Bush gives Congress mixed grades

President Bush this morning said that Congress ended the year on a high note by passing a number of key bills, but also derided Democrats unsuccessful attempts to force a withdrawal from Iraq and their delay of the federal budget.

Mr. Bush, at his year-end White House press conference, commended Congress for funding the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, passing an energy bill, stopping a tax on the middle class, and helping struggling homeowners to refinance their mortgages.

Recent days have been a moment that the country can be proud of, said the president, who will head to Camp David tomorrow for Christmas with his family, and then go to his Crawford, Tx., ranch until the new year.

But the president also blasted the Democratic-led Congress for waiting until the end of the year to pass the federal budget, and disparaged their attempts to impose a deadline for withdrawal on U.S. troops in Iraq.

Congress initially spent a lot of time on passing resolutions and, you know, sentimenttrying to tell our commanders how to conduct the war. And it just didn’t work, Mr. Bush said. But they spent a lot of time on the subject, which meant when we came down to the end of the year, there was a lot of unfinished business.

When Congress wastes so much time and leaves its work to the final days before Christmas, it is not a responsible way to run this government, the president said.

Rep. Rahm Emmanuel, the fourth-ranking House Democrat from Illinois, said that in 2007, Congress brought change to Washington, but President Bushs veto pen prevented the kind of significant change our country needs.

The House yesterday gave final approval to a $555-billion bill to fund the federal government, handing a political victory to Mr. Bush by cutting most of the $22 billion in extra spending that the president opposed.

They included a $70 billion bridge fund for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, which falls short of the full $196 billion supplemental requested by Mr. Bush, but which was still viewed as a defeat by anti-war lawmakers and activists.

CodePink co-founder Gael Murphy called the war funding yet one more slap in the face to the voters who put this Congress in power in November 2006.

Although Mr. Bush said he was grateful for the war funding, he was not happy with the number of earmarks in the massive omnibus bill.

Mr. Bush promised action next year by his Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Jim Nussle, in response to the 9,800 earmarks in the omnibus, bringing the years total to 11,900.

<![CDATA[ I’m instructing budget director Jim Nussle to review options for dealing with the wasteful spending in the omnibus bill, Mr. Bush said. <p><![CDATA[ An OMB spokesman said the review will be aimed at eliminating pork in the newly approved budget, and at preventing excessive earmarks in the future, but offered no details. <p><![CDATA[ However, the Washington Times reported in February that then-OMB Director Rob Portman said he would not automatically accept earmarks inserted into non-binding reports accompanying spending bills. <p><![CDATA[ About 95 percent of earmarks are inserted into such reports. <p><![CDATA[ Mr. Bush also said he was disappointed that Congress failed to pass a permanent update to the government ability to conduct surveillance on suspected terrorists, in the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act. <p><![CDATA[ The six-month temporary update expires February 1, and Mr. Bush said that Congress should take up FISA reform first thing when they return after Christmas. <p><![CDATA[ On global warming, Mr. Bush defended the Environmental Protection Agencys decision yesterday to prevent California and 16 other states from increasing fuel-efficiency requirements on automakers. <p><![CDATA[ Mr. Bush said the national strategy in the recently passed energy bill, requiring a boost in fuel efficiency from 25 miles per gallon to 35 miles per gallon by 2020, is sufficient. <p><![CDATA[ The president also argued forcefully for nuclear energy, saying that if you’re truly serious about dealing with greenhouse gases, then it seems like to me you ought be a strong supporter of nuclear power. <p><![CDATA[ It is by far the best solution to making sure we have economic growth and at the same time be good stewards of the environment, Mr. Bush said. <p><![CDATA[ Mr. Bush also said he will not comment on the destruction of two CIA interrogation tapes until an investigation is completed, and said that Russian President Vladimir Putin was named Time magazines person of the year because he has been a consequential leader. <p><![CDATA[ The fundamental question is, consequential to what end? You know, what will the country look like 10 years from now? Mr. Bush said. <p><![CDATA[ Mr. Bush said he has not spoken with Mr. Putin about the possibility of the Russian president becoming prime minister after he steps down following a March election. <p><![CDATA[ My hope of course is that Russia is a country which understands there needs to be checks and balances and free and fair elections and a vibrant press, that they understand Western values based upon human rights and human dignity are values that will lead to a better country, Mr. Bush said. </p>