Parties spar over how Obama's doing

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By Kara Rowland

The accomplishments of President Obama and his allies in Congress over his first six months in office are — depending on whom is asked — either tackling the recession and heralding a new era of progressive reform or bankrupting the nation with unprecedented speed.

Either way, the new administration and congressional Democrats have spent the first half of the year pushing through key elements of Mr. Obama's economic agenda, though the fate of his two biggest priorities, energy and health care reform, still hang very much in the balance.

The $787 billion stimulus bill was on the president's desk within a month of his inauguration. The legislation — the largest single spending measure in the nation's history — included funding for unemployment benefits, food stamps, health care subsidies and aid to states. Democrats, touting the measure as an aggressive response to the recession, hail it as one of many successes so far this session.

"It really has been, from my perspective, a very, very productive first five months, first six months of the year for the Congress of the United States, as productive a first six months as I have participated in in terms of not only bills passing the House but becoming law," House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, Maryland Democrat, said.

While brief, the weeklong July 4 recess is seen by both parties as a critical break point. The president's honeymoon is ending, the rush of early legislative victories has tapered off, and the next six months could determine the fate of Mr. Obama's domestic priorities and perhaps of his entire first four years in office.

As lawmakers return to face the voters during the recess, both parties are trying to spin the events of the first half of the year — and prepare the battlefield for the legislative trench warfare to come over health care, energy, financial regulatory reform, a Supreme Court nomination and possibly immigration reform.

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Mr. Hoyer last week distributed a list of talking points to House Democratic members, who were urged in the letter to hold "at least two public events or media interactions in your district" during the break.

Clearly mindful of Republican criticisms that the activity in Washington has not translated into change outside the Beltway, the letter notes, "While the economy is showing the first signs of recovery, we know Americans will feel the impacts for months to come, and we must communicate the change that is underway."

Republicans insist that the more the public learns about the Democrats' agenda — and how much it will cost — the better their opposition will look.

"The public is becoming very aware of what's happening here in Washington and the amount of spending, the amount of borrowing, and the amount of taxing that's occurring," said Sen. John Thune of South Dakota, new head of the Senate Republican Policy Committee, last week.