CONGRESS: A HALFTIME SCORECARD
Last week, the 111th Congress closed up shop for its summer recess. Here's a scorecard on what it has done -- and not done -- in the six months since President Obama took office:
Finished
Passed a $787 billion stimulus package of tax cuts, benefit increases and new spending on road, bridge and other job-producing projects aimed at countering the recession
Expanded health care subsidies for children of low-income parents to cover an additional 4 million children
Imposed government regulations on the content, marketing and sale of cigarettes and other tobacco products
Passed a $1 billion program providing rebates of as much as $4,500 for older gas-guzzling cars and trucks traded it on new, more fuel-efficient models. The program proved so popular, it added $2 billion to extend the rebate offer to Labor Day.
NOT FINISHED:
Bills allocating where government money will be spent in the 2010 fiscal year that begins Oct. 1
Health care overhaul: Neither the House nor the Senate was able to meet Obama's target of early August for completing separate versions.
Climate change: The House passed a bill that for the first time would set limits on greenhouse gases, but Senate committees have yet to begin drafting a bill.
