Bolstered by a polling memo that indicates income inequality is viewed as a significant problem by a majority, Senate Democrats will continue to push for legislative measures that focus on the issue. “We are going to keep at the payroll tax cut, and we are going to continue to put other jobs measures, as well as measures that help reduce income inequality, on the floor,â€

British public sector workers are taking part in the largest strike in a generation to protest austerity measures. Government officials “across Britain said [url=http://www.nytimes.com/2011/12/01/world/europe/great-britain-strike-austerity-measures.html?_r=1&hp
]thousands of schools had closed[/url] because teachers were on strike and many parents had taken a day off from their own jobs to look after children.â€

Democrats, led by Sen. Tom Harkin (D-IA), are pledging to prevent Congress from adjourning for the holidays without an extension in unemployment insurance. “Let me just put it this way: There will be no Christmas for Congress unless there is an extension of the unemployment insurance benefits,â€

According to the latest report from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 120,000 jobs were created last month, bringing the unemployment rate down to 8.6 percent. As has been the case in previous months, relatively strong private sector growth was offset by government sector losses. About 72,000 jobs were also added as revisions to previous months.

Outside groups have already spent more than $35 million to influence the 2012 election, according to an investigation by the Hill. American Crossroads and Crossroads GPS, affiliated groups co-founded by Karl Rove, have spent $20 million alone. The largest Democratic-affiliated spender has been Priorities USA, at just under $1 million.

Last night, the Senate rejected proposals to extend the payroll tax holiday put forward by both Republicans and Democrats. All but a few Democrats voted for their party's plan to pay for the extension with a surtax on millionaires, but more Republicans voted against than for their party's proposal, which would pay for the extension by freezing federal pay.

In a 93 to 7 vote yesterday, the Senate approved a $662 billion defense authorization including a requirement that the military hold some suspected terrorists on U.S. soil “indefinitely without trial,â€

Today, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) will introduce a compromise plan to extend the payroll tax holiday. On Fox News Sunday, Sen. Kent Conrad (D-ND) would not explain details of the plan, but said it was a “serious attempt to move this ball forward.â€

Senate Democrats offered a new compromise on the payroll tax holiday extension to Republicans, one that would pay for the cut “with a combination of GOP-backed proposals to increase the fees that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac charge mortgage lendersâ€

Unemployed workers took their message directly to congressional offices on Tuesday, pushing for Congress to pass the president's jobs bill, extend the federal payroll tax holiday, and extend federal unemployment insurance. The protesters occupied congressional offices in sit-in protests.

Today thousands of protesters are expected to converge on K Street in Washington today, taking aim at the influence of lobbyists in Washington. The actions are part of a week of activities planned by “Take Back The Capitol,â€

President Obama will forego his vacation in Hawaii “to stay in town until Congress finishes work on the payroll tax holidayâ€

Anti-incumbent sentiment toward members of Congress has reached a 19-year high, with three out of four voters saying most lawmakers do not deserve to win reelection, according to a new Gallup poll out today. President Obama fared better in the poll, with 55 percent saying he should not be re-elected and 43 percent saying he should stay another term.

After Senate Republicans successfully filibustered the nomination of former Ohio Attorney General Richard Cordray to be the first director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, President Obama denounced congressional Republicans for not standing up for ordinary Americans. “This makes no sense,â€

In an interview with CBS' 60 Minutes yesterday, President Obama said Republicans are willing to tank the economy to get him out of office. They know they “really screwed up the economy,â€

Arrests of people crossing the border from Mexico into the U.S. plunged to a four-decade low in the last fiscal year, [b]suggesting that “illegal immigration is on the retreatâ€

Time magazine accords its[b] “Person of the Yearâ€

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta declared an official end to the U.S. war in Iraq today, concluding the nearly nine year mission. In total, over 1 million American troops served in Iraq since 2003, including about 4,487 who were killed and 30,000 who were wounded. The State Department will oversee a $6 billion civilian effort to sustain American influence in Iraq after the troops leave.

New jobless claims dropped to 3.5-year low last week, according to the latest unemployment data from the Labor Department, out this morning. Initial claims dropped to 366,000, the lowest number since before Lehman Brothers collapsed in 2008.

Nearly half of the country's public schools failed to meet federal standards in 2011, the largest rate of failure in the 10-year history of No Child Left Behind, according to a report released today. The report found that 48 percent of public schools, including 89 percent of schools in Florida, failed to meet “adequate yearly progressâ€