Living up to its reputation as the party of “No,” Republican lawmakers yesterday blocked action on a Social Security cost of living supplement, stalled collective bargaining rights for public safety officers and stonewalled stronger mine safety laws. Republican leaders have vowed to halt all Senate action until the Bush-era tax cuts for the wealthy are brought to a vote.

But the House did pass the Dream Act, 218-198, and the Senate is scheduled to vote on the bill (S. 3992) today. We’ll keep you updated.  The Senate also is expected to vote on the 9/11 first responders health care bill (H.R. 847).

In the Senate, the Social Security (S. 3985) and the collective bargaining (S.3991) bills required 60 votes to end Republicans filibusters.

Seniors have gone two years in a row without a cost of living adjustment.  Alliance for Retired Americans Executive Director Edward C. Coyle says the vote (53-45) to deny the cost of living adjustment (COLA) was “height of callous hypocrisy.”

In a week defined by tax cuts for millionaires, retirees are stunned and outraged that Congress would reject a one-time $250 payment to seniors…This legislation is critical to retirees, but unfortunately, congressional Republicans overwhelmingly chose to oppose it.  While Democrats continue to protect Social Security, Republicans continue to advocate risky schemes to privatize it and cut benefits.  America’s seniors deserve better.

Not a single Republican broke ranks, but Sen. Joe Lieberman, (I-Conn.), and four Democrats voted to block the cost of living adjustment: Sen. Russ Feingold (Wis.), Sen. Mark Udall (Colo.), Sen. Kay Hagan (N.C.) and Sen. Mark Warner (Va.).

The collective bargaining bill would protect the freedom of firefighters and other public safety officers to join unions. More than 20 states do not fully protect those bargaining rights, and two states—Virginia and North Carolina—prohibit public safety employees from collectively bargaining

Fire Fighter (IAFF) Presidents Harold Schaitberger says “It’s a sad day in America when the rights of firefighters are ignored in favor of tax breaks for millionaires.”

The Senate is being deeply irresponsible. Failing to extend the collective bargaining rights that firefighters deserve because they can’t reach an agreement on tax breaks is shameful.

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka says:

By standing in the way of the Public Safety Employer-Employee Cooperation Act, Republican senators are continuing to deny basic rights on the job to firefighters on the front lines who keep our communities safe.

The vote on the bill was 55-43 with Hagan, Warner and Sen. Michael Bennett (D-Colo.) joinimg Republicans to kill the bill.

The mine safety bill in the House won majority support, 214-193, but the bill was considered under a procedure called “suspension of the rules” which requires a two-thirds majority necessary to pass.

The bill (H.R. 6495) would have given the Mine Safety and Health Administration powerful new tools to keep miners safe and hold mine operators accountable for putting their workers in dangers.  Says Rep. George Miller (D-Calif.), chairman of the Education and Labor Committee:

I am deeply disappointed that Republicans turned their backs on those who work in mines every day, 600 of whom who have died in the last decade. As other mine tragedies have show us in the past, inaction today is paid for with the lives of hard-working miners tomorrow.

Breaking News: The House has passed the DREAM Act by a 216-198 margin. Eight Republicans voted for the bill and 38 Democrats voted against it.

As Congress prepared to vote on the DREAM Act today, thousands of students, immigrant activists, religious and political leaders are making a last-minute push to pass the bill.

Across the country, thousands of workers and activists held vigils in support of the bill as part of a national day of action. Yesterday, groups of DREAM Act youth and supporters arrived on Capitol Hill with giant checks for $2.3 billion to give out to lawmakers. The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) estimated late last week that passing the DREAM Act would create $2.3 billion in revenue over the next 10 years and slash the deficit by $1.4 billion.

Take action now. Call your representative at 1-866-967-6018 or your senators at 1-866-996-5161 and tell them:

America needs the DREAM Act now. This bill will allow undocumented youths to earn their legal status through either a college education or military service. Additionally, the DREAM Act strengthens the U.S. economy by cutting the deficit by $1.4 billion.

