how about we make him pay 9%? warren wouldn t be hit by the vat tax. a lot of working class people would. let s talk about afghanistan. we have news on afghanistan as well, mika. this is something surprisingly enough that i think republicans should seize on. there s a report out, of course, that in afghanistan we have been exaggerating our gains against the taliban. the fact of the matter is it s a much bigger mess than we expected. that s part of it. there s also news on the surge drawdown. nbc news has learned that defense secretary leon panetta and joint chiefs chairman marty dempsy presented president obama with the first round of the afghanistan surge drawdown. the plan which the military is calling a surge recovery includes how the u.s. will bring home 10,000 american forces by the end of this year. this first round will be a combination of troops that are finishing their tour, not being replaced, troops not deploying