• Cover Story
• Table of
  Contents
• Contents By
  Topic
• Columns
  • Brownstein
  • Cook
  • Crook
  • Rauch
  • Stokes
  • Schneider
  • Taylor Jr.
• Regular
  Features
  • Hotline Extra
  • Inside Washington
  • Insiders Poll
  • K Street Corridor
  • People
  • The Week on the Hill

Click here to see how prominent bloggers answered these questions.

Q: Do you want U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan to rise, fall, or hold fairly steady in the coming months?

Democrats (38 votes)

Rise          8%
Fall         47%
Hold steady  39%
Defer to 
  military's 
  judgment*   5%

* Volunteered.

Rise

"The plan to increase troop levels in the near future to give the Afghan army time to grow stronger in the long term is sound but will need the public support it does not currently have."

Fall

"Our strategy there is unclear, and too many troops are losing their lives in the last few months. What is our mission? It is time to look for an exit strategy."

"We need a better plan, not doing more of what doesn't work."

"No one wants to see more U.S. troops put in harm's way. But unless the administration can convince Congress that we can actually know what 'victory' looks like, the increase in troop levels is likely to be short-lived."

"The United States should be pulling out, letting the rest of the world step in."

"That Sen. [Russell] Feingold and columnist George Will agree on one thing -- a U.S. troop withdrawal from Afghanistan -- says something. Eight years in, and sound strategy, let alone security, remains elusive."

"No need to escalate. We need to get out as soon as possible."

"Start withdrawing."

Hold steady

"The president is right to focus our efforts in Afghanistan, but it will be extremely difficult to support the administration if there are no clear mission goals that are achievable in a workable timeframe."

"Willing to give Obama some more time."

"Troop levels are secondary to effective and responsive governance: the main challenge facing both the U.S. and Afghanistan."

Defer to military

"I trust the advice of our commanders on the ground."

"Whatever is necessary to get the job done in Afghanistan."

Q: Do you want U.S. troop levels in Afghanistan to rise, fall, or hold fairly steady in the coming months?

Republicans (38 votes)

Rise         53%
Fall         16%
Hold steady  24%
Defer to 
  military's 
  judgment*   8%

* Volunteered.

Rise

"We must change policy to fight a counterinsurgency which is already under way."

"[Gen. David] Petraeus and [Defense Secretary Robert] Gates deserve a chance to pull another rabbit out of the hat."

"Whatever military advises to defeat terrorism."

"If we intend to stabilize Afghanistan during this critical period."

"No one wants troop levels to rise, but we should give the president and the military what they need to win. That means more troops, if the president has the political courage to give his hand-picked commander what he has requested. You cannot win wars with half-measures and politically imposed timelines."

"The commanders on the ground should be dictating our strategy, not the politicians in Congress."

Fall

"I think we should significantly beef up our intelligence, especially human intel, while we draw down our troop strength. It is incredibly bad policy for the administration to be witch-hunting the CIA at this time."

"I want troop levels to fall. I expect they need to rise."

"The Democrats talked up Afghanistan during the campaign as the good war. Where is their plan for success? Or was it just another hollow political weapon?"

Hold steady

"NATO needs to step up."

"Does anyone have a plan?"

Defer to military

"My support will be strongly influenced by the reports of commanders in the field and the logic of President Obama's new program."

"It should be based on the needs of the commanders on the ground."

"I support a rise if that's what our troops need to be successful."

Q: Could you see yourself supporting health care reform if it included tort reform?

Democrats (38 votes)

Yes       68%
No        29%
Depends*   3%

*Volunteered.

Yes

"There are some state models that seem to work pretty well."

"Reform is in the eye of the beholder. There are things that could make the system work better, but cheating victims of malpractice isn't one of them."

"California has the model 'tort-reform law,' but it hasn't stopped defensive medicine. Tort reform won't affect costs without national standards."

"The House Energy and Commerce Committee markup includes a couple of tort-reform provisions."

"This is not a make-it-or-break-it issue, but it does matter."

"If it brings 150 Republican votes in the House for the public option."

"Not as big a problem as a bill without a public option."

No

"Tort reform will do nothing to cover the uninsured, hold insurance companies accountable, or lower costs for consumers."

"Since Republicans are more likely to call Reagan a socialist than actually vote for any health reform bill that Obama would sign, adding tort reform would just kill the bill since adding it would lose more votes than it would gain."

"I would support a study to determine what the true cost-drivers in health care are and whether tort reform would actually have a significant impact on cost increases in the health care arena."

