Is There Any Democratic Proposal The President Will Support?

Here's the latest from the House of Representatives-

The Democratic-controlled House voted overwhelmingly to cut interest rates on need-based student loans Wednesday, steadily whittling its list of early legislative priorities...

...The House legislation, passed 356-71, would slice rates on the subsidized loans from 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent in stages over five years at a cost to taxpayers of $6 billion. About 5.5 million students get the loans each year...

...The House bill aims to reduce the $6 billion cost by reducing the government's guaranteed return to lenders that make student loans, cutting back the amount the government pays for defaulted loans and requiring banks to pay more in fees. Lending institutions opposed the bill...

They're not the only ones who oppose it. From National Journal (via Think Progress), we learn that the Bush administration last night "declared its opposition to the House Democrats’ proposed cutting of student loan interest rates." I couldn't find the reason why, and I probably don't want to know.

So let's review... the administration said they oppose raising the minimum wage, unless Congress includes tax cuts for small businesses too (but will obviously will sign the bill regardless as political reality). They also have stated opposition to a bill requiring the government to negotiate with drug companies over the price of medicines. They obviously oppose federal funding for stem-cell research, since it is the only thing Bush has vetoed in his entire presidency (that's gonna change big time now). And the next bill on the House agenda-- ending subsidies for Big Oil and investing In renewable energy-- is guaranteed to be a no-no for the President.

So I am back to my original question: Is there any Democratic proposal the President will support (or, at least, not put up a fight on)? A poll last month showed that "By 59% to 21%, Americans say Congress rather than Mr. Bush should take the lead in setting policy for the nation." That's a landslide. And yet, by instinct, this President refuses to say 'yes' to anything this Congress wants.

President Clinton, by contrast, compromised often with the then-GOP Congress. Often his compromises even went too far to the right-- banning gays from the military, welfare 'reform'. But the relationship between the two branches, for the most part, worked as it should (let's ignore the impeachment debacle for now). President Bush, on the other hand, only recognizes one branch of government... his.

Tim F. at Balloon Juice has a good post noting that the President's days of influencing the legislative process are over and that Democrats should ignore him. Alas, the Democrats can pass the bills, but they need the President to sign them. He still has his role to play. On this note, Tim states "If Bush wants to veto bill after bill that would bring the federal house in order then so be it, his party can pay the price for failing to override." I agree with that, but ideally this wouldn't even be an issue. Is it 2009 yet?

[PS- Over in the Senate, Republicans have scuttled an ethics reform deal.]