Rich Get Richer in the Obama White House

[Geee]

Washington Examiner:

Rich get richer in the Obama White House
By: MARK TAPSCOTT
Editorial Page Editor
07/06/10 1:43 PM EDT

Remember how President Obama told Joe the Plumber that he just wanted to "spread the wealth around" during the 2008 presidential campaign? Apparently that wealth spreading doesn't extend to most of those working in the Obama White House.

In a classic Friday-afternoon-before-a-long-holiday news dump, the Obama administration made public the salaries paid the 469 White House staff members. As The Hill reported in a post that included a handy spreadsheet showing the names and salaries, the 469 are paid a total of nearly $39 million annually, with an average of $82,599.

But it's not the net that raises some eyebrows, it's the numbers behind the numbers, according to William Collier of The Freedomist:

"How is it that 168 people in the White House Staff make less than a third of what the top 109 people in the White House earn?

"So much for 'equality'- nearly 36% of the White House staff under Obama make 30% of the annual salary that the top 23% of the White Staff make.

"And of the overall budget of some $38 million per year, about 42% of the total budget is consumed by the upper 23% and less than 32% of the total budget is divided between the 52% or so of the staff at the bottom!"

By the way, the law requiring the White House to report such data to Congress was passed in 1995 as one of the reforms instituted by the GOP majority following its 1994 election victory. The spreadsheet was also posted on the White House blog here.