Free Republic

If you were president of the United States, would you hire an alleged former spy for Fidel Castro to be ambassador to El Salvador, a country teetering on the brink of hard-core socialism? President Obama just did. On Dec. 9, Obama nominated Mari Del Carmen Aponte to be ambassador to El Salvador, despite the fact that in the late 1990s, the FBI discovered that she was working with Cuban intelligence officers. According to Insight Magazine, "When the FBI eventually questioned her about her involvement with Cuban intelligence, she reportedly refused to cooperate." Why would Aponte escape the Obama administration's scrutiny?...

A mixture of surprise, anger and disappointment from City Council members Wednesday in the wake of a Chicago Sun-Times report stating longtime Ald. Danny Solis wore a wire to assist the federal investigation into Ald. Ed Burke. The story sent shock waves through Wednesday’s City Council meeting, at which Solis was noticeably absent. The 25th Ward alderman, who is not seeking re-election, is reported to have recorded more than a dozen conversations with Burke over the last two years. Like Burke, Solis has been a powerful, longtime alderman. He is the former head of the Hispanic Democratic organization and longtime...

The Big Apple is about to get a big ol’ “Hey, y’all” from cop-loving Texas kid Savannah Solis. The bright-eyed 10-year-old from Tyler, Tex. — who warmed cops’ hearts by mailing the NYPD 200 handmade thank you cards during one of the darkest periods in the department’s history — is flying into New York on Monday to be honored by the cops she touched with her missives, the Daily News has learned.

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...

A White House spokesman said Wednesday that there is an "ongoing law enforcement investigation" related to a recording released earlier in the day by a Republican congressman who alleged it showed improper fundraising activity by former U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis -- now a Los Angeles County supervisor-elect. The comment by White House Press Secretary Josh Earnest at a press briefing was the first public confirmation by the administration of the existence of such an investigation. Earnest noted that the investigation had been reported on in January. The Times first reported the federal investigation into Solis´ activities at that time,

Allegations that former U.S. Labor Secretary Hilda Solis, currently a candidate for Los Angeles County supervisor, solicited subordinates to help raise money for President Barack Obama's reelection campaign triggered a criminal investigation of her fundraising efforts, according to interviews and a federal document related to the case. The complaint alleged that in March 2012, Solis "left a voicemail message on a subordinate employee's government-issued Blackberry in which you asked the employee to contribute toward and assist with organizing others to attend a fundraiser for the President's reelection campaign."

The United States has signed an agreement with Mexico’s government vowing to prevent workplace discrimination against illegal immigrants while educating them about their civil rights and minimum wage laws. It’s a nifty little contract signed this month by the federal agency that enforces the nation’s workplace discrimination laws, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC). In a press release the EEOC calls it a “historic outreach agreement” that will solidify the agency’s “continued and longstanding commitment to this underserved community.” Under the deal, American taxpayers will provide Spanish-language materials explaining the laws enforced by the EEOC and the agency will partner...

Hilda Solis, the outgoing Secretary of Labor made some surprising comments in an interview with Fox News Latino: In a wide-ranging, exclusive interview with Fox News Latino on Wednesday, Solis, the first Hispanic Labor Secretary in U.S. history, made it clear that despite her resignation, politics still flow through her blood. When asked whether she would consider running for the mayor of Los Angeles or governor of California, she proudly pandered to illegal aliens: ”I will absolutely make myself available,” said Solis, a four term congresswoman representing districts in the heavily Hispanic East LA area. “Many of the hardworking people...

Labor Secretary Hilda Solis announced Wednesday that she is resigning from the Obama administration. “[A]fter much discussion with family and close friends, I have decided to begin a new future,” Solis told her staff in an email. Following news of her departure, the president released the following statement: Over her long career in public service – as an advocate for environmental justice in California, state legislator, member of Congress and Secretary of Labor – Hilda Solis has been a tireless champion for working families. Over the last four years, Secretary Solis has been a critical member of my economic team...

The survey of households uncovered an additional 873,000 jobs last month, 187,000 of which were government workers. Likely, this was a BAD sample where they happened to call more people who had a job than didn't. It should have been thrown out, of course, and a revised sample done. [This reminds me of the miraculous appearance of boxes of ballots during a close election]. Here is a chart of the household survey and the ADP survey of businesses (Non farm payrolls). Hmm. The household survey is definitely noisier than the NFP survey. But the spike in the household survey of...

