The Senate returns from its weeklong recess to conclude debate on the appropriations minibus, an appropriations spending bill funding the departments of Agriculture, Justice, Commerce, State, Transportation, and Housing and Urban development.

This week the Senate debated the appropriations minibus that encompasses three major appropriations/spending bills into one bill.

This week the Senate will be debating the second of the 12 appropriations bills that together make up the full funding of our federal government.

This week the Senate will finally conduct a test vote on President Barack Obama's stimulus/jobs bill.

Over the past couple of weeks, the president has been criss-crossing the country politicking about his $447 billion stimulus/jobs bill and calling out the congressional GOP membership for not conducting a vote on it.

The end of the federal governments fiscal year comes next Friday, and once again Congress is scrambling to fund allour agencies without suffering a government shutdown. The speaker of the House, Rep. John Boehner, R-Ohio, learned Wednesday that this is not always as easy as it might seem.

This past Monday night was a historic moment for the tea party movement in America. This celebrated event occurred when the first-ever Tea Party Express/CNN televised GOP debate was aired from the state fairgrounds in Tampa.

Congress comes back this week from its monthlong August recess to a pile of legislation that needs immediate attention.

The August recess was a habit from back-in-the-day because at one time our U.S. Capitol didn't have the benefit of air conditioning. The Senate and House chambers are already full of hot air without Mother Nature adding to the problem.

The Senate and House spent their first full week enjoying the traditional August recess with a double digit number of CODELs (congressional delegations) touring the world and very few town hall meetings being scheduled.