Word: saying
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...bill's critics, however, say the taxes would probably be borne by many middle-income people, especially municipal employees and unionized workers in states where insurance costs are high. What's more, if health-insurance costs continue to rise as they have, the tax would catch more and more insurance plans. In the interview on Thursday evening, Sept. 17, Baucus sounded sympathetic to those kinds of concerns and hinted that the threshold for taxation is likely to be raised. "Union plans are very expensive, and we have to be respectful of that," Baucus said...
...place where Baucus does not appear to be so flexible is on the question of adding a government-run public option to the measure as an alternative for providing coverage to the uninsured. While some liberals in the Senate have gone so far as to say they will not vote for a bill that does not include a public option, Baucus said it would not pass on the Senate floor. He said, however, that one "live possibility" is the idea of adding a so-called trigger that would create a public plan if private insurance companies fail to do enough...
...prospects for winning Republican support have become fainter and fainter. Baucus noted that even Charles Grassley, his good friend and the ranking Republican on his committee, is "under intense pressure from his side of the aisle to withdraw from the process" after months of bipartisan talks. Nonetheless, Baucus says, "I still think there'll be some Republican support at the end of the day." Say this for Max Baucus: he's not one to give up easily...
...will fare any better at winning over the Taliban. Indeed, the next government will probably be led by Karzai, who will lack credibility after the pervasive claims of vote-rigging in the presidential election. Given that everyone from President Obama on down to his military commanders and Karzai now say that the Taliban cannot be defeated militarily, retooling efforts to reconcile with the Taliban may be the last chance for a durable peace in Afghanistan. (Read a story about why the Taliban is gaining ground in Afghanistan...
...mentor, Sibghatullah Mojaddedi, a religious scholar and former President. The U.S. and other donors put up $3 million, but refused to contribute more after they learned that Mojaddedi, 83, spent a large chunk of the money on salaries for his family and loyal retainers. "Mojaddedi's people say they had 5,000 Taliban hand over their guns," says one angry Afghan official, "but I asked them if they had any big commanders among them, and they couldn't name a single...