July 7, 2009, Dr. Paul L. Williams
"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,"
said 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 from her own pocket 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 Michelle 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. $172,200 - 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)
That totals
MORE THAN $1,166,700 per year, PLUS BENEFITS, for her cadre of servants!
There has never
been anyone in the White House at any time that has created such an army of staffers whose sole duties are the
facilitation of the
First Lady's social life. One wonders why she needs so much help, at taxpayer expense,=2 0when even
Hillary, only had three; Jackie Kennedy one; Laura Bush
one; and prior to Mamie Eisenhower social help came from the
President's own pocket.
Note: This list does not include makeup artist Ingrid Grimes-Miles, 49, and
“First Hairstylist" Johnny Wright, 31, both of whom
travelled aboard Air Force One to Europe with her Highness.
