From NBC's Ken Strickland
In lieu of a "war tax" to pay for a troop increase in Afghanistan, Democratic Sen. Ben Nelson (NE) is proposing war bonds.

"We didn't have a war tax in the second World War," Nelson said, and instead the government sold Americans bonds."People invested in their country, in that fashion [and] made a lot of sense back then. I don't know why it might not make sense today, certainly in lieu of jumping to tax."

The idea has the support of fellow moderate Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT).

"I think that's a great idea," he said, "But I think we shouldn't shrink from a war tax in which everybody is asked to contribute a little bit to this effort."

From NBC's Mark Murray
Earlier today, we noted how a Congressional Budget Office report gave the Obama White House and Senate Democrats a shot in the arm in the health-care debate. Most Americans, the CBO said, would see their premiums either decrease or stay the same under the Senate health-care bill.

Now comes another CBO report showing that the stimulus created between 600,000 and 1.6 million jobs -- and boosted economic growth -- in the 3rd quarter.

The report was certainly welcome news for a White House that has hasn't been faring well in the P.R. war over the stimulus. Said Vice President Biden in a statement:

This new report from the Congressional Budget Office is further evidence of what private forecasters and government economists have been saying: the Recovery Act is already responsible for more than 1 million jobs nationwide.  From independent economists to Congress's own nonpartisan research body, the experts have spoken and the debate is no longer whether the Recovery Act is creating and saving jobs, but how we provide even more opportunities to drive growth and support American workers.

From NBC's Luke Russert
Also at his weekly pen-and-pad session today, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer declined to support House Appropriations Committee Chairman David Obey's proposal for a surtax on the wealthy to pay for the escalating war in Afghanistan.

Hoyer said that he had been supportive of such a plan in the past. But he alluded to conditions brought forth by the Bush administration as the reason why he is unable support such a tax at this time.

"I have generally been supportive of that proposition," he said. "Unfortunately, we find ourselves as the inheritors of two challenges of significant proportion. A failed economy and a failure to succeed in Afghanistan."

Hoyer left the door open for possible support by saying, "I'm going to talk to Obey about it. I am not supporting it at this point in time, but I do support the general proposition."

Hoyer concluded, "Again, it's complicated by the necessity on the one hand to get the economy going again and on the other hand to pay for what we buy."

From NBC's Luke Russert
In his weekly pen-and-pad session with reporters, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer blasted former Vice President Cheney over his recent criticism of President Obama's approach to Afghanistan.

"We are clearly not making the same mistake the Bush administration made," Hoyer said. "They started something and didn't finish it, and they left it to this administration to clean up."

Hoyer added, "When Mr. Cheney talks about President Obama's giving the thoughtful consideration [about war policy] that he is somehow dissembling, frankly they turned tail. That is pretty tough language, but I get angry when I hear Vice President Cheney talk about a job that they started but didn't finish and was worse in 2008 in December than it was six years previous."

From Chuck Todd, Mark Murray, Domenico Montanaro, and Ali Weinberg
*** Obama's challenges: Ever since his national introduction in 2004 and then his presidential win last year, Barack Obama has delivered PLENTY of big speeches. They're now almost too numerous to list -- the keynote at the Democratic convention in Boston, the campaign launch in Springfield, IL, the J-J dinner in Iowa, the address on race in Philadelphia, the acceptance speech at Invesco Field, Grant Park, the inaugural, Cairo, the health-care address to Congress, and Fort Hood. But the latest big speech, tonight's announcement on Afghanistan from West Point at 8:00 pm ET, could very well be his most challenging one. How does he sell a further commitment to a war that Americans are already divided over? As David Corn asked yesterday, how can he declare a war must be won but not proclaim he'll wage it as long as it takes to succeed? And how does he convince a skeptical public that the fragile governments of Afghanistan and Pakistan will begin taking care of their own problems?

*** Where's the patience … and the money? Here's another challenge for President Obama: How does he ask the public for patience in combating al Qaeda more than eight years after the 9/11 terrorist attacks. The nationalism, solidarity, and unity that existed after 9/11 made it easier for George W. Bush to sell the original deployment to Afghanistan and then Iraq have all but disappeared. It's a more skeptical and war-weary populace that Obama has to win over tonight. And here's another advantage Bush had: He never had to explain how he'd pay for his wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Speaking of Bush, there were approximately 35,000 troops in Afghanistan before Obama took office. After the 30,000-plus troops get added, it will mean Obama will have more than doubled the troops that Bush sent. That stat alone makes it harder for Republicans to hit the president hard on this issue. By the way, Dick Cheney's critique today -- blasting Obama for projecting "weakness" -- appears to be odd timing, since this is the day the president is informing the country of a decision to send more troops into harm's way.

