In an op-ed today in the San Fransico Chronicle, Bill Frenzel and Leon Panetta call for a "Budget Summit" to hash out the difficult budget issues:

Shrill election year claims regarding tax policy in a Democratic 110th Congress may be having as muted an effect on voters as credit-taking for the stock market surge and low unemployment. Democrats are no longer talk about rolling back the Bush tax cuts on the wealthy. They are silent about whether or not to extend these cuts, which do not expire for another two years, and say they would push for higher taxes on corporations, particularly oil companies, by eliminating breaks and urging a crackdown on "loopholes," the Wall Street Journal reports.

While congressional Democrats have crowed about raising the minimum wage as a top priority should there be a shift in power in Congress, states continue to blaze past the federal government and enact increases in their respective state minimum wages.

Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-MA) has promised (CQ-$$) the swift passage of a minimum wage bill if the Democrats take power. Prospective House Speaker Rep. Nancy Pelosi has made a similar promise. Kennedy, who would be chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee if the Democrats can gain six seats Nov. 7, said he would try to follow Pelosi’s example. While a Democratic-controlled House could easily pass a minimum wage increase, opposition from conservatives in the Senate would make quick action more difficult.