Bush sets agenda for skeptical Congress

[helderheid]

By TERENCE HUNT, AP White House Correspondent 6 minutes ago

WASHINGTON -
President Bush, facing a skeptical Congress and American public, sought to deflate opposition to his
Iraq war buildup Tuesday and revive his troubled presidency with proposals to expand health insurance coverage and slash gasoline consumption.


Bush was hampered by his lowest approval ratings in polls as he prepared to deliver his annual State of the Union address before the first Democratic House and Senate in 12 years. The White House said his wish list of initiatives was streamlined to just a few issues on which the president and Democrats might find consensus after years of disputes.

Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., a Vietnam war veteran who opposed Bush's invasion of Iraq, was picked by Democrats to deliver their party's televised response to the president, and he targeted Bush's war strategy.

"They don't have a plan," Webb said in a preview of his remarks. "What they have put on the table is more a tactical adjustment."

The White House acknowledged Bush's proposals face formidable challenges.

"They're ones that have been attempted to be solved in the past and have come up short," said White House counselor Dan Bartlett. "We go into this process with no illusions."

The war in Iraq — nearly four years old with more than 3,060 U.S. deaths — remains the top issue in the polls and dominates Washington's political debate. The president's speech came just three days after 25 U.S. troops were killed, the deadliest day in two years for the U.S. military in Iraq.

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http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20070123/ap_on_go_pr_wh/state_of_union

[Life Long Dem]

1. Here's another one

From Reuters. "(Reuters) - President George W. Bush will urge a rebellious Congress on Tuesday to give his new Iraq plan…"

http://today.reuters.com/news/articlenews.aspx?type=politicsNews&storyid=2007-01-23T210812Z_01_N20365657_RTRUKOC_0_US-BUSH-SPEECH.xml&src=rss