Free Republic

An economist at the U.S. Department of Labor quickly put her gears in reverse after sending out a tweet comparing Christians to Nazis. Elizabeth Ashack deleted her tweet that read “people in the red states vote for nazis to govern, and then call themselves Christian, it will not end well for them. #BoycottIndiana,” but not before screenshots were taken by several astute Twitter users. Ashack, an employee of the department since 1998, according to the Daily Caller, also removed “Economist at US Department of Labor BLS” from her Twitter profile after people began calling her out for the remark. That...

The Department of Labor coordinated with the White House on whether or not to release hidden portions of former Labor Secretary Hilda Solis’ schedule as Solis battled an FBI investigation into her illegal fundraising for President Obama. New emails provided to The Daily Caller from the nonprofit legal research firm Cause of Action show the White House thanking the Department of Labor for “flagging” a public information request for “withheld” portions of Solis’ schedule. (SEE THE EMAIL CHAIN). The White House then asked for the name of the conservative group making the request — information that Labor officials were eager...

On September 18, the Obama Labor Department announced that married same-sex couples must receive the same pensions, 401(k)s, health plans, and employee benefits as heterosexual married couples, regardless of whether they live in one of the 37 states where same-sex marriage is illegal. "This decision represents a historic step forward toward equality for all American families," said Labor Secretary Thomas Perez. "I have directed the department's agency heads to ensure that they are implementing the decision in a way that provides maximum protection for workers and their families." The Labor Department said its interpretation "provides a uniform rule of recognition...

Some of President Obama's political appointees, including the Cabinet secretary for the Health and Human Services Department, are using secret government email accounts they say are necessary to prevent their inboxes from being overwhelmed with unwanted messages, according to a review by The Associated Press. The scope of using the secret accounts across government remains a mystery: Most U.S. agencies have failed to turn over lists of political appointees' email addresses, which the AP sought under the Freedom of Information Act more than three months ago. The Labor Department initially asked the AP to pay more than $1 million for...

WASHINGTON (AP) — The number of Americans seeking unemployment aid rose to a four-month high last week, although the increase partly reflects seasonal distortions around the spring holidays. The Labor Department says weekly applications increased 28,000 to a seasonally adjusted 385,000. That is the highest level since late November. The four-week average, a less volatile measure, rose to 354,250.

President Obama nominated Justice Department official Thomas Perez for Labor secretary Monday -- but the candidate could be haunted by a newly released report that found he gave incomplete testimony on the controversial decision to drop charges against members of the New Black Panther Party. Perez, an assistant attorney general in charge of the Justice Department´s Civil Rights Division, would replace Hilda Solis at Labor if confirmed. Obama, touting Perez´ personal story as the son of immigrants who became the first lawyer in his family, urged the Senate to act quickly on the nomination.

Today, President Obama issues a challenge to Republican Senators: in nominating Tom Perez as Labor secretary, he implies that Senate Republicans don’t have either the guts or organizational skill to stop what would become perhaps the most radical left-wing cabinet member in history. Whether the president is right about GOP senators remains to be seen. As they say, I wrote the book on Tom Perez. My New York Times bestseller Injustice: Exposing the Racial Agenda of the Obama Justice Department is largely a catalog of the rancid racialism over which Perez has presided. The New Black Panther case is one...

America’s rich are not interested in seeing their taxes go down, United States Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis claimed before a large crowd of college students in Washington DC late last month. “The Republicans in the Senate blocked a vote so we can tax the higher income people, who really don’t even want a tax break,” Solis said, speaking at the annual Campus Progress conference. Solis was referring to a piece of legislation Democrats have repeatedly brought up in the Senate this year that would ensure that income earned through capital gains would be taxed at least 30 percent. So...

"We can Help... Sec. of Labor, Hilda Solis: "Every worker in America has the right to be paid fairly, whether documented or not." 1-866-487-9243

The Obama administration is considering a proposal that would heavily favor government contractors that implement policies designed by organized labor. The “High Road Contracting Policy” would give preference to companies that adopt practices above and beyond existing labor laws. Multiple sources have confirmed the discussions, which are part of the White House’s attempt to spur economic growth through procurement reform and are driven by the Center for American Progress and the Service Employees International Union. The proposal would advantage contractors that provide hourly workers with a “living wage”, health insurance, an employer-funded retirement plan and paid sick days. Contracting officers...

