Obama to give back 5% of his salary

[Zaune]

"Attempting" being the operative word. It's a token gesture that won't inconvenience him in the slightest, and he knows it as well as everyone else.

[Losonti Tokash]

Yeah, so it would have been better for him to do nothing, so that then people could say "well I don't see HIM taking a paycut!"

There's obviously more to the gesture than simply inconveniencing himself (which would be a stupid goal), like drawing attention back to the furloughs and the idiotic sequester.

[Broomstick]

If the furloughed employees are losing 5% of their annual salary and Obama is giving back 5% of his salary how is that "proportionally less"? You did pass basic math, didn't you?

I think the point he's trying to make is that Obama can afford to lose 5% of his annual salary a whole hell of a lot less than your average federal employee can.

Then he should state that clearly rather than coming off like an ill educated moron by saying 5% doesn't equal 5%

Come to think of it, I suspect a lot of the people these budget cuts are affecting weren't even making 5% of his annual salary to start with!

5% of 400,000 is 16,000. Even when I was temp employee for the Census on the bottom rung of the Federal employment ladder I was making more than that. About 28,000 annually, if the job had lasted a year, which it didn't. Federal employment isn't poverty-level wages, even if you're not likely to get rich in most positions.

[Rogue 9]

It's $20,000, actually ($16k is 4%), but full time government employees still universally make more than that. Perhaps not much more in some cases, though.

[Zaune]

Hmmm. Just checked the exchange rate and I see your point; I thought $20k was worth quite a bit more than that.

[Wing Commander MAD]

Something else to keep in mind are the benefits, providing you work full time and qualify for them. Going by what I've heard, the attractive thing about government jobs has always been the benefits, not the pay.

[Broomstick]

The benefits and the pensions. Also, job security. It's not 100%, but you are working for an entity that's been around for 200+ years and no one expects to go out of business any time soon.

[Phantasee]

Anyone complaining it doesn't hurt him as much as the employees on furlough is just whining Obama did something kinda sorta good and they are grasping at straws to complain about it. Fucking weak. You're embarassing yourself, and me, by posting on the same board as me.

God damn.

[Flagg]

Anyone complaining it doesn't hurt him as much as the employees on furlough is just whining Obama did something kinda sorta good and they are grasping at straws to complain about it. Fucking weak. You're embarassing yourself, and me, by posting on the same board as me.

God damn.

It just fits.

[Phantasee]

Anyone complaining it doesn't hurt him as much as the employees on furlough is just whining Obama did something kinda sorta good and they are grasping at straws to complain about it. Fucking weak. You're embarassing yourself, and me, by posting on the same board as me.

God damn.

It just fits.

Beautiful.

[Scrib]

Anyone complaining it doesn't hurt him as much as the employees on furlough is just whining Obama did something kinda sorta good and they are grasping at straws to complain about it. Fucking weak. You're embarassing yourself, and me, by posting on the same board as me.

God damn.

Or, they're judging a symbolic gesture on it's merit and not rolling into a ball whining about how those bad right-wing Obama haters hate him for everything. Sorry that some people don't take every gesture the President makes as some sort of great "symbolic" victory. It's not charity, it's theater and it'll be judged liked theater is usually judged. Don't like it? Tough shit.

[Losonti Tokash]

Just a great example of how Obama Derangement Syndrome affects people across all party and ideological lines.

[Flagg]

There's a ton of shit I disagree with Obama about and I'm not overly fond of the man as President, but my fucking eyes glaze over at even valid criticism because of so much bullshit whining.

[Questor]

You know what? Has anyone else on this board been furloughed during the past couple of years? I know it's been popular in public sector, so I'm sure at least a few of you have.

It sucks. It particularly sucks if they are unable to spread the furlough over multiple months. I know people who because their agency wasn't quite as proactive as ours had to take 25% or more cuts for multiple months out of the year, despite the overall hit being exactly what the federal employees are taking now. The structure of the hit is hugely important.

