Today in Washington D. C. - Jan 17, 2007

The House yesterday passed a reworked version of the fiscal 2008 Defense authorization bill, fixing a provision that would have allowed lawsuits to freeze Iraqi government assets in the US, potentially harming Iraqi reconstruction. The bill will now go to the Senate for a vote, possibly as early as next week. The Senate is still not in regular session. They are likely begin right away with FISA (although Sen. Majority Leader wants to clear an "Indian health" bill first).

The Washington Times has reported Analysts predict impotent 2nd session: . . . Aside from possible economic-stimulus efforts, most of the anticipated action by the Democrat-led Congress will revolve around unresolved measures from 2007, including Iraq war funding, health care reform, school-testing mandates and tax increases for oil companies. "The stars are in configuration for this to be the least productive [legislative session] during an eighth year of a [presidential] administration," said Stephen Hess of the Brookings Institution, a liberal Washington think tank. "Both parties are wanting to do things that are more about electioneering than about governing." Still, House members, who return tomorrow and senators, who convene next week, won't be shy about using their bully pulpit to tout election-year priorities, even if they never intend to back up their rhetoric with new legislation, political experts say. "Maybe we could call this session loud and unproductive," said Jennifer Duffy, an analyst with the Cook Political Report. "There is going to be lots of partisan posturing, but Congress is going to move at the speed of molasses."

In todays news there are several stories that note UN officials, including Secretary General Ban Ki-moon and envoy to Iraq Staffan de Mistura, and the IMF agreeing that things are improving in Iraq. Reuters reports that the IMF believes Iraq’s economy could see significant growth if security improvements continue and allow for higher oil production. With even UN officials and international agencies are lauding improvements in Iraq, Mort Kondracke notes that Democrats “insist on minimizing the success and advocating early timetables for full withdrawal of U.S. combat forces."

According to The Politico, “In recognition of hard political reality, the groups instead will lower their sights and push for legislation to prevent President Bush from entering into a long-term agreement with the Iraqi government that could keep significant numbers of troops in Iraq for years to come.” CQ Politics reports that Democrats, especially their presidential candidates, seem to be on board with this strategy, calling on the president to get Congress to agree to any deals on security commitments with Iraq.

On the domestic side, Roll Call reports today that Democrats have decided to temper expectations for 2008: “Sources in both the House and Senate said Democratic leaders now recognize that they have to revise how they communicate with the electorate given the difficulties they faced racking up accomplishments in the first year of the 110th Congress. Part of the plan involves making the case that the Congressional majority needs to grow the number of Democratic seats in Congress and elect a Democratic president in order to bring about change in Washington.”

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