The Week of July 28

With a gargantuan housing bill under its belt, Congress turns to tie up a loose legislative ends this week before heading home for August.

The tax tango. As in years past, a number of popular tax breaks are set to expire - and, as in past years, the House and Senate are expected to extend them, but not before dancing through the same debate - whether to pay for those breaks by raising taxes elsewhere (which the House prefers) or just adding them on to our debt (the Senate's choice). The Senate usually wins - and this week they make their move. The extenders add up to $126 billion and include a middle class out from the Alternative Minimum Tax, R&D credits for business and alternative energy incentives.

As part of the tax bill, senators may also end up voting on $4 billion in disaster relief for Midwest farmers and a final insurance bill giving patients better access to mental health coverage.

Gas and Mirrors: The House continues "pain at the pump" month this week voting on a measure to let federal regulators rein in energy speculators, who are thought by some economists to be inflating the price of oil. A series of energy bills being pushed by Democrats and Republicans are widely seen to be more about political posturing than bringing down the price of gas, but a coalition of moderates in the House may do the unexpected this week and bring up a bipartisan gas bill.

• see more on energy legislation in Congress this year and on the gas price debate

The House also votes on their first '09 budget bill, for Military Construction and Veterans, as well as an employment bill giving women more legal muscle to sue for pay discrimination and possibly a measure that would have tobacco regulated by the FDA.

The Senate is also engaged in an unusual scuffle this week as one senator, Tom Coburn, takes a solo stand against a block of bills - that would normally just go through the legislative treadmill - but which Coburn thinks are a waste of money.