So; is Gibbs Underpaid? - The Underpaid Robert Gibbs and Washington's Sense of Entitlement

[EV_Ares]

Leaving office in 1953, as biographer David McCullough writes, Harry Truman "traveled home from Washington unprotected by Secret Service agents ... He had come home without salary or pension. He had no income or support from the federal government other than his Army pension of $112.56 a month ... Truman had been forced to take out a loan at the National Bank in Washington in his last weeks as president to tide him over."

Barack Obama bid a grateful farewell to Robert Gibbs Wednesday by stressing to The New York Times that his press secretary "had a six-year stretch now where basically he's been going 24/7 with relatively modest pay." As a senior White House aide, Gibbs modestly earned $172,200 last year. That income alone -- leaving out any earnings by his wife -- would put Gibbs in the upper 8 percent of all American families, according to 2009 Census figures.

Entire article @ link: http://www.politicsdaily.com/2011/01/06/the-underpaid-robert-gibbs-and-washingtons-sense-of-entitlement/?icid=maing%7Cmain5%7Cdl1%7Csec1_lnk5%7C35227

[NCarolinawoman]

1. They are all so very out of touch. Really disgusting.

x( :thumbsdown:

[MessiahRp]

30. +1

Completely Agree.

[Davis_X_Machina]

2. He makes less than all the regular stable...

...of op-ed columnists at the Times.

That's what relatively modest means.

[former9thward]

10. That only applies if Gibbs has the same talent as those Op ed writers.

He doesn't.

[madinmaryland]

11. I think Gibbs has more talent than hacks like Krauthammer and Hiatt.

Sheesh.

[former9thward]

13. That is a political assessment.

I am talking about the ability to write a column. How many columns has Gibbs ever written? The only writing I am aware of is when Gibbs fronted for a 527 group that wrote smear attack ads on Howard Dean in 2004.

[Davis_X_Machina]

32. Director of Communications for a $3.8 trillion a year company...

...I think he gets the $150k just for his experience.

[Fool Count]

35. I don't know, there are people like Thomas Friedman and

David Brooks there to name just a couple.

[cherokeeprogressive]

16. Yeah, I'm sure President Obama was comparing Gibbs' pay with that of a NYT columnist.

Not.

[EFerrari]

3. It's like they live in a different country.

I'd love to work at one of those modestly paying jobs. Maybe my mom could buy all of her medications.

[EV_Ares]

4. Yeah, they don't account that with Gibbs high profile, what kind of job and money he

will be making when he leaves the WH. Also, I look at it as a service to their country (the way it used to be) like what our soldiers are doing now in Iraq and Afganistan, only they won't be going to even higher paying jobs when their service is done.

[EFerrari]

5. It's too bad Obama signed off on a freeze of public workers' wages

or he could give Gibbs a raise and keep him. :sarcasm:

[RKP5637]

6. +1, n/t

[MindandSoul]

9. No.. .but what about the Generals and bureaucrats in the Pentagons???

They make a lot more than Gibbs!

[Synicus Maximus]

12. The base pay for a O8 (Lieutenant General) with 20 years is $12291 per month or $147492 per year,

With dependents,combat pay.flight pay and other incentives they can add another couple of thousand a month. Maybe making 15000 a month or about $180000 about the same as Gibbs not a lot more.

[Angry Dragon]

7. And an Union worker making $50,000 is over paid

This country is screwed

[Cleita]

36. Or a nurse or a teacher. n/t

[MindandSoul]

8. $172,000 may seem like a lot. . .but it is peanuts compared to most

Silicone valley salaries for middle management people! My husband was a higher management (Director) level in a fairly large electronic companies in early 2000. . .and he made over $200,000 a year PLUS bonus and stock options. . .to the point that in 2001, our net income on tax return was over $400,000!. . .
If you consider that he NEVER even spoke in front of a camera. . .he was never quoted in ANY newspaper, and there were about 300 people earning at least as much (or a lot more!) than him in that ONE corporation 10 years ago. . .the statement made by the President is totally accurate!

And if you consider the Wall Street brokers or the Bank executive, who NEVER get into the "limelight" and earn MILLIONS a year. . .Biggs was very much underpaid for the job he was doing.

I know that if your average earning is $50,000 a year. . .his earnings seem high. . .but now, compare his earnings with most people in Washington (including McCain, Boehner, and even Palin and Beck). . .and HE WAS very much underpaid!

[EV_Ares]

14. As the article states in one paragraph, we all know about those

salaries you mention, the cost of living in DC. Gibbs also knew all that.

"Yes, Washington and its close-in suburbs are expensive places to live. But it is a safe guess that most print reporters who pepper Gibbs with questions at his daily briefings make less than $172,000 a year -- and they somehow manage to live in Washington as well. Salaries for federal judges (all of whom boast educational pedigrees that outstrip Gibbs' undergraduate degree from North Carolina State) start at $174,000 and waft skyward to $223,000 for Supreme Court Chief Justice John Roberts."

Now calculate how much Gibbs is going to make on speeches, a book(s)all from his lucrative career stint at the White House.

