Bush seeks backing for agenda on U.S. budget, Iraq
Source: Reuters
By Steve Holland WASHINGTON, Jan 3 (Reuters) - With Democrats poised to take over Congress, President George W. Bush on Wednesday used a Rose Garden ceremony and a newspaper opinion piece to try to salvage his domestic agenda and win support for an Iraq policy he has yet to announce. Speaking at a ceremony after a Cabinet meeting, Bush used the White House stage to draw attention to his domestic agenda by announcing a plan to balance the U.S. budget by 2012. He also wrote a rare opinion article in The Wall Street Journal promoting his new strategy for Iraq. Bush called upon Democrats to set aside politics, but Democrats, who are preparing to flex their muscle with a legislative push when they take command of Congress on Thursday, responded cautiously. "We hope that when the president says compromise, it means more than 'do it my way,' which is what he's meant in the past," said New York Democratic Sen. Charles Schumer. In his White House comments, Bush said he would present a five-year plan to Congress next month that would balance the budget by 2012 -- three years after his presidency ends -- and make lower tax rates permanent. Balancing the budget in that time frame would require substantial spending discipline, given that recent projections by the White House showed it expected a budget gap of $127 billion by 2011. In early February, Congress expects Bush to request about $100 billion in additional "emergency" funds to pay for combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. The wars currently are being funded with $70 billion put into the pipeline a few months ago. "We welcome the president's newfound commitment to a balanced budget, but his comments make us wary," said incoming House Budget Committee Chairman John Spratt of South Carolina. "They suggest that his budget will still embody the policies that led to the largest deficits in history." Bush also wrote in a rare opinion article in The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday that his new strategy for Iraq would help the "people gain control of the security situation and hasten the day when the Iraqi government gains full control over its affairs." "We now have the opportunity to build a bipartisan consensus to fight and win the war," he wrote. NEW IRAQ STRATEGY Bush is to announce a new strategy for Iraq as early as Tuesday and he is considering a short-term increase of thousands of U.S. troops to try to bring stability to Baghdad. The White House described him as "narrowing the choices" and said he was focusing on a package of options that included "the military front, the economic front and the political front" to announce as a whole. Bush has two years left in office and believes he can accomplish some of his legislative agenda, even though his Republican Party has lost control of the House of Representatives and the Senate and Americans are increasingly turning their attention to the 2008 race to succeed him. (Additional reporting by Glenn Somerville and Richard Cowan)
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