Kristol: Obama was rolling in the dough as community organizer.
Kristol: Obama was rolling in the dough as community organizer.
In his New York Times column today, Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol expressed his disappointment at what Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) “left out” of his commencement speech last week at Wesleyan University. Kristol claims that Obama’s decision to become a community organizer in Chicago isn’t very impressive:
And one day, a group of churches in Chicago offered him a job as a community organizer for “$12,000 a year plus $2,000 for an old, beat-up car.” […] Obama wants us to be impressed by the drama of his spurning the big bucks, by his bold acceptance of such a pittance of money in order that he could do good.
Leave aside the fact that two years elapsed between Obama’s graduation from Columbia in 1983 and his heading off to Chicago in 1985. Dramatic foreshortening is, after all, sometimes necessary. And leave aside whether $14,000 in 1985 was really such a shockingly low salary for someone recently out of college — in inflation-adjusted dollars, it’s about what we pay entry-level editorial assistants today at The Weekly Standard.
In today’s dollars, Obama’s $12,000/year in 1985 translates into an inflation-adjusted current salary of $23,958. It seems Kristol may be living in a time warp because what he pays his new employees is less than the average salary for the lowest-level congressional staffer.
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William “the bloody rag” Kristol admits to paying his reich-wing staff poverty level, slave wages. How telling….
June 2nd, 2008 at 10:33 amAlso, yesterday on Faux, William “the bloody rag” Kristol said TWICE that Scotty mcclellan was fired from the White House. Of course, no one dared to correct him. How typical for faux.
June 2nd, 2008 at 10:36 amAnd leave aside whether $14,000 in 1985 was really such a shockingly low salary for someone recently out of college — in inflation-adjusted dollars, it’s about what we pay entry-level editorial assistants today at The Weekly Standard.
As if anyone should be getting paid at all who works for your crappy Weakly Substandard , William the Effeminate ?
June 2nd, 2008 at 10:36 am“Obama was rolling in the dough as community organizer”
So?
June 2nd, 2008 at 10:42 amIt’s appalling that the NYT is paying Wilbur Sparkly more than $23,958 a year for the tripe he contributes.
June 2nd, 2008 at 10:43 amWhere Oh where would billy boy be if it wasn’t for his NeoCon-founding father to provide him with his cushy Zionist pulp rag to spout his crap from? And, as we all know, he hasn’t been right about anything he has ever said.
June 2nd, 2008 at 10:45 amBorn with a silver-spoon-in-his-mouth Kristol can’t know what average people live on — what a blathering, useless tool he is. I’d like to know how well he could support his lifestyle on $25,000/year. Jackass.
June 2nd, 2008 at 10:46 amKristol claims that Obama’s decision to become a community organizer in Chicago isn’t very impressive
As opposed to a direct comparison of Chimpy’s “history” of volunteer/community work ?
What tremendous insight you have to offer ……….
June 2nd, 2008 at 10:47 amOdd…I don’t recall any similar observation from Kristol on Bush’s public service work after college. After his AWOL years when Bush bankrupted 2 companies before he struck paydirt via insider trading. That’s a biography that built character!
June 2nd, 2008 at 10:48 amIf only one could earn a high salary through civic engagement and not merely as a double-talking corporate head, the meaning of “the world’s richest nation” would skyrocket.
On all fronts, William Kristolmeth, you’re wrong.
June 2nd, 2008 at 10:49 amKristol wouldn’t have a job himself if it weren’t for his Daddy.
Kristol has had 3 correction notices on his articles with his last 3 posts. Boy, Billy, that’s quite an accuracy record for someone who prides himself on ‘facts’.
Hey, NYT Editorial Board, could you sink any lower than letting pond scum like this lie & distort truths? What’s next, Druggie Limpdick getting a column?
Q: What do you get by combining Bill Kristol & David Brooks?
A: 1/2 a moron.
June 2nd, 2008 at 10:54 amKristol is an idiot…truly an idiot.
June 2nd, 2008 at 10:54 amMcMetal (post #3)
While I agree with your critique of Kristol, I would ask that you consider using some other adjective besides effiminate to describe him . Why insult women?
