You thought the President was playing when he said the sequester was dumb as hell and he was all about the American people?
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Think again! In a budget gesture to relieve federal workers who are going to be furloughed as a part of the sequester, President Barack Obama is voluntarily planning to return 5% of his salary to the treasury.
Yep, you heard that right. He’s paying out with his own bread.
The move would be retroactive to March 1 and apply through the rest of the calendar year, according to a White House official.
The White House came up with the 5% figure to approximate the level of automatic spending cuts to non-defense federal agencies that took effect that day.
“The president has decided that to share in the sacrifice being made by public servants across the federal government that are affected by the sequester, he will contribute a portion of his salary back to the Treasury,” the official said.
He isn’t the only one getting in on the action. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Deputy Defense Secretary Ashton B. Carter said that they too will return a share of their salaries commensurate with the pay lost by the department’s civilian employees who are expected to be furloughed for 14 days before the end of the fiscal year.
But for Obama, how much will that be out of his pocket?
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A total of $16,667 will be taken from his $400,000 salary.
Now can we officially change his name to “The People’s Champ?” Our president better walk that walk!
SOURCE: NYT
