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Congress makes job creation top 2010 priority

With about one in 10 Americans out of work, the highest percentage in 25 years, President Barack Obama's fellow Democrats -- who control the Senate and House of Representatives -- are making job creation their top priority.

"Americans have a lot of angst, a lot of anger, a lot of fear," said House Democratic leader Steny Hoyer. "Whether you are a Democrat or a Republican or an independent, all polls show that jobs are the major issue."

Indeed, as the full Senate returns from the Christmas break on Wednesday, a week after the House, the jobs recovery will also be high on the White House agenda along with the massive relief effort for quake-stricken Haiti.

In addition to jobs, lawmakers face challenges on a host of fronts -- from healthcare and the record U.S. deficit, to climate change, efforts to tighten regulation of the U.S. financial industry and lapses in domestic security.

If Republicans pull off what would be a stunning upset in the traditionally Democratic state, as polls show is possible, it would shift the balance of power and rattle American politics.

Democrats would lose their 60-vote Senate supermajority needed to clear Republican procedural roadblocks. That would jeopardize Obama's legislative agenda.

The closer-than-anticipated contest in liberal Massachusetts reflects the anti-incumbent environment fueled largely by the high unemployment rate.

SENATE JOBS PACKAGE EXPECTED

Last month, the House passed a $155 billion bill that aims to stimulate the job market through infrastructure projects and helping states pay the salaries of public employees.

Assistant Senate Majority Leader Dick Durbin, along with Democratic Senator Byron Dorgan, is expected to offer a jobs package in coming weeks. It is likely to include efforts to boost small business and renewable energy, aides said.

If the Senate passes a jobs bill, it would have to be reconciled with the House measure.

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