Matheson, 13 others confer on energy, Iraq war with Bush

WASHINGTON — Rep. Jim Matheson, D-Utah, and 13 other Democrats met with President Bush at the White House Tuesday morning for an hourlong meeting on a variety of topics.

Matheson said it was clear the president did not like the political "polarization" that exists in Washington and this was a way to reaching out to more moderate Democrats to see what was on their minds.

The sole Utah Democrat in Congress brought up energy policy with the president saying the country needs to be more aggressive with energy efficiency as well as investing in different types of technology to promote better energy use.

The Iraq war inevitably came up and Bush said Congress needs to get the supplemental spending bill done but then move on to a broader regional policy for the Middle East.

Matheson said he liked hearing that because the Iraq Study Group report, released in late 2006, recommended a regional policy versus just focusing on Iraq.