Yesterday we told you about Bush’s “roundtable discussion” with his economic team at the Department of Labor (at what appears to be a rectangular table).  We still don’t know what went on behind closed doors, and Elaine’s website only offers the above photo as evidence, with a link to Bush’s statement about the meeting.

That’s not a table at which I’d like to sit - round or rectangular.

Once again, America’s workers have been swept under the rug by President George W. Bush and Secretary of Labor Elaine Chao.

Speaking today at a closed-door event at the Department of Labor, President Bush discussed jobs and the economy. He neglected, however, to publicly discuss many of the key issues facing America’s workers, due in large part to the failures and negligence of the very Department where he was speaking.

Upon hearing the President’s remarks, American Rights at Work Executive Director Mary Beth Maxwell said:

President Bush and Secretary Chao consistently push America’s workers to the back of the room. Today’s remarks by President Bush following his meeting with economic advisers only further this trend - after a full briefing on FISA and a closed speech at the Department of Labor, Bush’s only public offering was empty rhetoric and false solutions to our country’s economic woes.

Neither Bush nor Chao made any public reference to the fact that every day workers in the country are denied fair wages and forced to work in hazardous environments. Dependent on the success of the middle class, our economy will continue to struggle if we allow Chao to continue to dissolve fundamental workers’ rights.

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Great episodes never go out of style, especially when they highlight Elaine’s willingness to be a mouthpiece for President Bush’s failed policies.

Back in 2003, Jon Stewart and The Daily Show saw that Chao’s rhetoric on jobs and growth was nothing but a political sham and election ploy. Elaine and two of Bush’s other cabinet secretaries toured the country, misleading the public on their success at keeping American jobs right here at home.

Here’s the clip:

This just in: the Department of Labor is doing a heckuva job. You may not know that the Bush administration, apparently worried about efficiency at federal agencies, has adopted a plan straight out of elementary school recess. As Stephen Barr explained in the Washington Post last week:

The Bush administration has called on 26 agencies to adopt plans to better manage their people, money, technology and programs, and to cut costs, either by becoming more efficient or outsourcing work….

To track progress toward Bush’s goals, the administration created a scorecard using traffic-light dots to signify each agency’s status — green for good, yellow for moderately acceptable and red for unsatisfactory…

Guess who got a perfect score? Yup. Elaine Chao’s Department of Labor.

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President Bush released his 2009 budget this week, clocking in at a whopping $3.1 trillion. The Campaign for America’s Future correctly notes that though Congress will ignore significant chunks of what Bush submitted, it’s important to give the budget a serious look. Bush’s budget betrays his administration’s out-of-whack priorities and is a “slap in the face” to workers, but it’s a useful tool to show what’s wrong with Bush’s vision of America.

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