WASTEFUL SPENDING

I received the following in an e mail. First, the contents of the e mail, then some questions.

WOW--HERE'S A CHANGE

First Lady Requires More Than 20 Attendants; It's good to be the Queen!

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	$172,200	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		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		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		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		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		Bookey, Natalie	Staff Assistant
22		Jackson, Deilia A.	Deputy Associate Director ofCorrespondence for the First Lady
	$1,256,700

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 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 travelled aboard Air Force One to Europe

Now; the questions.

1. Where did the money to fund these assistants come from?

2. What is the authority for hiring them?

3. Why are these assistants necessary?

4. For the sake of equity assume that there was no increase in the public budget; then what other functions or expenditures were eliminated?