Abramoff says "Happy New Year"

Looks like we're gonna start the new year off right. A status hearing on the deal is scheduled for 3:30 Tuesday.

Federal prosecutors and lawyers for Republican lobbyist Jack Abramoff are putting the finishing touches on a plea deal that could be announced as early as Tuesday, according to people familiar with the negotiations.

The plea agreement would secure the lobbyist's testimony against several members of Congress who received favors from him or his clients......

Abramoff's cooperation would be a boon to an ongoing Justice Department investigation of congressional corruption, possibly helping prosecutors build criminal cases against up to 20 lawmakers and their staff members.

So much for Bush resetting the agenda around the State of the Union speech. Also, has anybody else noticed that the "cases against" number keeps going up?