Even though her family came to this country legally and has followed the law, Kosa has been told she would be deported in less than a year.  Despite years of hard work and achievement, she cannot become a citizen under current immigration laws.

The only good thing about a federal spending cap is how it sounds in a press release, according to Jordan Eizenga, a policy analyst for the Center for American Progress.

Some conservative lawmakers are calling for a cap on total federal spending as a precondition to their support for raising the debt limit. Some are even bringing the issue up in the presidential primary.

But Eizenga says:

The bottom line is that this is an astonishingly bad idea even for those willing to undermine the entire U.S. economy by engaging in political brinksmanship over the debt limit.

Check out his analysis here.

The AFL-CIO today applauded the U.S. Department of Labor’s decision to accept its complaint regarding the government of Bahrain’s failure to live up to its trade agreement commitments with respect to workers’ rights.

The proposed U.S. Colombia Free Trade Agreement will only exacerbate already “critical” conditions of poverty and repression in Colombia. Further, the labor action plan that was negotiated between the United States and Colombia in April does not include provisions to verify that workers are being treated better, several Colombian trade unionists  said today.

Phil Neuenfeldt, Wisconsin State AFL-CIO president, sends an update on the actions around Wisconsin’s Walkerville.

Day six of the Walkerville tent city protest has seen overwhelming support from Wisconsin workers, students and community members. Over the course of the week, thousands of Wisconsinites have gathered on the cement blocks lining the Capitol Square in order to call attention to Gov. Walker and his legislative allies’ destructive budget proposals—proposals which will cripple Wisconsin’s schools, health care system and communities.

This is a cross-post from the Wisconsin State AFL-CIO by Karen Hickey in AFL-CIO Field Communications.

Wisconsin nurses and health care workers took on Scott Walker and his legislative allies in the fight for quality health care this evening in Walkerville. In a mock boxing match, the people of Wisconsin continued to raise awareness for the need for first rate health care in Wisconsin.

More than 1,000 nurses will be joined by union and community allies in a rally outside the White House, Chamber of Commerce and Congress tomorrow to call for a new agenda to heal the nation.

Tom Trotter in the AFL-CIO Legislation Department sends the following. 

A group of House Republicans, led by Steven LaTourette (R-Ohio) and Frank LoBiondo (R-N.J.), yesterday joined every Democrat except Dan Boren of Oklahoma, in defeating attacks on Davis-Bacon (prevailing wage) and Project Labor Agreements (PLAs) on key appropriation bills moving through Congress. Both Davis-Bacon and PLAs are instrumental in making sure that federally funded projects create good jobs and are done by using skilled labor, are completed on time and on budget.

James Gilbert, director of the AFL-CIO Union Veterans Council, asks that we all remember the reason for the Memorial Day holiday.

Memorial Day, which falls on the last Monday of May, honors the men and women who died while serving in the American military. It is a day for Americans to offer tribute and honor to the heroes who laid down their lives to preserve freedom.

In a 40-57 vote, the U.S. Senate rejected the budget passed by House Republicans. The budget would have replaced Medicare’s guaranteed health care funding for seniors with underfunded vouchers for private insurance, forcing a typical 65-year-old to spend $6,359 more a year in out-of-pocket costs by 2022. It also would have made drastic cuts to services for children and working families to pay for tax cuts that mostly would benefit corporations and the wealthy.