Daily Political Wire

George Wenschhof

Japan Fears Leak of Reactor Core - the efforts to control the melt downs of nuclear reactors appear to be failing and it is now feared one reactor's core has been breached. The evacuation radius from the plant has been widened to 19 miles from 12 miles. The NY Times has more here.

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NATO To Take limited Role in Libya - in another blow to the U.S. led effort against Qaddafi, NATO is saying they will only take a limited role. The translation us the U.S. will still bear the brunt of the military action against Libya. The Huffington Post has more here.

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Gates Meets With Netanyahu - U.S. Defense secretary Robert Gates was in Israel yesterday, meeting with Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. gates also met with Palestinian Authority Prime Minister Salam Fayyad. The meeting comes as tensions mount in the Middle East. Rockets launched by Hamas from the West Bank struck Israel and a bomb was detonated at a crowded bus stop in Jerusalem. CNN.com has more here.
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Michele Bachmann to form Presidential Exploratory Committee - the nut case Republican Representative from Minnesota is the latest to announce the possibility of running for the 2012 Republican presidential nomination. Appearing in New Hampshire recently, she forgot her American history and geography referring to Lexington and Concord as cities of that state. The Caucus Blog has a good read here on what a run by Bachmann might mean to the other Republicans running for the republican nomination.

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Huckabee Has Slim Lead in Race for Republican Presidential Nomination - the latest Gallup poll has Michael Huckabee with 19% support, followed by Mitt Romney at 15% and Sarah Palin at 12%. Gallup.com has more here.

The best thing going for Democrats and President Obama is the Republican wannabees make up a list of the "usual suspects", none of who appear capable of winning the 2012 election.

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Government to Tax Drivers for Mileage? - the Congressional Budget Office released a report saying technology was available to track mileage driven and that taxing based on miles driven would be a practical revenue option. TheHill.com has more here.

Unfortunately, this continues the long standing approach to raising taxes by the government. That isto penalize, by taxing a revenue source you actually want to reduce such as alcohol and tobacco. The goal should be to reduce miles being driven by offering incentives (tax reductions) to those who use alternative means of transportation (subway, bus, train,etc.).

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