The Senate Minority Leader and the Secretary of Labor are one of the most powerful political duos in Washington, yet little attention has been paid to the links between Elaine and her husband Mitch’s work. Mitch has a notorious record of working for big contributors and against America’s workers.

Fat Cat Favors: With Mitch, you apparently get what you pay for. Lobbyists and special interest groups always have a friend in Mitch who, along with his wife, returns the favor to powerful business supporters.

Gordon Hunter Bates, Mitch’s former staffer turned lobbyist, has repeatedly received earmarks and valuable goodies from Mitch for his clients. For example, Mitch secured nearly $45 million in federal funds benefiting four of Bates’ clients, the same folks who gave about $120,000 to Mitch in campaign contributions.
The Food Marketing Institute, an interest group representing grocery stores among other groups, rewarded Mitch with $13,000 in campaign contributions while he and Elaine tag-teamed on dismantling the Clinton-era ergonomics safety rules, replacing them with “voluntary guidelines.”
The mining industry has given $375,000 to Mitch’s Senate campaigns, including $200,000 from big coal since Elaine became Secretary of Labor. In fact, Mitch received $17,000 from a company whose executives were appointed by Elaine to serve in prominent posts at the Mine Safety and Health Administration.

Votes Against Workers: Mitch has voted against workers time and time again:

Voted against workers 89 percent of the time throughout the span of his career.
Voted against raising the minimum wage from $5.15 to $7.25 an hour.
Voted for cutting pay by as much as $11,440 per year for up to 1.1 million tipped workers, such as restaurant staff, in seven states.

http://shameonelaine.org/personal-affairs/