Livin' Large At 1600
Politics: What with a $14 trillion federal debt, it may not mean much that White House staffers who make six-figure salaries are also getting hefty raises. But it says a lot about what's wrong with the Obama administration.
Late last Friday, ahead of a three-day weekend when few would notice, the White House released its annual salary report for its 454-member staff.
The $37.1 million payroll revealed an average salary of $81,765 per person, with 141 — more than a third — making more than $100,000. Twenty-one got the maximum pay package of $172,000.
But it wasn't just the high salaries. Some 54% got raises averaging 16%, which pushed overall payroll costs up 8%. Sounds like the Obama administration thinks we're in the middle of an economic boom and the White House is Fat City.
That's bad enough, given the parlous state of the economy and cutbacks seen in the private sector. But the fact that the president, in his Twitter session with voters Thursday, also denied any salary increases — despite what the records showed — signals an administration untethered from reality.
In the larger scheme of things, we suppose, $37.1 million for a White House staff is pocket change. But with salaries like these, is it any wonder the president sees the federal deficit as a problem of taxes being excessively low instead of spending being unsustainably high?
Or that Obama thinks corporate jets and business trips to Las Vegas are the problem, rather than the spiraling costs of the government he runs?
He browbeats business for sitting on cash and not using it to hire, but he never makes the connection between government costs and the unwillingness of businesses to spend.
As for the White House, let the good times roll.
