Amidst all the hullabaloo over the health care bill in the past week, President Obama quietly signed the Hiring Incentives to Restore Employment Act, otherwise known as the HIRE Act or the jobs bill. But is the bill, mostly a collection of temporary corporate tax breaks, really going to put people to work--or will it bypass those most in need, often communities of color and urban residents?

Melissa Harris-Lacewell, Nation columnist and Princeton professor, and Judith Browne-Dianis, executive director of The Advancement Project, join us to discuss jobs, race, and whether the White House has already missed some big opportunities.

Continuing the theme of jobs and work for those worst off, veteran journalist and professor Dick Reavis joined Laura in studio recently.  Reavis had done day labor in his younger days, but when his pension from teaching didn't cover costs, he went back to work, taking a reporter's skills and turning his experience into a book.

Catching Out: The Secret World of Day Laborers tells the story of Reavis's experiences in day labor halls doing all sorts of odd jobs, and looks at the people who often get stuck doing day labor--the bottom of the workforce, as he notes.

Last weekend, Rev. Jesse Jackson came to New York to speak at the Left Forum. While he was there, he took some time to chat with Laura about the health care bill--now the health care reform law--and the forces fighting against it.

The veteran of the civil rights movement told us "The way not to be marginalized is to be in the streets."