Tuesday Morning Open Thread

Good morning.

The President is spending a lot of time on Afghanistan this week. My god, George Bush left a mess there. That's going to be one prime example of that failed presidency. This morning, Obama is meeting with Secretary General of NATO. He's also got Secretary Gates on the schedule.

The Senate Finance Committee reconvenes today to continue the mark-up of the Baucus health care bill. We should see votes on several amendments to add a public option to the bill. Senators Schumer and Rockefeller are leading the charge on the Committee. We'll see if Democrats are going to Democrats today or if they're still letting Olympia Snowe run the show, which is apparently a key part of the Rahm Emanuel strategy. The Senate Finance Committee should wrap up its mark-up by the end of the week. Then, Harry Reid will have to meld the Finance bill with the much better HELP Committee bill before it hits the Senate floor, which could happen in a couple weeks.

Should be lots of news today...