All Blog Posts from Political Hotsheet

Updated 12:52 p.m. ET

Rep. David Obey, a Wisconsin Democrat and the chairman of the House Appropriations Committee, is the latest lawmaker to call for a new tax aimed at the rich to pay for a troop increase in Afghanistan.

White House Budget Director Peter Orszag has suggested it could cost the government $40 billion per year to send the 40,000 new troops sought by top U.S. commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal. (The Pentagon puts that figure somewhat lower.) Obey tells CBSNews.com the cost of the war could "destroy the other things we are trying to do in our economy."

In interviews with CBS News and ABC News, the Wisconsin lawmaker said that he favors a "war surtax" in which high-earners pay five percent of their incomes and lower-earners pay a smaller percentage, down to one percent.

"What we are saying is if this war is worth fighting, then it is worth paying for," Obey said on Monday's edition of CBSNews.com's "Washington Unplugged." (Watch at left.)

"We would impose a one percent surtax on anyone with taxable income that would rise to about two percent if you are making roughly $200,000 dollars, and once you get up into the stratasphere in terms of four or five hundred thousand dollars in income the surtax would be higher than that," he said. "Whatever the cost of the war is would be paid forthrough that tax. Because if we don’t do that that war will bleed every dollar in the budget away from any other initiative and it will block us from making the investments we need to make in our own economy."

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Michigan Sen. Carl Levin (right), a Democrat and the chair of the Senate Armed Services Committee, is arguing that wealthy taxpayers should perhaps shoulder the cost of sending additional troops in Afghanistan.

In an interview for Bloomberg Television's "Political Capital With Al Hunt," the senator suggests funding additional troops with an "additional income tax to the upper brackets, folks earning more than $200,000 or $250,000."

"They have done incredibly well, and I think that it's important that we pay for it if we possibly can," Levin said, according to Bloomberg. He also called for the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) to provide half of the new soldiers sent to Afghanistan.

White House Budget Director Peter Orszag has put the cost of each additional troop at $1 million.

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Rep. Pete DeFazio (D-Ore.) is seeking co-sponsors for the "Let Wall Street Pay for the Restoration of Main Street Act," which he suggests could raise $150 billion per year through a securities transaction tax.

The money raised "will be invested in the current needs of Main Street America," according to a message DeFazio sent to House colleagues seeking support for the effort.

"We cannot sit back and assume that job creation will turn around," the message says. "We must make it clear to our constituents that we know Main Street is suffering and a restored Wall Street should now share in its recovery with everyone else. Timely job creation and deficit reduction is the fair thing to do."

The tax would be applied to stock transactions (at 0.25 percent), futures, swaps, credit default swaps and options. In an effort to make sure it does not affect pension funds or average investors, it would be refunded for the first $100,000 of transactions annually, as well as for tax-favored retirement accounts, education savings accounts and health savings accounts.

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Even at 10.2 percent, the worst in more than a quarter century, the nation's unemployment rate has not topped out.

"More likely than not, it will get a little worse before it gets better," said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs at his midday briefing today.

For months, the White House had been warning us to brace for a double-digit unemployment rate. It arrived this morning with a thud – like an anvil dropped from a 10.2-story building.

The jobless rate for October jumped four-tenths to 10.2 percent. President Obama calls it "a sobering number that underscores the economic challenges that lie ahead."

Speaking to reporters in the Rose Garden, he was quick to point out that "job growth always lags behind economic growth." Gross Domestic Product for the third quarter moved back into positive territory last week at 3.5 percent.

Nevertheless, Mr. Obama and his aides point out that the economy lost fewer payroll jobs in October than it did the month before. Job loss for October totaled 190,000 – down from a revised 219,000 in September. The administration views that as a hopeful sign.

Christina Romer, Chair of the President's Council of Economic Advisors, says the numbers continue "the steady trend of moderating job loss that began last spring." (The White House posted a chart illustrating the trend is available on its Web site here.)

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Republican Sen. Johnny Isakson of Georgia has been leading the rally cry to extend a stimulus program which gives first time homebuyers an $8,000 tax credit.

“This is not only the key to help somebody buy a loan or the key just to stabilize values it also helps to bring back lending for reasonable, highly qualified people,“ he said on “Washington Unplugged” Tuesday.

The senator’s proposed legislation actually increases the amount of tax rebate homeowners could receive and increases the income threshold for families and individuals eligible. According to congressional estimates, Isakson’s plan would cost an additional $16.7 billion dollars if expanded until June 30, 2010.

Asked by moderator Nancy Cordes, CBS News’ Capitol Hill correspondent, how he plans to pay for this, Isakson cited the dividends coming back from TARP loans to banks and unspent stimulus money. This can be done “without additional offset” to the congressional budget he explained.

He noted that Congress extended a similar option in the mid 1970s – which helped turned around a recession.

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Democrats in the House of Representatives represent the poorest and the richest districts in the country, according to a new analysis, as well as those districts with the most residents with health insurance and those with the least.

Holding together these disparate constituency groups is no small task, as is clear from the Democrats' struggle to balance their competing objectives for health care reform.

The liberal wing of the party is emphasizing reforms like the expansion of Medicaid -- the federal program that insures low-income Americans -- which should come as no surprise, given that Democrats represent nine of the 10 districts with the lowest levels of health coverage, according to the analysis from USA Today.

