US:As Democrats prepare to take control of Congress today for the first time in more than a decade, President George Bush has called on his opponents to work with him to balance the federal budget and promote economic growth.
Mr Bush offered no sign of conceding ground on his most controversial policies, however, defending the Iraq war and his generous tax cuts and threatening to veto Bills he opposes.
"The Congress has changed; our obligations to the country haven't changed," the president said after a cabinet meeting at the White House.
Mr Bush said he would submit to Congress a proposal to balance the federal budget by 2012 but stressed that his controversial tax cuts should be made permanent while government spending is cut.
"It will address the most urgent needs of our nation, in particular the need to protect ourselves from radicals and terrorists; the need to win the war on terror; the need to maintain a strong national defence; and the need to keep this economy growing by making tax relief permanent," he said.
Democrats were celebrating their return to congressional power last night at a series of parties in Washington in advance of today's swearing-in. The new speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi, will become the highest-ranking woman to hold elected office in US history.
The speaker is second in line to the president after vice-president Dick Cheney. Ms Pelosi has promised a blitz of legislation within the first 100 hours of the new Congress, including an increase in the federal minimum wage and embryonic stem-cell research funding.
A new poll by the Associated Press and AOL found that an overwhelming majority of Americans support the Democrats' domestic policy priorities, which also include proposals to reduce the cost of prescription drugs.
During his six years as president, Mr Bush has vetoed only one Bill - a proposal to expand federal funding of embryonic stem-cell research. In an opinion piece in the Wall Street Journal yesterday, however, he reminded Democrats that 25 per cent of his presidency still remains, and said he was prepared to use the veto as often as necessary.
"If the Congress chooses to pass Bills that are simply political statements, they will have chosen stalemate. If a different approach is taken, the next two years can be fruitful ones for our nation. We can show the American people that Republicans and Democrats can come together to find ways to help make America a more secure, prosperous and hopeful society," Mr Bush wrote.
Despite the president's focus yesterday on domestic issues, the new Congress is likely to be preoccupied with Iraq, with hearings starting next week into the conduct and planning of the war. Mr Bush is expected to announce his new strategy for Iraq next week and NBC News yesterday reported that he will approve a temporary troop increase in an effort to improve security there.
Citing senior administration sources, the report said that most of the increase would be achieved by extending by 90 days the deployments of those troops already in Iraq and accelerating the deployments of troops scheduled to go there.
Democrats in Congress have not united around a single approach to Iraq but a number of senior figures in the party have warned against a troop surge, arguing that it would send the wrong signal about US intentions.