ASSOCIATED PRESS Erskine Bowles (right) and Alan Simpson, co-chairmen of President Obama's independent commission, said they are not sure whether they will have the supermajority of votes needed Friday to approve an aggressive deficit-reduction plan to submit to Congress.
"Americans don't want Congress passing massive trillion-dollar bills that have been thrown together behind closed doors," Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, here with Sen. Lamar Alexander (center), said recently. Big-ticket economic issues face the lame-duck Congress after Thanksgiving. (Associated Press)
Associated Press photographs House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, California Democrat, and House Majority Leader Steny H. Hoyer, Maryland Democrat, walk to a news conference on Capitol Hill on Wednesday, after being re-elected as the leaders of the House Democrats, although they will be in the minority in the 112th Congress next year.
Illustration: Lame Duck Congress by Greg Groesch for The Washington Times
Associated Press Rep. Michele Bachmann, Minnesota Republican, will be among those rallying on the Capitol grounds at noon Monday to inveigh against excess spending by the lame-duck Congress.
Rep. Ike Skelton, Missouri Democrat, is worried about a chasm developing between the U.S. military and the public after he leaves Congress. (Associated Press)
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke advised Congress earlier this year to avoid big spending cuts now and rein in spending on entitlement programs such as Social Security and Medicare over the next five to 10 years. (Associated Press)
ASSOCIATED PRESS Michelle Obama speaks at the 2008 Democratic National Convention in Denver. The first lady is venturing out this week to support a group of candidates, mostly senators, needed by President Obama to get his agenda through Congress.
ASSOCIATED PRESS "We need a new majority in Congress that will stand up to President Obama and insist that he starts listening to the American people," House Minority Leader John A. Boehner, Ohio Republican, said at a rally at a manufacturing facility in his home state.
