New York (The Osgood file) -- Obama vows not to rush on Afghan Strategy
Speaking to sailors and airmen at the Jacksonville Naval Air Station in Florida yesterday, President Obama referred to the 14 Americans killed in air crashes yesterday in Afghanistan.
"...And today, they gave their lives --- their last full measure of devotion --- to protect ours," President Obama said.
Mr. Obama went on to say, in making up his mind about General McChrystal's calls for a lot more troops there...
"I will never rush the solemn decision of sending you into harm's way. I won't risk your lives unless it is absolutely necessary," President Obama said.
President Obama was stung by a remark former Vice President Dick Cheney made in a speech last week.
"The White House must stop dithering while America's armed forces are in danger. Make no mistake, signals of indecision out of Washington hurt our allies and embolden our adversaries. Waffling while our troops on the ground face an emboldened enemy endangers them and hurts our cause," Cheney said.
"Well, after waiting 10 months to decide on what to do over there, I think it's time for him to make a decision. Another two or three weeks isn't going to matter, but we certainly can't let it go for many more months --- because there's an Army Commander over there who says the situation is deteriorating. So, you can't leave it like that. Somebody has to make a decision to get more people in there, or to get out," CBS News Military Analyst, retired U.S. Army Colonel Mitch Mitchell said.
The President has been listening lately to Senator John Kerry, chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, who doesn't like General McChrystal's plan.
"His current plan reaches too far, too fast. We do not yet have the critical guarantees of governance and of development capacity..."
Sen. Kerry said.
Opting in and out of Health Care's "Public Option"
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Senate Majority Leader - Democrat of Nevada wanted to, as he puts it, "move forward" on health reform...
"The best way to move forward is include a 'public option' --- with an opt-out provision for states," Reid said.
What does that mean?
"Under this concept, states will be able to determine whether the 'public option' works well for them --- and will have the ability to opt out, if they so choose," Reid said.
The phrase "public option" originally meant that the public would have the option of buying or not buying. This provides a new state level of optionality.
You will recall that the health care reform bill that came out of the Senate Finance Committee did not have a public insurance option in it, as a concession to one Republican.
"We're going to continue working --- we invite Republicans to come and try to improve this legislation," Reid said.
That one Republican was Senator Olympia Snowe of Maine. Where are the Snowes of yesteryear?
"We hope that Olympia will come back. I'm disappointed that the one issue, the 'public option,' has been something that has frightened her," Reid said.
But the opt-out feature doesn't appeal to Senator Ben Nelson of Nebraska --- and he's a Democrat.
"I certainly am not excited about a 'public option' where states would opt out --- or a 'robust,' as they call it, robust government-run insurance plan. I'll take a look at the one where states could opt in, if they make the decision themselves..." Sen. Belson said.
Opting out or opting in. CBS News Correspondent Nancy Cordes, how did the "public option" resurface?
"How did the "public option" resurface? Well, liberal Democrats just kept coming up with different versions --- until they hit on one that it seemed those three or four moderate holdouts might be able to live with. Whether they will indeed get on board remains to be seen," Cordes said.
Jolting a "Smart" Power Grid into Place..
At a solar energy facility in Arcadia, Florida today, President Obama will announce that he's making 3.4 billion dollars in government funds available to make the nation's electric grid "smarter."
"Having a Smart Grid --- having the ability through technology, sensors, metering --- to allow the different utilities in the different service areas to connect with one another --- to measure real-time demand, to measure peak loads, et cetera --- and make those automatic corrections as needed --- will help improve energy efficiency and reliability," Rick Goss, Information Technology Industry Council said.
That's Rick Goss, whose title will barely fit on his business card. He's vice president of environment and sustainability for the Information Technology Industry Council.
It's clear Rick Goss doesn't think much of today's power grid.
"Literally, there are large swathes of the system that are still using 20th Century mechanical switches in terms of controlling power. And so, you end up with transmission issues, with congestion..." Goss said.
When you flip a light switch, do you ever think of all those "stranded assets" out there? Me neither.
"You have major sources of wind power in the Plains and the Midwest, major sources of solar power in the deserts of the Southwest --- and those are all-but-stranded assets at this point --- because it's very difficult to try to connect those into the existing, somewhat antiquated electricity grid we have." Goss said.
We "end users," as Mr. Goss calls us, aren't making very rational price choices right now...
"You have a situation where the end user --- whether it's a consumer or a commercial business, which up to now has just been a passive consumer of electricity --- will have the ability through smart meters and smart appliances to actually interact with the system, and make a rational price choice as to when to use electricity." Goss said.
I can hardly wait...
Pregnant Women and Fighting the H1N1 Flu.
CBS News Medical Correspondent Jennifer Ashton is a practicing OB-GYN doctor --- and she tells us that more and more pregnant women are now looking for the H1N1 flu shot, and they're urged to do so.
"Traditionally, only about 15 percent of pregnant women choose to receive a regular flu shot --- and that's because of concerns they have, understandably so, about putting their anything in their body. I am seeing more pregnant patients coming in, wanting to be vaccinated against H1N1. And for them, their fear of this virus is greater than any concerns they might have about the vaccine." Ashton said.
It's in short supply, though. Only half the projected 40 million doses have been delivered. Pregnant women make up only one percent of the population, but six percent of the swine flu deaths so far.
The risks of H1N1 flu are much worse for a pregnant woman and her baby.
"One hundred women in the U.S. have been admitted to intensive care units with complications of the H1N1 virus --- and 28 of those 100 pregnant women have died. So, we know that they are at much higher risk for serious complications --- and those complications range from their own death to miscarriage to stillbirth to preterm labor and preterm delivery." Ashton said.
"The reason is that Pregnancy suppresses the immune system --- and makes it more difficult for a pregnant woman to fight both bacterial as well as viral infections. And also, the larger the baby and the uterus get, the more restricted the lung movement is, making just sheer breathing much more difficult." Ashton said.
In the ongoing trials of H1N1 vaccine, no adverse effects have been reported --- and millions of pregnant women have been vaccinated against the regular flu. Health officials now recommend both.
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