"I agree with the president that we should not have tort reform that puts a limit on an injured person's damages for pain and suffering, as some states have done. I also think tort reform is a state issue and not a federal one."

"Tort reform is necessary but shouldn't be tied in to health care."

"If 'tort reform' means taking away patients' and families' right to legal recourse, this won't lower health care costs in the long run. California's example has proved this approach simply doesn't work."

Q: Could you see yourself supporting health care reform if it included tort reform?

Republicans (38 votes)

Yes       34%
No        47%
Depends*  18%

*Volunteered.

Yes

"A short bill with tort reform, without a public option, and geared toward insurance reform would certainly be intriguing, but the well is so poisoned right now a 'no' vote is still a no-brainer."

"Yes, if Democrats abandon the notion of a government-run plan that would 'compete' with private insurance."

"Tort reform is essential, but that's just one part of it. We need to make reforms without breaking the bank."

"Without tort reform, they've got no shot at my vote."

No

"Democrats' attempts to pander will fall well short of meaningful reform to bring down the cost of health care for Americans."

"Tort reform is not enough to accept a government option/mandate. Nothing is enough to accept that which will destroy quality health care in America."

"Tort reform will not cure the wreck that is the public option."

"But, combined with removing the public option, it would help."

"The key to reforming health care is reforming costs. And the way to do that is reduce the threat of litigation that doctors are being held captive by."

"It is still Big Government run amok."

Depends

"Medical liability reform is extremely important. But so is bending the cost curve, making the bill deficit-neutral, and extending government control of health care."

"If it is real tort reform and if it is a bill that is in the mainstream of what the country wants -- meaning no public option, no rationing, and no interference with the doctor-patient relationship."

"We need more than tort reform, but in reality [House Speaker Nancy] Pelosi will NEVER let tort reform be part of the package."

National Journal Insiders

Democratic Congressional Insiders Sens. Sherrod Brown, Ben Cardin, Thomas Carper, Christopher Dodd, Frank Lautenberg, Barbara Mikulski, Mark Pryor, Jon Tester; Reps. Jason Altmire, Robert Andrews, Michael Arcuri, Tammy Baldwin, Melissa Bean, Xavier Becerra, Howard Berman, Marion Berry, Rick Boucher, Lois Capps, Michael Capuano, Dennis Cardoza, Chris Carney, James Clyburn, Jim Cooper, Joseph Crowley, Elijah Cummings, Artur Davis, Diana DeGette, Rosa DeLauro, Eliot Engel, Anna Eshoo, Sam Farr, Chaka Fattah, Bob Filner, Phil Hare, Alcee Hastings, Rush Holt, Mike Honda, Steve Israel, Frank Kratovil, Jim Langevin, John Lewis, Zoe Lofgren, Nita Lowey, Carolyn Maloney, Ed Markey, Jim McDermott, Jim McGovern, Kendrick Meek, Jim Moran, David Price, Silvestre Reyes, Linda Sanchez, Jan Schakowsky, Mark Schauer, Jose Serrano, Adam Smith, John Spratt, Pete Stark, John Tanner, Ellen Tauscher, Bennie Thompson, Debbie Wasserman Schultz, Henry Waxman, and Peter Welch.

GOP Congressional Insiders Sens. Lamar Alexander, Jim Bunning, John Cornyn, Jim DeMint, John Ensign, Lindsey Graham, Kay Bailey Hutchison, Johnny Isakson, Richard Lugar, Mel Martinez, Lisa Murkowski, Jeff Sessions, Olympia Snowe, John Thune, David Vitter; Reps. Michele Bachmann, Brian Bilbray, Marsha Blackburn, Roy Blunt, John Boehner, Charles Boustany, Kevin Brady, John Campbell, Eric Cantor, John Carter, Michael Castle, Tom Cole, Mike Conaway, David Dreier, Jeff Flake, Scott Garrett, Bob Goodlatte, Kay Granger, Doc Hastings, Pete Hoekstra, Bob Inglis, Darrell Issa, Peter King, Jack Kingston, Mark Kirk, John Kline, Christopher Lee, Dan Lungren, Kenny Marchant, Kevin McCarthy, Patrick McHenry, John Mica, Candice Miller, Sue Myrick, Devin Nunes, Mike Pence, Tom Price, Adam Putnam, Dave Reichert, Cathy McMorris Rodgers, Mike Rogers of Michigan, Peter Roskam, Paul Ryan, Pete Sessions, John Shadegg, Adrian Smith, Mark Souder, Pat Tiberi, Fred Upton, and Joe Wilson.