July 14, 2009 9:18 PM
Queen Michelle Obama requires staff of 20 for star quality
From CanadaFreePress.com - which seems to be doing a better job of analyzing our out-of-control presidency than our own Formerly Free Press:
Recession, Depression, What Michelle Worry?
First Lady requires more than twenty attendants"In my own life, in my own small way, I have tried to give back to this country that has given me so much," she said. "See, that's why I left a job at a big law firm for a career in public service, " Michelle Obama
No, Michele Obama does not get paid to serve as the First Lady and she doesn't perform any official duties. But this hasn't deterred her from hiring an unprecedented number of staffers to cater to her every whim and to satisfy her every request in the midst of the Great Recession. Just think Mary Lincoln was taken to task for purchasing china for the White House during the Civil War. And Mamie Eisenhower had to shell out the salary for her personal secretary.
How things have changed! If you're one of the tens of millions of Americans facing certain destitution, earning less than subsistence wages stocking the shelves at Wal-Mart or serving up McDonald cheeseburgers, prepare to scream and then come to realize that the benefit package for these servants of Miz Michele are the same as members of the national security and defense departments and the bill for these assorted lackeys is paid by John Q. Public:
1. $172,2000 - Sher, Susan (CHIEF OF STAFF)
2. $140,000 - Frye, Jocelyn C. (DEPUTY ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT AND DIRECTOR OF POLICY AND PROJECTS FOR THE FIRST LADY)
3. $113,000 - Rogers, Desiree G. (SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT AND WHITE HOUSE SOCIAL SECRETARY)
4. $102,000 - Johnston, Camille Y. (SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT AND DIRECTOR OF COMMUNICATIONS FOR THE FIRST LADY)
5. Winter, Melissa E. (SPECIAL ASSISTANT TO THE PRESIDENT AND DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF TO THE FIRST LADY)
6. $90,000 - Medina, David S. (DEPUTY CHIEF OF STAFF TO THE FIRST LADY)
7. $84,000 - Lelyveld, Catherine M. (DIRECTOR AND PRESS SECRETARY TO THE FIRST LADY)
8. $75,000 - Starkey, Frances M. (DIRECTOR OF SCHEDULING AND ADVANCE FOR THE FIRST LADY)
9. $70,000 - Sanders, Trooper (DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF POLICY AND PROJECTS FOR THE FIRST LADY)
10. $65,000 - Burnough, Erinn J. (DEPUTY DIRECTOR AND DEPUTY SOCIAL SECRETARY)
11. Reinstein, Joseph B. (DEPUTY DIRECTOR AND DEPUTY SOCIAL SECRETARY)
12. $62,000 - Goodman, Jennifer R. (DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF SCHEDULING AND EVENTS COORDINATOR FOR THE FIRST LADY)
13. $60,000 - Fitts, Alan O. (DEPUTY DIRECTOR OF ADVANCE AND TRIP DIRECTOR FOR THE FIRST LADY)
14. Lewis, Dana M. (SPECIAL ASSISTANT AND PERSONAL AIDE TO THE FIRST LADY)
15. $52,500 - Mustaphi, Semonti M. (ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR AND DEPUTY PRESS SECRETARY TO THE FIRST LADY)
16. $50,000 - Jarvis, Kristen E. (SPECIAL ASSISTANT FOR SCHEDULING AND TRAVELING AIDE TO THE FIRST LADY)
17. $45,000 - Lechtenberg, Tyler A. (ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE FIRST LADY)
18. Tubman, Samantha (DEPUTY ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR,SOCIAL OFFICE)
19. $40,000 - Boswell, Joseph J. (EXECUTIVE ASSISTANT TO THE CHIEF OF STAFF TO THE FIRST LADY)
20. $36,000 - Armbruster, Sally M. (STAFF ASSISTANT TO THE SOCIAL SECRETARY)
21. Bookey, Natalie (STAFF ASSISTANT)
22. Jackson, Deilia A. (DEPUTY ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR OF CORRESPONDENCE FOR THE FIRST LADY)
And btw, whenever I run any critique of Michelle, I hear from her fans that the Bushes never had this kind of scrutiny and were guilty of the same thing.
Are you kidding me? Can you even imagine Bush gallivanting all over several continents, taking a flotilla of jets to accommodate Laura and her attendants? Refusing to disclose the cost of European vacations at taxpayer expense?
