Yesterday, the 113th Congress was sworn in. There were a lot of new faces, a few more Dems in the House and Senate, more women and other "minorities". They face some challenges, with a lot of people anxious to get some legislation through quickly. New York and New Jersey need aid relief for the cleanup and rebuild from the destruction of Hurricane Sandy. There is also the issue of gun regulations, and the upcoming debt limit and sequester (spending cuts) discussions that need to happen. Yesterday was all of the opening hoo-ha, like swearing in and photo ops. Today begins the real work.

Re-elected House Speaker John Boehner (R-OH) had made the promise that aid funding would be taken up today. That verbal promise was enough to aswage Pete King (R-NY), but NJ Governor Chris Christie said he'd believe it when he saw it. We'll know by the end of the day whether that promise was kept.

Besides Diane Feinstein's impending comprehensive gun control bill, two other Dems have one ready to go that simply bans high-capacity clips. They are from NY and CO, two states hit by carnage from well-armed nutjobs. There will likely be discussions about whether gun control measures deter gun violence, or whether more guns are the answer. Washington DC has some evidence that suggests gun control works. The nation's capital used to be known as the "murder capital of the world" with gun deaths routinely topping 400. After implementing gun control measures, the rate fell below 100 last year for the first time in decades.

That will unlikely dissuade the "more guns" crowd. The state of GA which already has some of the loosest gun laws in the country (if you get on a MARTA train with a gun and a soda, you will get in trouble for the soda), may see them looser still. A state House rep is proposing legislation which would prohibit certain private property owners from prohibiting guns on their property:

Didn't Republicans used to be the party of personal freedoms and rights? Isn't forcing businesses to allow guns in the same vein as the "nanny state"? Hmmm....

Back at the U.S. Capitol, another well-discussed issue is filibuster reform in the Senate. This is something that would need to be addressed on Day One as well, since any changes to the Chamber rules need to be hashed out before they start considering legislation. One change that has been discussed previously and which seven Democrats are backing is a return to the requirement that a filibuster be just that - where the opposing party must talk to be keep the bill from being voted on. This would limit the "60 votes to pass" requirement by making such protests more "painful", and change the status quo which makes the Senate so dysfunctional.

Also on the upcoming docket is both the debt limit and the deferred spending cuts from the previously passed tax bill. Most readers of this space know they are unrelated (the debt limit is to allow for paying bills already incurred), but congressional Republicans will try to combine them. Rep. Alan Grayson (D-FL) calls this "legislative terrorism":

With more Dems in both houses of Congress and President Obama being reelected, it will be difficult for Republicans to claim any sort of mandate for anything they hope to do. The president has vowed not to negotiate or fight on the debt limit, and he shouldn't. It is a separate distinct legal entity, more related to last year's budget than this year's. Polls and the elections show that Americans want action on gun control - the Sandy Hook mass murder was the straw that broke the camel's back. No one (outside of DC) understands why any part of the country hit by natural disaster should have to wait for aid from the government. And Americans are tired of a Congress that can't seem to get anything done.

This will be an interesting few weeks.