What happened
Jubilant Democrats this week laid out the legislative priorities they'll pursue when they take control of Congress in January. The agenda for the party's "first 100 hours" in power features raising the minimum wage, increasing college financial aid, easing restrictions on federally funded stem-cell research, repealing oil company tax breaks, and authorizing the government to negotiate prescription-drug prices for Medicare recipients. Several leading Democrats, including Sens. Carl Levin of Michigan and Joseph Biden of Delaware, also called for troop withdrawals from Iraq to begin in four to six months. "We have to tell the Iraqis that the open-ended commitment is over," said Levin, who will chair the Senate Armed Services Committee.
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