Congress completed some goals; plenty remain

WASHINGTON – They did not end the Iraq war or tackle $4-a-gallon gas.

But the Democratic-run Congress created programs this year to educate veterans and feed and house the poor. Democrats also cut deals with a weakened GOP president to send voters some economic help.

Their election-year strategy was to exact a steep price from President Bush for letting him have his way in some fights, while teaming with Republicans – some nervous about re-election – to defy him on other fronts.

When Congress returns in September from its five-week break, a few routine chores will dominate the agenda: renewing some tax breaks and passing a bill to keep agencies on automatic pilot until there’s a new president. A second economic aid bill is a possibility; more partisan wrangling over what to do about gas prices a certainty.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., called Congress’ failure to bring troops home from Iraq “probably my biggest disappointment” of the year.

Still, Pelosi said, with the help of Republican defectors and fierce negotiating with Bush, “we did find some areas where, although he initially resisted, he came around.”

That was true of an economic relief measure developed quickly by Pelosi, House Republican leader John A. Boehner of Ohio and Treasury Secretary Henry M. Paulson that sent rebates of $600 to $1,200 to most wage-earners. The checks are widely credited for having a positive effect on the economy.

The $168 billion in economic aid was in essence a tax cut that omitted many of Democrats’ highest priorities, including jobless benefits and heating and food aid for the poor. But it did fulfill the Democrats’ goal of sending checks to low-income people.

Bush showed that even an unpopular, lame-duck president still has sway on national security issues, plus the negotiating leverage that comes with the power to veto legislation.

“In the eighth year of the presidency and in this environment, Bush’s veto was pretty strong,” said Candi Wolff, his former top legislative aide.

But this year, more than in the past, his accomplishments came with heavy measures of concessions.

Democrats plan to advance a bill this fall that could include more public works spending, doubling home heating and air-conditioning subsidies for the poor, increasing food stamps, and providing more aid to states.

Lawmakers left for their summer vacation stalemated over energy, particularly on Republicans’ desire to open the Atlantic and Pacific coasts to oil drilling. It is certain to crop up again – probably repeatedly – when they return.

They also are expected to pass a measure that has become an annual fixture to prevent millions of families from being hit with the Alternative Minimum Tax, at an average cost of $2,000 to $2,500.

Congress is under pressure, too, to extend expiring tax breaks to solar, wind, and other renewable energy developers, but also for teachers and families.

Before they scatter for the elections, lawmakers also have to cut a deal to keep the government running – probably into 2009. Republicans have pledged to make their stand on offshore drilling there, but have little appetite for being blamed for a government shutdown. So some sort of compromise is likely.

The “fights that await our return won’t be easy,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., said Friday.