose unauthorized entry into the Obama administration's first state dinner resulted into a congressional inquiry into White House security, are vowing to invoke their Fifth Amendment rights if they are forced to appear before Congress.

The House Homeland Security Committee will vote tomorrow about whether or not to subpoena the couple. Last week, the head of the Secret Service accepted blame for the security breakdown and said three officers had been placed on leave in testimony before the committee.

The couple's lawyer sent a letter today to the leadership of the committee that included signed declarations from the couple that they will decline to answer questions.

The letter accuses members of Congress of coming to premature conclusions about the couple. It cites as one piece of evidence District of Columbia Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton's characterization of the couple as "practiced con artists who bamboozled the Secret Service" and "outlaws."

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Sen. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) today introduced a bill to help finance the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq through war bonds.

"The legislation will authorize the Treasury to issue and market War Bonds to the American people," according to a Nelson press release.

"War bonds are a cost-effective way to reduce our dependence on foreign creditors and create an outlet for Americans to express their patriotism and support for our servicemembers and America's mission," Nelson said. "War bonds allow us to borrow from ourselves, rather than other countries."

"I believe that we need shared sacrifice and fiscal discipline in financing the war effort," he added. "I don't believe our first instinct should always be a rush to tax. The government has gone to great lengths to address the economic downturn and adding new taxes right now could undermine those efforts."

CBSNews.com Special Report: Afghanistan

Critics say that Nelson's characterization of the advantages of war bonds is misleading.

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One contentious element of the health care reform debate still under discussion in the Senate is whether or not the legislation should cover abortions. More than half of the public told a CBS News Poll conducted last month that health care reform should not cover abortions, while just 34% thought it should.

Americans' views about the government funding abortions, and about abortion itself, have remained stable for many years.

In 1994, CBS and the New York Times found 53 percent of Americans thought abortion should not be part of any government health care plan. In CBS News Polls conducted in the late 1970s, about half felt the government should not "help a poor woman with her medical bills if she wants an abortion."

Views have also been remarkably steady on the issue of abortion itself. In a CBS News Poll conducted in November, 34 percent felt abortion should be generally available to those who want it, 40 percent felt it should be available but under stricter limits than it is now, and 23 percent felt it should not be permitted at all.

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Democrats in the Senate are on the verge of agreeing to a plan that would essentially extend federal employee health insurance options to the rest of the country. But just as the federal health insurance network could become the national model, labor unions are warning it could also be unreasonably taxed under the Senate plan.

A group of unions released a report (PDF) today showing that the so-called "Cadillac" tax on higher-cost health insurance plans would, after three years, begin to hit the most popular health care plan within the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program (FEHBP) -- ultimately impacting 48 percent of all federal employees and nearly 3.8 million people.

"I never really thought that our Chevy of a plan for federal employee health benefits would be a Cadillac plan," John Gage, president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), said on a conference call today.

Rep. Gerry Connolly (D-Va.) said the health benefits tax goes back on President Obama's promise not to tax the middle class.

"The Senate has gone into territory that most certainly will affect the middle class," he said.

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As Abe Lincoln watches, President Obama met with U.S. Ambassador to Afghanistan Karl Eikenberry, left, and General Stanley McChrystal, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, in the Oval Office on Monday.

The general and the ambassador are testifying before Congress today on the situation in Afghanistan, while the president shifts his attention to the economy and jobs with a speech at the Brookings Institution.

But the parsing of Mr. Obama's July 2011 timetable for troop withdrawals given during his Afghan war speech last week at West Point continues unabated as Secretary of Defense Robert Gates meets in Kabul with Afghan President Hamid Karzai.

During his December 1 speech at West Point, speaking of the addition of 30,000 American soldiers, as well as NATO troops, to the Afghan front to secure the "common security of the world," Mr. Obama said:

"Taken together, these additional American and international troops will allow us to accelerate handing over responsibility to Afghan forces, and allow us to begin the transfer of our forces out of Afghanistan in July of 2011."

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CBS News National Security Correspondent David Martin said on "Washington Unplugged" Tuesday that General Stanley McChrystal should be able to make some progress against in Afghanistan thanks to the addition of new troops.

