Political Realities
^ | 03/07/13 | LD
Jackson
Today's story has to be at least on the borderline of pettiness. The White House announced Tuesday that it would be canceling all tours after this coming Saturday. This announcement came because of the sequester spending cuts that began to take effect on March 1. A lot of people visit the White House every year, so I have no doubt it is being done to shape public opinion. President Obama and his administration is doing their best to let the spending cuts do damage where they will do the most good. That's plain to see for anyone who is paying attention.
What a lot of people probably do not know is how much money the people who direct, coordinate, and oversee White House operations are paid. This includes the director of the White House Visitors Office, Ellie S. Schafer. Not only do they make a lot of money, they also get pay raises. Let's look at the details.
If you look at the background of Ellie S. Schafer, it becomes clear she is in her current position because she was with the advance team of the first Obama for President campaign. I don't necessarily have a problem with that and I am relatively sure that this is standard operating procedure for most, if not all Presidents in modern times. Where I move from passing speculation to open criticism is when we see these people being paid six-figure salaries, when much of the rest of America is hurting from lower wages, higher prices, and higher taxes. And all the while, President Obama is going around the country, campaigning against the sequester that has supposedly caused visitor tours of the White House to be shut down, indefinitely. Not only is that hypocritical, it should also be considered unethical. When he starts complaining about spending and waste in our government, he needs to gather his White House staff around him and look in a big mirror.
Today's story has to be at least on the borderline of pettiness. The White House announced Tuesday that it would be canceling all tours after this coming Saturday. This announcement came because of the sequester spending cuts that began to take effect on March 1. A lot of people visit the White House every year, so I have no doubt it is being done to shape public opinion. President Obama and his administration is doing their best to let the spending cuts do damage where they will do the most good. That's plain to see for anyone who is paying attention.
What a lot of people probably do not know is how much money the people who direct, coordinate, and oversee White House operations are paid. This includes the director of the White House Visitors Office, Ellie S. Schafer. Not only do they make a lot of money, they also get pay raises. Let's look at the details.
(The Daily Caller) The annual salary for the director of the White House Visitors Office, Ellie S. Schafer, went from $70,000 in 2009 to $100,000 in 2012. According to annual reports to Congress on White House staff salaries, Schafer was paid $70,000 in 2009, $71,400 in 2010, $80,000 in 2011 and $100,000 in 2012.I am not writing this to disparage Ms. Schafer. Instead, my intent is to highlight, once again, just how bloated the federal government of the United States has become. She is the Director of the White House Visitors Office. She helps arrange and coordinate visitor tours, the White House Easter egg roll, tee-ball tournaments, and other exciting things for children and families to do on the White House grounds. Her starting salary in 2009 was $70,000. Since that time, she has received a pay increase of over 42%, putting her at $100,000 for 2012. No offense to Ms. Schafer, but doesn't that sound like a pretty good salary for someone in her position? If that isn't enough bloat for you, take a look at the report on the White House staff for 2012. It gives the names, positions, and salaries of all White House employees, all 468 of them. Of those employees, 138 receive an annual salary of $100,000 or above. I don't have time to run through the calculations, but if they only make $100,000 annually, that's almost $14 million. Many of them make well above the $100,000 threshold. As you can see, the Obama administration pays its employees very well.
Schafer is listed by the White House on each report as the director of the Visitors Office for each year, but was also named a special assistant to the president in 2012. Special assistants to the president are the lowest rung of commissioned White House officers, and enjoy significant perks that lower-level staffers do not, such as mess privileges and better parking.
If you look at the background of Ellie S. Schafer, it becomes clear she is in her current position because she was with the advance team of the first Obama for President campaign. I don't necessarily have a problem with that and I am relatively sure that this is standard operating procedure for most, if not all Presidents in modern times. Where I move from passing speculation to open criticism is when we see these people being paid six-figure salaries, when much of the rest of America is hurting from lower wages, higher prices, and higher taxes. And all the while, President Obama is going around the country, campaigning against the sequester that has supposedly caused visitor tours of the White House to be shut down, indefinitely. Not only is that hypocritical, it should also be considered unethical. When he starts complaining about spending and waste in our government, he needs to gather his White House staff around him and look in a big mirror.
