Thirteen hours to spare
House Democrats completed their "first 100 hours" agenda yesterday, passing bills to cut interest on student loans, raise the federal minimum wage, implement many recommendations of the 9/11 Commission, expand stem cell research, give Medicare the ability to negotiate prescription drug prices, and roll back some tax breaks for the oil and gas industries -- all within 87 "legislative hours."
Predictably, progress has been slower in the Senate. As the Associated Press notes, the ethics bill the Senate passed yesterday was the first major piece of legislation to clear that body since the Democrats took over earlier this month.
Up next in the House: a bill aimed at protecting congressional pages from the Mark Foleys of the world. Up next in the Senate: the House minimum-wage bill, and then probably consideration of the bipartisan resolution opposing the escalation of the war in Iraq.
Hang up and drive
Vive la Obama différence!
The Obama show lands in Israel
Glenn Greenwald
Joan Walsh