June 2nd, 2008 at 10:54 amAnd if William Safire doesn’t retire and John Tierney isn’t a flameout as an op-ed writer, you don’t have this gig, Bill. Now, about those THREE glaring gaffes in your columns, to this point….
June 2nd, 2008 at 10:59 amgapte Says:
——————————————————————————–
McMetal (post #3)
While I agree with your critique of Kristol, I would ask that you consider using some other adjective besides effiminate to describe him . Why insult women?
June 2nd, 2008 at 10:54 am
I do not believe I was.
I believe women are stronger than their male counterparts……
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:03 amrogers Says:
——————————————————————————–
he has a point
I suppose he could’ve taken alot more profitable choices in life, but even as community worker for a bunch of local churches, the man was earning a pretty average american salary…already more than many can ever hope for.
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:00 am
Yeah
He should have just been born into wealth ; what was he thinking ?
You’re an imbecile……………..
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:04 amThe hit piece by Kristol (Harvard, ‘73; PhD, ‘79) also points to Wesleyan as an “elite Northeastern college campus,” and mocks Obama’s call to public service as simply an ego-trip of “look at how wonderful I was.” The fact that Obama, who in a few years would be the President of the Harvard Law Review, chose to spend his mid twenties at a low-paying community service job is to be commended, not mocked.
You will also look in vain for any record of Kristol’s military service. As someone of about his age, who spent four years as a USN Hospital Corpsman, I find Obama’s support of a real GI Bill–which was my route through college and Seminary–to be real a support for actual troops, more than Kristol’s support for wars and (verbal) support of the military.
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:05 amrogers…he has a point
huh? where? what exactly is kristol’s point here?
rogers, please highlight to me the validity of kirstol’s “point” - i feel like i need a good laugh.
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:06 amERrrrrrrrr, WRONG. 1) that wasn’t his point, he said “Obama was rolling in the dough as community organizer” 2) in 1985 he was still below the mean salary in the U.S., 3) try again, mook.
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:06 amKristol Balls didn’t serve because, well, he has Kristol Balls that tend to shatter when scared.
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:07 amThanks Dr. Hussein Matt. I was so floored by the sheer idiocy of rogers’ “comment” that I couldn’t really form a coherent smack-down.
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:09 amLet’s see, using a 40 hour week times 50 weeks equals 2,000 work hours. That works out to $7.00/hr. Using that adjusted for inflation salary amount it works out to $11.98/hr.
Yah, that’s rolling in the dough. What a dweeb.
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:11 amExcuse me for being slightly off topic…Is roger the old roger roger troll poster of the past.?….Being a reich winged backer, this is so typical of that troll….Blessings
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:22 amDOW is down, S&P is down, NASDAQ is down, and gas prices have hit another record high.
Congrat GOPigs, this is YOUR legacy.
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:23 amWas it a low salary? According to this article, the $24k figure (in today’s money) is about 25% less than the average salary for entry-level positions of the lowest-earning college major (psychology), and about 60% less than the highest-earning college major (chemical engineering).
Is it about what they pay at the Weekly Standard? The average starting pay for editorial assistants is $30,100. So the Weekly Standard either pays its staff 20% less than the national average, or to Kristol, 20% of one’s pay is a negligable amount. I’m sure he’d feel the same way if the top tax brackets were to be taxed an extra 20%.
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:24 amThanks for proving my point, he was living BELOW the mean salary in 1985!!! LOL!!! You just made my point, twit, thank you.
You’re not very good at this, dolt.
P.S. You obviously do not know what inflation adjusted means.
Thanks for playing. Good luck tomorrow.
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:26 amKristol: “it’s [$24K] about what we pay entry-level editorial assistants today at The Weekly Standard.”
And that’s about what their work is worth.
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:27 amrogers Says:
I suppose he could’ve taken alot more profitable choices in life, but even as community worker for a bunch of local churches, the man was earning a pretty average american salary…already more than many can ever hope for.
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:00 am
______
A pretty average American salary? I thought Barack was an elitist! Which is it?
