Congress and the media paid homage to the agenda of the billionaires and Wall Street, with the manufactured “fiscal cliff” PR campaign frenzy that just ended. So now can we get back to the country’s priorities? Can we talk about jobs now?

Nearly 2 million long-term jobless Americans will lose their unemployment insurance lifeline just days after Christmas if Congress doesn’t act to renew the federal unemployment insurance program for job seekers out of work six months or longer. The program expires at the end of the year. Christine Owens, executive director of the National Employment Law Project (NELP), says if long-term jobless aid ends,

The basic economic security floor will be ripped from under two million unemployed workers.

The nation’s jobless rate dropped to 7.7% in November—down from October’s 7.9% and the lowest level since December 2008—as the economy added 146,000 new jobs last month, according to figures released this morning by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The 146,000 jobs created reflect 33 straight months of positive job growth.

Unlike other major cities where local construction workers share the benefits of a building boom and make up a large portion of the construction workforce, residents of the District of Columbia are grossly underrepresented on area construction sites where suburban residents hold a disproportionate share of the jobs, according to a new report.

Some 450 office clerical workers—members of the International Longshore and Warehouse Union (ILWU) Local 63—are back on the job this morning in the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, Calif., after the ILWU and port employers reached a tentative agreement Tuesday night that will prevent the outsourcing of jobs.

A new report by Josh Bivens and Andrew Fieldhouse of the Economic Policy Institute (EPI) and The Century Foundation (TCF) shows how ending Bush tax cuts for the richest Americans could lead to 2 million more jobs in 2013 and 1.4 million more jobs in 2014.

The EPI report explains what economists already know about tax cuts for the wealthy—they are extremely ineffective in creating jobs.

EPI shows how we could end these wasteful tax cuts for the wealthy, use half of the savings to reduce the deficit and use the other half to create jobs in much more effective ways.

The economy added 171,000 new jobs in October—the 32nd straight month of positive job growth—according to figures released this morning by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). The nation’s unemployment rate was essentially unchanged at 7.9%, up slightly from September’s 7.8%. The labor force grew by more than half a million workers in October, which is a positive sign, as more workers are seeking and finding jobs. The number of discouraged and involuntary part-time workers has fallen since last year.  

The newly created jobs exceeded most economists’ predictions of 100,000 to 125,000 new jobs for the month. Also, September payrolls were revised to a gain of 148,000 from an initially reported 114,000, and August to 192,000 from 142,000.

In Monday night’s presidential debate, when Mitt Romney boldly proclaimed that the U.S. Navy has fewer ships today than it did in 1916, President Obama reminded him that the Navy’s 21st century mission is far different and the fleet’s capabilities are far greater.

But with the election in two weeks, Republicans twisted President Obama’s barbed response to Romney as a grievous insult to the Navy and a threat to the men and women who are continuing to build the world’s most modern naval warfare force ever. 

Mitt Romney won’t come to “Bainport” and meet with the workers whose jobs are being shipped overseas by Sensata Technologies. Sensata is owned by outsourcing pioneer Bain Capital, where Romney was a founder and former CEO.

But Tuesday, Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) visited the tent city set up across the street from the Freeport, Ill., Sensata plant that will shut down as soon as the rest of the equipment follows the 170 middle-class jobs on the way to China—where Sensata workers earn about 99 cents an hour.

This new video from the United Steelworkers (USW) exposes how Mitt Romney and Bain Capital are profiting by selling out America's workers and shipping U.S. jobs to China.

In 2010, the Bain Capital-controlled Sensata Technologies bought Honeywell’s automotive onboard sensor business, including a Freeport, Ill., plant, where 170 workers were making a middle-class living. Says Tom Gaulrapp:

They came in and introduced the transition team, and the next bullet in the meeting was, “By the way, by the end of 2012 all the jobs in this plant will be moved to China.”