God Bless Canada! The Canadian Free Press anyway. They are reporting on the staff hired to manage Michelle Obama's agenda and activities. If that last sentence doesn't automatically make you sit up and get you a little verclempt, let's remember that she holds no official government post, no elected position, and makes zero decisions what-so-ever. So you say, "Okay, she can have a secretary to handle her public appearances" and I might agree with that but that is not the case in the least. Below is a list of everyone that works for her directly and how much they make per year:
-$172,2000 - Sher, Susan (CHIEF OF STAFF)
-$140,000 - Frye, Jocelyn C. (DEPUTY ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT AND DIRECTOR OF POLICY AND PROJECTS FOR THE FIRST LADY)
-$113,000 - Rogers, Desiree G. (SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT AND WHITE HOUSE SOCIAL SECRETARY)
-$102,000 - Johnston, Camille Y. (SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT AND DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS FOR THE FIRST LADY)
-Winter, Melissa E. (SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT AND DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF TO THE FIRST LADY)
-$90,000 - Medina, David S. (DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF TO THE FIRST LADY)
-$84,000 - Lelyveld, Catherine M. (DIRECTOR AND PRESS SECRETARY TO THE FIRST LADY)
-$75,000 - Starkey, Frances M. (DIRECTOR OF SCHEDULING AND ADVANCE FOR THE FIRST LADY)
-$70,000 - Sanders, Trooper (DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF POLICY AND PROJECTS FOR THE FIRST LADY)
-$65,000 - Burnough, Erinn J. (DEPUTY DIRECTOR AND DEPUTY SOCIAL SECRETARY)
Reinstein, Joseph B. (DEPUTY DIRECTOR AND DEPUTY SOCIAL SECRETARY)
-$62,000 - Goodman, Jennifer R. (DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF SCHEDULING AND EVENTS COORDINATOR FOR THE FIRST LADY)
-$60,000 - Fitts, Alan O. (DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF ADVANCE AND TRIP DIRECTOR FOR THE FIRST LADY)
-Lewis, Dana M. (SPECIAL ASSISTANT AND PERSONAL AIDE TO THE FIRST LADY)
-$52,500 - Mustaphi, Semonti M. (ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR AND DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY TO THE FIRST LADY)
-$50,000 - Jarvis, Kristen E. (SPECIAL ASSISTANT FOR SCHEDULING AND TRAVELING AIDE TO THE FIRST LADY)
-$45,000 - Lechtenberg, Tyler A. (ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE FIRST LADY)
-Tubman, Samantha (DEPUTY ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR,SOCIAL OFFICE)
-$40,000 - Boswell, Joseph J. (EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT TO THE CHIEF OF STAFF TO THE FIRST LADY)
-$36,000 - Armbruster, Sally M. (STAFF ASSISTANT TO THE SOCIAL SECRETARY)
-Bookey, Natalie (STAFF ASSISTANT)
-Jackson, Deilia A. (DEPUTY ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE FIRST LADY)
I just did the math and that adds up to $831,500 and some of those people don't even have salaries attached! So let's call it around a cool million. What do all these people do? How many events can she POSSIBLY have? Why does she get ANY of these people working for her? She is not making any decisions or policy in the name of the United States so what is the point of all this? Give her a cell phone and a calendar and let her earn her own keep.
Flash back to the election, Palin got slammed for spending campaign funds on clothes for her and her husband. While I'm not a fan of Palin or her nutjob beliefs, I see her spending of this money as in better faith than paying the salaries of Michelle's entourage. At least Palin had a goal in mind, get her and McCain elected (after all, isn't that what campaign funds are for?) while Michelle is just passing the time she's in the White House (hopefully only 4 years or even less). I'm going to refrain from going into the whole "the media will crucify the conservative for the lesser evil while letting the liberal skate" tirade that I hear almost daily.
I'm going to be brutally honest here. I have a passionate hatred for Michelle. I hate her guts. She is about as un-American as you can get (where's Joesph McCarthy when you need him?). I hate that everyone likes her. I hate how she thinks she is a fashionista. And now I hate her for taking my taxes and hiring a staff of over-glorified secretaries.
But really, what can be done? What recourse is there? She doesn't hold an elected position so we can't vote her out of office. We could try tarring and feathering but that is so 200 years ago (there would be an ironic historical accuracy for her crime however). Here is the crux of the issue, there is no way for us citizens to have any real impact or give any meaningful feedback as to where our tax dollars are really going. The federal government has gotten so bloated that it is absolutely impossible to have any real oversight. Essentially the government is seen as a bottomless piggy bank and the spending skyrockets accordingly. But, guess what, the money comes from two places: our pockets and foreign investment and both sources are being maxed out.
The public is being fleeced, our pockets are being picked, we are being robbed blind......
No comments:
Post a Comment