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:28 amAs some have noted above, I could not get through the “op-ed” when the argument turned to Obama leaving out military service in the commencement address. And exactly what military service does this spongy-bodied wimp have? Or for that matter, what military service did any of the administration goons whose water he shamelessly carries have? That’s what I thought.
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:28 amNow I know that Bill Krystal is an idiot. I’ve always suspected it but this stupid comment proves it. This man clearly has a personal problem with Sen. Obama which he can’t seem to get over. I believe it’s Obama’s race based on the way he treats Juan Williams is a a colleague to works for Fox News. Mr. Krystal repeatedly questions Mr. Williams intelligence on Brit Humes weekly talk show. So for prejudice people like Krystal any black man whether democrat or republican wouldn’t be good enough to be President. He thinks that the office of President is reserved for white males only. The last time I checked there was no such sign hanging on the door of the White House. Since Bill worked for one of the dumbest politicians in American history (Dan Quayle) he shouldn’t be questioning anyone’s intelligence or judgement. This also shows why he would think Bush is such a great President. Apparently not only is he dumb, prejudice, he lives in a fantasy world of his own.
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:30 amI read this piece of drek and the sentence that really pissed me off was this…”Of course, most politicians do admire themselves and their excellent careers. So perhaps one shouldn’t make too much of Obama’s sin of self-respect.” Now it’s a sin to respect yourself? Kristallnacht, you are such a product of tearing down anything good, you can’t even BEGIN to understand what self-respect is. The other point is, why SHOULD we have a ‘military option’ as an option? When will we EVER get off this war war war bullshit?
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:31 amrogers, he was making $12K in 1985. This is WELL below the mean salary in 1985, you stupid inbred idiot. Get it now? I know you don’t.
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:31 amOf course, rogers, “thinks” making below poverty level is pretty good considering rogers lives of shopping carts filled with returnable cans.
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:33 amRegardless of what Obama was making in 1985, he was doing something good for the community…NOT out there trying to earn a killing on the commodities market or shafting somebody to get ahead.
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:33 amrogers proves to everyone in this single sentence that she is completely clueless.
Priceless….
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:35 amUntil we get to the point where we start understanding that I-pods and clothes and ‘Sex and the City’ and having a huge house and getting a bigger car and buying worthless pieces of crap is counter to most of the world even having a piece of paper to wipe themselves off after going to the bathroom, we are doomed to have the world hate us even more than they do now. This system needs to go the way of the dinosaur. We started to change it in the sixties, the reactionaries stopped it for 35 years, but the NeoCons trashing of their own ideology with their incompetence may make the Age of Aquarius really return for good.
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:37 amRogers:
GPD per capita in 1985 was $17,600, and like he said, inflation adjusted, obama was still making $23,958.
And $23,985 is rolling in dough? Rogers, what country, or better yet, what planet do you live on?
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:38 amrogers Says
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:00 am
I suppose he could’ve taken alot more profitable choices in life, but even as community worker for a bunch of local churches, the man was earning a pretty average american salary…already more than many can ever hope for.
_____________________________________________________
I think you are missing BOTH Obama’s and Kristol’s points.
Obama’s point that he was making in his speech was the importance of community service. In making this point, he related his getting a job as a community organizer, even though the job didn’t pay all that well.
Kristol’s point was that we shouldn’t be impressed by Obama’s low pay because that was good money for an “entry-level” worker.
First off — Obama wasn’t exactly an average job seeker. He had a B.A. from Columbia University (that’s an Ivy League school, in case you didn’t know — and he got through it on scholarships and loans, not by rich parents).
Second, he had two years of post-school job experience at Business International Corporation and New York Public Interest Research Group. While two years doesn’t exactly make him a well-seasoned candidate for employment, it kind of takes him out of the greenhorn category.
There is really no doubt that Obama could have gotten a significantly higher-paying job with some corporation with a nice benefits package and a good career future. But instead he chose a job serving his community, which was the point he was trying to make in stressing the importance of service to the new college grads of Wesleyan.
Kristol’s point appears to be that Obama got the job as community organizer because he couldn’t do any better, so we shouldn’t be impressed. He’s also trying to make the point that the $12,000 salary ($23,958 in today’s dollars) is a lot of money — about what he pays his own workers. All that proves is that he underpays his staff.