The Center for American Progress also reported on a recent study by the UCLA North American Integration and Development Center, which showed the total earnings of DREAM Act beneficiaries over the course of their working lives would generate about $1.4 trillion to $3.6 trillion over a 40-year period.

The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, which is supported by 66 percent of Americans, would allow undocumented students who have lived in the United States for at least five years and have graduated from high school or received a graduate equivalency diploma (GED) to legalize their immigration status by pursuing a college education or serving in the U.S. military.

In a statement, Janet Murguía, president of the National Council of La Raza, said today’s vote will have political significance:.

For Latinos, the fastest-growing segment of the nation’s electorate, the DREAM Act vote is a defining one.…The time for excuses is over. The DREAM Act has been around for over a decade and has been debated and supported by members of both parties. It is time for a vote, and no amount of excuses will hide which members chose to stand for innocent children, and which did not. And Latinos will remember exactly which side those members chose.

DREAM Act supporters, including the White House and cabinet members, are trying to win additional votes for the bill in the final hours before the votes. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano and Education Secretary Arne Duncan spoke in support of the bill at the Capitol today and other cabinet members are making phone calls to undecided senators.

The White House Office of Management and the Budget issued a statement encouraging senators to vote for the bill, calling it an “important step” toward the administration’s broader goal of comprehensive immigration reform.

Michael Gerson, a former Bush aide, explained in the Washington Post that rather than debate the DREAM Act on its merits, many Republicans are practicing partisan politics rather than governing for the overall good.

The DREAM Act would be a potent incentive for assimilation. But for some, assimilation clearly is not the goal. They have no intention of sharing the honor of citizenship with anyone called illegal—even those who came as children, have grown up as neighbors and would be willing to give their lives in the nation’s cause.

Cathy Sherwin, AFL-CIO Field Communications staffer  in Missouri, sends us this report from St. Louis on yesterday’s Online Day of Solidarity action for jobless workers.

Jobless workers, union members and community activists stood in the freezing cold on Tuesday in St. Louis, joining activists nationwide for a Dec. 7 Day of Action in solidarity with the unemployed.

They urged Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) and the Senate to immediately restore unemployment insurance (UI) for a year for the more than 1 million jobless workers currently without any aid since Senate Republicans blocked action to maintain UI benefits for long-term jobless workers.

Right before leaving for the Thanksgiving holiday, a bill to maintain the unemployment insurance for the long-term jobless was defeated in the House. Missouri Republicans Todd Akin, Roy Blunt, Jo Ann Emerson, Sam Graves and Blaine Luetkemeyer voted to deny this critical lifeline to jobless Missourians.

Yesterday, the White House and congressional Republicans announced a deal to extend all the Bush-era tax cuts, including those for the wealthy, along with a 13-month extension of the UI program for the long-term jobless. But its fate is uncertain. Click here to read AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka’s statement.

Lloyd Schultz, jobless Painters and Allied Trades (IUPAT) member from St. Louis, said:

I can’t wait to go back to work.  Unemployment insurance is the only thing keeping many of us with a roof over our heads and food on the table this winter.

The demonstrators also formed a soup line down along the sidewalk. The Depression-era image of people standing on the streets, in the cold, waiting for a free meal was more than symbolic. If immediate action isn’t taken, millions of jobless workers and their families will literally have no options this winter.

Fifteen million Americans are currently unemployed, with more than 278,000 in Missouri. By the end of December, 2 million people will have lost this critical lifeline unless Congress acts to extend unemployment insurance. Never before has Congress let unemployment benefits expire when this many people have been out of work.

Missouri AFL-CIO President Hugh McVey put it this way:

Time is running out for Congress to take action before massive pain—and even homelessness—hits long-term job-seekers. Our society and our government must not ignore our friends, family and neighbors who are unemployed through no fault of their own.

Gaby Pacheco just wants everyone to know she is as American as anyone else and she has gone to extraordinary lengths to try and prove it. But until Congress passes the DREAM Act, she won’t be able to share her many gifts because people won’t look past the fact that she is undocumented.