Obama voluntarily accepting a furlough that wouldn't apply to him doesn't impact him at all financially, and frankly anyone who thinks it does is an idiot. What it does say is that he - unlike a certain former Governor of California that I can name - is not so wrapped up in his own importance to think that he is above the policies he imposes.

While Obama has done a great many things wrong, this he did right. Whatever his reasons for doing it right, he did own up and say "I am a federal employee. I take the cut." Given that President (like most other federal electeds) is VERY close to being a purely salaried position, without any true work hour requirements/expectations, applying a furlough to him is really not possible, so the only way he can approximate the effect of a furlough is to give back a portion of his salary.

BTW, if Obama doesn't donate more than the value of his federal salary to charity every year, I would be very surprised.

[chitoryu12]

Anyone complaining it doesn't hurt him as much as the employees on furlough is just whining Obama did something kinda sorta good and they are grasping at straws to complain about it. Fucking weak. You're embarassing yourself, and me, by posting on the same board as me.

God damn.

Or, they're judging a symbolic gesture on it's merit and not rolling into a ball whining about how those bad right-wing Obama haters hate him for everything. Sorry that some people don't take every gesture the President makes as some sort of great "symbolic" victory. It's not charity, it's theater and it'll be judged liked theater is usually judged. Don't like it? Tough shit.

Voluntarily giving himself an equal furlough is a lot more than "symbolic."

[Scrib]

Anyone complaining it doesn't hurt him as much as the employees on furlough is just whining Obama did something kinda sorta good and they are grasping at straws to complain about it. Fucking weak. You're embarassing yourself, and me, by posting on the same board as me.

God damn.

Or, they're judging a symbolic gesture on it's merit and not rolling into a ball whining about how those bad right-wing Obama haters hate him for everything. Sorry that some people don't take every gesture the President makes as some sort of great "symbolic" victory. It's not charity, it's theater and it'll be judged liked theater is usually judged. Don't like it? Tough shit.

Voluntarily giving himself an equal furlough is a lot more than "symbolic."

Uh, that's exactly what it is.

[Patroklos]

BTW, if Obama doesn't donate more than the value of his federal salary to charity every year, I would be very surprised.

Be surprised, this was already discussed.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/04/ ... x-receipts

$245,075 in 2010, or 14.2% of overall gross income. Not a bad percentage and better than Clinton and Bush but as was already mentioned Obama makes a lot more than either of those two. And Cheney made a lot more than Obama, so take his 78% donation rate in that context too.

The 5% donation has no impact on Obama's life, its not remotely the same as the normal goverment worker just like a 5% tax hike on both wouldn't be remotely the same. Its a nice gesture, as long as you don't try and trumpet it as shouldering the same burden. I honestly don't know if its Obama hypung this up for theatre or the media (friendly of hostile), its in poor taste if it is indeed Obama.

[Phantasee]

Well it wouldn't really be worth doing if the people who he was standing in solidarity with didn't know about it, eh?

[Questor]

BTW, if Obama doesn't donate more than the value of his federal salary to charity every year, I would be very surprised.

Be surprised, this was already discussed.

http://www.whitehouse.gov/blog/2011/04/ ... x-receipts

$245,075 in 2010, or 14.2% of overall gross income. Not a bad percentage and better than Clinton and Bush but as was already mentioned Obama makes a lot more than either of those two. And Cheney made a lot more than Obama, so take his 78% donation rate in that context too.

245,075 is well over 50% of his FEDERAL SALARY. In fact, it's probably more than his net take home from said federal salary.

Obama makes a ridiculous amount from everything from investments to book sales, but none of that is his salary.

5% of his salary is about $20K. He's not going to feel it at all, and I tried to make that point.

EDIT: Looking over the 1040, he had just over 100K withheld, resulting in a net of ~$295K on his federal paycheck, which is more than I would have estimated, but he can afford a decent accountant, so he probably doesn't have to use the "never claim exemptions from a non-largest" paycheck rule of thumb.