July 23, 2008 -- The markets watch as Congress wraps up a housing bill that extends an emergency credit line to Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Some conservatives complain the bill smells of socialism.

July 22, 2008 -- The Senate is all about oil prices today. Democrats’ have their bill teed up tightening the screws on oil speculators. Senate Leader Harry Reid threatens to keep the Senate around over the weekend to make the Senate vote.

July 21, 2008 -- Oil and gas prices top the agenda in Congress this week. Parties are still divided over more domestic drilling as bills come to the floor in both the House and Senate. Most busy senators wish they could be in two places at once, but tonight Virginia Sen. Jim Webb pulls it off through the magic of television. Webb is set to promote his new book on Comedy Central's Colbert Report and on Charlie Rose on PBS, which at least in the Washington area are on the air simultaneously.

July 18, 2008 -- Rhetorical bombs gets thrown in Congress on oil and gas prices as Republicans want attention on energy, not the VP race. A group of about a dozen House Republicans led by leader John Boehner go on a jaunt, making a case for more domestic drilling.The Senate spends time mulling a bill that takes aim at oil speculators in the commodities markets.

July 17, 2008 -- Washington gears up for an energy day as oil and gas prices are on tap all across town today. In the Senate, debate over Democrats’ bill on oil speculation should get underway. The House expects more action than the Senate today. Republicans have been agitating for new drilling leases. Democrats respond today with the DRILL Act, not exactly what the Republicans had in mind.

July 16, 2008 -- On gas prices, Democrats think Republicans sound like broken records on drilling and have their own funny way of showing it. The Senate works to wrap up a $50 billion global HIV AIDS package today. A bill authorizing intelligence programs comes up in the House.

July 15, 2008 -- The Senate votes on amendments to the global AIDS bill today as posturing over gas prices continues in the Congress. Democrats are coming out with bills this week targeting oil speculators. Republicans are ratcheting up the pressure for domestic drilling. In the meantime, Fed chairman Ben Bernanke delivers a report on the weakness of dollar in the Senate.

July 14, 2008 -- It's appropriations season in the Congress as committees have been working up 13 spending bills for next year. Democratice leaders on both sides of the Capitol say they won't act on more than one while President Bush is still in office. The Senate deals with the global AIDS bill today.

July 11, 2008 -- A global AIDS bill goes through a procedural vote in the Senate today. A tiny handful of lawmakers are using Twitter technology. They’ve been posting to thousands of people from committee rooms, even from the House floor.

July 10, 2008 -- The Senate's into the procedural weeds on the housing bill today. In the meantime, a group of 10 senators, half Republicans and half Democrats, get together to curb the partisan rhetoric on Capitol Hill on gas prices and the oil futures market.