CONGRESS: CARTOON & ARTICLE

CIVICS
MR. SCHEEL

Write a one-paragraph response to this cartoon. Consider the powers of congress and
what might the underlying humor be regarding this cartoon.
Congress makes job creation top
2010 priority

Sun, Jan 17 2010

By Thomas Ferraro
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Members of the U.S. Congress begin
2010 scrambling to reduce the double-digit U.S. jobless rate,
knowing their own jobs will be at stake in the November election if
they fail to deliver.
With about one in 10 Americans out of work, the highest percentage
in 25 years, President Barack Obama's fellow Democrats -- who
control the Senate and House of Representatives -- are making job
creation their top priority.
"Americans have a lot of angst, a lot of anger, a lot of fear," said
House Democratic leader Steny Hoyer. "Whether you are a Democrat
or a Republican or an independent, all polls show that jobs are the
major issue."
Indeed, as the full Senate returns from the Christmas break on
Wednesday, a week after the House, the jobs recovery will also be
high on the White House agenda along with the massive relief effort
for quake-stricken Haiti.
In addition to jobs, lawmakers face challenges on a host of fronts --
from healthcare and the record U.S. deficit, to climate change, efforts
to tighten regulation of the U.S. financial industry and lapses in
domestic security.
Members of both parties will closely follow the high-stakes election
on Tuesday to fill the Massachusetts seat long held by the late
Democratic Senator Edward Kennedy, for decades the party's leading
liberal.
If Republicans pull off what would be a stunning upset in the
traditionally Democratic state, as polls show is possible, it would
shift the balance of power and rattle American politics.
Democrats would lose their 60-vote Senate supermajority needed to
clear Republican procedural roadblocks. That would jeopardize
Obama's legislative agenda.
The closer-than-anticipated contest in liberal Massachusetts reflects
the anti-incumbent environment fueled largely by the high
unemployment rate.
SENATE JOBS PACKAGE EXPECTED
Last month, the House passed a $155 billion bill that aims to
stimulate the job market through infrastructure projects and helping
states pay the salaries of public employees.
Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin, along with
Democratic Senator Byron Dorgan, is expected to offer a jobs
package in coming weeks. It is likely to include efforts to boost small
business and renewable energy, aides said.
If the Senate passes a jobs bill, it would have to be reconciled with
the House measure.
Among Democrats' most immediate concerns is melding a Senate
healthcare bill with one passed by the House to give Obama a final
bill to sign into law so Democrats can put their full focus on
generating employment after the deep economic slump.
The president would like to put his signature on such a measure
before he addresses a joint session of Congress in late January or
early February, and before he offers his annual budget.
Obama's budget proposal is taking on more interest than usual
because of increased public concern about the rapidly increasing U.S.
debt, now approaching $12.4 trillion.
The debt -- and efforts to control it -- promise to be an issue in
November's election when the entire 435-member House and about a
third of the 100-member Senate will be up for grabs.
The party in power traditionally loses seats in the first election after a
new president takes office.
Accordingly, Republicans are expected to gain seats in the House and
Senate. But at this point, congressional analysts say, not enough to
take control of either chamber.
Republicans are also expected to make more noise this week over
lapses in U.S. national security after the attempted Christmas Day
bombing of a Northwest airliner.
Congressional hearings are planned to discuss what needs to be done
on tightening security and among those set to testify next week are
Director of National Intelligence Dennis Blair and FBI Director
Robert Mueller.
In one paragraph, explain the use of power and ability to create jobs. Apply the
principles of congressional balance to your paragraph.