Parts of Democrats' Agenda May Mesh with GOP
Nov. 18, 2006 — -- Senate Democratic Leader Harry Reid used his party's radio address this week to outline the new Democratic majority's legislative agenda.
Reid's words mark the opening move in what Democrats hope will be a grand bargain with the Bush administration and business interests on tax and economic issues.
In other areas, though, the Democrats appear to be drawing battle lines with the president that both parties could find useful as they seek to define themselves for the 2008 presidential election -- the first in 80 years in which a sitting president or vice president is not a likely candidate.
Dems Seek Hike in Minimum Wage, Affordable Education
"Democrats pray the president will work with us, because we're ready to work with him," said Reid, who will become majority leader when the new Congress convenes on Jan. 3. "We want to put politics aside and put bipartisanship, open government and results in its place."
Reid said the new Democratic Congress would "fight for … an economy that lifts working Americans and the squeezed middle class." Specifically, he said it would push to raise the federal minimum wage, "provide tax relief for working families" and make health care and college more affordable.
Business lobbyists and Democratic lawmakers have discussed a possible deal that would see business interests supporting a hike in the minimum wage and an expansion of student loan programs. Such concessions would come in exchange for Democratic support to reduce trade barriers and some business regulations.
Push to Avoid Confrontation with Republicans
Rep. John Dingell, D-Mich., in line to reclaim his post as chairman of the business-regulating Energy and Commerce Committee, has said he would hold hearings on trade practices he considers unfair and harmful to U.S. businesses and workers.
Dingell, the longest serving member of the House, said he would work with Republicans because "it's best to legislate from the middle."
And New York Rep. Charles Rangel, the Harlem lawmaker set to be chairman of the tax-writing Ways and Means Committee, has moved to avoid confrontation with Republicans by ruling out any attempt to repeal estate and capital gains tax cuts -- a claim Republicans used against Democrats in the closing days of the campaign. Those provisions are scheduled to expire in 2010.
"Why should we be talking now about 2010?" Rangel has told reporters. "I'm 76 years old and I don't buy green bananas."
AMT Problem Tricky to Fix
Other parts of the Democrats' economic agenda might be harder to achieve. Both Rangel and his Senate counterpart, Max Baucus, D-Mont., have said they want to change the alternative minimum tax -- a goal shared by many Republicans.
The alternative minimum tax, or AMT, was intended to prevent very high-income earners from using deductions and credits to drastically reduce their tax bills. But its provisions were not designed to change with inflation. As incomes rise with inflation, more middle-income earners have found their tax bills increased by the AMT. By 2010, it is likely to affect more than 30 million taxpayers, compared with 3.8 million this year.
The AMT is projected to generate more than $1 trillion over the next 10 years. Democrats have pledged that tax cuts and spending increases would be offset by matching tax increases or spending cuts, so as not to increase the budget deficit. Budget analysts say coming up with corresponding changes to offset an AMT fix would be difficult to achieve.
Some Issues May Defy Compromise
Compromise will be harder to find in the rest of the agenda Reid outlined -- expanded stem cell research and a way to withdraw U.S. troops from Iraq.
Neither issue falls neatly along party lines. The stem cell research measure President Bush vetoed was a bipartisan bill whose sponsors included Rep. Michael Castle, R-Del., and Sen. Arlen Specter, R-Pa. What's more, anti-abortion Democrats -- including newly elected Robert Casey Jr., D-Pa. -- oppose expanding stem cell research.
On Iraq, Democrats are far from agreeing on how to achieve the goal of a stabilized Iraq and that U.S. troops can leave.
This week, key Republicans seemed to reaffirm opposition to a hasty withdrawal.
"To get out before the job is done will convince the terrorists, once again, that free nations will change our policies, forsake our friends and abandon our interests whenever we are confronted with violence and blackmail," Vice President Cheney told a conservative legal group Friday. "They would simply draw up another set of demands, and instruct Americans to act as they direct or face further acts of murder."