Yay Dems!

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/us/AP-Congress-100-Hours.html

'Bout time to say something good happened in Washington. The Senate I hear, will rip this stuff pretty much, but this from the New York Times:

The bills passed by the House as part of the 100-hour agenda would:

--Slap a ''conservation fee'' on oil and gas taken from deep waters of the Gulf of Mexico; scrap nearly $6 billion worth of oil industry tax breaks enacted by Congress in recent years; and seek to recoup royalties lost to the government because of an Interior Department error in leases issued in the late 1990s. Passed Thursday.

--Lower interest rates on federally subsidized student loans from 6.8 percent to 3.4 percent in stages over five years at a cost to taxpayers of $6 billion. Passed Wednesday.

--Make the government bargain directly with drug companies with the aim of reducing prices of prescriptions for Medicare beneficiaries. Passed Jan. 12.

--Expand government-financed embryonic stem cell research. Passed Jan. 11.

--Raise the federal minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour over 26 months. Passed Jan. 10.

--Bolster terrorism-fighting efforts with more cargo inspections. Passed Jan. 9.

Democrats also won approval of internal House rule changes dealing with ethics, lobbying and budgeting. They were passed on Jan. 4-5.

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