Thread: Michelle Obama's outrageous expenses

I'm looking for that article someone posted about how Michelle has about 35 highly paid assistants as compared with other First Lady's one or two. I think we ought to get that information before some radio and TV truthtellers. I can't find it though! Can anyone direct me to it? It was a couple of days ago. Thanks.

Monday, October 5, 2009, 9:02 AM


OUR TAX DOLLARS AT WORK. I'D LOVE TO SEE A GROUP PHOTO OF ALL THESE INDIVIDUALS!!!!
First Lady Requires More Than Twenty Attendants

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, " 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 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. $172,2000 - 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. $100,000 - 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.. $64,000 - 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. $57,500 - 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. $43,000 - 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. $35,000 - Bookey, Natalie (Staff Assistant)
22. $35,000 - Jackson, Deilia A. (Deputy Associate Director of Correspondence for the First Lady)

There has NEVER been anyone in the White House at any time who 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.

Note: This does not include makeup artist Ingrid Grimes-Miles, 49, and "First Hairstylist" Johnny Wright, 31, both of whom traveled aboard Air Force One to Europe .

Copyright 2009 Canada Free Press.Com
canadafreepress.com/index.php/article/12652

Yeh, I know, The Canadian Free Press has to publish this because the USA media is too scared they might be considered racist. Sorry America !

michelle is every bit as corrupt as her husband. The American people are losing their jobs and homes in record numbers and obama, michelle and their dirty special interest groups are stealing our money and lying to us along the way.

michelle seems to think she is the "Queen of America" not the "first lady".

Originally Posted by ELE

michelle seems to think she is the "Queen of America" not the "first lady".

I do see the resemblence between Michelle and Marie Antoinette [/b]

Originally Posted by cayla99

Originally Posted by ELE

michelle seems to think she is the "Queen of America" not the "first lady".

I do see the resemblence between Michelle and Marie Antoinette [/b]

Big smile!!!

It's all about their belief system they were cheated early in life due to race now it's pay back.

Originally Posted by oldguy

It's all about their belief system they were cheated early in life due to race now it's pay back.

I was cheated early in life too. I was not born rich, my parents divorced when divorce was not cool and the children payed the price in being shunned and made fun of. I do not, nor have I ever been a Barbie look alike. But then I was raised in the belief that my destiny is just that, mine. I suppose I might feel the same way if I HAD CHOSEN to surround myself with those who are filled with hate.

Okay, for decades First Ladies have had their own staff because they have had to, and to report that previous First Ladies only had one or two is just wrong. Canadian Free Press might want to check the facts. Hilary and Laura had approx. the same number of staff members that Michelle has. Just a quick search and I came up with a current story about the staff of the First Lady. If you don't believe me, do some fact checking.

CAPITAL CULTURE: First lady's staff helps with job
By DARLENE SUPERVILLE, Associated Press Writer Darlene Superville, Associated Press Writer – Tue Oct 6, 12:01 am ET

PITTSBURGH – One by one, gleaming motorcades pulled up outside of a white-columned home on a farm just outside this city, each depositing the wife of a foreign leader here for an economic summit. Inside, Michelle Obama waited for her first turn as international hostess.

It was up to her to show a good time to counterparts from around the globe while President Barack Obama and the other world leaders debated the world's fiscal mess.

Guests were led to a patio of the home, owned by Teresa Heinz Kerry, the local philanthropist and wife of Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., the former Democratic presidential candidate. She was eager to make her Rosemont Farm available for the occasion. More than 20 women in all, including Heinz Kerry, ate dinner at a long, rectangular table — salad made with greens from the farm, lamb, bass and tomato and roasted red pepper tart. Dessert was apple tarte tatin baked with apples picked on the premises.

The meal was the start of nearly 10 hours these women would spend in each other's company over the course of an evening and the following day, including a visit to a performing arts school and a concert there, followed by a museum tour and lunch.

Mrs. Obama pulled it off. But she certainly didn't do it alone.

