Karen Czarnecki

Karen M. Czarnecki served as a deputy assistant secretary at the United States Department of Labor. Czarnecki was a senior advisor and czar of workforce preparedness to U.S. Secretary of Labor Elaine L. Chao. She is also paid to be a commentator on the PBS show "To the Contrary" as well as appearances on Fox News.

Career

Ms. Czarnecki carries out the vision put forward by President Bush and Secretary Chao of a prepared workforce to meet the needs of both workers and their employers

— U.S. Labor Department website

• June 2001, joins Labor Department
• June 2003, appointed Director of the Office of the 21st Century Workforce
• additionally serves as Deputy Assistant Secretary of Labor for Intergovernmental Affairs, responsible for outreach to state and locally-elected officials
• June 2008, begins teaching Public Policy Internship Seminar at The Fund for American Studies at Georgetown University.

Controversy

In the summer of 2006, there was controversy about Czarnecki's television appearances: instead of being identified as a Bush administration official, she is described as a “conservative analyst.” On Fox News, Czarnecki has been described as a “conservative strategist.” The Washington Post reports her television role has been cleared by career ethics staff at the Labor Department.^[1][2][3] However, PBS Ombudsman Michael Getler was critical of the failure to inform viewers of her government position ^[4] and noted a number of occasions where Czarnecki appeared to speak on behalf of the Administration rather than as a private individual.^[5]

External links

• Appearances on PBS
• Karen M. Czarnecki bio at U.S. Department of Labor
• Karen Czarnecki bio at The Progressive Government
• "George H. W. Bush: Administration of the Government, Office of the Vice President," Domestic Policy: Karen Czarnecki (1989–1991), AmericanPresident.org.
• Michael Szporer, "The Polish-American Agenda" Polish News, 2004: "As the nation’s sixth largest ethnic group, Polish Americans are seriously underrepresented in political appointments. 'In the current Bush administration, I can count federal appointments on the fingers of my one hand, Ian Brzezinski at the Pentagon, Karen Czarnecki at Labor and Suzanne Lotarski at Commerce, and she is a career appointment, and has been downgraded a year ago'..."
• "Admin Told PBS: Stay Mum on Pundit's Post"

References

1. ↑ Think Progress » Labor Department Official Poses As ‘Conservative Analyst’ On Fox News, PBS
2. ↑ The Raw Story: Bush appointee splits time between Labor Department, TV punditry
3. ↑ "Conflict of Interest or Legitimate Punditry? You Decide"
4. ↑ 'Conservative Commentator' Unmasked, Anonymously
5. ↑ Ombudsman's Mailbag — Contrary Views