Reuters notes that with 257 Dems in the 435-member House of Representatives and – as of this writing – 55 seats in the Senate, “Democrats will pack greater clout when the new Congress convenes on Tuesday but they face enormous expectations from voters as they grapple with two wars, a financial crisis and record budget deficits” and “[h]aving rolled to victory in the November election with a promise of change after eight turbulent years under Republican President George W. Bush, Democrats need to produce results.”

For her part, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) promised that “the 111^th Congress will hit the ground running in January with an ambitious schedule” – but that’s what she said two years ago, when the balance of power shifted to the Dems after the mid-term elections and it didn’t work out that way and the legislative branch saw its approval ratings freefall.

Conditions favor a “do something” Congress even less this time around, reports The New York Times:

The opening of a new Congress is typically chaotic, what with dozens of overwhelmed new members and their families trying to navigate the Capitol, the associated pomp and circumstance and the usual power plays by one party or another to kick off the session.

But the convening of the Senate on Tuesday promises to be one for the Congressional Record books. Two months after the November election, it is still unclear exactly who is going to be in the Senate for the next two years. Senators may want to replace the stately doors that lead onto the floor with the revolving variety.

The seats of Illinois and Minnesota are totally up for grabs. Senators from New York and Colorado have one foot out of the Capitol, and the identity of the new New Yorker remains a mystery. To top it off, the incoming vice president is to be sworn in as a senator Tuesday though he will be departing later this month to put on his new executive branch hat, which he will wear while occasionally presiding over the chamber.

Let’s start with the ethics probe into House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charlie Rangel (D-NY) has now spilled over into the new year and will continue to be a "distraction." Little wonder House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-MD) told “Fox News Sunday’s” Chris Wallace that the economic stimulus package won’t be on Barack Obama’s desk on Day One of his presidency, as his transition team had hoped.

Rangel is a colorful fellow, and the House can be counted on to provide drama while cooler heads in the Senate unswayed by the passions of the day get things done - but not this time, reports The Washington Post:

In Illinois, Roland W. Burris, the selection of embattled Gov. Rod Blagojevich (D) to succeed President-elect Barack Obama in the Senate, filed another legal motion yesterday to try to force state officials to recognize his appointment, which would allow him to take his fight to the Capitol in time for Tuesday's start of the 111^th Congress.

Senate Republicans, meanwhile, declared that under no circumstances would they agree to seat Democrat Al Franken of Minnesota, who is clinging to a 49-vote lead in the recount of his race against Sen. Norm Coleman, if Coleman files a legal challenge.

And on “Meet the Press” in response to David Gregory’s question, “If Burris shows up, you won't seat him?,” Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) said:

Well, we're going to do what we have to do, and we're going to follow all legal precedents. …

We determine who sits in the Senate, and the House determines who sits in the House.  So there's clearly legal authority for us to do whatever we want to. This goes back for generations.

But when Gregory pressed further (“[T]here may be some room here to negotiate and actually seat Burris?”) Reid answered: “I'm an old trial lawyer.  There's always room to negotiate.”

Meanwhile the Blagojevich camp is claiming that Reid is not acting in good faith as regards seating Burris because he gave the IL governor a list of names he would support during a telephone conversation in early December – and Burris was not on the short list. “I think the governor believes there is a conflict of interest - that Reid showed he has a horse in the race and Roland Burris wasn't one of them," Blago spokesperson Lucio Guerrero tells The Associated Press. And Burris’s advisors are putting out the word that the only candidates acceptable to Reid were “white women” – which Reid denied on “Meet the Press.”

Fasten your seatbelts, it’s going to be a bumpy ride.

Al Bundy’s Worst Nightmare

The Miami Herald reports that “thousands of work boots, bath slippers, tennis sneakers, beach sandals and even roller skates all inexplicably materialized Friday morning on the Palmetto Expressway, disrupting traffic for hours” The FL Highway Patrol found no signs of an accident, and hired a private contractor to gather up and move the footwear to an empty field so nonprofit group Soles4Souls could take them to distribute to the needy around the world. As of this writing, it is unknown whether the shoes were meant to be some sort of political statement, or whether someone whose shoe collection rivals The Stiletto’s had merely cleaned out her closet.  

One Man’s Trash …

Promotional Madoff Securities tchotchkes are being hawked on eBay, in some cases by burned investors, reports The Associated Press:
 

Madoff items for sale … include insulated coolers, binoculars, golf caps and flashlights. Several eBay postings are prodding buyers to "own a piece of history!" …

A seller put a Madoff Securities promotional backpack up for sale, writing, "These are the same ones that Bernie used to haul off all the loot!"

Another seller said simply, "A family member used the services of Bernard L. Madoff Securities in New York and was given this beach towel."

Although bidding for a Madoff Securities fleece jacket had reached $147.59, according to AP people were offering $50 or less for most of the items. At that rate, it will take several thousand lifetimes for Madoff’s investors to recoup their losses.

Putting The Cart Before The Horse: Part IV

Several streets in Miami suburb Opa-locka were named after characters in The Arabian Nights, including Aladdin Street and Ali Baba Avenue. In December, town officials voted unanimously to rename a portion of (Prince) Perviz Avenue as Barack Obama^* Avenue as of Presidents Day next month, reports USA Today:
 

"His mission and his philosophy are so important to our children," said city Commissioner Dorothy "Dottie" Johnson, who proposed the renaming. ...

Getting a road named after someone often isn't very difficult. In some communities, such as Chattanooga, Tenn., the only requirement is that the honoree be dead, a stipulation enacted two years ago. …

For history's sake, it is more prudent for politicians to wait until an honoree is dead, says Owen Gutfreund, director of urban studies at Barnard College and Columbia University.

Or at least to wait until he or she has accomplished something worthy of such an honor - say, negotiating a lasting peace in the Middle East.

To read other posts in the “cart before the horse” series click here, here and here.

^* It’s OK to use his middle name now; The New York Times says so.