Obama’s Patronizing Sacrifice

Federal workers face unpaid furloughs because of the automatic spending cuts known as sequestration. That’s a serious economic hardship for many middle-class families, and whether or not Obama intended for it to happen, it’s a direct result of a bill he signed into law. And so the White House announced that Obama, “to share in the sacrifice being made by public servants,” would return 5% of his salary to the Treasury. The gesture was meant to be roughly the same percentage by which domestic agencies are being cut. But the amount—$20,000 of his $400,000 salary—is so little for a man made wealthy by his political fame that it comes across as patronizing.

Obama and his wife reported income of $8 million in his first three years in office, largely from royalties on his memoirs, which were best-sellers because of his political fame. For a man worth millions of dollars, $20,000 is not much of a sacrifice.

During World Wars I and II, there were “dollar-a-year men” who left lucrative private-sector careers to serve their country in Washington. If Obama really wants to share in the furloughed workers’ “sacrifice,” he should follow that honorable example and give back all but a dollar of his $400,000 salary. When he leaves office, he’ll be able to earn it back with a couple days’ work.

—Dana Milbank, Washington Post