what?

you would think (any SANE person would think) king george's administration could not possibly do any more harm or evil than they already have. after all they only have a few more months to go (unless he declares himself georgie amin dada, dictator for life, that is)

well you couldn't be MORE wrong if you thought that.

U.S. Rushes to Change Workplace Toxin Rules

By Carol D. Leonnig Washington Post Staff Writer
Political appointees at the Department of Labor are moving with unusual speed to push through in the final months of the Bush administration a rule making it tougher to regulate workers' on-the-job exposure to chemicals and toxins.
The agency did not disclose the proposal, as required, in public notices of regulatory plans that it filed in December and May. Instead, Labor Secretary Elaine L. Chao's intention to push for the rule first surfaced on July 7, when the White House Office of Management and Budget (OMB) posted on its Web site that it was reviewing the proposal, identified only by its nine-word title.
The text of the proposed rule has not been made public, but according to sources briefed on the change and to an early draft obtained by The Washington Post, it would call for reexamining the methods used to measure risks posed by workplace exposure to toxins. The change would address long-standing complaints from businesses that the government overestimates the risk posed by job exposure to chemicals. .......

elaine chao

i'd never heard of her (or if i had, i don't remember). none of this information surprises me in the least. the fact all of this went on and we did NOTHING about it doesn't surprise me either. what DOES surprise me is WHY? why have we let this go on? i don't understand any of it. if you click the link below you'll find out some of the things ms chao actually DID (or in some cases didn't) do
reprehensible
What's wrong with Elaine Chao?
by thsisnotanexit
Short answer: lots.
Elaine Chao is the Secretary of Labor, George W. Bush's longest-serving cabinet member, and wife of Senate Republican Leader Mitch McConnell.
Under Elaine’s 'leadership,' the Department of Labor has turned into an agency that screws America's workers and enables corporate giveaways.
That's why today workers' rights advocacy group American Rights at Work launches a new campaign against Elaine Chao at www.ShameOnElaine.org.
Let's take a look at some of her more egregious failures.
thsisnotanexit's diary :: ::
We compiled a lot of dirt that's piled up about Elaine Chao over the last seven years on a multitude of issues, from mine safety lapses to plain old corruption.
Unlike her cohorts in the Bush Administration, Elaine Chao has escaped much-needed public scrutiny of her time on the job. From littering the Labor Department with corporate insiders to dismantling worker safety protections and collaborating with her husband, Sen. Mitch McConnell, on a blatant anti-worker political agenda, Elaine has disgraced her role as Secretary of Labor.
Elaine Chao’s egregious policies include rollbacks of critical mine safety protections, hostility toward workers and their unions, and collaboration with corporate interests, most notably through her husband, Senator Mitch McConnell...........