[cherokeeprogressive]

17. Gibbs' salary put him in the UPPER 8% of wage earners in the United States.

That's not peanuts. At least not by my estimation.

[woo me with science]

21. "compare his earnings with most people in Washington"

Sorry, MOST people in Washington don't have high powered jobs in the White House or on Capitol Hill.

MOST people in Washington fight beltway traffic in cars they cannot afford to maintain, to get to jobs that pay them a small FRACTION of what Gibbs earns. MOST people in Washington pay outrageous prices at the grocery store and have to budget and sacrifice in order to feed their families and keep a roof over their heads. MOST people in Washington carry debt, and MOST people in Washington pay exorbitant prices for health insurance, or don't have insurance at all.

You are describing MOST of the rich with whom President Obama and Robert Gibbs spend most of their time.

You are not describing "most people in Washington."

[MindandSoul]

34. Obviously I was not talking about the guy who works at McDonalds. . .

I was comparing "apple to apple," Just as you wouldn't expect someone working at a local advertiser paper to make as much as a price winning reporter at the NY Times or the Washington post. . .
Why don't we just compare how much Bigg made being "the voice" of the President, and Rush Limbaugh or Sarah Palin being the voices of insanity!

[Lucinda]

15. I've been told that Gibbs is heading for pundit-land so maybe money IS the basis of his decision

to leave the WH. Maybe he does feel he could be making more...or maybe he wants to be established so he can cheerlead for the next election cycle. Who knows...

[teenagebambam]

18. When I lived in DC in 2006

My partner and I had a combined income of $150K. With a $1800 month mortgage and comb Ed student loan payments of almos that much, we were just fine, and even had money to put in savings at the end of the month. My heart doesn't bleed for Mr. Gibbs.

[shugah]

24. were you rich living on 150K in DC?

or were you modestly comfortable?

[teenagebambam]

28. I would say more than moderately comfortable

All bills paid, ten percent going into savings, no credit card debt, but few extravagances. If we hadn't had the student loan payments ($1500 month) I would have said rich. Certainly much better off than we are now, in Florida, at lower salaries, and post- losing all savings and short selling a house.

[shugah]

29. your concept of "rich" is at variance with mine.

based solely on my experience having lived in DC is that $172k for a family is comfortable middle class.

edit: clarity

[teenagebambam]

33. My family is small

Two humans and 2 dogs.... and recent experiences have caused me to reconsider things like comfort and wealth! Right now, I would call myself rich if I even HAD a savings account.

[ProSense]

19. Why is the media hyperventilating over this?

A debate recently ended that defined rich as earning more than $250,000.

A salary of $172,000 is not modest compared to $50,000, but it's less than $250,000. With a spouse working, that could increase the family income to $250,000 or more.

Sounds like they're trying hard to define $172,000 as being a member of the elite.

What next, criticizing $100,000 as being in the top 15 percent?

The fact is that Gibbs' salary is equivalent to the salary of members of Congress.

[Igel]

20. Because "rich" was the *household* income of $250k and above.

If you want to look at individuals it's half that, IIRC. $125k and above.

Working spouse. Gibbs' household income is almost certainly >$250k for 2010.

Gibbs salary is equivalent to that of the rank-and-file member of Congress (well, within spitting distance). With the caveat that members of Congress are required to maintain residences in their home districts. They get a per diem, but that doesn't usually cover all their DC expenses. In other words, the Congressional salaries are easier to justify at that level than Gibbs, even if we assume that Gibbs has the same kind of responsibility as elected Congressional representatives do. (I'm not going to venture that far, by any means.)

The media, IMHO, is hyperventilating because wages in so much of the country are so much lower, because so many people are unemployed, because there's so much animosity towards those in the top 10% of income earners, esp. if those earners were in business, banking, industry. Meanwhile, for one of their own, some media folk thought that $172k, putting Gibbs in the top 10% of households, was modest. Insensitivity, lack of empathy, hypocrisy/double-standards. Surprised they didn't somehow claim that his salary, since it would go to so many restaurants and service providers, didn't count as some sort of stimulus package.

[EV_Ares]

23. The media is simply pointing out & asking the question is his salary really

modest. After workers across America are losing their jobs, no pay increases for some time while others are doing so well and Gibbs salary is in the upper 8%, it is a relevant topic to bring up. Appears you are hpyerventilating more about this than the media.

[AlabamaLibrul]

22. Considering all the administration has done for corporate America, it is comparatively low

food for thought

[Nikia]

25. Maybe it was relatively modest compared to his income potential

It is an insensitive comment, though, since most Americans make much less than that and many are struggling financially.

[EV_Ares]

27. Yes, it is and they are discounting because of his high profile job, his earnings when

he leaves and his book(s) deals he will be able to get. Add that on top of his present earnings & figure how much that will be worth. There is something called "a service to our country" which he chose as our soldiers in Iraq and Afganistant & all over the world are doing but not at that income nor will they get book deals & other fiscal benefits when they leave in comparison.

[hobbit709]

26. Shoveling verbal crap pays better than shoveling the real thing.

[Still a Democrat]

31. The point is he could have made more

Sure, it's a nice salary. The point is he's made a significant financial sacrifice. This smacks of a hit piece.