McConnell Mulls Introducing Amendment to Stop US Pullout from Syria, Afghanistan

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell said on Tuesday he plans to introduce legislation to prevent what he called a "precipitous" withdrawal of US forces from Syria and Afghanistan before terrorist groups such as Al-Qaeda and the Daesh are defeated there.

"My amendment would acknowledge the plain fact that al Qaeda, ISIS[Daesh]*, and their affiliates in Syria and Afghanistan continue to pose a serious threat to our nation", McConnell said in remarks on the Senate floor.

McConnell said his amendment, which he plan to introduce to a wide-ranging Senate bill on the Middle East, would "recognize the danger of a precipitous withdrawal from either conflict, and highlight the need for diplomatic engagement and political solutions to the underlying conflicts in Syria and Afghanistan".

He stressed that his amendment would ensure the continued commitment of US forces until "vile terrorists" suffer an enduring defeat in both countries.

Moreover, McConnell emphasized that if the US exit the two countries before defeating the terrorists, the two conflicts would "reverberate in the United States".

https://sputniknews.com/us/201901301071940994-usa-mcconnell-syria-afghanistan-pullout/

Kamala Harris Backs Massive Government Expansion Into Healthcare, Energy

Democratic presidential contender Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.) has expressed support for “Medicare-for-all” and the “Green New Deal” plans that would massively expand government spending and intervention in the energy sector, and would allow the government to wholly take over healthcare. The plans are estimated to cost tens of trillions of dollars.

Harris backed the plans during a CNN town hall on Jan. 28.

Healthcare

An audience member asked: “What is your solution to ensure that people have access to quality health care at an affordable price, and does that solution involve cutting insurance companies as we know them out of the equation?”

“I believe the solution—and I actually feel very strongly about this—is that we need to have Medicare-for-all,” Harris replied. “That’s just the bottom line.”

She said that healthcare “should be understood to be a right” and that “having a system that makes a difference in terms of who receives what based on your income is unconscionable.”

In contrast to Constitutional rights, which are ensured when there is no government overregulation, quality healthcare, as it is now, requires a large industry—worth nearly $3.7 trillion in 2018—in which people participate voluntarily and expect compensation.

Medicare-for-all has been estimated to cost over $32 trillion and would require more than doubling federal income and corporate tax revenues.

Harris’s plan, as she has acknowledged, would also eliminate the health insurance industry as we know it.

https://www.theepochtimes.com/kamala-harris-backs-massive-government-expansion-into-healthcare-energy_2783808.html