But the money isn’t what’s important. Serving one’s community is — a point Kristol completely lost. But that’s not surprising. Kristol couldn’t possibly understand the concept of service to others. Unless there was something really big in it for him.
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:40 amrogers Says:
If mean was $17,600, at 12k he was making only about $5,000 below…I would hardly call that well below..STUPID.
Again, I fail to see here how Kristol’s “point” holds any water, something that you asserted in your initial post. How are the numbers you point to any indicator of Obama “rolling in dough?”
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:40 amrogers he was make 12,000/yr in 1985. Do you understand that? Probably not. I’ll continue. In 1985, 12K/yr was BELOW the mean average in country. Do you understand that? Probably not. I’ll continue. You are a complete f**king imbecile. Do you understand that? Probably not. I’ll continue. Blood Rag Kristol claimed living below the average salary in 1985 is a good living. Do you understand that? Probably not. I’ll continue. You are lost. We all know that. Let us know if you need any help.
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:41 amTweedster Says:
And $23,985 is rolling in dough? Rogers, what country, or better yet, what planet do you live on?
How much per word is the RNC paying the trolls these days?
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:42 amHe wasn’t making 23,985 in 1985. He was making 12K….BELOW the average salary in 1985. rogers doesn’t know what inflation adjusted means.
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:43 amwhen o when will somebody beat that shit-eating smirk offa his face?
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:43 am42. misshusseinmolly Says:
Thanks molly…of course Kristol wouldn’t see any point in community service. He’s been a huge disservice to this country for so long now that there’s no way he could understand the importance of building your community.
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:45 amrogers -
12,000k is 32% less than 17,600k.
You try making 32% less than mean.
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:45 amI hear misshusseinmolly yet again!
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:45 amWhy are you arguing about something so inconsequential? The point of the Kristallnacht article was to demean the man because of what he was doing and saying…not what he was making - that was just a crappy little dig. The military service thing is what he is whining about, everything else is just gratuitous.
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:45 amNotice how it is impossible for any liberal/progressive to ever measure up to the level of purity and self sacrifice required by the Republicans.
1. If you have an education from a good school, you are elitist.
2. If you do not bowl, you are an elitist.
3. If you have gained wealth through your own hard work, you are an elitist and out of touch with the poor.
4. Unless you take a vow of total and absolute poverty, you are an elitist and out of touch with the poor and middle class.
When are people going to slam such bull shit. How dare does Kristol presume to know why Obama referred to his experience as a community organizer in his speech. He was providing an example of serving the community and eschewing a more prosperous path. Why does Kristol assume that Obama must also take an oath of poverty? Yes, he was from an impressive school. Yes, he could have gone with many businesses for far more money and with a path to a far richer life. But this is never good enough for the Republicans when coming from a Democrat. We need to carry the attack against them.
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:45 amoops, I meant I heart misshusseinmolly yet again.
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:45 amLOL. Rogers “thinks” 12K in 1985 actually means $23,958 in 1985. Jebus….you reich-wingers really are completely clueless.
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:46 amBC in Illinois; I was a navy corpsman too, Vietnam.
Remember this one?
Where angels and marines fear to tread,
you will find a navy corpsman
heh
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:46 am$5000 below the mean salary in 1985 = $9,982.48 below the mean salary in 2008. $831.87 per month is a lot to give up when you’ve cash-strapped with student loans. But Barack Obama found solace in helping others. The reich-wing pack has a radical definition of community service, in hedge-fund managers.
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:47 amDr. Hussein Matt Says: He wasn’t making 23,985 in 1985. He was making 12K….BELOW the average salary in 1985. rogers doesn’t know what inflation adjusted means.
And the fact remains that either number does not exactly conjure up the image of “rolling in dough”
Are there any petitions or anything out there calling for Kirstol’s job? The guy is a sloppy commentator and just a pathetic mouthpiece for the neocons - no integrity or decency at all.
