Hold the euphoria; it's gloomy now on Capitol Hill

A lame-duck Congress returned for a week of depressing tasks, displaying none of the soaring spirit that will greet Barack Obama for his historic swearing-in at the Capitol's West Front on Jan. 20.

A mood of desperation trailed lawmakers representing autoworkers.

Big Three auto chief executives arrived in private jets to grovel for money, turning even bailout supporters into skeptics.

House members hammered the treasury secretary with pent-up fury for bailing out banks but not homeowners.

Democratic senators took independent Sen. Joe Lieberman of Connecticut to the woodshed for his support of Republican John McCain for president--and his unkind words for Obama--but ended up only slapping him on the wrist.

Sen. Ted Stevens of Alaska, the longest-serving Republican, celebrated his 85th birthday as a convicted felon and learned that he lost his election.

The senator in charge of inaugural activities threatened jail time for scalping tickets that are supposed to be free.

For lawmakers representing a lot of autoworkers, the week was filled with hairpin turns as they tried to keep the carmakers--who employ their constituents--from driving over a cliff. Their nightmare: thousands of voters in their states and districts thrown out of work because their representatives couldn't save them.

The automakers' CEOs, who came to Congress looking for bailout support, were berated for "self-inflicted wounds" in a tone they don't hear in their executive suites. They left empty-handed.