■ The 111th Congress returns from its summer recess on Sept. 8 with plenty of work to do, but with little confidence from the American people in their ability to do it. Indeed, according to the Real Clear Politics polling average covering most of the month of August, only 29 percent of those polled approve of the job Congress is doing. A whopping 59.7 percent of respondents, on average, disapprove of their work. This is not a very comforting factor as the debate on health care reform is renewed next week.

■ Speaking of health care, the notion that the Obama administration would use the summer recess to bolster their case for comprehensive reform was at best a miscalculation by anyone who thought such. As Dan Balz noted earlier this week in his Washington Post Column “The Take,” if Democrats “hoped that August would significantly strengthen their hand for the long awaited fall battles, they must be disappointed. The task looks as difficult today as it did when Congress left, if not more difficult.” One need only to have watched the true emotion in many of the town hall meetings across the country to second Mr. Balz’s notion.

■ The local economy reflects a mixed bag of news that mirrors the roller coaster ride nationally. The news that unemployment in July fell from June levels was tempered by the significant year over year increase but still somewhat encouraging. The announcement of the completion of the long anticipated $17 million building project that will house SRI in the Rockingham County Center for Research and Technology renews great hope of the prospects for this region, fueled by location and ties to James Madison University, to become the “Silicon Valley of the South.” But, the news that manufacturing stalwart Graham Packaging was undergoing another round of layoffs served as a stark reminder of the challenges still facing manufacturing throughout the region.

■ The revelation of a somewhat controversial 1989 thesis by Republican gubernatorial candidate Bob McDonnell seems to have energized opponent Creigh Deeds’s forces. Whether the musings of a 34-year-old graduate student will have any true impact on the Governor’s race is hard to tell, but Mr. McDonnell may have trouble balancing his stances between the conservative base that he calls home and the moderates that he must attract to win a statewide election in 2009. As we have predicted in this space before, expect a spirited and expensive race to November from Labor Day on.

■ The growing concern about the threat of the H1N1 Virus, known best as “Swine Flu,” cannot be dismissed. All citizens should heed the warnings and take appropriate steps to protect themselves against the risk of an outbreak.

■ And, finally, for those who have been in withdrawal for months, College Football is back in earnest today. Virginia Tech has a huge game tonight against Alabama, and both the University of Virginia and Bridgewater College also return to the field today. Fans of JMU’s football team will have to find another team to root for this weekend, as the Dukes don’t return to action until next week, when they open the season at Maryland.