Here are the facts for those who want to compare - from the American Thinker: Queen-like staff support for First Lady:
Because of the increasing demands on presidents' wives in recent years, partially because of the obsessive celebrity culture, resulting in an expanded public role, I don't begrudge tax dollars for Michelle Obama's social secretary, a few chefs, maybe another employee or two or even listing some nice clothes as a legitimate business expense.But given President Barack Obama's (D) very public scolding to companies who received bailout money not to host lavish business conventions and such, the Congressional grilling of auto executives who flew to Washington on private planes instead of commercial or even using their own cars and similar public put downs, this lavish retinue of numerous (mostly) ladies in waiting reeks of a certain je ne sais quoi, let them eat cake mentality.
Perhaps Ms. Obama's staff should follow the example set by her husband's staff and blame--or in this instance, learn--everything on the situation she inherited. As Ralph Alter pointed out yesterday:
For purposes of comparison, please consult Dan Froomkin's 2004 White House Staff List-By Salary published in the Washington Post on June 13, 2004. Tallying Laura Bush's staff from the list provided by Froomkin totals $561,325 in annual salaries for the former First Lady's staff.
In other words, even accounting for inflation, Laura Bush's expenses were less than half of Ms. Obama's--and this was in those flush times derided by Obama fans. If Michelle Obama wants to be involved in more projects than those required by her husband's job, that is her personal choice. And it should be her personal expense.
And then she has the nerve to put down people engaged in earning a living - see next post.
Posted in Obama Nation | Permalink
Comments
If former President Bush, and his wife, Laura, were maintaining the same lifestyle on the taxpayer's dime as are the Obamas, does anyone think for one minute that the press would have given them a pass?
The Bushes "never had this kind of scrutiny?" Are these people in denial?
Cathy
Posted by: Cathy | July 14, 2009 10:12 PM
I can see that a "transformation" is due on the "old fashion" idea of a first lady...I won't be surprised to see it become a salaried position before the O's leave DC.
Another glaring example of the "double standard" that we are expected to accept.
Posted by: A Mac and a Mug O' Joe | July 15, 2009 8:40 AM
Bush was not under the same scrutiny? Are they SERIOUS?? Bush was criticized for flying a jet out to meet soldiers on the USS Abraham Lincoln because it was "too expensive" and he "could have gotten there in a helicopter."
So Bush is criticized for his "too expensive" means of transportation while visiting soldiers during a war in a flush economy, and Obama is defended for flying all over the world, going on expensive taxpayer-funded dates and vacations, and letting his wife have an extensive entourage during a recession, but WE'RE the ones being overly critical?
Posted by: Michelle Potter | July 15, 2009 2:11 PM
As I recall - Laura Bush went to Afghanistan to promote women's freedom and was a major advocate for releasing the political prisoner Aung San Suu Kyi. What political prisoners has Michelle advocated for? The double standard is retch worthy...
Posted by: Dody Jane | July 17, 2009 11:21 AM
When Bush went on vacation he spent it at Camp David.. Does anybody know why?
ANSWER: He spent it at Camp David because it is fully staffed at all times by the U.S Marines for security. By doing this his Secret Service staff was able to go on vacation with thier families.
Now that was thoughtful of him.
Obama and his Queen have traveled around the world and the U.S. more times in his first 5 months than Bush did in his eight years, and accomplished nothing except to apologize to the world for the previous administration. We are the savior of the world and do not have to apologize to anyone.
Posted by: Tony Pennetti | July 27, 2009 1:33 PM
We have a major shift in the way America thinks right now. The Liberal Left and their Black "Slaves" don't want to hear anything negative about their new "Messiah" or his family.
And Yes I said SLAVES. The Democrats have advocated slavery since before the Civil War and were instrumental in the formulation of laws that kept those of African descent under their thumbs. What do think welfare and the lotteries were instituted for?
Now that the (Socialist)Democratic Party has their token African American in the White House he's being allowed to run amok and spend like a drunken sailor on liberty. When the rest of America wakes up from their guilt induced coma, they will find that their fortunes are gone as well as their liberties.
Posted by: Grapeshot | July 29, 2009 12:48 PM
Grapeshot! Apologize to drunken sailors everywhere this instant! You should know that they spend their own cash that they've already earned, and don't stick someone else with the tab.
Posted by: Brother J | August 3, 2009 11:57 PM
You article is taken from a chain email that has been making the rounds. . . .
[Your opening statement is untrue. I have linked my source for this entry. It is not from a chain mail. Therefore, I am not publishing the rest of your comment.]
Posted by: JW B | August 24, 2009 8:01 AM
I guess JW B didn't read past the title.
Posted by: Sue from Buffalo | August 24, 2009 3:09 PM
