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Obama's legislative agenda suffering setbacks
(Reuters)
Updated: 2009-07-11 01:02

WHAT ABOUT OBAMA'S OTHER PRIORITY, CLIMATE CHANGE?

Legislation to cut greenhouse gases in the United States suffered a setback on Thursday when the leading Senate committee responsible for the legislation postponed work until September. That leaves less time for Congress to fulfill Obama's desire to enact a law this year.

Democrats in U.S. coal-producing states worry about the impact of the climate change legislation on their economies. Republicans see the bill as a tax increase for Americans once energy producers and manufacturers of goods bear the costs of reducing emissions and pass them on to consumers.

WHAT'S THE RUSH ON THIS LEGISLATION?

Obama wants to have an agreement he can take to a global meeting in Copenhagen in December to show that the United States is serious about an aggressive approach to global warming.

Also, he wants to use the political clout he gained from winning last year's presidential election and get a quick agreement before lawmakers start turning their attention to 2010 re-election campaigns.

Most experts believe legislation will ultimately be approved but the details will be heatedly debated.

WHAT ABOUT THE BIGGEST U.S. PROBLEM -- THE WEAK U.S. ECONOMY?

A political firefight broke out this week over the effectiveness of the $787 billion economic stimulus plan that Democrats pushed through Congress in February.

Republicans, who had opposed the stimulus, said the package had failed to stop the rising jobless rate and Democrats led by Vice President Joe Biden insisted it needs more time to work.

Now talk has turned to whether a second stimulus might be needed that is more targeted than the first one. Most political experts doubt the political will exists to approve a second stimulus, since the public has started to show, through opinion polls, their skepticism about the first one.

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