*** The details: At an Oval Office meeting late Sunday afternoon, the president officially gave orders to top military commanders to send some additional 30,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan (the Washington Post puts the number at 34,000), bringing the total U.S. commitment there to about 100,000 troops. The New York Times says that Obama "spent Monday phoning foreign counterparts, including the leaders of Britain, France and Russia." NBC's Madeleine Haeringer, reporting from Kabul, also confirms that Obama and Afghanistan President Karzai held a one-hour video conference call today to discuss the political, military, and security situation in Afghanistan. In his 30- to 40-minute primetime address tonight, Obama will discuss the mission (to dismantle and destroy al Qaeda and prevent the Taliban from creating a safe haven in the region), the endgame (what benchmarks the Afghan and Pakistani governments must meet, as well as how long the U.S. will be there), and the cost (while he'll avoid the details, aides say he won't avoid discussing the difficulty in finding money to pay for the war). "We can't continue to pretend that this is a cost-free" commitment, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs said on "TODAY." By the way, the real fireworks on cost could come Wednesday and Thursday, when Secretaries Gates and Clinton testify to Congress about the new strategy.

*** Obama's day: Before heading to West Point, NY later this afternoon, President Obama and Vice President Biden meet with Defense Secretary Gates at 3:00 pm ET (closed press), and then with congressional leaders at 4:00 pm ET (also closed press). The invited leaders include House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, House Minority Leader John Boehner, House Minority Whip Eric Cantor, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, and Sens. John Kerry and John McCain. Gates, Clinton, and Joint Chiefs Chair Mullen will join the president at West Point. Gen. David Petraeus also may attend the speech in person, depending on scheduling. Also, be sure to tune into "Andrea Mitchell Reports" on MSNBC beginning at 1:00 pm ET, which will feature interviews with GOP Sen. Judd Gregg and White House adviser Denis McDonough.
 
*** Philly focus group: How are ordinary Americans viewing tonight's announcement? Last night, one of us attended a focus group in Philadelphia consisting of seven Obama voters and four McCain voters from the Philly area (city and suburbs). About half of the focus group -- some Obama voters but also at least one McCain supporter -- wanted to withdraw from Afghanistan, not to add more troops there. When asked what he wanted to hear from the president, one of these folks advocating withdrawal, Victor, 61, who voted for Obama, urged the president to make the connection between Afghanistan and the broader war on terrorism. "I want to see him make the case, connect the dots." Another Obama voter wanting withdrawal, Pamela, 59, said she'd be disappointed with the president sending more troops to Afghanistan ("It kind of makes me mad. When does it end?"), but added that it wouldn't impact her overall support for Obama.

*** More from the focus group: Indeed, the war in Afghanistan wasn't the top concern of these Philly voters; the economy and unemployment were. But Democratic pollster Peter Hart -- who conducted the focus group for the University of Pennsylvania's Annenberg Public Policy Center -- said that Afghanistan might not be their top concern now, but it very well could be "100 weeks from now." Other findings from the focus group: Many of the participants (especially the Obama voters) expressed patience with the president on the economy… They were frustrated with Congress (almost all of them giving it C's, D's, or F's)… They LOVED Michelle Obama… All but one DISLIKED Sarah Palin… Some of them grippingly described their personal economic troubles (Cheryll, 36, said that she, her father, and her brother were all laid off, and Patricia, 45, cried when expressing worries that she and her husband would lose their home)… And they blamed corporations (like AIG) and Congress for the economy, not Obama.

*** White House gets good news from the CBO: Turning to domestic politics, the White House and Democrats got some very good news on health care from the Congressional Budget Office yesterday. The CBO said the Senate bill that's being debated "would leave premiums unchanged or slightly lower for the vast majority of Americans, contradicting assertions by the insurance industry that the average family's coverage would rise by thousands of dollars if the proposal became law," according to the Washington Post. The New York Times adds: "Centrist Democrats like Senator Evan Bayh of Indiana, whose votes are vital to President Obama's hopes of getting the bill approved, had feared that the measure would drive up costs for people with employer-sponsored coverage. After reading the budget office report, Mr. Bayh said he was reassured on that point."

*** The run-off in Atlanta: Atlanta holds its mayoral run-off election today, and it's likely to be decided along racial lines. The contest pits City Councilwoman Mary Norwood, who is white, against former state Sen. Kasim Reed, who is black. Norwood won a plurality of the vote (46%) on Nov. 3, but needed 50% to win outright. Reed, who pulled in 36%, split the black vote in a crowded field of other African-American candidates. The city hasn't had a white mayor since 1973.

*** The party crashers speak: Finally, on "TODAY," NBC's Matt Lauer had an exclusive interview with those now-infamous party crashers. They couldn't answer the simple question -- "Who invited you" to the White House state dinner -- saying they are cooperating with probe. They also claimed they have documentation (emails). They couldn't shed any new light on this. It was as if they wanted to trickle out info, using the Secret Service probe as excuse not to give away too much and guarantee more publicity and more attention.

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"President Obama will outline Tuesday his intention to send an additional 34,000 U.S. troops to Afghanistan, according to U.S. officials and diplomatic sources briefed Monday as Obama began informing allies of his plan," the Washington Post writes.

The New York Times adds, "President Obama has decided to expedite the deployment of 30,000 additional American troops to Afghanistan over the next six months, in an effort to reverse the momentum of Taliban gains and create urgency for the government in Kabul to match the American surge with one using its own forces, according to senior administration officials."

