Take 19: Back to work....

Well, it's been six long weeks since Congress went out on recess. But all good things have to come to an end eventually and Sue Kelly and her colleagues are headed back to the hallowed halls of Congress. What's on the agenda for the second session of the 109th Congress? Here's a brief look at two key votes:

--Sue gets another shot at voting to cut $40 billion from the budget. This would cut $12.7 billion from federal student loan programs -- the largest cut ever -- at a time that college costs are rising sharply. Medicaid would be cut by $7 billion and funding for Medicare and child support enforcement would also be cut sharply. The House is voting on this again because the Senate made several changes to an earlier budget bill. Sue's already voted twice here and here in favor of these drastic cuts, so it's unlikely she'll suddenly have a change of heart the third time around.

--More tax cuts for the wealthy. The House will vote on extending tax cuts on capital gains and dividends, even though those tax cuts are not set to expire for another two years. Kelly voted to approve this once before. There's no reason to believe she won't do it again.

With these types of irresponsible votes, maybe we're all better off when Sue is on vacation.