Another Fox News Contributor Isn't Disclosed As A Member Of Romney's Campaign

UPDATE: Mediaite reported in an article following the publication of this post that Fox says Chao is no longer a Fox News contributor. Mediaite wrote: “We reached out to Fox and they replied that Chao is, in fact, not a Fox News contributor.” Fox identified Chao as a Fox News contributor as recently as September 6 during an appearance on Fox Business.

Fox News contributor Elaine Chao has recently appeared on Fox Business to criticize Obama over the economy and push the falsehood that he stripped the work requirement from welfare. During these appearances, Fox didn't disclose that Chao is a national chair of Mitt Romney's presidential campaign. Fox News has made it a regular practice to not disclose some of its frequent guests' ties to the Romney campaign.

In an August 2 press release announcing her appointment, Chao stated that she is “honored that Governor Mitt Romney asked me to serve as the national chair of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders for Romney” and that “it will take new leadership to put this country on a path to prosperity and full employment.”

News Corp., the parent company of Fox News, recently nominated Chao to join its Board of Directors. Chao is married to Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-KY).

Fox News contributors John Bolton and Walid Phares, and Fox regular Jay Sekulow, have all appeared on the network to criticize Obama without disclosing they're Romney advisers. Fox News contributor Pete Snyder is the chairman of the Republican Party of Virginia's 2012 coordinated committee. And Fox News contributor Karl Rove is the co-founder and adviser for the super PAC American Crossroads, which is spending tens of millions of dollars to defeat Democrats. 

Chao appeared on Fox Business' Markets Now today, where she said that the economy hasn't recovered from 2008 and 2009 because “of the anti-employer, anti-business policies enacted by the senate and also the administration.” Host Cheryl Casone introduced her as a “former labor secretary and Fox News contributor” but did not identify her role with the Romney campaign.

Chao also appeared on the August 29 edition of Fox Business' Lou Dobbs Tonight, where she pushed the falsehood that President Obama removed the work requirement from welfare. From the segment, via Nexis:

DOBBS: Elaine, first, your reaction to just stripping out the work requirement from welfare reform.

ELAINE CHAO, FORMER SECRETARY OF LABOR: I think it's stunning. It's a stunning abuse of executive powers and the disregard for our three branches of government. The intent of the welfare reform law that was passed in 1996 was quite clear and the work component was a very important part of it. It was good for the recipients, soon to be ex-recipients, because basically all of our research at the Department of Labor, we knew that if work was the major component and all of the assistance programs revolved around the work focus, that people had a much better chance of getting off of the rolls, starting new lives and getting better jobs.

DOBBS: This president is being criticized for creating dependency across this nation and this just plays into the hands of his critics because it gives every appearance that he is putting dependency above respect for work and opportunity for those who seek work.

CHAO: It really kind of perpetuates a cycle of poverty because if children are growing up in a home where they don't see a mother or father go to work every morning on time and where they understand what work is all about, this sets these young people up for failure when they are of age and cannot enter the workforce because they've never seen them role model before.

Chao went on to claim that Obama “inherited a bad economy, but he made it worse with bad policies, with anti-business policies that do not encourage job creation.”

Chao's role with the Romney campaign was not identified by host Lou Dobbs, who referred to her as “the former Secretary of Labor under President George W. Bush, now a distinguished a fellow at the Heritage Foundation, Fox News contributor.”