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EDITORIAL: Obama: Pay my wife, please
The Washington Times ^ | August 9, 2012 | Editorial
Posted on August 9, 2012 10:16:04 PM EDT by jazusamo
President wants taxpayers to pick up larger family tab
President Obama thinks his wife should be paid for the privilege of serving as first lady. Speaking at a campaign event in Denver on Wednesday, Mr. Obama invoked Mrs. Obama’s plight to make a point about equal pay for equal work. “I want to make sure that when she’s working, she is getting paid the same as men,” he said. “I’ve got to say, first ladies right now don’t, even though that’s a tough job.” Poor Michelle, we feel her pain.
If Mr. Obama was joking, it was in poor taste, especially with so many women struggling in hard economic times. First ladies have never been given a paycheck, but they certainly benefit from their privileged circumstances. Michelle basks in the reflected fame of her powerful husband; she lives rent-free in the most exclusive address in the world; she has chefs, maids, drivers and other servants at her beck and call 24 hours a day. It might be a “tough job,” but she is assisted by a personal staff of more than 20 people, who are paid a collective salary of over $1.5 million. Those perks are forms of compensation.
Mrs. Obama lives the good life and she lets everyone know it. While not known for being a fashion leader in the style of Jackie Kennedy, she has come under fire for flaunting her expensive tastes in times of economic trouble. Her latest offense was showing up in London at a pre-Olympics party wearing a jacket costing $6,800. That’s 10 times the median weekly earnings for full-time working women.
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