Bush Seeks More Wins for His Agenda in '06

President Bush, bruised by months of setbacks, enters the new year hoping to win congressional battles over tax cuts and immigration, get rebellious Republicans back in step and nurture a new democracy in Iraq — the make-or-break issue of his legacy.

Expect the president to bring in 2006 the same way he ended the old: Trumpeting good economic news and talking, reassuringly, about Iraq where excitement over a historic ballot has been tempered by growing disenchantment with the war and a death toll of U.S. troops that tops 2,160.

The war in Iraq and sluggish diplomatic efforts to deter the nuclear ambitions of Iran and North Korea will continue to dominate foreign policy for the president, who plans a trip early in the new year to India.

At home, Bush will be after the Senate to confirm Samuel Alito to the Supreme Court in January. He also wants immigration reform, including a guest worker program.'

Absent from his to-do list is a plan to overhaul the tax code. White House advisers say there may be some efforts to simplify it, but a sweeping restructuring would need more discussion. Also off the list is revamping Social Security, the one-time centerpiece of Bush's domestic agenda that failed to gain traction even though he crisscrossed the country to win support for it.

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