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:47 amrogers Says
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:23 am
hey idiot…GPD per capita in 1985 was $17,600, and like he said, inflation adjusted, obama was still making $23,958.maybe not “rolling in dough”, but pretty decent.
________________________________________________
And again you miss the point. Obama didn’t claim he was getting underpaid for his job as a community organizer. He was stressing the importance of community service. And in doing so, he related his own experience of taking a community service job.
Community service jobs don’t pay a whole lot — it’s not a good career choice if you want to get rich. But it’s a great way to “give back”.
This is the point. Not how $12,000 stacked up against other salaries in 1985.
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:47 amDr. Hussein Matt - dead on regarding rogers not knowing what inflation adjusted means.
Here you go, rogers. Inflation-adjusted means taking an amount from the past, and adjusting it to reflect what that amount is equivalent to today’s currency value. 12k in 1985 will buy you the same stuff that 23k will today.
Got it?
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:48 amrogers Says:
If mean was $17,600, at 12k he was making only about $5,000 below…I would hardly call that well below..STUPID.
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:37 am
_______
$12,000 is 65% of $17,600. In other words, he was making 2/3ds the salary of the average American, and only about $7,000 above the poverty line.
Remember also that the “average” wage includes rural areas where cost-of-living is much lower. A salary of $12,000 may have a living wage in some parts of the country in 1985, but not in a major metropolis.
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:48 amYou have to be very desperate for criticizing someone for making below the mean salary and then someone defending that criticism. Talk about elitists!
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:49 amAnd in 1983, my high school teachers were contemplating a strike for better pay. The starting salary offered by the school district was $8500 a year!
Meaning that a recent college grad holding a teaching certificate would be offered a starting salary of $8500.
The foreign language teacher there retired (in 1998) after 20 years of teaching at the same place. After her COLA raises, her salary was not even $50,000.
US public school teachers are paid crap, but the Nazi wing of the GOP (everyone to the right of Hillary Clinton) spreads the lies that they don’t even deserve that much.
So, Obama was WELL PAID, for that era, better than an accredited high school teacher.
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:49 amNow you are just flat out lying.
You have been thoroughly debunked, now you just look desperate.
Anyone want to start *flagging* rogers for spamming?
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:50 amOk…ok…hopefully they get THAT part of it and you can get to the meat of it is Kristallnacht demeaning community service and equating a great speech with exhorting young graduates to go and get killed in the military.
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:51 amFor a chickenshit chickenhawk like Kristol complaining about Obama’s lack of service is like a hooker complaining about a woman’s lack of virtue.
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:51 amOnce again, rogers is debunked
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:52 amUncle Ho, dat be funny!!!
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:52 amDr. Hussein Matt Says:
You have to be very desperate for criticizing someone for making below the mean salary and then someone defending that criticism. Talk about elitists!
And as misshusseinmolly has appropriately pointed out, the actual POINT of Obama’s speech was not about his salary, but about stressing the importance of community service. Something I assume most reich wingers immediately take offense to.
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:52 amSo Obama’s community organizing record is not very impressive according to Kristol’s standards…
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:52 amI bet Obama will be very impressive to Kristol if he was NeoCon’s organizer. !!
Could anybody buy a home at $12,000.00 even in the mid eighties? Kristol is full of it.
If anything Kristol knows, it is how to twist facts,lie and get paid by suckers like NY Times,and bogus news company like Fox network.
bobcat_grad Says:
rogers -
12,000k is 32% less than 17,600k.
You try making 32% less than mean.
rogers’ mom pays him in cheetohs to lick her ass clean after her tricks leave the house…
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:53 amHow much you want to bet that crappy salary at the Weakkneed Spamturd doesn’t include health insurance?
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:53 amHe was making 12K/yr in 1985. Fact. He was making 32% less than the average salary in 1985. Fact. Are you confused yet? Yes.
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:53 am“rural areas where cost-of-living is much lower.”
Nonsense. I moved from NYC to Vermont in 2002, my monthly costs did NOT change. Sure I paid less rent, but food was NOT cheaper, and the lower rent was offset by a huge increase in transportation costs. Instead of taking mass transit I now have to spend thousands of dollars a year to own and operate a motor vehicle.
