Posted on 05/08/2009 4:56:10 AM PDT by markomalley
First lady Michelle Obama called her "current life" in the White House "a very blessed situation, because I have what most families don't have -- tons of support all around, not just my mother, but staff and administration. I have a chief of staff and a personal assistant, and everyone needs that."
"Everyone should have a chief of staff and a set of personal assistants," Obama said with a laugh as she spoke before a crowd of business executives meeting today during a "Corporate Voices for Working Families" conference at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington.
(Excerpt) Read more at voices.washingtonpost.com ...
Let them eat cake
- Michelle Obama
BTW, if this has posted already, my apologies. And yes, I did a search before posting.
LLS
“Self-Parody: We Haz It!”
“Everyone should have a chief of staff and a set of personal assistants,”
Actually, MeShell, I’d love to have a housekeeper twice a month, but thanks to your husbands spreading MY wealth around, that’s not going to happen. I’m glad to hear you enjoy yours on the taxpayer dime though....
What she needs most is a trainer to get rid of the excess luggage.
Man, talk about an “If this were Bush” moment.
MeShell (I love this in another post!) just loves being in the Big House, don’t she?
“One income really doesn’t always cut it anymore. And that’s in my lifetime,” Obama said. “In most families, both parents have to work, and even if people want to make the choice to stay home.
I know there are exceptions, but it seems to me that both parents have to work because of the choices they’ve made: brand new cars, annual trips to Disney World, huge house, big screen TV, the list goes on. Most can make the choice to live more simply and afford to have one parent stay home and raise the kids at least until they’re in school.
The video is a must see. Whatever function this is, she is incredibly unprepared...and just rambling The rambled herself into the ‘everyone needs that’ (i.e. chief of staff) comment, not trying to be funny. The audience had a few nervous chuckles, and then it broke out into laughter.
Only then did MO start to play it off as a joke.
The content of her ramble: she is complaining that only one income is not enough to support a family these days. I brace myself when I say this...this is a logical result of the women’s liberation movement. Effectively doubling the workforce has the effect of cutting wages (compared to cost of living). The movement to give women the choice to go to work has taken away the choice of not working for many women.
I’m now putting on some football pads, for the beating I may get.
Not entirely. Housing prices, college costs, etc. have all risen MUCH more than wages over the past 30 years or so. My father was a blue collar worker and my mom didn't work. In 1968 they could afford to buy a house on Long Island, NY on just his salary. The house cost $22,000 and he made a little less than $10,000. Translate that to today. A comparable blue collar wage might be $60,000 (in this area) while a comparable house is close to $400,000. All things being equal, the house should be about twice his salary, as it was back then, or $120,000. You just can't do it on one salary anymore, at least in this area.
I think you’re proving my point. If a blue collar job is 60k, multiply it by two. Since most households now have two incomes, housing prices reflect what those families are willing to pay. If you choose to only have one income (as we do), plan on not being able to afford many things - their prices are set by the demand of two income households.
On a brighter note, the percentage of income that families pay for energy (even gasoline) has dropped tremendously since 1968...but of course that is about to change.
To put things more in perspective, if a 22k house in 1968 is now 400k, thats a 7.72% increase in value every year. The blue collar worker is way behind, if he goes from 10k to 60k (4.72% yearly growth). However, if you look at 10k to 120k (where both he and she are now working), its much closer at 6.60% yearly growth in salary. Household incomes aren’t falling that far behind (and besides I think people on Long Island make more than 60k)....the household income is now just split between two people.
YEP...what YOU said....my son has supported a wife and four kids for the past 15 years....and he does NOT have a college education....but, they don’t buy NEW cars, new furniture, new houses, etc.....
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