"I certainly think that that infusion of troops will allow us them to reverse the momentum of the Taliban in parts of the country at least," Martin said. He said that was especially true in Helman province, where the initial batch of troops will go as early as next week.

"The question is not can you go in and stomp the Talian," said Martin. "The question is can you go in and convince the local population that the Taliban is going to stay stomped after you leave."

Dickerson asked if the number of troops McChrystal will get from the surge will be enough to accomplish his goals.

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Former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee penned an op-ed for the Washington Post offering his perspective on the case of alleged cop-killer Maurice Clemmons. The Republican has come under criticism from some conservatives for granting clemency to Clemmons in 2000.

Huckabee, who ran for his party's presidential nomination in 2008, uses the op-ed to defend his decision to commute the now-deceased Clemmons' sentence from 108 years to 47 years, making him eligible for parole.

"I take full responsibility for my actions of nine years ago," Huckabee writes. "I acted on the facts presented to me in 2000. If I could have possibly known what Clemmons would do nine years later, I obviously would have made a different decision. If I only had the same information I had then, I would make the same decision."

He goes on to assert that he had nothing to do with Clemmons' release on parole: in Arkansas, he notes, the parole board, not the governor, has the power to parole prisoners. Furthermore, Huckabee states that Clemmons should have been prosecuted for subsequent parole violations in Arkansas and separate arrests in Washington.

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Democrats in the House reacted positively to President Obama's job speech today at the Brookings Institution.

Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in a statement that House Democrats will work with the president to put "Americans to work building a 21st century infrastructure and making our homes more energy efficient, ensuring that small business owners gain easier access to capital and credit, and helping to keep teachers, police, and firefighters on the job in our communities."

At Majority Leader Steny Hoyer's weekly meeting with reporters this morning, he said that it is more important to do a jobs bill right than fast, but that it needs to be done soon. Hoyer said doing it in the next 10 days is not essential, but said 30 to 40 days from now is more realistic.

Exact details of the package, and the price tag, are still under negotiation, though it is expected to include money for infrastructure, tax cuts and credits for small businesses and credits for homeowners who make their homes more energy efficient. Hoyer said figures ranging from $75 billion to $150 billion have been discussed.

What will come to the floor, however, before the House leaves for the holidays is an extension of unemployment insurance and subsidies to help the unemployed purchase COBRA health insurance.

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Public support for the war in Afghanistan jumped nine points in the past three weeks, according to a new Quinnipiac poll, showing an increase of support following President Obama's nationally broadcast address laying out his new war strategy.

Mr. Obama plans to address his Afghanistan strategy in Olso this week, when he accepts his Nobel Peace Prize -- a prize most voters say the president does not deserve, according to the Quinnipiac poll.

Fifty-seven percent of American voters said fighting the war in Afghanistan is the right thing to do, while 35 percent said it is not the right thing to do, according to the poll, conducted Dec. 1 through Dec. 6. By contrast, a Nov. 18 Quinnipiac poll showed only 48 percent of Americans said fighting in Afghanistan is the right thing to do. Mr. Obama delivered his address outlining his new strategy on Dec. 1.

The new poll also shows Americans are now split over their approval of Mr. Obama's handling of the war, with 45 percent approving and 45 percent disapproving. His approval rating for the war has increased seven points from the Nov. 18 poll.

Taking The Measure of Stanley McChrystal
McChrystal: Mission "Undeniably Difficult"
Special Report: Afghanistan

"President Barack Obama's nationally televised speech explaining his policy and troop buildup has worked, at least in the short term, in bolstering support for the war effort and his decisions," Peter Brown, assistant director of the Quinnipiac University Polling Institute, said in a statement.

Sixty percent of voters said they approve of the president's plan to begin withdrawing troops in July 2011, but 45 percent said they do not believe he will be able to keep that promise.

Meanwhile, 66 percent of voters said Mr. Obama does not deserve the Nobel Peace Prize, which he will receive on Thursday. In fact, the president said himself he did not feel he deserved it.