WASHINGTON, May 13 (UPI) -- Regular meetings between U.S. President Bush and top Democrats underscore the chasm between the two sides, it was reported Sunday.
Every few weeks, Bush meets with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid, D-Nev., and their Republican counterparts to discuss Iraq and other crucial subjects.
The meetings are gracious and formal but rarely productive, participants told the Washington Post.
The meetings usually go like this: Bush opens, Pelosi and Reid give their views, the Republicans get the last word and Vice President Dick Cheney says nothing, the Post reported Sunday. There is little devil's advocacy before the leaders emerge to greet the press outside the West Wing, the Post said.
The meetings underscore the distrust that continues to divide the White House and Congress, even as Bush has tried to reach out more to Congress, which he seemed to disdain for much of his first six years in office, the Post reported.
