House Democrats Trim Agenda

HOUSE DEMOCRATS TRIM AGENDA
[SOURCE: Washington Post, AUTHOR: Ben Pershing]
Gone is the talk of forcing President Bush to end the war, as is the impetus to pass a comprehensive immigration package and to stick to strict budget rules. Instead, House Democrats are thinking smaller, much smaller. Presidential election years are traditionally slow on the legislative front, and Democrats have a narrow majority in the Senate. Even in the House, the 290 votes the majority needs to overcome any Bush veto usually are not there. Democrats need to pass a budget. They want to pass another energy bill. They would like to pump money into the Highway Trust Fund for road projects. They may reauthorize the No Child Left Behind education law. They have to push through appropriations bills. Democrats also have not given up on Iraq, though they do appear to be moving away from their so-far-unsuccessful strategy of tying troop withdrawal language to money for the war. Based on the comments of leaders here, any Iraq timeline language that moves this year will probably move separately from funding bills.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/01/31/AR2008013103857.html
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