Wonkette
President Obama gets to enjoy all sorts of goodies as the leader of the free world, such as a fat salary, a driver and a chef, and free transportation to just about anywhere. This elitist must do away with all these outrageous perks while the rest of America suffers so greatly! Responsibility era etc.! Barack Obama should just take the Metro, like a normal person, or better yet just hitchhike to his various global appointments. He should also quit getting his clothes dry cleaned all the time and just wander around in a hair shirt. Oh and what’s up with the FREE HOUSE he gets to live in, hmmm? Not even John Thain was bold enough to accept such lavish freebies. [ABC News]
How can he ask me to cut my salary down to $500,000 while he gets all those perks?
The only sustainable practice for transportation should be a carriage mounted on the backs of white men.
That is one UGLY Detroit P.O.S.
No wonder the Big Three is now the Big 1 1/8th (or whatever they are).
Ah, for the Time When Style Was King.
1963. JKF in that Lincoln convertible with the suicide doors.
The wind blowing through his hair.
Oh, no, wait a minute . . . .
Yeah, take away Air Force One. What an obscene perk!
ABC News sucks donkey balls.
The president makes $400,000 a year, but hasn’t received a raise from Congress since 2001.
Then again, no president has deserved a raise since 2001.
Yeah, right, nice car. How is it in snow? Huh?
“Back when George Washington took office in 1789, the presidential salary was $25,000 — that’s more than $300,000 in today’s dollars.”
That seems way off. I think it would be closer to $3 million, in which case Obama is vastly underpaid.
“…Job That Any Loser Could Do”
Except Sarah Palin. Sorta. Also.
Funny how this didn’t bother ABC back when Der ChimpenFeurer was running the joint. Or does ABC stand for American Bankers Companions?
Corporate America quickly pointed out that while the president also only makes $400,000 a year, he gets all sorts of extra perks and doesn’t have to pay taxes on them.
‘Tis true, the perks of being an assassination target have been long ignored. Oh Corporate America, just when we thought you couldn’t possibly get any stupider without actually having sections of your brain surgically removed.
Clearly, Bush should have gotten a $20 million dollar bonus before leaving office, for thoroughly breaking everything, ever. That’s what they’re paid out for, right?
Is this supposed to be ABC “news” being even-handed? I mean, geeze, the guys on Wall Street are being slammed for their billion dollar incompetence and this guy has to clean up after them?
In fairness to Barack, he makes less than half a mil a year.
The CEOs also get stock options, pretty much unlimited expense accounts if the company is of any size above micro-cap, usually get luxury car leases paid for, memberships in pish-pish clubs and comparatively little media scrutiny. Most high-end restaurants in Manhattan and elsewhere would go out of business without these guys and gals toasting each other’s successes with rounds of Louis XIII after a nice $195.00 Kobe beef strip steak. Can we have an armed revolt of the unwashed masses and then build a guillotine on the Bowling Green and stand around watching the asshat heads roll for, oh, about two or three years? Can we? Please?
shortsshortsshorts: Yes, actually.
Some perk. What good is a bullet-proof car when the car maker won’t be around to service it?
ABC news proves that today we are all Palins.
gah. stupidest article ever. they don’t even mention the robots.
For some reason, the story about Pres. Reagan staring at a $50 bill and not knowing what to do with it is not surprising.
I once picked up a hitch-hiker in Dundee, OR that claimed he hadn’t cut his hair since 1969 and was saving all the hairs that fell out in a bag to weave into a hair loin-cloth. Follow that dude’s lead and get on it, Hopey!
shortsshortsshorts: And let’s take advantage of that today while they are still the sexual and racial majority!
Zorg: Ah, but the president does not have to pay taxes on those benefits, and the CEOs do. And they will pay the tax, as soon as they get nominated to a cabinet post, for a Democrat.
Canmon (the Inadequate): http://measuringworth.com/uscompare says $25,000 (1789) = $630,278.10 (2008) using the Consumer Price Index. Still, underpaid by ye olde standards.
Because whining to millions of unemployed Americans that their most beloved President, ever, Barack Obama gets too many perks is really going to sell how unfair a $500,000 bail-out recipient salary cap is.
Fuckers.
Canmon (the Inadequate):
I also found that an interesting “fact” and dug up this little inflation calulator. Seeing that it’s on the intertubes we must assume that it is perfect in every way and can not be disputed.
http://www.measuringworth.com/ppowerus/
I like the idea of him taking the metro to work. Perhaps the WH could get WMATA to build two more stops on the red line — WH east wing/Residence and WH West Wing/Eisenhower Bldg so he could take it that one stop from home to work. Although if what they say is true, those stops already exist.
shortsshortsshorts: WIN!
masterdebater: There was a time when, if someone said that the presidency was a job that any loser could do, I would have laughed. That was roughly 8 years ago.
He better be up to date on his taxes.
Jimmy Carter sold the presidential yacht! What they don’t mention is that he sold it a week ago the teh eBayz and also.
Canmon (the Inadequate): And the cost of living was cheaper then to boot. What with slaves, growing hemp, making your own wine & beer, etc. Everything has gone downhill since then.
