Raises for me, no job for thee!
The Obama regime is now presiding over the Second Great Depression. But, you would not know that by looking at the White House. Not only are Barack Obama and Michelle Obama taking vacation every other day, on the taxpayer’s dime, but while millions of Americans are out of work, those who are doing their best to wreck the American economy are getting raises!
The White House released its annual salary report last week, and as usual, it's nice to work for Barack Obama: Most staffers who were there for more than a year got a salary bump. A bigger one than you did.
The last time we checked in on White House salaries, we found that an astonishing 75% of continuing staffers got raises from 2009 to 2010—a huge number given the fact that, according to compensation experts, most companies had skipped routine raises that year in reaction to the economic crisis that the White House was busy failing to solve. This time around—from 2010 to 2011—the ratio is a little less dramatic. Of the 270 White House staffers who have been there for more than a year, 146—or 54%—received raises. The average salary increase was 8%. If you look at only staffers who got raises, the average increase was twice that.
That's a much bigger raise than the average white-collar worker got. According to a survey conducted last year by the human resources consulting firm Mercer, most firms were projecting a 3% increase in base pay for executives. White House workers did nearly three times as well. Overall, it should be noted, the White House's salary budget contracted slightly, from $38.8 million to $37.1 million, largely because the number of staffers fell. The average salary also dropped from $82,721, or 65% above the median household income, to $81,765—or 65% above the median household income.
If Barack Obama were the CEO of a company, the board of directors would sack him for such an incredibly poor performance. His staff would be fired too.
Unfortunately we cannot fire them until 2012.
But maybe we can make them feel the economic pain that we are all feeling. When Congress returns, they must finish the budget authorizations for the fiscal year that begins on October 1. The budget must be cut and the best place to start is the White House. Tell Congress let’s cut the White House budget by 50%. Does Michelle Obama really need the staff that she has? She is not an elected official. She has a staff of twenty, including a chief of staff who makes almost $200,000 a year.
How about grounding Air Force One, except for overseas trips? Obama will be using it as his campaign jet in the next few months. While the exact operating costs for Air Force One are classified, the estimates are around $300 million a year. If Obama wants a campaign jet, let his campaign lease one. He says he is going to raise $1 billion for his reelection campaign.
He can even have his own logo on the plane.
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