The highlights include legislation initiatives that would increase the minimum wage, negotiate lower prices for Medicare prescription drugs, implement all the 9/11 commission recommendations, end tax breaks for oil companies, and increase federal funding for human embryonic stem cell research. "The hardest part, frankly, is limiting the priorities," says Pelosi
Their ability to push through major legislation will be limited because their majority will probably be slim, and President Bush could wield the veto pen. But many Democrats intend to push an aggressive oversight agenda that would investigate the Bush administration's conduct on everything from the war in Iraq to Hurricane Katrina and homeland security. There would be no shortage of fireworks on Capitol Hill.
But Republicans are pressing ahead. If Democrats take the House, they say, expect a leftist agenda of more spending, higher taxes, and maybe even an attempt at impeaching President Bush. "It's just plain scary," insists House Majority Whip Roy Blunt, a Missouri Republican.
While Democrats have lofty ambitions - some are calling for sweeping healthcare initiatives or withdrawal from Iraq - their actual legislative plans are more modest, because a slim majority will probably force them to work across the aisle. Otherwise, "we won't be able to get anything done," says Rangel. The Democrats also have fissures of their own to worry about - like what to do about Iraq.
