GUEST EDITORIAL
Harsh partisanship returns to nation's capital
TOM RAUM

WASHINGTON (AP) - A bipartisan spirit that blossomed over economic stimulus legislation between President George W. Bush and the Democratic-ruled Congress evaporated even more quickly than it had appeared.

Rancor and bitterness are back as the Republican president and Democratic lawmakers lock horns over an expiring terrorist-surveillance law, a ban on the waterboard interrogation technique and a House of Representatives contempt citation against two Bush confidants.

Bush accused Democratic leaders on Friday of jeopardizing the nation's security by letting the surveillance law lapse and going "off on a 12-day recess without getting the people's business done." He planned to press his criticism in his Saturday radio address.

Rep. John Boehner, leader of the House's Republican minority, told reporters at the White House, "This is a grave problem, and the Democrat leaders ought to be held accountable for their inaction."

Firing back, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid chastised the president and his allies for "fear mongering." House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Bush was misrepresenting the facts. Sen. Edward M. Kennedy labeled administration comments "dishonest and self-serving."

In the middle of a presidential election that is supposed to be about change, the country's current decision makers were back to their usual ways.

"The economic stimulus package was exceptional, because both parties found it to be in their interests. And the president did something he rarely does, he compromised," said Stephen J. Wayne, a presidential scholar at Georgetown University.

"But I think the normal state of affairs is contention rather than cooperation. That precisely fits why people find Barack Obama and John McCain so appealing," Wayne said, referring to the respective Democratic and Republican presidential front-runners in the delegate count.

The harsh exchanges came as the ink was barely dry on the bipartisan anti-recessionary stimulus bill that will provide more than 130 million people rebate checks ranging from $300 to $1,200 (euro205 to euro820).

At Wednesday's bill-signing ceremony, Bush told his audience: "You know, a lot of folks in America probably were saying that it's impossible for those of us in Washington to find common ground, to reach compromise on important issues."

But similar common ground appeared a long way off on the latest showdowns between the president and Congress.

With the White House up for grabs - Bush's last term is expiring in January - Democrats are more willing to stand their ground. And Bush's influence among fellow Republicans is waning as the torch is about to be passed to McCain.

"It gives him less room to maneuver," said Bruce Buchanan, a University of Texas political scientist and longtime Bush watcher.

Buchanan said the president has won most past showdowns with Congress on Iraq and other national security issues and expected to win the one on surveillance powers, "but the House Democrats called him on it."

The dispute concerns a temporary law that expires midnight Saturday that made it easier for the government to spy on foreign phone calls and emails that pass through the United States.

The president pressed the House to join the Senate in approving a permanent bill to extend those powers before the Saturday deadline.

Democratic leaders balked and said they would rather negotiate their differences with the Senate.

Bush offered to delay his five-country trip to Africa if Congress would give him a bill by Saturday. But Congress began its recess, and Bush kept to his original schedule for a Friday departure.

The president says letting the surveillance law lapse could reopen dangerous gaps in intelligence. "By blocking this piece of legislation, our country is more in danger of an attack," he said Friday.

Democratic leaders and some intelligence specialists insisted intelligence agencies still have broad authority to conduct such surveillance even without always obtaining warrants first, and a compromise between the House and the Senate can be negotiated within a few weeks.

In other showdowns, Bush has threatened to veto a bill that prohibits the CIA from using waterboarding and other harsh interrogation tactics. The legislation was sent to him this week on a 51-45 Senate vote. He says he will not sign legislation that limits the agency's interrogation tactics.

The White House, meanwhile, has condemned Thursday's House vote to hold White House chief of staff Josh Bolten and former White House counsel Harriet Miers in contempt for failing to cooperate in congressional inquiries into the firings of federal prosecutors.

Angry Republicans boycotted the vote and staged a walkout.

Dana Perino, Bush's press secretary, said the president is not spoiling for partisan fights. "The president takes these issues one by one," she said. "He tries very hard to reach out."

She said the stimulus package was a rare show of bipartisanship on an issue affecting most Americans, yet Bush thinks expanding surveillance is just as important. "What good is a good economy if the country isn't as protected as it could be. Right?" she asked.

Fred Greenstein, professor emeritus of politics at Princeton University, said the recent reversion to meanness between Bush and Congress "just shows the default mechanism of party politics.

"That it's a presidential election year makes it hard to do anything to begin with. It's a constant invitation to make campaign issues rather than solve policy."

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EDITOR'S NOTE - Tom Raum has covered national and international affairs for The Associated Press since 1973.