Written by John Shaw

WASHINGTON (MNI) - For congressional Democrats there are two main issues that will dominate the agenda for the next several months: passing health care legislation and trying to create jobs.

The Senate will begin debating Monday a nearly $900 billion Democratic plan to reform health care.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has said he would like the Senate to pass a bill by Christmas, but others have said that a final Senate vote on health care might not occur until January.

Reid faces a raft of complex challenges as he tries to move his massive health care bill through a politically charged Senate.

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell has said he is gearing up for a tough battle in the weeks ahead, saying that Senate Republicans will do "anything and everything to prevent this measure from becoming law."

McConnell and Senate Republicans are likely to file hundreds of amendments and insist on votes for dozens of them. This will tie up the Senate for weeks. Politically charged amendments are inevitable on issues ranging from retaining the public health insurance option to abortion, Medicare savings, and financing the nearly $900 billion package.

In the end, Reid will have to secure 60 votes to end the debate and move to final passage in the Senate.

Then, a House-Senate conference committee must be convened to draft a compromise version of the bill which must be passed by both chambers.

During the Senate's debate on health care, Reid will be looking for a window to bring up and pass a debt ceiling increase. That vote is likely to occur before Dec. 18, when Democratic leaders want to recess for at least a brief Christmas break.

Rank and file Democrats are eager to focus on job creation legislation in 2010. By all accounts, the first work on this front will occur in the House.

Since the House passed a $1 trillion health care bill several weeks ago, House Democratic leaders have signalled they will spend the bulk of December on jobs creation legislation.

In a conference call to bloggers Tuesday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi argued that Democratic concerns about deficit reduction and job creation are not contradictory.

"We don't subscribe to the idea that some are for deficit reduction and some are for job creation. This is a false choice and we are never going to reduce the deficit unless we create job, bring revenue into the Treasury and stimulate the economy so we have growth," she said.

The Speaker said Democrats must show they are "sensitize" to the soaring deficit, but added "we also have to realize that job creation is a deficit reducer."

House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer said last week that Democrats want to pass a job creation bill in the House by December 18, the day he hopes Congress will adjourn for the year.

Hoyer said House Democrats are reviewing "a lot of options" to boost job creation, including infrastructure spending, a highway bill, business tax credits for job creation, another extension of unemployment insurance, an adjustment to COBRA and assistance to state governments.

The House Majority Leader said the package will be devised to boost job creation in the short-term, suggesting that any offsets would occur after the economy picks up speed.

House Democrats have begun to debate ideas to pay for at least part of the cost of the jobs bill. Rep. John Larson, chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, has suggested imposing a 0.25% tax on transactions involving various financial products, including unregulated derivatives.

House Financial Services Committee Chairman Barney Frank and House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Charlie Rangel both oppose the idea--making it highly unlikely that it will be seriously considered.

** Market News International Washington Bureau: (202) 371-2121 **

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