After tens of millions of dollars spent by outside interest groups, dozens of attack ads and exhaustive get-out-the-vote efforts, Democrats on Tuesday fell short of their goal of taking control of the state Senate and stopping the agenda of Gov. Scott Walker.

Republicans won four of six recall races, meaning the party still holds a narrow 17-16 majority in the Senate — at least until next week, when Sens. Robert Wirch, D-Pleasant Prairie, and Jim Holperin, D-Conover face their own recall elections. A third Democrat, Sen. Dave Hansen, D-Green Bay, easily survived a recall attempt last month.

Sens. Robert Cowles, R-Green Bay, Sheila Harsdorf, R-River Falls, Luther Olsen, R-Ripon, and Alberta Darling, R-River Hills, successfully defended their seats Tuesday.

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid told National Public Radio listeners Tuesday that the recent Federal Aviation Administration shutdown can be blamed on Delta Airlines’ opposition to new labor union rules.

Reid mistakenly said on NPR that Delta won’t give in to new rules that the National Labor Relations Board passed under the Obama administration. Those new rules make it easier for labor unions to organize workers.

Actually, the labor board that oversees airline workers’ unionization is the National Mediation Board. Reid’s error is leading some Big Labor critics to question his ability to fully understand union politics and policy.

Where did all the workers go?

The labor force — those who have a job or are looking for one — is getting smaller, even though the economy is growing and steadily adding jobs. That trend defies the rules of a normal economic recovery.

Nobody is sure why it's happening. Economists think some of the missing workers have retired, have entered college or are getting by on government disability checks. Others have probably just given up looking for work.

"A small work force means millions of discouraged workers, lower output in the future and a weak recovery," says Rep. Kevin Brady of Texas, the ranking Republican on the Congress' Joint Economic Committee. "Those are unhealthy signs."

By the government's definition, if you quit looking, you're no longer counted as unemployed. And you're no longer part of the labor force.

Since November, the number of Americans counted as employed has grown by 765,000, to just shy of 139 million.

Slapping a coat of paint on the pedestal of a bust of Vladimir Lenin in a provincial Russian town may not be much of a job, says a man whose first name is Kuram. It beats making the equivalent of $ 16 a month back home in Uzbekistan, he adds. “If things

Those who favor continuing to allow illegal aliens to flood into the U.S. regularly tout our supposed need for “cheap labor” as the primary justification for ignoring our immigration laws. Unfortunately, for U.S. taxpayers this “cheap labor” is pr

This sprawling US Army base located at the edge of El Paso and skirting the border with Mexico is undergoing a major expansion that heavily relies on Mexicans for its construction. Amid growing controversy in the United States over immigration — legal a

Faith-based leaders plan to push ahead with plans to build a day labor center in northwest Houston, despite a strong showing by opponents of illegal immigration at a town hall meeting Tuesday night.