Free Republic

ARLINGTON, Va. – President Bush's labor secretary warned a gathering of conservatives that Americans must pay more attention to the United Nations and its related organizations, which she noted were chipping away at U.S. sovereignty and threatening freedoms. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, making her charges late Thursday at the Conservative Political Action Conference, explained that powerful tax-exempt organizations were applying pressure through the U.N. to have the world body make decisions for Americans' lives without any input from U.S. citizens. These efforts are being made without the knowledge of most Americans, she pointed out. Chao cited a recent case where...

Chandler cites GOP's money edge SAYS HE MIGHT RUN TO SUCCEED FLETCHER IN THE U.S. HOUSE By Charles Wolfe ASSOCIATED PRESS FRANKFORT - Ben Chandler said yesterday that his campaign for governor was overwhelmed by Republican money and handicapped by the Democratic Party's lack of a compelling message. In addition, President Bush's visit to Kentucky generated a bigger turnout in Republican strongholds and Gov.-elect Ernie Fletcher "didn't make any serious mistakes," Chandler said. In an interview with The Associated Press, Chandler also held out the possibility of running to succeed Fletcher in the U.S. House but not for the U.S....

Friday, August 15, 2003 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- (08-15) 15:57 PDT KANNAPOLIS, N.C. (AP) -- U.S. Labor Secretary Elaine Chao offered $20.6 million in job training and health insurance assistance Friday to thousands of North Carolinians put out of a job by the bankruptcy of textile giant Pillowtex Corp. A grant of $13 million will be used for retraining, basic remedial education, job search help and other services. An additional $7.6 million will pay 65 percent of qualified health insurance premiums for workers, she said. Pillowtex, a sheet-and-towel maker, filed for bankruptcy July 30, shutting down its 16 plants and announcing the layoff...

Washington's three top economic policy-makers, appearing together at an unscripted "town hall" meeting with factory hands and suppliers, discovered a cross-section of Midwestern public opinion that plainly was more concerned about low-wage Chinese competition, record trade deficits and the loss of manufacturing jobs than about the benefits of tax reductions. The exchange of views in the packed cafeteria was nearly as contradictory as the cultural clash between buttoned-down Washington official and Milwaukee's factory-floor chic of tattoos and sleeveless black "American Pride" T-shirts. Treasury Secretary John Snow, Commerce Secretary Don Evans and Labor Secretary Elaine Chao used the visit as a...

Facing the tidal wave of unions' political power and their reluctance to be held more accountable to their members, the Department of Labor is fighting to implement the first major reform of labor union disclosure requirements in 40 years. The reform would require specific disclosures to the Department of Labor of expenses greater than $2,000 from unions with receipts over $200,000. These public forms, known as LM2 forms, would give union members insight into the spending of their compulsory dues. But the increased disclosure could cost unions millions of dollars and much of their sweeping political influence. Though this rule...

Labor Unions Fail "Enron Test": By David Keene The scandals at Enron and Global Crossing shook Washington as well as the markets and the investor community because, in each instance, corporate executives and their cohorts in the reporting and accounting world figured out how to either avoid reporting what they were up to or to hoodwink everybody by filing incomplete or misleading reports with regulators and those who follow their activities. The result was a demand for increased corporate transparency and, eventually, the passage of legislation requiring thorough and understandable disclosure. That meant that those most likely to be hurt...

FRANKFORT, Ky. - Just blocks north of the state Capitol Saturday, Republican Ernie Fletcher gathered with other GOP candidates under a tent at party headquarters to rally support for the fall election. Despite winds and cloudy skies that threatened rain, Republican Party officials paraded out their ticket of statewide candidates from Agriculture Commissioner candidate Richie Farmer up to Fletcher. Indeed, candidates, including Fletcher, made note of their close proximity to the Capitol complex and pointed to it when vowing victory in November. "You can feel the wind blowing, and if you've noticed it's changed...," Fletcher told reporters before the rally....