Moderate Democrats, however, are fighting back against tax increases on the rich to pay for those reforms. Some of those Democrats represent the nation's wealthiest districts. The House Democratic caucus represents 57 percent of households with incomes of $200,000 or more, USA Today reports. By contrast, Republicans reportedly represented 55 percent of those households in 2005.

The Democratic agenda has evolved as the party has grown to include more wealthy Americans. Representatives like Jared Polis of Colorado and Jason Altmire of Pennsylvania have both, as members of the New Democrat Coalition, urged House leadership to avoid new taxes to pay for health reform, the Hill reports. The New Democrats describe themselves as "moderate, pro-growth members of Congress."

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Congressman Charlie Rangel (D-N.Y.) will keep his chairmanship of the powerful House Ways and Means Committee, after Republicans failed to pass a resolution Wednesday to remove him from the leadership position.

The House voted 246 to 153 to refer the resolution to the House Ethics Committee, which is already investigating Rangel.

The resolution chastised Rangel for allegations of improper and potentially illegal conduct relating to his personal finances and fundraising. The congressman has denied any wrongdoing. The Ways and Means Committee is responsible for tax law.

Wednesday's resolution was the third targeting Rangel that Republicans offered in the House this year. Two Democrats -- Gene Taylor and Travis Childers, both of Mississippi -- voted against Rangel, while six Republicans sided with the Democratic chairman: Peter King of New York, Walter Jones of North Carolina, Tim Murphy of Pennsylvania, Ron Paul of Texas, Dana Rohrabacher of California and Don Young of Alaska.

The two Democratic votes against Rangel "show that support for the Democratic leaders' decision to sweep this matter under the rug is starting to crack," said Michael Steel, a spokesman for Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio).

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said earlier Wednesday that any action before the Ethics Committee completes its work would be premature.

Rangel's Dubious Accounting

Politics Today is CBSNews.com's inside look at the key stories driving the day in politics, written by CBS News Political Director Steve Chaggaris:

** Getting input on Afghanistan...

** An important health care vote gets pushed back...

** Obama considers tax cuts...

PRESIDENT OBAMA: The president's day is focused on global terror issues as he will meet with the leadership of the National Counterterrorism Center this morning. Later, at 2:30pm ET, he'll hold a discussion at the White House with congressional leaders on Afghanistan and Pakistan. In attendance will be House and Senate leadership from both parties as well as the chairmen and ranking members of the relevant congressional committees.

"The meeting comes amid mounting casualties in the eight-year war and as President Barack Obama weighs a pending request for 40,000 more troops from the leading commander in Afghanistan, Gen. Stanley McChrystal," report the Hill's Mike Soraghan, Molly Hooper and Sam Youngman.

"It is the first time in six months that House Republican leaders have been invited to the White House to discuss official business; Minority Leader John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Minority Whip Eric Cantor (R-Va.) are both scheduled to attend. If Obama decides to send all the troops McChrystal wants, he will probably need Republican votes to sustain the escalation."

Yesterday, "Amid tension between the military and President Barack Obama over military action in Afghanistan, Secretary of Defense Robert Gates told a gathering of Army officers ... that the Pentagon would follow any strategy that Obama orders," reports McClatchy Newspapers' Nancy A. Youssef.

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In a newly-released interview with Men's Health magazine, President Obama has said he is open to the idea of a tax on soda and other sugary drinks, which some have pointed to as a way to help pay for health care reform.

"I actually think it’s an idea that we should be exploring,” Obama said in the interview. “There’s no doubt that our kids drink way too much soda."

"Every study that's been done about obesity shows that there is as high a correlation between increased soda consumption and obesity as just about anything else," he continued. "Obviously it's not the only factor, but it is a major factor."

The president went on to note that there is resistance in Congress to "sin taxes" such as this.

"People's attitude is that they don't necessarily want Big Brother telling them what to eat or drink, and I understand that," he said. "It is true, though, that if you wanted to make a big impact on people's health in this country, reducing things like soda consumption would be helpful."

Michael Steel, spokesman for House minority Leader John Boehner, email reporters in response to the news arguing that "such a tax would violate the President’s campaign pledge that no one making under $250,000 would pay higher taxes, since – according to the Congressional Research Service – 96.4 percent of it would be paid for by Americans making less than that."

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Politics Today is CBSNews.com's inside look at the key stories driving the day in Politics, written by CBS News Political Director Steve Chaggaris:

**Bill Clinton heads to North Korea to negotiate release of U.S. journalists..

**Protests heat up on health care...

**Obama closes door on middle-class tax hike...

**Senate mulls future of 'Cash for Clunkers'...

**Sotomayor debate begins in Senate...

BILL CLINTON TO N. KOREA: "Former President Bill Clinton arrived in North Korea Tuesday, state media reported, in an effort to gain the release of two American journalists who were arrested in March and have been in the North's custody ever since," reports McClatchy Newspapers' Warren P. Strobel. "The Clinton mission was earlier reported by South Korea's Yonhap news agency, and an Asian diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the situation's sensitivity, said that sending the former U.S. president as an envoy was discussed within the Obama administration last week.

"Yonhap reported that Clinton was en route to Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, where he'd try to secure the release of the two journalists, Laura Ling and Euna Lee…

"The Obama administration has had back-channel talks with North Korea for several weeks over sending an envoy to resolve the situation, according to U.S. officials."

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said this morning in a written statement: "While this solely private mission to secure the release of two Americans is on the ground, we will have no comment. We do not want to jeopardize the success of former President Clinton's mission."

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