Request for this to be tagged “First They Came For the FatCats”
It comes out to about a 1.5% increase, compounded annually over 219 years. Which seems like a pretty crappy return on investment. Makes you think about the advertised rates of return of everything in the last few decades… and how they’re somewhat unsustainable.
couldn’t they have worked the words “nudie magazine” into this article somehow?
but the real question is, will he pay TAXES on his private driver?
and, if not, will the president start wearing glasses inspired by an 80’s daytime talk show biggie like… uhm… donahue?
…well as long as he declare all of it on his taxes, I’m fine!
Delicious: yA REALLY. y CanT HE dRIVE iNTO kABUL.
shanemacgowan: Yeah, it’s strange that they think that Reagan’s behavior was related to living in the White House. I’m sure he stared a lot of things like he had no idea what to do with it. Like Nancy, for instance. Well, that’s fair, though.
He should wear a hair suit over the hair shirt.
Yes, nothing quite like listening to today’s bank CEO whine about how unfair life is for them.
Can we get back to porn for the blind?
ALL THAT FOR THIS INADAQUATE BLACK MALE?? COMMUNITY ORGINIZER MY FAT PASTY PUMA ASS!! GET A REAL JOB YOU FATCAT SOCIALIST MUSLIN LOOSER!!!11!!
Behold the terrible vengeance of Wall Street fat cats!: a timely article about how Barry is rollin’ in a 747 and living in free housing while they skulk around in their Gulfstream Vs and the tatty old place in the Hamptons. Lay off the corporate bling, mutha, or America will be watching viral videos of Sasha and Malia weeping in front of their classmates about how daddy broke his promise to get the puppy.
Barack Obama is worth 500,000,000 simply on the value of his marketing for our shitstorm of a country. America is a cool brand again, and it’s all because of Barack.
Come here a minute: Since the expense account dinners are part of the corporation’s entertainment/client development/executive talent search, I don’t believe the average, run-of-the-Metropolitan-Club CEO has to pay the taxes on his magnum of 1982 Ch. Petrus downed at Per Se. At least, not one of the CEOs I have power-munched with have ever claimed to pay a dime of tax on said relationship-building.
I can’t believe that isn’t an Onion article.
Job that any loser could do. Except for John Kerry cause no one wants to see him awkwardly try to command respect. Ohhh shudder.
http://democralypsenow.blogspot.com/
ABC missed the real story. I have heard that every day, President Obama is told Top Secret information that normal Americans could never know. How is it that he remains unindicted for treason???
Hell, the poor man had to get up and be at a prayer breakfast this morning to speak at 9:00 am. They couldn’t stuff Air Force One with enough hookers to make that worth it.
You know, this is the same kind of assy BS you find in Parade Magazine when they do their “what do people earn” article. In the Bushy years, the Clintons were always shown as earning Ten point eleventy billion dollars a year while “Der ChimpenFuerer” (thanks LittlePig!) was shown as earning 300,000 or whatever the Presidential salary was. No including Bushy investments or land holdings or golden parachutes from the oil and baseball industries or inheretence or the bullion hidden under the bed.
Now that they no longer are in the business of fellating whoever is in the White House, expect to see lots more “totally unbiased” articles about the veritable cash cow living in the White House is.
When you compare accomplishments, Corporate America may actually have a point. I mean, exactly what did Barack Obama do? He won some minor popularity contest - woop-dee-doo *roll eyes*.
On the other hand, Corporate America managed to single-handedly bring THE GLOBAL ECONOMY to its KNEES. I’m just saying, in a talent show, I think I’d know who I’d vote for…
My other car is a modified Boeing VC-25A
with articles like this the media industry still wonders why nobody is buying their product anymore? seriously?
Bearbloke: “FATCAT SOCIALIST MUSLIN LOOSER” just… makes my brain melt…. ftw
Prez McKinley was cold assassinated standing on a rail platform waiting for a train, just like a plebian! A mass transit martyr if I ever saw one.
ABC … that would be the network that employs Jake Tapper.
actor212: In fairness to Barack, at least he’ll have a job as a lawyer, lobbyist, or his own foundation after his tenure as President. That’s the same for Clinton and the 2 Bushs.
CEO may see big money now, but can easily end in ‘washed up’ places like you and me, BUT you’ll never see a former Prez on the streets. Never.
He’s certainly not poor, but honestly, before he took office, Barack was probably the poorest prez we’ve had since Lincoln. For now, he deserves every perk he gets.
The president is billed for every meal they eat the White House, and for things like dry cleaning, toothpaste, and the like.
I believe they receive the bill once a month, Nancy Reagan mentioned being surprised by it.
SayItWithWookies: Very, very, extreeemely, outrageously good point!
From the same article:
“When Congress does increase the pay, it tends to double it, which leads to some pretty interesting results. For instance, George W. Bush made roughly twice what Bill Clinton made and Richard M. Nixon made twice what Lyndon B. Johnson made.”
Damn those republicans, somehow they always got the raise. Strangely, the presidents raised were the suckiest of them all. So there are some similarities to Wall Street after all…