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Yesterday, I had the chance to attend a fascinating event on Afghanistan sponsored by the RAND Coporation’s Center for Middle East Policy.  Thanks to Steve Clemons of the New America Foundation and The Washington Note for the invite.

It would be a challenge to fairly summarize the presentations.  The discussions covered substantial breadth and depth in just over four and a half hours. 

What I can say about it is this:  After hearing numerous really smart people discuss the challenges facing us in Afghanistan, among whom there was a fair amount of disagreement on the right way forward, I wouldn’t want to be faced with the decisions that President Obama must soon make.

The event opened with a speech from former National Security Advisor Zbigniew Brzezinski (CSPAN coverage here) and closed with a speech by Senate Armed Services Committee Chairman, Senator Carl Levin (CSPAN coverage here).  Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad also gave brief remarks.

In addition to major speeches, there were three panels of experts who gave short presentations and then took questions from the audience.

Counterinsurgency Panel:

Fred Kagan, American Enterprise Insitutute
Arturo Munoz, RAND
Paul Pillar, Georgtown
Moderated by Peter David, The Economist

Counterterrorism Panel:

Terrence Kelly, RAND
Brian Michael Jenkins, RAND
Steve Coll, New American Foundation
Michael O’Hanlon, Brookings Institution
Moderated by Yochi Dreazen, The Wall Street Journal

Containment Panel:

Stephen Walt, Harvard University
Christopher Preble, CATO
James Dobbins, RAND
Moderated by Kevin Sullivan, The Washington Post

This morning, Speaker Nancy Pelosi revealed the House health care reform measure.

Here’s a treasure trove of material on the proposal:

Summary of Affordable Health Care For America Act

Topline Changes From Introduced  Bill to Blended Bill

America’s Affordable Health Choices Act
Implementation Timeline

Affordable Health Care For America Act
Section-by-Section Analysis

Immediate Investments on the Road to Reform

National Journal’s Under the Influence blog reports that according to a new study from the Congressional Management Foundation, constituents gave high ratings to online town hall meetings - Members like them, and best of all for Members of Congress, their constituents liked the Members better as a result.

After each town hall session, the foundation found that constituents had a more favorable opinion of their representative or senator and both the lawmaker and constituents had a better understanding of the subject areas discussed during the online discussion.

It’s hard to beat a deal like that.

Chris “The Fix” Cillizza takes a look at H1N1 through a political prism.

It’s hard not to see the way the Obama administration is handling the H1N1 outbreak through the lens of the Bush Administration’s handling of the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

On Friday night, President Obama declared the spread of the H1N1 virus a national emergency.

This morning, the  New York Times has a run down on the challenges facing government as it tries to help keep up with demand for H1N1 vaccines:

Earlier this month, the government was forced to announce that only about 28 million doses would be available by the end of this month, about 30 percent below the 40 million it had previously predicted. That is not enough to satisfy panicky people who are lining up for vaccine around the country or desperately phoning their doctors and public health departments.

Vaccine shortage stories are a permament part of the journalism cycle, kind of like stories about rising gas prices in summer, and “isn’t this the most negative campaign ever” stories in October.

Today’s National Journal features an interview with new VP at Cassidy, George Meyers.

Meyers, 46, arrives at Cassidy from Lockheed Martin, where he was a business development director. Before that, as chief acquisitions manager and chief lobbyist for the Air Force secretary, he “had to wear a suit and go over to the Hill a lot,” an experience that taught him a few things about applying for federal contracts. “It’s a big misconception that you have to meet all the big people,” Meyers says. “It’s about talking to the right people.”

George is a great guy and a terrific addition to Cassidy, but after reading the part below, I am a little glad my office isn’t right next to his:

The Air Force veteran was in the Pentagon on September 11, 2001. A month later, he was exposed to anthrax in the office of then-Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle, D-S.D., when he was serving as the Air Force’s chief lobbyist for weapons systems. “Talk about nine lives,”

Here’s Cassidy Senior Vice President Tom Dennis discussing the climate change debate.

Here’s a useful resource from the White House on how to deal with the H1N1 and seasonal flu: Flu.gov

A new survey from the Pew Research Center suggests that the political environment for debating climate change is deteriorating.

From MSNBC:

Even as major climate change legislation moves through Congress, fewer voters believe global warming is a very serious problem — or even think there is solid evidence of it — a new Pew Research survey finds. And action on the environment has slipped even further down voters’ lists of policy priorities for the president, although a majority would not oppose regulations limiting carbon emissions.

Part of the drop is likely explained by the increased politicization of the issue as it is considered in Congress. 

Since 2007, there’s been a 25 point drop among Independents who believe there is solid evidence for global warming, still leaving a majority, 53% with that belief.  Among Republicans, there has been a  27 point drop, leaving only 35% of Republicans believing there’s strong evidence that the earth is warming.

Here’s the Pew data.