Congress is heading back to work, but with the election looming the likelihood that it’s a productive year is slim. The public doesn’t expect too much either-a new CNN/ORC poll released yesterday shows that 11 percent of Americans approve of Congress. However, there are a few big ticket items that will need to be resolved in 2012, regardless of the intransigence of the legislative body’s members. The Bush tax cuts will expire in January 2013 and Congress needs to decided if they will raise the debt ceiling per the White House’s request. The first item on the docket will be the same as the last one they resolved in December-extending the payroll tax cut before the February 29 deadline. Expect every possible idea for long-term funding to be entertained: the millionaire surtax, no post on Saturday, selling surplus federal property ($4 billion), auctioning portions of the electromagnetic spectrum to wireless companies ($16 billion), repealing a tax break taken by businesses that buy corporate jets ($5 billion), blocking undocumented immigrants from claiming the refundable child tax credit ($9 billion), and cutting the federal workforce. Some of the ideas are no-brainer ways to cut the budget, others will spark a debate that makes the December payroll battle look tame. How long the debate lasts depends on which party the election weighs most heavily on-Democrats aren’t likely to give up this much-needed win, especially since the longer the battle, the more Obama can focus on in it in his State of the Union address. Republicans, on the other hand, are hoping for a quick resolution so they can put their brief anti-tax days behind them. Regardless of the outcome of the payroll tax battle, legislators aren’t looking forward to 2012: “The election makes it tougher to deal with issues now,” said Rep. Brad Sherman (D., Calif.). More is going to happen in November and December than in the first 10 months of the year.”

The Latest

​

Chart of the Day

To the surprise of few, people in the U.S. and Britain will be worse off in 2012 than they were in 2007. India, China, and Brazil will be in a far better place, with China’s real GDP 50 percent than it was in 2007.

Reason to Get Out of Bed in the Morning

Two towns in New Jersey are using John Steinbeck as a way to bridge the class divide and get students to widen their worldview and realize how students from different backgrounds aren’t as different as they are raised to think.