White House released a list of staff salaries for 2011

[Mach 1 Club]

The White House will spend about $1.7 million less on salaries in 2011 than it did last year, according to an annual report of salaries the White House sends to Congress.

The report, released Friday, shows annual salaries at the White House for 2011 total $37.1 million, compared with $38.8 million in 2010. The report shows that the number of staff employed by the White House fell to 454 from 469.

Of those 454 employees, 21 earn the maximum pay of $172,200 per year. The top-paid staffers are all senior officials, such as press secretary Jay Carney, counter terrorism czar John Brennan, speechwriter Jon Favreau and senior adviser Valerie Jarrett.

Some on the list took big pay cuts for their job, such as chief of staff Bill Daley. Daley's cash and stock bonus for 2010 at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., paid in 2011, was $4.8 million. His pension plan, paid out in a lump sum, totaled about $6.7 million.

The lowest salary is $41,000, and three White House advisers work for free: Patricia McGinnis, Jessica Schumer and Shale Wong. Of the 434 employees listed, 142 of them earned less than $50,000 a year. The average salary is about $82,000.

President Barack Obama's annual salary is $400,000.

The White House released a list of staff salaries for 2011 on Friday, though the document reveals little in light of the hiring and salary freezes the Obama administration put in place.

[chutsonjr@yahoo.com]

Isn,t it nice and bend over so we can have More of that GOOD OLD SHAFT JOB from all those over pay unneeded dogooders . Why not drop the pay to what they are really worth . Why can,t we just cut the fat . C . L .

[Klutch]

I used to work at The Pentagon for the senior admiral in the US Navy (Chief of Naval Operations). My coworkers and I routinely interfaced with our comrades over at the White House. People at The Pentagon worked extremely hard. But good golly, those people over at the White House were dogged mercilessly. Those staffers mentioned in the article work insane hours. They rarely see their families; if they're not already divorced from being at work so much. Working conditions vary depending on who currently occupies the Oval Office and what's going in the world. But such work is never easy.

I'm not saying there's no room for cost cutting. But believe me when I say a lot of the people high up in our government work extremely hard and could make a lot more money in the corporate world.

[Mach 1 Club]

Bring the troops home. Today! That will save a lot.
There are always and will always be crooks in Washington. I'm sure some of them work hard, but frankly they don't work any harder than the next guy that makes a lot less money.
Most of these politicians go to Washington with normal incomes and before its all said and done most are millionaires a few times over. Getting those kick backs is very lucrative.

I know America is one of the greatest countries in the world, I don't think Id want to live any where else. However, in the last 10-15 years we are showing way to many chinks in our Armour. Time for our politicians to shit or get off the pot. I'm tired of all the lies and deceit.

Don't get me going!

[Rare Pony]

I used to work at The Pentagon for the senior admiral in the US Navy (Chief of Naval Operations). My coworkers and I routinely interfaced with our comrades over at the White House. People at The Pentagon worked extremely hard. But good golly, those people over at the White House were dogged mercilessly. Those staffers mentioned in the article work insane hours. They rarely see their families; if they're not already divorced from being at work so much. Working conditions vary depending on who currently occupies the Oval Office and what's going in the world. But such work is never easy.

I'm not saying there's no room for cost cutting. But believe me when I say a lot of the people high up in our government work extremely hard and could make a lot more money in the corporate world.

I agree with Klutch on this one! Before retiring last year I worked for the Navy in the area next to the Pentagon, Crystal City, and provided some of the contract support to the White House Staff. The ones I worked with, except one person, were very dedicated, worked long hours without additional compensation, and were top notch folks. I conducted annual reviews of some of their purchases and was overwhelmed at the accuracy, well organized, and detailed records that were kept. It's easy to cast stones and read into these type of reports, but my personal experience with the staff has been nothing but positive. The one person I mentioned was apparently talented and intelligent, but just placed in the wrong position which was soon rectified.

[Klutch]

^^ Thanks for sharing that. It's unfortunate our government employees have such a bad reputation. Sometimes that bad reputation is deserved. But we do have some amazing civilian professionals working in service to our country.