Hey Obama constituencies! How’s that “HOPE” and “CHANGE” working for ya? Labor: Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 12-4-2009: National unemployment has risen from 7.6% in January 2009 to 10% in November 2009. Among the major worker groups, unemployment rates for adult men (10.5 per-cent), adult women (7.9 percent), teenagers (26.7 percent), whites (9.3 per-cent), blacks (15.6 percent), and Hispanics (12.7 percent) showed little change in November. The unemployment rate for Asians was 7.3 percent. African Americans: Based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Money.CNN.com reports:

Thursday, the Obama Administration announced that it will rescind rules requiring the disclosure of financial information for Big Labor slush funds and front groups.  And, the Obama Administration is giving you only 11 (eleven) days to comment! At least they are consistent!  Just as they did for union conflict-of-interest disclosure reporting that SEIU’s Andy Stern may be ignoring and just as it rescinded union-boss perk disclosures, the Obama Administration continues to rollback union financial disclosures. It is not surprising that Obama’s Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis would rescind these financial disclosure rules since she is the former treasurer of the...

WASHINGTON – The Obama administration is considering steps to ease the burdens of laid-off workers, including possible extensions of unemployment and health benefits, officials said Saturday. The administration has stopped short of calling for a second economic stimulus package to augment the $787 billion measure approved this year. But with the jobless rate continuing to climb, President Barack Obama said Saturday he is exploring "additional options to promote job creation."

As the job news grows ever darker -- according to the Labor Department unemployment has now hit a 26-year high of 9.7% -- a ray of light is shining from one unexpected quarter: the federal government. A golden age of work for the government is just now dawning, according to a report released last week by the nonprofit Partnership for Public Service, a group in Washington that promotes government employment. There are several reasons: cyclical turnover; fresh demand in areas such as homeland security and veterans affairs, driven by the post-9/11 terrorist threat and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; and...

Are you a union member trying to find out information of the criminal actions and shady financial dealings of your union? Well don’t expect Obama and his toady in the Labor Secretary’s office, Hilda Solis, to help you uncover any illegalities perpetrated by your union bosses. Solis’ department has just announced that it is suspending the stringent reporting requirements that labor unions must by law satisfy to assure that their financial dealings are legal and above-board. That’s right, unions have just been given a free pass for criminal actions by this president. This is proof that political donations are the...

Federal wage floor will rise to $7.25 an hour on July 24. Hike will be felt in 29 states. Can the job market handle it? The federal minimum wage is set to increase later this month as the job market shows signs of further decay. The federal minimum wage will go to $7.25 an hour on July 24 from its current level of $6.55, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. The impact will be felt in 29 states, and many of them plan to match the federal minimum when it goes through. Seven states already have laws mandating $7.25...

The federal minimum wage is set to increase later this month as the job market shows signs of further decay. The federal minimum wage will go to $7.25 an hour on July 24 from its current level of $6.55, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. The impact will be felt in 29 states, and many of them plan to match the federal minimum when it goes through.

Hilda L. Solis often recalls some advice her high school guidance counselor gave her mother: “Your daughter is not college material. Maybe she should follow the career of her older sister and become a secretary.” Telling that story recently at the Hunter College commencement in Manhattan, Ms. Solis roared into the microphone that she, the daughter of immigrants, did become a secretary — the nation’s labor secretary. The crowd thundered with applause. ... Like President Obama and Judge Sonia Sotomayor, whose confirmation to the Supreme Court would make her the first Hispanic justice, Ms. Solis, 51, pulled herself up through...

President Barack Obama is creating a White House council to handle issues that affect American communities and workers tied to the automotive industry. The White House says Obama will sign an executive order Tuesday to establish the White House Council on Automotive Communities and Workers. The council will be chaired by the president's economic adviser, Larry Summers, and his labor secretary, Hilda Solis.

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The number of mass layoffs by U.S. employers rose last month to tie a record set in March, according to government data released on Tuesday that suggested the labor market has yet to stabilize. The Labor Department said the number of mass layoff actions -- defined as job cuts involving at least 50 people from a single employer -- increased to 2,933 in May from 2,712 in April, resulting in the loss of 312,880 jobs. It was the largest loss of jobs connected to mass layoffs on records dating to 1995. The economy has lost six million...