THE WIVES OF THE WHITE HOUSE
The article originated by the Republican propaganda machine, led one to believe Michelle Obama’s staff payroll was higher compared to Laura Bush’s and the assumption that the staff has grown and is wasting taxpayer dollars. Ok, we looked into it. First who wrote it and how was it slanted if it was. BINGO!
The blog was written by the Canadian Free Press which is an ultra right wing bunch of folks who hide across the border. It hosts more paid ads on it’s pages then really intelligent material so consider the source and the fake endorsements and of course follow the money.
SNOPES AND POLITIFACT
You will find out that at the end of King George’s 2nd term, Laura’s staff had grown to 22 and as many as at times 26 aids. So parts of the information are correct unfortunately thats where the truth ended. Here are the real numbers.
Michelle Obama - 16 paid staff which cost $1,256,700 and Laura Bush, had 10 paid staff member's for $975,900. When these figures were explained...
Figures updated from Washington Post, of July 24, 2008, validated on August 4, show a difference of $280,800. So we did the math... the amount divided by the amount of personnel and cost per person.
Michelle Obama 1,256,700 divided by 16 = $78, 543.00 Avg. Per Emp.
Laura Bush 975,900 divided by 10 = $97, 590.00 Avg. Per Emp.
Difference in staff numbers, Michelle had six additional workers for $280,800.00
FIRST LADY LAURA BUSH
Laura Lane Welch Bush (born November 4, 1946) is the wife of the forty-third President of the United States, George W. Bush, and was the First Lady of the United States from January 20, 2001 to January 20, 2009.
Laura Bush has had a love for books and reading since childhood, and her life and education have reflected that interest. She graduated from Southern Methodist University in 1968 with a bachelor's degree in education, and soon took a job as a second grade school teacher.
After attaining her Master's degree in Library Science at the University of Texas at Austin, she was employed as a librarian. She met George Walker Bush in 1977, and they were married later that year. In 1981, the couple had twin daughters.
The challenge here is not one of budget but what is to be expected based on goals. Laura Bush's main interest and/or accomplishments in the 8 years at the White House were in the field of Children's Education, Breast Cancer and Library Issues. Safe smart issues for a Presidents wife. She did much for those causes in Africa, probably the Bush’s finest hour and his support of the Aids cause in an underwhelming Presidency. She made a few speech’s, and gave them money and offered support. She never walked in the minefields as Princess Diana did.
Relatively and realistically speaking, her profile was "backstage". The White House slogan was "Laura and I will pray for the XXXXX (Just fill it in with whatever comes to mind. lots to chose from). Thats important because it ended a press conference. No more questions, no more chances to make a bad statement. Those that knew her have said she was sweet, kind, sincere, and a loyal wife to George. For that alone she gets my vote. She had a compassion for the poor, the ill, those on the bottom and George. Anyone would be blessed to have such a loyal wife, she knew her place and stayed there.
FIRST LADY MICHELLE OBAMA
Michelle LaVaughn Robinson Obama (born January 17, 1964) is the wife of the President of the United States, Barack Obama, and is the First Lady of the United States. Michelle Robinson was born in and grew up on the South Side of Chicago. She received her bachelor's degree from Princeton University and her Juris Doctor (J.D.) from Harvard Law School.
Michelle is highly educated, very competitive, strong willed, and is comfortable in the business and educational world. She is a working mother, and a devoted parent. This year she worked with military families and her youth mentoring program, But the issue she has become the most passionate about is ending Childhood Obesity. A major problem right here at home and RIGHT NOW.
"Right now, nearly one-third of children in America are overweight or obese -- one in three. And one-third of all children today will eventually suffer from diabetes -- in the African-American and Latino communities, it goes up to almost half." President Obama said at the mayoral conference. "In fact, medical experts are predicting that this generation is on track to have a shorter lifespan than their parents."
So how does Michelle Obama plan to make those statistics a bad memory? By announcing a wide-ranging four-point initiative to combat childhood obesity. That includes increasing the number of 'healthy schools' where kids have access to nutritious food; Providing more opportunities for kids to be physically active; Ensuring that affordable healthy food is available in more communities; and giving parents the information they need to make good choices for themselves and their families,"
Access to a healthy lifestyle and diet has been an issue the first lady has championed since her first days in the White House. "My hope," she said in an interview with the New York Times, "is that through children, they will begin to educate their parents and families and that will, in turn, begin to educate our communities."
WHY A LARGER STAFF FOR MRS. OBAMA
• First, the advent of the web, requiring tons more answers and correspondence to handle general e-mails. Twitter, Facebook, and other social networking demands for answers on the web.
• Her social prominence as an accomplished leader in her own right. We do not have a former Librarian in the White House, we have an highly educated corporate leader with her own agendas.
• And the communication has quadrupled in the White House, we now have people who know what a computer is. The former leader thought going on line was a drug experience. More websites ending in .gov and more government interaction. About twenty times as much flow since the advent of the “send key’.
• A more open exposed President and first lady, with more invites, a growing family, and a stronger business and social calendar.
THE GEORGE BUSH GAFF
Laura nor George never mentioned having a computer filled life in the White House till George admitted it. He agreed he was computer illiterate and he just got his own first computer as a gift from Mike Dell, so he could go surfing. He just might of Googled his own name and that could explain the smashed computer found on the White House lawn the next morning, which led to the:
DELL DISASTER
It was a gift from Mike Dell of Dell Computers, a fellow Texan. George was also not supposed to mention gifts from voters or corporations, Mike Dell, against federal endorsement rules, that day and he said. " Mike Dell is a great American, owns a great Computer Company, and a Texan too". The President mentioned, “ Mike just announced 3000 new jobs at Dell”. As usual George never read paragraph two of the press release and did not know...
THAT THOSE JOBS
Were in "New Delhi", not the name of a Kosher Corn Beef resteurant, and not in the US. It is in INDIA. Not INDIANA, Thats when Dell went overseas with tech support and started to go downhill from there.
WOMEN IN POLITICS:
I can tell, you can't tell Michelle Obama to just do nothing. As one who supports the troops and servicemen and women, their families and especially the children, she is a strong speaker for their rights and I am proud to call her the First Lady. She is working on helping the troops, and child obesity. If you had a son or daughter wounded or in the VA system, would you tell her to quit? If your child was diagnosed with diabetes which could effect his/her entire life, would you tell her to quit?
All this may come as a surprise to those who live and dwell on this line of prejudicial dialog which in itself is partially correct on numbers and weak on substantive reasoning. Based on these other factors at least some semblance of intelligent English is spoken in the White House today and allows the white House more communication with the people. something the last White House didn't do well and may be we should look the other way and see how much was wasted and employees not put to good use during the last administration. Maybe they improved the Dewey Decimal System or just went on line.