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WASHINGTON – Democrats intend to put more focus on economic issues as Congress returns this week for a packed December agenda while President Bush and Republicans push for release of money for the war in Iraq without conditions.
House Democrats, sensing increasing unease about the economy, plan a session Friday with Wall Street executives and other financial experts to discuss the mortgage crisis, tightening credit and other problem areas.
The Senate returns today and the House returns Tuesday, with Democrats hoping to move quickly on an energy bill. The measure would increase fuel-economy standards for the first time in more than a decade and provide a legislative accomplishment heading into 2008.
But Sen. Pete V. Domenici, R-N.M, a leading Republican voice on energy policy, took exception to the proposal, accusing Democrats of striking a deal among themselves and including an objectionable provision to require utilities to use a set amount of renewable fuels.
"That is no way to pass legislation and is another in a long list of reasons why Congress has lost the faith and trust of the American people," said Domenici, the senior Republican on the Energy and Natural Resources Committee.
Republicans say Democrats are facing a legislative logjam because they have spent too much of the year on fruitless efforts to force a change in Iraq war policy.
Both parties want to block the alternative minimum tax to prevent an estimated 20 million taxpayers from falling under the levy that was created to make certain high-income Americans pay some taxes. But the parties have disagreed about how to accomplish that.
The House approved a plan that would have replaced the revenue by eliminating tax breaks for private equity funds and other financial entities, but it was blocked in the Senate. The Internal Revenue Service has warned that confusion over the repeal could delay tax refunds and complicate the filing season.
Congress also has to find a way to resolve a fight with the White House over 11 spending bills that finance every federal agency but the Pentagon. Bush has insisted he would not approve any domestic spending above his limits. Democrats offered to cut the difference in half, to billion, but the administration refused.
Congress and the White House are also in a dispute over money for the war in Iraq. The House has approved billion in interim financing, but it sets a goal of next December to withdraw most combat troops. That was blocked in the Senate, and Bush and Republicans have been trying to pressure Democrats to release the money without strings, saying a delay could force Defense Department layoffs.
Besides the tax and spending issue, Congress has to dispose of a major farm bill, the annual Pentagon policy bill, a trade deal with Peru and a terrorist surveillance measure, though the present wiretapping legislation extends into February. The fate of a children's health insurance program also remains in question.