The Development, Relief and Education for Alien Minors (DREAM) Act, which is supported by 66 percent of Americans, would allow undocumented students who have lived in the United States for at least five years and have graduated from high school or received a graduate equivalency diploma (GED) to legalize their immigration status by pursuing a college education or serving in the U.S. military. Congress is expected to take up the DREAM Act today.

Take action now. Call your representative at 1-866-967-6018 or your senator at 1-866-996-5161 and tell them something like this:

America needs the DREAM Act now. This bill will allow undocumented youths to earn their legal status through either a college education or military service. Additionally, the DREAM Act strengthens the U.S. economy by cutting the deficit by $1.4 billion.

Pacheco was just seven years old when her family moved here from her native Ecuador and settled in Miami. A gifted child, Pacheco, now 25, had a school career any parent would be proud of. She learned English very quickly and in the first grade, tested in the gifted level for math. She excelled in math, in science, music, ROTC, sports. By the 10th grade, she was taking college-level classes, participating and excelling in three sports and was a ranked officer in Navy ROTC. She says:

            I learned that if I tried hard, I could succeed.

But then reality hit. After she passed all the tests for her driving learner’s permit, she was denied because she was undocumented. Still determined to succeed, she worked even harder in school, taking advance placement courses from 7 a.m. to nearly midnight.

But it still was not enough. An obviously brilliant student—she graduated among the top three in her class—she also contributed 1,000 hours of community service. But she was discouraged from even applying to college because she didn’t have the citizenship paperwork she needed.

Finally, Miami-Dade College admitted her and once again, she excelled. She ran for student body president and completed a bachelor’s degree in special education. But she can’t get a job as a teacher. She wants to put her considerable skills to use teaching and reaching out to students with autism using music therapy.  But no one will hire her because she is undocumented.

 So she keeps fighting. Keeps trying to prove herself.

It’s been a long struggle. I’ve seen many friends just give up and go and work in restaurants and cleaning houses. I’ve seen people be frustrated and go crazy because they don’t know what to do next. I’ve had people come up to me and tell me they don’t have a desire to live any more.

 That’s why we need to pass the DREAM Act, she says.

There’s so much potential and so much desire to serve. More than anything else [there is a need] to be truly recognized as human beings, to be allowed to contribute, to make our lives, pursue our happiness and wake up from this nightmare we’ve been living and live our dreams.

Earlier this year, she walked more than 1,500 miles over four months as part of the “Trail of Dreams.” She and three other undocumented immigrants walked from Miami to Washington, D.C., telling people along the way their stories and asking them to support the DREAM Act. That trip finally gave her hope.

I truly believe that people don’t hate us. They’ve been misled by the media, sometimes even their own families, to believe that we’re bad and that we’re here to get the welfare. Every day on the walk, we talked to people who saw we are just human beings and we were able to regain some of that humanity we’d been searching for.  

AFL-CIO President Richard Trumka today issued the following statement on the tax cut deal reached between President Obama and congressional Republicans:

Two years ago, working Americans had high hopes that we would ultimately emerge from the deep, punishing financial debacle with a sharp focus on a fundamentally stronger, fairer and more balanced economy. Today, that vision has dimmed. 

The tax cut deal rewards Republican obstructionism by giving the wealthy the tax breaks they demanded. It throws away precious resources needed for investments in jobs and our economy on upper income tax cuts that will do very little to propel economic growth—setting up excuses for the deficit hypocrites to argue for even more cuts to programs serving working families. It lards the tax cuts for the top 2 percent with an indefensible cut in the estate tax—giving yet another bonus to the super-rich. Taken together, this package locks in the growing income inequality that has plagued our country for at least another two years—and quite possibly much longer. 

It is unconscionable that the price of support for struggling middle class families and workers who have been unable to find jobs for months and months and months is yet more giveaways for our country’s wealthiest families. Millions of jobless workers have lived in fear for months while Senate Republicans had the gall to use their hardships as political leverage for the benefit of the rich.

The gains for the middle class and jobless workers in the deal come at too high a price. 

The issue we face today is not the lack of power or opportunity. The question we have to answer is this:  How do we use our power to escape caving in to Wall Street and moneyed interests? And how do we create the millions of jobs we need now and move toward a future of broadly shared prosperity?