Suspicion about the federal government's September jobs report has fallen on Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis, who appeared on CNBC this morning and defended the numbers from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), claiming--falsely--that upward revisions of 86,000 jobs were from the private sector. In fact, the new number is entirely accounted for by upwards revisions to state and federal government payrolls. The BLS reported that while only 114,000 jobs were created in September--which would have translated into a rise in unemployment from 8.1% to 8.2%--the unemployment rate fell dramatically to 7.8%. That unusual drop is the fastest in nearly...

I need a quick list of all the Communist and Marxist ties in the Obama administration for use at a meeting tonight. Something beyond his mentor, Frank Marshall Davis, and appointee Van Jones. I know this topic is rich, and I hope other FReepers can help me tie it altogether in one neat package. Thanks in advance.

Utah Republican Sen. Orrin Hatch has called for an investigation to determine if President Barack Obama’s Secretary of Labor, Hilda Solis, broke the law with posters she’s placed around the Labor Department headquarters. A few weeks ago, The Daily Caller first reported that Solis had placed posters in elevators throughout the Washington, D.C., Labor Department headquarters. Those posters featured a photo of Solis marching in protest alongside the Rev. Jesse Jackson and MSNBC television host Rev. Al Sharpton, among others. She was acting as an emissary of the Obama administration protesting against Alabama’s strict new law combating illegal immigration. Solis...

"Does DOL believe that the new policy is consistent with the First Amendment? What precedents exist for forcing journalists to utilize government-owned systems and networks to report the news," Sen. Roy Blunt, R-MO, asked Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis in a letter today.

In today's episode of "My Government Scares The Crap Out Of Me", let's take a look at the Department of Labor's "environmental justice" program. First, before we get started, I thought it would be really, really swell to hear from an expert on "environmental justice". So, without further ado, I bring you Chairman Obama's former "Green Jobs Czar" Van Jones. Take it away, Vannie! *********************************** "Mother Jones: Can you briefly explain what 'environmental justice' means to you? Van Jones: Environmental justice is the movement to ensure that no community suffers disproportionate environmental burdens or goes without enjoying fair environmental benefits."...

“If the federal government can regulate the relationshipbetween parents and their children on their own family’sfarm there is virtually nothing off limits” - Senator Jerry Moran Just when I thought Obama's big government couldn't get more intrusive we have this: (h/t Gateway Pundit and Allen Wall) The U.S. Department of Labor is proposing revisions to child labor regulations that will strengthen the safety requirements for young workers employed in agriculture and related fields. The agricultural hazardous occupations orders under the Fair Labor Standards Act that bar young workers from certain tasks have not been updated since they were promulgated in...

Old MacDonald had a farm. Until the Marxists stepped in, that is. With the American dream of the Constitutional Republic fast fading from view, the family farm is next on the Obama regime’s ever expanding hit list. ...The agenda to wipe out the family farm is being set by a deadly duo, George Soros, who is buying up farmland like some folks buy Black Friday goodies, and the Communist-cheered Secretary of Labor Hilda L. Solis. We the People can count on food being the new frontier for takeover by control seeking Marxists frontier for takeover by control seeking Marxists installed...

Lenin argued that communism is so obviously virtuous that any worker who resists it must be a victim of “false consciousness.” He cannot think straight because his oppressors have muddled his brain.Hilda Solis, Obama’s secretary of unions – oops, labor – thinks a bit like Lenin. She thinks labor unions are so obviously virtuous that any worker who votes against unionization does so only because evil labor relations consultants have conspired with the worker’s malevolent employer to muddle the worker’s brain.Public comments on Solis’s proposed rule to impede labor relations consultants who advise employers on how legally to avoid unionization...

Rep. Connie Mack questions Secretary Hilda Solis about how she classifies a green job. She is caught in a squeeze trying to lie her way out of false reporting by categorizing a bus driver job as "green" if they drive a hybrid bus. Finally, he hits her with a truthful statement about administration deceit.

U.S. Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis admitted Thursday morning during a congressional hearing that she and the Obama administration believe driving a bus that happens to run on “clean energy” should count as a “green job.” Florida Republican Rep. Connie Mack, questioning Solis during a House oversight committee hearing about why she and the Obama administration consider a man driving a “clean energy” bus to have a “green job,” pushed her on the absurdity of her argument. “Driving a bus is driving a bus, right?” Mack asked her. “I mean, you turn the wheel, you push the gas, you use...