Today's The Big Day...

...Are you excited? Anxious? Skeptical? Optimistic? I'm a little of all.

AP: Dems eager to put stamp on new Congress

Democrats savoring a return from political wilderness are ready to move quickly this week to take the levers of power in a Congress that has been run by Republicans the last 12 years.

On Thursday, Nancy Pelosi will take the gavel as the first woman speaker in the history of the House, and immediately launch a 100 legislative-hour march to quickly put the Democratic stamp on the new Congress.

Before President Bush arrives on Capitol Hill on Jan. 23 for his State of the Union address, House Democrats intend to update ethics rules, raise the minimum wage, implement 9/11 Commission recommendations, cut subsidies to the oil industry, promote stem cell research and make college educations and prescription drugs more affordable...

...The new Democratic Senate, under Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada, will take a parallel if somewhat more leisurely track...

This is all good stuff... some are arguing that, politically, they should spread this out a bit more, but I think in the end it's the right call. What better contrast to the do-nothing congress they deposed could there be? Besides, best to get all this important stuff through as quickly as possible, because the even bigger stuff-- ie. Iraq-- is sure to keep them plenty busy through 2008. Much of this will also fought tooth and nail by Republicans and that will also delay things.

Tom Tomorrow explores an issue Democrats should make a priority by 2008... health care.

Polls, of course, continue to show broad support for this agenda.

In a semi-controversial move, Democratic leaders are looking to avoid gridlock in the immediate legislative agenda by limiting Republican input. From the Washington Post-

As they prepare to take control of Congress this week and face up to campaign pledges to restore bipartisanship and openness, Democrats are planning to largely sideline Republicans from the first burst of lawmaking...

...But instead of allowing Republicans to fully participate in deliberations, as promised after the Democratic victory in the Nov. 7 midterm elections, Democrats now say they will use House rules to prevent the opposition from offering alternative measures, assuring speedy passage of the bills and allowing their party to trumpet early victories...

As long as this is for the initial legislative blitz, I say more power to 'em. The Republican leaders are already on the record as saying they plan to sabotage Democratic legislative efforts, which is more than enough reason to do this. If someone tells you they are going to trip you, do you run right into their leg? For 12 years, the GOP Congress took advantage of faux-bipartisanship, playing Democrats for fools. The new majority party is making it clear that, while the minority party will have the rights that had been denied to Democrats in the past few years, they are not fools. They are in charge now, largely because the Republican's style of governing was found so odious by voters.

John Cole at Balloon Juice has similar thoughts-

"[T]he alternative is to let the Republicans participate early on, defeat or screw up all the initiatives the Democrats plan to pass, and have the Republicans then claim the Democrats didn’t change anything.

So shut ‘em out. Let them sit on the sidelines, pass your bills and fulfill your promises, and then, after the dust has settled, let the Republicans play ball. Maybe, by then, they will appreciate the fact that the Democratic practices for debate are the better alternative to the past 6 years of one party rule, and will not use the Democratic willingness to work with the opposition as a weapon."

Finally, a reminder of why Democrats need to get through this with as little fuss as possible-

And while Bush has given qualified support to the Democratic push for an increase in the minimum wage and applauded their efforts to curtail pet projects or earmarks, a vote to boost federal support of stem cell research could provoke an early showdown with the White House. Similar legislation passed by the GOP-led Congress led to the only veto of the Bush presidency.

Democrats are also certain to hit hard on a new Iraq policy, expected to be announced by Bush in January, that may increase U.S. forces in Iraq.

Bingo... the big fish still needs to be fried. They don't exactly have a lot of time to waste.