___

A first lady's chief duty is to run the vast White House entertainment operation — a big job in itself — and oversee the care of the building and its residential staff. But over the years, the public has come to expect more from first ladies, both in substance and symbolism. And they have come to expect more of themselves, receiving formal assignments from their husbands. (Bill Clinton gave health care to Hillary, Michelle's husband gave her the Chicago Olympic bid, both flops in which the presidents were also heavily invested.)

Simply put: People like to see and hear their first ladies.

But with every new demand, the demands on their time grow, too. And so, out of necessity, has the first lady's staff.

If she delivers a speech, someone has to write it.

If she goes anywhere beyond the black wrought iron gates of the White House, complicated travel and security arrangements are required.

If she speaks on an issue, someone has to deliver the brief to bring her up to speed.

There are reporters to deal with, and piles of mail to open and answer.

Some 32,000 pieces of mail, for instance, have flooded the first lady's base of operations in the East Wing since the Obamas arrived in January. Two staffers and a group of volunteers open and answer them.

The to-do list is too much for any lady, even a first one, not to mention her responsibilities as support for the president and mother.

"There's never enough people to do the amount of work that has to get done," says Anita McBride, a chief of staff to Mrs. Obama's predecessor, Laura Bush.

___

The Pittsburgh events took months of planning among Mrs. Obama's aides and others throughout the administration.

Her staff sprang into action in May, as soon as the location for the late September summit was announced. Just about every department in her office was involved: policy aides (Mrs. Obama used one event to highlight her support for the arts and arts education), press aides (managing the massive media interest in her and the summit), schedulers and the advance team (the people who went to Pittsburgh beforehand to scout event sites).

It required coordination with the State Department to find out such things as how many spouses were coming, the proper way to address each of them, and even what food allergies any may have. East Wing staff worked with the National Security Council, the president's staff in the West Wing and the Secret Service. The White House social office invited the musicians, collaborated on the meals and more.

The Pittsburgh Creative and Performing Arts School was the setting for the concert by singer-songwriter Sara Bareilles, cellist Yo-Yo Ma, country superstar Trisha Yearwood and the students.

Afterward, the spouses were off on their own to the nearby Andy Warhol Museum for a tour and lunch.

___

To accomplish all this, Mrs. Obama has a staff of 24 people, at a cost of more than $1.5 million, according to an annual White House report to Congress. This is roughly the size of the staffs of predecessors Laura Bush and Hillary Rodham Clinton.

The suite of offices is filled with campaign veterans, friends from her Chicago hometown and others from different mileposts in her life.

Overseeing the operation is Susan Sher, Mrs. Obama's longtime Chicago friend. Mrs. Obama reported to Sher when both held top posts at the University of Chicago Medical Center. Sher began at the White House as an associate counsel to the president, working on legal issues surrounding health care policy. She also led outreach to the Jewish community and was Mrs. Obama's legal adviser.

In June, Sher assumed the dual role of assistant to the president and chief of staff to the first lady. She replaced Jackie Norris, who took a position elsewhere in government.

___

First ladies always face questions about why someone who isn't elected or paid, or who isn't routinely handling serious issues, even has a staff. Perhaps if all first ladies did was compare china patterns and plan White House parties, they could nix the assistants.

But that seems unlikely given all the expectations on presidents' wives, the 24-hour news and blog cycles and intense public fascination with the Obamas, including dog Bo.

Modern first ladies tend to come with graduate degrees and professional track records. Clinton was a nationally known lawyer and child advocate. Laura Bush was a teacher and librarian. Mrs. Obama was a lawyer and hospital executive.

They are expected to have projects and promote causes; education and literacy are popular ones. Mrs. Obama juggles several, including volunteerism, supporting military families, healthier eating, and preventive health care.

Events are constantly in the works.

Planning for the summit and now Obama's first state dinner in November for India were under way at the same time. Christmas is on the radar, too. While aides may focus on a particular week, they still have an eye on what's happening next week and next month.

First ladies also act as stand-ins for the president, going places when he can't.

Just last week, Mrs. Obama flew to Denmark ahead of her husband and spent several days lobbying — unsuccessfully, as it turned out — for their hometown's bid to bring the 2016 Summer Olympics to Chicago.

http://tinyurl.com/yf4elru

Remember the Brouhaha over Sarah Palins wardrobe? That amounts to a pittance in comparison.