The Boston Globe: "President Obama will be under heavy pressure tonight to convince an increasingly skeptical American public, as well as worried members of his own party in Congress, that it is worth risking more American lives and billions more in costs to escalate a war that, over the past eight years, has fallen short of its original objectives. Obama ran in 2008 on a platform of withdrawing from Iraq and winning in Afghanistan, and now, with his popularity waning and political strength on the line, he will make a detailed argument in a prime-time speech for how he intends to accomplish that elusive goal: by adding at least 30,000 troops over the next 18 months."

"President Obama briefed his generals and called world leaders yesterday to give them a heads-up on the Afghanistan troop surge he will outline in tonight's long-awaited speech," the New York Post says. "Obama phoned the heads of Britain, France, Germany, China, Russia, India and other countries to describe the new strategy that he officially ordered his military chiefs to begin carrying out on Sunday night, officials said. The rest of the world will get the details in what is expected to be a 40-minute, nationally broadcast address by the president from West Point."

The New York Daily News: "President Obama's feuding top advisers rallied behind his Afghan troop surge plan Monday -- but the hard sell comes Tuesday night to the American public. Gen. Stanley McChrystal, who wanted 40,000 more troops, and Ambassador Karl Eikenberry, who argued that Afghan reform must precede new troop commitments, are now in sync after a videoconference with Obama."

The perils of the middle road? "President Barack Obamas new strategy on Afghanistan -- to be unveiled tonight in a nationally televised speech from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point -- will likely trigger howls of protest from both the right and the left on Capitol Hill," Roll Call writes.

The Boston Globe notes that although John Kerry, the Senate Foreign Relations chairman, is wary, he's set to endorse Obama's Afghanistan plan, a position that would put him at odds with a number of fellow Democrats in Massachusetts and in Congress.

Per the Washington Post, "As the Senate opened debate Monday on a landmark plan to overhaul the nation's health-care system, congressional budget analysts said the measure would leave premiums unchanged or slightly lower for the vast majority of Americans, contradicting assertions by the insurance industry that the average family's coverage would rise by thousands of dollars if the proposal became law… Democrats, who had been nervously awaiting the CBO's pronouncement on premiums, hailed the report as a political vindication that should help reassure wavering moderates in both parties."

"But Republican senators like Charles E. Grassley of Iowa and Mitch McConnell of Kentucky, the minority leader, said the report validated their concerns," the New York Times adds. "They focused on the prediction that unsubsidized premiums in the individual insurance market, less than a fifth of those with health insurance, would rise an average of 10 percent to 13 percent."

The return of reconciliation? "Talk about using budget reconciliation to pass healthcare reform in the Senate has faded from public view, but Democratic leaders continue to hang the threat over centrists in private," The Hill writes.

A Gas-tax hike coming? "A federal gas tax hike is likely to appear on lawmakers' radars again this year as they search for new ways to fund the country's transportation programs, the department's secretary suggested on Monday, The Hill reports. "During a summit in Fort Worth, Texas, Transportation chief Ray LaHood predicted the federal government's gas tax of 18.4 cents per gallon would not be enough to offset the nearly $500-million gap between how much revenue is available and how much money the department hopes to receive next year."

The New York Times front-pages that Mike Huckabee "has been leading the pack of possible Republican contenders for president in 2012. But the killings of the police officers are focusing renewed attention on his long-contentious record of pardoning convicts or commuting their sentences."

Yesterday, we took a look back at Huckabee's record: By the end of his 10-and-a-half years as governor, Huckabee had issued 1,033 [commutations]. As of 2004, Huckabee had issued more pardons than the leaders of six neighboring states combined -- Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Oklahoma, Tennessee, and Missouri -- in the preceding eight years.

Before President Obama unveils his new Afghanistan strategy, several Democratic senatorial candidates have already voiced opposition to sending more troops there, including Ohio Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley, and Pennsylvania Rep. Joe Sestak.

FLORIDA: Rep. Kendrick Meek (D) said the Senate primary battle between Republicans Charlie Crist and Marco Rubio is "a big fight for the heart and soul of the GOP… "It gives us an opportunity to go out and get perspective as a Democrat, to go out and represent independents and Republicans and Democrats," the Northwest Florida Daily News reports.

KENTUCKY: Hotline On Call takes a look at what could be a defining issue in the Senate Democratic primary between Attorney General Jack Conway and Lieutenant Governor Dan Mongiardo: coal. "It's an issue that pits Mongiardo's base of rural Dems squarely against Conway's urban Dems."

MISSOURI: Fans of Senate hopeful Robin Carnahan (D), who hasn't held a planned media event since launching her campaign more than 300 days ago, can now use their iPhones to "follow her campaign from one page, and Blackberry users from another. There's also a third page for all other mobile users," the St. Louis Post-Dispatch says.

TEXAS: The Dallas Morning News reports that, ahead of January's campaign finance reports, "indications are that Perry has been rolling up big bucks from various special interests representing everything from real estate to liquor," while Hutchison has "only a handful of political action committee contributions."