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Michelle Obama's personal, million-dollar staff

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By JOHN NASH

Of Cabbages and Kings

Published: August 11, 2009

This is a first for me, and it will likely never happen again, but I recently received something so disturbing, and yet interesting, that I felt compelled to quote a large part of it in this column.

What I've copied below, was reported to have been extracted from a Canadian newspaper. Before doing anything with it, I gave the White House an opportunity to comment on it. They have not responded.

If true and accurate, this report, on the size and cost to the taxpayers of Michelle Obama's staff is something everyone needs to be aware of. At a time when unemployment approaches an all-time high; when taxes are being significantly increased for all workers; wherein the federal government proposes spending many more billions of hastily-printed dollars on ill-advised give-away programs; and in which we face a period of rampant inflation; the president's wife, who has no official role in government, is reported to have a personal staff that costs taxpayers more than a million dollars a year.

When you combine this apparent, disgraceful and arrogant waste of tax dollars with what the president and his family have already lavished on such frivolity as date nights in cities far from Washington or family vacations in Europe and Africa, a picture of an unprecedented imperial presidency emerges from the obscuring cloak of optimism that has surrounded President Barack Obama since he first won his party's nomination to run for the White House.

It seems clearer by the day: Obama is a failure as a promised race relations facilitator; his fiscal policies and social welfare proposals seem destined to fail and/or to bankrupt the nation; meanwhile he has seemingly turned the highest national office into his personal, worldwide playground for the rich and famous.

Read carefully through the following, unauthenticated report, keeping in mind that the president's offices have failed to respond to our requests for comment. Incidentally, while we awaited their unexpected reply, we checked out around a dozen of the names on the list, and found they were indeed working for Mrs. Obama, as has been indicated.

The whole thing bothers me more than a little. I think most of you will agree that, if all of the material presented is accurate, there are far more significant problems brewing for this president than just some lingering questions about birth certificates. What have we really created, in this "new, young, bright, personable, popular, energetic and racially-mixed presidency?" Mary Lincoln was taken to task for purchasing china for the White House during the Civil War. And Mamie Eisenhower had to shell out 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 Mrs. Obama 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:

$172,200 — Sher, Susan, chief of staff, $140,000; Frye, Jocelyn C., deputy assistant to the president and director of policy and projects for the first lady.

$113,000 — Rogers, Desiree G., special assistant to the president and White House social secretary.

$102,000 — Johnston, Camille Y., special assistant to the president and director of communications for the first lady; Winter, Melissa E., special assistant to the president and deputy chief of staff to the first lady.

$90,000 — Medina, David S., deputy chief of staff to the first lady.

$84,000 — Lelyveld, Catherine M., director and press secretary to the first lady.

$75,000 — Starkey, Frances M., director of scheduling and advance for the first lady.

$70,000 — Sanders, Trooper, deputy director of policy and projects for the first lady.

$65,000 — Burnough, Erinn J., deputy director and deputy social secretary; Reinstein, Joseph B., deputy director and deputy socialsecretary.

$62,000 — Goodman, Jennifer R., deputy director of scheduling and events coordinator for the first lady.

$60,000 — Fitts, Alan O., deputy director of advance and trip director for the first lady; Lewis, Dana M., special assistant and personal aide to the first lady.

$52,500 — Mustaphi, Semonti M., associate director and deputy press secretary to the first lady.

$50,000 — Jarvis, Kristen E., special assistant for scheduling and traveling aide to the first lady.

$45,000 — Lechtenberg, Tyler A., associate director of correspondence for the first lady; Tubman, Samantha, deputy associate director, social office.

$40,000 — Boswell, Joseph J., executive assistant to the chief of staff to the first lady.

$36,000 — Armbruster, Sally M., staff assistant to the social secretary; Bookey, Natalie, staff assistant; Jackson, Deilia A., deputy associate director of correspondence for the first lady.

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 when 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.

Of Cabbages and Kings is a regular feature of this paper. The author welcomes relevant and rational comment, which may be sent to him at john@have-eye.com.

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