NY Times, January 4, 2007
Awaiting Bushs Iraq Plan, Democrats Weigh Replies
By JEFF ZELENY
WASHINGTON, Jan. 3 Some key Senate Democrats say they could consider
supporting a short-term increase in American troop levels in Iraq, a stance
that reflects division within the party and could provide an opening for
President Bush as he prepares to announce his revised plan for Iraq as
early as next week.
Mr. Bush is expected to outline a strategy that would include adding to
American forces, but would link that increase to a plan for economic
development in Iraq. He has vowed to consult Congressional leaders before
delivering his speech to the nation, and he began that process on Wednesday
night by inviting House and Senate leaders to a White House reception,
though officials said Iraq was not discussed.
Senator Carl Levin, the Michigan Democrat who will lead the Armed Services
Committee, said he would not prejudge the presidents proposal. While he
would oppose an open-ended commitment, Mr. Levin said, he would not rule
out supporting a plan to dispatch more troops if the proposal was tied to a
broader strategy to begin reducing American involvement and sending troops
home.
The American people are skeptical about getting in deeper, he said in an
interview. But if its truly conditional upon the Iraqis actually meeting
milestones and if its part of an overall program of troop reduction that
would begin in the next four to six months, its something that would be
worth considering.
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NY Times, January 4, 2007
News Analysis
The Democrats Cautious Tiptoe Around the Presidents Tax Cuts
By EDMUND L. ANDREWS
WASHINGTON, Jan. 3 President Bush is all but daring Democratic leaders to
attack his signature tax cuts as they take over Congress. But Democrats,
perhaps to his frustration, are having none of it.
In an opening salvo on Wednesday, Mr. Bush proclaimed that he would present
a budget next month that manages to project a balanced budget by 2012 while
permanently extending more than $1 trillion in tax cuts.
It is also a fact that our tax cuts have fueled robust economic growth and
record revenues, Mr. Bush wrote in an op-ed article for The Wall Street
Journal. We met our goal of cutting the deficit in half three years ahead
of schedule.
The implicit message, which Republican lawmakers reinforced later, was that
their tax cuts were popular with voters, that Republicans had proven the
economic benefits of tax cuts and that Democrats would court disaster if
they even hinted at rolling them back or repealing them.
But even as Democratic leaders continue to accuse Mr. Bush of having a
reckless fiscal policy, they have refused to discuss dismantling his tax
cuts or even to engage in a debate with him about the best way to stimulate
economic growth.
Its always the same old tired line with them Tax and spend, tax and
spend, tax and spend, said Senator Kent Conrad, the North Dakota
Democrat who is chairman of the Senate Budget Committee. Were not going
there.
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