This Week on Capitol Hill

Congress returned yesterday to face the daunting task of prepping a $700 billion - $1.3 trillion stimulus bill for the incoming president's signature. The massive "economic recovery" bill - which'll include tax cuts, state aid and infrastructure spending - is all but assured passage, but exactly how plump it'll be and how long it'll take to move through Congress are still open questions.

• read more on stimulus bills of '08 and '09 and Congress' responses to the economic crisis

The rest of Congress' early '09 line-up is still in the works. While a few of the president-elect's campaign initiatives will be rolled into the stimulus package - including green energy investment and middle class tax cuts - no one's saying which of Obama's major reform promises will top the year's agenda, although a few low-hanging fruit have been hinted at for early passage, like expanding children's health care.

• catch cJ's rolling tally of congressional items in Outlook '09

If you want to let your Congressfolk know where you stand on any of the issues above, you can email them through Congress.org, because...

Hey, it's your democracy too.

- teamJoe

Next update: January 12, 2009.