When the Republican majority was elected to the House this past November, members of the GOP started talking about repealing the health care reform legislation that was the signature accomplishment of the previous Congress. That call for repeal seems to have revved up Congressional Republicans so much that they’re now trying to repeal several other laws that the Democratic majority passed last year.

House Republicans unveil the blueprint of their new policy agenda, to be used in the next Congress if they win back a majority in November's elections. It's the first time the GOP has released a political agenda of this nature since 1994's "Contract With America."

Florida may be giving Arizona a run for its money when it comes to cracking down on illegal immigration. According to a 2008 Pew Hispanic Center report, the Sunshine State ranks third in unauthorized immgrants, behind California and Texas. Now some state lawmakers are trying to pass legislation to change those numbers in a big way.

While Congress rushes to complete a sweeping financial reform bill later this week, the banking industry is pulling out all the stops for a last ditch effort to undercut the Volcker Rule—a provision that allows banks to retain some of their most risky businesses. The New York Times' finance reporter Louise Story explains who wins and who loses if the Volcker rule were to be put in place.

As energy legislation makes its way to Capitol Hill, lawmakers are beginning to hint at how they'll work together. Sen. John Cornyn said that he is ready to work with Democrats to deal with some of our environmental concerns. However, it is unlikely that senators like Cornyn will accept the president's comprehensive energy and climate change legislation.

President Barack Obama will meet with Arizona Governor Jan Brewer today. The president opposes Arizona's controversial immigration law, signed by the governor, which is due to take effect next month. 

We speak with United States Senator Carl Levin (D-Mich.) on how the actions of bankers on Wall Street directly affected the lives of homeowners living on Main Street. Credit default swaps, collateralized debt obligations and the mechanics of the murky mortgage markets are contributing to the media buzz surrounding the President’s call for Wall Street reform legislation. But it's easy for some of the truly important parts of the debate to lost in a sea of accusations.

President Obama signed the CARD Act back in May 2009, but the new regulations on credit card issuers took until today to come into effect. The law was designed to protect consumers from many of the hidden fees, rate changes and small print traps that cost Americans $15 billion each year, but some aspects of the bill changed along the way. Now that it's here, how will it affect your monthly statements?

The Senate Finance Committee finally approved their version of health care reform legislation yesterday. That’s only the next step in a long sequence aiming to pass just one of the five bills from various committees in Congress. We step back from the legislative process to look at what people want most out of an overhaul of the nation's health care system. We asked for questions from listeners, and this morning we try to get answers with Henry Aaron, senior fellow at the Brookings Institution, and David Herszenhorn, congressional correspondent for The New York Times.

The first phase of the "Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure (CARD) Act of 2009" goes into effect this week. While some major provisions of the law won't kick in until next year, credit card companies have to make some immediate changes, including giving cardholders advance notice about interest rate hikes. Personal finance expert and The Takeaway's finance contributor Beth Kobliner joins us to help explain the new rules.

Today marks the 10-year anniversary of the shooting at Columbine High School. On April 20, 1999, teenagers Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold opened fire on their classmates, killing a teacher and 12 students, and wounding 24 others before turning the guns on themselves. This month also marks the second anniversary of the Virginia Tech massacre, where 32 people were fatally shot by a mentally unstable student in the deadliest mass shooting in modern American history. Commemorating these attacks against the backdrop of another shooting at an immigration center in Binghamton, New York, begs the question: “How bad does it have to get before we take serious steps toward gun control?” Joining us to try to answer this question is Jeff Fagan. Jeff Fagan is a professor of Law and Public Health at Columbia Law School

While Washington D.C. is all atwitter over the stimulus package, Washington State has been debating something else entirely. Candy. Yes, the Washington State Legislature is about to make the most important decision of 2009: Should Aplets & Cotlets become the official state candy? While seemingly harmless and kind of cute, the move has opened old wounds, because in 2001 Almond Roca was almost crowned the state treat, but the crunchy chocolate almond treat failed to pass the State House. Now battle lines are drawn. Here to explain the fight and offer up an alternative is Megan Seling, a writer who has been covering the kerfuffle for The Stranger in Seattle.

Want to have your own taste test? Click here for Aplets & Cotlets, here for Almond Roca, and here for Fran's Chocolates.

President Barack Obama is newly-ensconced in office and he is rolling up his sleeves to get down to business. He has said he wants to work closely with members of Congress on both sides of the aisle to address America's current economic problems. How is this likely to play out as lawmakers grapple with healing the economy? For answers we look to the New York Times' David Herszenhorn for his take on the relationship between the executive and legislative branches in the new administration.

While one president is on his way out and the other is on his way in, Congress is busily moving ahead with legislation. The Democrats want to have an expanded child health care program and a stimulus package all ready for Obama to sign the moment he takes office. Then there are the ongoing confirmation hearings and the man who would be Treasury Secretary hit a snag. For more we go to our man in Washington, Todd Zwillich, reporter for Capitol News Connection.