The number of contests close enough to watch continues to grow daily. Updates today on RI-01, CT-04, CT-05, IN-02, and NC-02.

The number of contests up in the air continues to grow: As a result of new polling, I’m adding two close races to the list, FL-25 and KY-03.

Several other races have also been updated to reflect new information. Overall, the updates are a mixed bag, but, on net, I would say today’s news is slightly positive for Democrats.

There are several updates today thanks mainly to a new round of polling from The Hill newspaper. At the beginning of the week, I wrote of how remarkably competitive so many of these races remained so close to election day, and how many would break one way or another depending on the atmosphere this last week. With that in mind, the news is not good for Democrats.

While Mike Allen’s anonymous win-the-day sources tell him that the Obama Administration would welcome a deal in the cat food commission around Social Security to “establish credibility with the markets” (with 10-year bond yields at a rock-bottom 2.56%, I’d say the credibility has been established), others in the Democratic coalition are slowly drawing a line in the sand against any cuts to Social Security benefits. This includes members in some of the most hard-fought seats in the country in November.

After months of relative silence, House Democrats have finally begun to assert themselves on the issue of housing and foreclosures, which is directly harming millions of families and threatening economic recovery.

When the Senate returns into session this week, they may have a final vote on the Dodd-Frank financial reform bill. We know that Russ Feingold is the only Democrat who opposes the legislation, so that’s 57 votes in favor, pending a replacement for Robert Byrd. There’s a path to 60 without the Byrd replacement. Susan Collins has already basically endorsed, and Scott Brown proclaimed that he “likes what he sees.” Even Chuck Grassley may break ranks and vote yes on cloture. But Olympia Snowe had an interesting reaction yesterday:

Four banks were closed by the FDIC yesterday, bringing the 2010 total up to 90 — a number we didn’t reach last year until after Labor Day. The Fed, meanwhile, seems comfortable with high unemployment and apparently thinks the banks are doing just fine. But one potential financial reform proposal — the Kanjorski Amendment — still remains in play, which would take power away from the Fed and put it in the hands of a systemic risk council, which would be expected to either break up or strongly regulate institutions that pose a systemic risk.

Meanwhile, the FDIC is hiring a new Senior Congressional Relations Manager. Sounds like he or she will have some serious business on their desk on the day he or she walks in the door.

The conference committee for Wall Street reform finally got around to the title on credit rating agencies, and we saw a lot of unanimity on the House side for the offer written by Barney Frank, which would retain the language removing references to credit rating agencies from the regulatory code, but which would cancel out the Franken amendment, which would change the issuer-pays model to one where an SEC office would assign initial ratings. The House offer passed on a voice vote with almost no opposition.

While many people think of the Federal Reserve as an independent body set up by the banks to enrich themselves – and for the most part, it is – there are certainly ways to influence it in the proper direction. The best way is for Congress to threaten to take away much of its power.