President Bush’s “proposal to create a tax deduction for health insurance, if enacted into law, could reduce Social Security benefits for many Americans because the deduction would apply not only to income taxes, but also to payroll taxes that go to Social Security.”
A recent trip to Iraq has made House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) “even more certain of her view that moving troops out of Iraq is the best way to bring stability to the region.” After meeting the past three days with scores of U.S. military commanders and regional political leaders, she said, “I believe redeployment of our troops is a step toward stability in the region.”
Sen. Joseph Biden (D-DE) had planned to sit down over the weekend with Sen. John Warner (R-VA) and hammer out a consensus, bipartisan resolution opposing Bush’s escalation in Iraq. “But Warner, who has been making backroom deals for 28 years in the Senate, informed Biden late on Thursday: No deal.”
146: Number of levees nationwide that the Army Corps of Engineers “says pose an unacceptable risk of failing in a major flood.”
Iran’s ambassador yesterday “outlined an ambitious plan on Sunday to greatly expand its economic and military ties with Iraq,” including assuming major responsibility for Iraq’s reconstruction, “an area of failure on the part of the United States.”
$1.2 billion: Amount the Defense Department spends on recruitment efforts each year. With the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan straining the armed forces, “the Pentagon is coming up with creative ways to encourage young people to serve. One such proposal “that’s been floated is allowing the military to recruit foreigners in exchange for U.S. citizenship.”
Three U.S. troops and 100 civilians were killed in Iraq yesterday. At least five students were killed after a mortar shell crashed into a girls’ secondary school.
In addition to hundreds of thousands of people who converged on the National Mall to protest President Bush’s Iraq escalation plan, thousands more protested in Los Angeles, San Francisco and other cities on the West Coast.
And finally: Will Sweden hand out virtual visas? “Sweden will set up a virtual presence in the popular online world ‘Second Life’ to spread information about the Scandinavian country and attract more young visitors, officials said.” Swedish Institute Director Olle Wastberg said his country “will be the first country with an official presence” in the virtual world.
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