With a record federal deficit and an incredibly tight budget for 2005-2006, President Bush is proposing to give the Labor Department more money in the new federal budget.

And he wants the additional funds not to go toward worker safety programs or more job inspectors - but for greater oversight of union operations.

The Bush Administration has proposed increasing the Department of Labor's budget by 7 percent; up from $50.7 billion in FY 2005 to $54.5 billion in FY 2006.

One of the main goals for the budgetary increase, said Labor Secretary Elaine Chao, is to create "stronger transparency and compliance" over how union dues are spent. Bush is proposing an increase of 17 percent in the DOL's Office of Labor Management Standards, which oversees union accountability.

Chao told the Construction Labor Report that the Department of Labor's oversight role is now comparable to that of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) over corporations.

So… what kind of budget is President Bush recommending for the SEC, in an era of widespread charges of corporate malfeasance, little or no oversight by boards of directors and obscene salaries by executive officers?
According to Bloomberg News, the Securities and Exchange Commission - the nation's top financial market regulator - stands to get 2.7 percent less to spend in the next fiscal year under Bush's budget.

"It was unwise for the Bush administration to cut, through the budget, the funds available to the Securities and Exchange Commission at this critical juncture in their efforts to restore investor confidence in our financial markets," said Sen. Paul Sarbanes (D-Md.) in a statement.