The New York Times and Wall Street Journal's
world-wide newsbox lead with new polls that show the American public is
growing increasingly concerned that an overhaul of health care would
have a negative impact in their own lives. The NYT highlights
that the percentage of Americans who describe health care costs as a
threat to the economy has gone down in the past month, suggesting that
the public isn't buying one of President Obama's central arguments for
the plan. The WSJ points out
that last month respondents were evenly divided on the merits of the
overhaul but now support has declined, particularly among those who are
already insured. The Washington Post leads with, and the Los Angeles Times off-leads, House Democrats reaching an agreement
with conservative members of their party that could help health care
legislation pass the energy and commerce committee. The agreement seeks
to cut more than $100 billion from the bill and would maintain the
government-run insurance plan but change the way it operates.
The LAT leads with word that the military is shifting some of its Predator drone aircraft away from hunting al-Qaida operatives toward tracking the Taliban and aiding the general war effort in Afghanistan. The scarce drones are one of the military's "most precious intelligence assets," and the increased focus on the Taliban shows how U.S. officials now believe that the best way to beat al-Qaida is stabilizing Afghanistan and Pakistan rather than hunting down individuals, although that will also continue. So more drones will be operated by conventional forces in Afghanistan and focus on tracking movements in insurgent strongholds. "We have been overly counter-terrorism-focused and not counter-insurgency-focused," said one U.S. official. USA Today leads with a look at how more Americans are failing to pay their property taxes amid the recession, meaning that many who might have survived the foreclosure wave could eventually lose their homes to tax seizures. There's no national figure, but many localities have reported a sharp increase in the number of businesses and homeowners who aren't paying their tax bills at a time when local governments are already strapped for cash.
