War impasse slows Democrats' agenda

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Democrats have floated at least 20 plans to curb or end the war in Iraq since taking control of Congress four months ago, a strategy that has produced one vetoed bill and slowed their domestic agenda to a crawl.

The time-consuming onslaught includes both symbolic declarations and binding measures incapable of passing a Senate essentially evenly divided between the parties -- repealing the 2002 war authorization, blocking President Bush's troop surge with strict deployment standards, restricting funds to noncombat operations and setting limits on troop levels.

"Democrats have spent four months spinning their wheels with partisan political exercises when we could have gotten the right thing done in one week," said House Minority Leader John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican. He was referring to the legislative impasse between Congress and Mr. Bush over $100 billion in emergency war funds.

"It's time to give American troops the funds they need, support their mission and move forward on an agenda to address some of the domestic issues Americans wrestle with every day," Mr. Boehner said.

Democratic leaders, responding to their party's vocal anti-war base, repeatedly say they have a mandate to correct Mr. Bush's war policy, but a poll shows their stewardship of the nation's legislative branch is receiving tepid reviews. An Associated Press-Ipsos poll shows 35 percent approve of Congress' job performance, a five-point dip in a month that brings it near Mr. Bush's low job-approval numbers.

Democrats say the poll indicates their Iraq efforts are overshadowing progress on other initatives, and that rising gasoline prices are hurting attitudes toward Congress, which historically has low approval ratings.

Rep. Chris Van Hollen of Maryland, chairman of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, acknowledged that the gridlock is talking a toll.

"People are unhappy. There hasn't been a lot of change in direction, for example, in Iraq," he told the Associated Press.

In the first 100 hours of their House leadership, Democrats pushed through a domestic agenda of six measures -- dubbed the "Six for 'O6" -- including elevating the minimum-wage increase, funding stem-cell research, funding alternative energy development, implementing the recommendations of the September 11 commission, changing Medicare's drug plan and cutting student loan interest rates.

None has become law and three face a presidential veto.