We’ve highlighted Elaine’s efforts to undermine the Department of Labor’s role, and nothing exemplifies this more than her work ignoring the Employment and Training Administration’s (ETA) mission, which includes providing employment, high quality job training, labor market information, and income maintenance services primarily through state and local workforce development systems.

Elaine has thrown taxpayer dollars at programs that have nothing to do with ETA’s role of assisting workers with the job training and skills development needed in our modern economy. In fact, her whole perspective is flawed - Elaine derided the ETA she inherited as a “$10 billion social services agency,” which she’s since transformed into an “economic development driver.”  Basically, money is taken from workers, and given to businesses.
In the month of February alone, Elaine doled out:

• $250,000 to “develop strategic plans that move the regional economy from a declining base in timber to high growth industries” in Montana.
• $250,000 to “align economic development resources and establish structured economic strategies that create common goals for the 17-county region of northeast Minnesota and northwest Wisconsin.”
• $250,000 to “assist the Cedar Valley region in expanding its economic development efforts in the wake of long-term downsizing at Deere & Co.”

Do any of these have anything to do with ETA’s mission as stated above? We didn’t think so either. Perhaps Elaine with her corporate ties should have been nominated for Secretary of Commerce instead.

This entry was posted by Jon Steed on Monday, March 3rd, 2008 at 10:05 am to Department of Labor, Out-of-whack priorities.
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