We have lots of Elaine news from the last week, so kick back and check out what we have on our shady, shifty, shoddy Secretary of Labor.

Shady Appointees: Elaine lets appointee hide behind diplomatic immunity. Last month, Elaine met with the NAFTA council—the body that could waive diplomatic immunity for lobbyist and former official Mark Knouse. Knouse is the one whose numerous questionable expenses—nearly $10,000 in travel expenditures and about $1 million in shady contracts and vendor payments—forced him to resign. So did Elaine bring this to the NAFTA council? You guess.

Shoddy work: House votes to force Elaine to act. In April, we reported on a House hearing held because Elaine’s OSHA has failed to create comprehensive combustible dust regulations. Last week the House of Representatives got fed up, and voted to require OSHA to write safety standards for combustible dust in workplaces.

Federal regulators would have to come up with new ways to prevent combustible dust explosions in factories under legislation passed by the House… The bill now goes to the Senate, but the White House already has said President Bush would veto it. Despite worker deaths, Congressional votes, Elaine and her buddy President Bush still don’t seem to think combustible dust is a problem.

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The Wall Street Journal published an article yesterday summarizing the recent firestorm surrounding OSHA chief Edwin G. Foulke, former unionbuster and the do-nothing protector of your health and safety. The article also addressed some fast-flying rumors of Edwin’s potential premature departure from OSHA:

Mr. Foulke, appointed by President Bush and confirmed by the Senate, has headed OSHA, part of the Labor Department, since 2006. OSHA denied a recent report in a trade publication that Mr. Foulke plans to leave the agency before Mr. Bush leaves office. Mr. Foulke wasn’t available for comment.

The biggest criticism of OSHA under Mr. Foulke centers on the agency’s preference for seeking voluntary compliance from employers on safety goals rather than establishing new mandatory regulations. “OSHA’s No. 1 responsibility is to set rules and enforce them. OSHA has not lived up to this promise,” said Rep. George Miller, a California Democrat.

When asked about these serious charges, Elaine’s mouthpiece acted like a broken record, trotting out a tired defense and playing the victim:

“Election-year partisan attacks go with the territory,” said Labor Department spokesman David James. “Worker-fatality, injury and illness rates are at record lows under this administration’s leadership.”

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