I'll Say It Again: Fire Elaine Chao

Before I say another word here, a hat tip goes out to commenter Software for bringing this to my attention.

I don’t know if anyone else out there reads Parade Magazine which appears in many Sunday newspapers, but there is a section called “Intelligence Report” in Parade that I used to check on, though I’d given up over the last few weeks since I thought the column was discontinued.

Well, I was wrong. And in the issue from last Sunday, Labor Secretary Elaine Chao was quoted as follows…

You could lose your job to a foreign worker—not because he’s cheaper but because he has better workplace skills and discipline. That’s the message Labor Secretary Elaine Chao hears from U.S. executives who are worried about America’s competitive future. While losses are low thus far—one study estimates that only 280,000 jobs in the service industry out of 115 million are outsourced each year—that could change. Beyond the cheaper cost of labor, U.S. employers say that many workers abroad simply have a better attitude toward work. “American employees must be punctual, dress appropriately and have good personal hygiene,” says Chao. “They need anger-management and conflict-resolution skills, and they have to be able to accept direction. Too many young people bristle when a supervisor asks them to do something.”

It’s hard for me to properly state how truly repugnant these words are.

Let’s see – Chao and her Labor Department sanction agreements that allow employers to fire whistle-blowing employees (as noted here), including Matthew Zipoli of Lawrence Livermore Laboratories, which develops nukes (nice), and the Wonkette link from this post appropriately describes her “dragon lady” behavior.

Also, here’s a link that shows Chao (the wife of Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, in case anyone had forgotten, and I wonder who "wears the pants" in that relationship?) telling everyone how good Bushco’s record is on job creation (and amazingly, her nose doesn’t grow at all when she does so). And for more idiocy in a related vein, here’s a recent Steve Chapman column telling us how great the economy is (this nonsense appeared in the Inquirer – surprised? – and I love it when pundits write about the rest of us poor souls without even bothering to talk to us but instead are fed words from someone at places like AEI instead).

Update: Someone should tell these young men and women to just mind their business and read Chapman instead, because that way they wouldn't be making such a commotion over the fact that they don't have jobs (registration required, I think...and I'm being tongue-in-cheek here of course).

Not knowing how completely to respond to what Chao said aside from posting about it, I contacted Patrick Murphy to see if he would speak out in response to this vile behavior.

I suggest that you contact your elected representatives and ask them to do the same thing (this tells you how to reach your members of Congress).

Fire Elaine Chao right now!