This Week on Capitol Hill

Save Our Economy: With the House sliding in a $819 billion stimulus bill (HR 1) last Wednesday, it's the Senate's turn to pick a massive package of $888 billion in tax cuts and spending hikes designed to revive our lackluster economy. The gap in pricetag comes mostly from a year's extension for middle class protection from the dread Alternative Minimum Tax in the Senate version. The bills diverge on other priorities - with, for example, senators including $20 billion more for green energy projects - but the biggest split won't be in what's in the bills as much as how they are passed. The House leadership whizzed through their stimulus in a day with little Republican input - and no Republican votes. The Senate, whose filibuster rules make bipartisanship a matter of necessity if not desire, is in for days of debate, with GOP lawmakers offering up a host of amendments - to add in extra tax breaks for small businesses, homeowners and corporations "repatriating" their foreign earnings, among others.

• read more on the stimulus plans circulating in DC

Kid's healthcare: The Dems wind up a two year effort to expand health care for kids, with the House expected to vote on a final version of HR 2 this week increasing funding for SCHIP, the state-run program that covers low-income kids that aren't low income enough to qualify for Medicaid. Both chambers have okayed the measure, upping the number of children covered from 7 to 11 million at a cost of $32 billion over 5 years, with only minor differences that the House vote will iron out.

DTV delays: The House also plans to green light a Senate passed bill that would buy Americans three more months to bring their TVs into the digital age. A few million boob-tubers have yet to get their hands on a converter box that'll let them keep up with primetime after February 17, when a transition to digital TV was initially scheduled. The new switch-over date will be June 12.

For a glimpse of what else is coming down the pike, see 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: February 9