Republicans Push for Voter-Friendly Bills
Energy, Highway Measures Are
Viewed as a Tonic Amid Thorny
Issues of Iraq, Social Security
By CHRISTOPHER COOPER
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
June 14, 2005; Page A4
WASHINGTON -- Republicans, increasingly worried that they are being dragged down by antipathy over the tough issues of Iraq and Social Security, are calling on the White House to push harder on more-voter-friendly legislation, with energy and highway bills at the top of their wish list.
Though White House aides maintain that Democrats have more to lose if Washington devolves into gridlock, some administration officials agree that passage of a few bread-and-butter bills might be the perfect tonic for both the president and Republican lawmakers who face election next year.
Republicans are feeling "slightly naked" as they return to their districts and face constituents empty-handed, says Republican strategist Scott Reed. "The White House is entering a zone where it needs to hold its Republican governing majority together and start pushing issues that resonate back home. It's time to get back to basics."
WALL STREET JOURNAL VIDEO
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WSJ's Gerald Seib talks1 about why Republicans are pushing for voter-friendly legislation.
Lawmakers hope part of the answer will come from two pieces of legislation linked to constituents' economic concerns. The energy bill, which has passed the House and reaches the Senate floor in a different form this week, would represent a step toward addressing gasoline prices, which polls show are a concern for voters. And the highway bill, now in a House-Senate conference, would finance nearly $300 billion of infrastructure projects at a time when Americans are increasingly fearful about the economy.
Yet President Bush has threatened to veto the highway bill as too expensive. And both efforts could be overtaken by a summer battle over the Supreme Court, if Chief Justice William Rehnquist retires. Fighting over Mr. Bush's judicial nominees, and his choice of John Bolton to be United Nations ambassador, has occupied much of the Senate's time in recent weeks.
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White House and congressional leaders point to accomplishments such as passing legislation overhauling bankruptcy laws, "Real ID" legislation imposing new federal security standards on driver's licenses and a law tightening the rules for filing class actions. But lawmakers wonder how much voters think such legislation affects their daily lives.
"Business cares a lot about tort reform, but I'm not sure your average constituent does," says Oklahoma Republican Rep. Tom Cole. "It's time to move into bigger agenda items like gas prices with the energy bill and highway spending with the transportation bill. There is a strong sense that you want to have issues that matter to the average Joe in your district."
Mr. Bush continues to please fellow Republicans by raising significant amounts of money for the party and its candidates, including $1.5 million earlier this month for Republican Sen. Jim Talent of Missouri. And the president's job performance continues to be rated positively by around nine in 10 Republicans.
But recent polls underscore dangers ahead for Republicans in Congress. In a Washington Post/ABC News survey last week, majorities of Americans said Mr. Bush and the Republicans weren't concentrating on issues they care about and weren't making progress solving the nation's problems. The survey showed Mr. Bush with negative ratings on Social Security -- the domestic issue receiving the most presidential attention -- and Iraq.
Some Republican lawmakers are keeping their distance from Mr. Bush's Social Security initiative or his position on other issues. Polls show the public at odds with the president's opposition to legislation expanding funding for embryonic stem-cell research, which has passed the Republican-controlled House and may reach the Senate floor soon.
Amid increasing anxiety over the economy, the administration is also pressing Republicans to support the Central American Free Trade Agreement -- which is opposed by many lawmakers from sugar-producing states and is a difficult sell in other congressional districts buffeted by job losses.
"The president's numbers are abysmal," Republican pollster Steve Lombardo wrote in a memo analyzing his recent polling data. "The president has failed to move beyond his winning coalition (and in some cases lost ground) to capture more voters for his governing agenda."
Advocates acknowledge that the energy bill will do little to ease short-term fuel prices. But Mr. Bush and Republican allies say its incentives for new production would be a step toward expanding supplies in the long term and will please some important Republican constituencies.
The House version of the bill provides about $8 billion in tax incentives for the energy industry, including domestic producers of oil, natural gas and coal, as well as owners of nuclear-power plants. The incentives also provide for vastly expanding the requirement that refiners blend billions of gallons of ethanol, produced with a government subsidy from grain and agricultural waste, into gasoline sold domestically, a popular provision in the Midwest. A Senate version of the bill is expected to carry even more incentives.
"The pressure to get this done is more than ever before," says Ron Bonjean, a spokesman for House Speaker Dennis Hastert.
The highway bill, versions of which have passed both the House and the Senate, calls for pumping at least $284 billion into about 4,000 construction projects, a boon to local job markets across the country. But the White House has said repeatedly that Mr. Bush will veto as excessive any measure topping his $284 million cap; the Senate version exceeds his limit by about $11 billion.
There's "a great deal of frustration" over the prospect of a highway-bill veto, says Republican Rep. Steve LaTourette of Ohio. The six-term lawmaker says the legislation would create thousands of jobs in his Cleveland-area district.
Beyond energy and highway spending, the House later this summer plans to take up legislation that would give small businesses incentives to purchase group health insurance -- another initiative expected to be popular with voters. House Republican leaders also say the appropriations bills that they are in the midst of moving are job creators, particularly in defense industries. The House plans to approve all its spending bills by early July, though the Senate lags behind. |
