Daily Democratic Wire 8-16-2009

George Wenschhof

President Barack Obama will be back in D.C. Monday after spending several days out west attending town halls on health care reform - the President also took time to pen an op-ed on the need for health care reform that appears in the NY Times - you can read it here.

Meanwhile, Americans are being inundated with TV ads paid for by those who oppose and those who support health care reform. You can read more here.

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Senator Jim Webb (D-Va.) wins release of American from Myanmar government - the American; John Yettaw had made an illegal visit to opposition leader Sori Suu Kyi and had been sentenced to seven years of hard labor. This is the second time in a week a American political figure helped secure the release of an American overseas. Although this did not have the same high profile as former president Bill Clinton's trip to North Korea to free two American Journalists. Reuters.com has more here.

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Health insurance co-ops gathering support over public option - on the Sunday morning "Talk Shows" Senator Kent Conrad (D-ND) and HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius signaled the public option in the health care reform legislation may not be needed. TheHill.com has more here.

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Afghanistan election nears with vote uncertain - current President Hamid Karzai is receiving stiff opposition from former Foreign Minister Abdullah Abdullah. Interestingly, state law requires all campaigning to end on Monday, three days prior to the election on Thursday. Speculation is there will be a run off vote between these two as neither will receive the necessary majority of the vote in the multi candidate race for President.

Many from within and outside Afghanistan view Karzai as a puppet of the U.S. government. It is also expected the Taliban will try to disrupt the election. MSNBC.com has more here.

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