The cost of living is only lower in rural areas IF you have no mortgage, and don’t own a car, and grow your own food in a garden. But for those of us that have to work for a living, it’s quite expensive.
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:53 amrogers Says:
If mean was $17,600, at 12k he was making only about $5,000 below…I would hardly call that well below..STUPID.
$5,000 is nearly half his annual salary, bozo. You don’t think a boost of 42% of your annual salary would be significant?
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:55 amIn his New York Times column today, Weekly Standard editor Bill Kristol expressed his disappointment at what Sen. Barack Obama (D-IL) “left out” of his commencement speech last week at Wesleyan University. Kristol claims that Obama’s decision to become a community organizer in Chicago isn’t very impressive…
What’s disappointing is how much they pay bufoons like Kristol for his worthless opinions.
http://progressiveworldreview.com
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:55 amDear Kristol,
Obama made less money then I do now, at that point in his life he just graduated an ivy league school. I barely made it through fing high school. I can’t even imagine knocking someone for taking a job for 24k a year to help people, oh ya and a crappy car which the jerk probably used to transport workers without cars to and from places. OH MY GOD HE SHOULD HAVE USED A HORSE.
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:56 amComrade Rutherford Says
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:49 am
And in 1983, my high school teachers were contemplating a strike for better pay. The starting salary offered by the school district was $8500 a year!
[…]
So, Obama was WELL PAID, for that era, better than an accredited high school teacher.
_______________________________
Were your high school teachers working in the Chicago Public Schools system? It would be interesting to compare the cost of living where you were in 1983 to the cost of living in Chicago in 1985 when Obama took that job.
But even if you lived in a rural midwest locale where the cost of living wasn’t all that high, $8500 for a year of teaching sounds woefully low, even for the 1980’s. I don’t blame your teachers for wanting to strike.
And I’ll point out, once again, that Obama was NOT COMPLAINING about his salary. That wasn’t the point he was making. He was talking about the importance of spending some time doing something for one’s community even if it wasn’t as lucrative as getting a cushy private industry job with a bigger paycheck. An option Obama must surely have had at the time.
June 2nd, 2008 at 11:59 amrogers:
If mean was $17,600, at 12k he was making only about $5,000 below…I would hardly call that well below..
er, that would be about 30% below mean. I’d call that “well below.”
June 2nd, 2008 at 12:00 pmComrade Rutherford Says:
Spot on Comrade. I moved up to Vermont a couple of years ago as well after time in NYC and Metro-Boston area. Rent, usually much lower for comparable square-footage in urban areas. Food, fuel, etc. MUCH higher. Especially if you have oil heat!!!
June 2nd, 2008 at 12:00 pmI find it very encouraging that this is the worst thing the RNC and their media subsidiaries can dredge up in the neverending quest to smear Obama. Don’t think for a second that they aren’t lying awake nights fretting about their total lack of ammunition.
June 2nd, 2008 at 12:01 pmah, sorry for repeating everyone’s points. took me a while to get logged in.
the real tragedy here is that community organizing is valued less than printing lies and distortions in the nyt under the guise of “opinion.”
June 2nd, 2008 at 12:05 pmrogers Says:
Tell me, what do you you think he got, compared to all the volunteer workers?.oh, wait.
He made a lot more money than unemployed people or dead people, too. What a terrible thing! Here’s a hint: volunteers always make less money than people who get paid.
I was making significantly more money that Obama in 1985 working as a typesetter and it was very difficult to live on.
June 2nd, 2008 at 12:08 pmrogers Says:
Tell me, what do you you think he got, compared to all the volunteer workers?.oh, wait.
rogers, I implore you…please enlighten me as to how Obama’s salary in 1985 can accurately be described as “rolling in dough.” If you can’t do that, put down the keyboard and go lay down somewhere - preferably a busy street.
June 2nd, 2008 at 12:10 pm**music accompanyment**
rogers is the trolling Superman
he moves the goalposts - like no one can”
**and now we return to our regularly scheduled program**
June 2nd, 2008 at 12:11 pmTell me, what do you you think he got, compared to all the volunteer workers?.oh, wait.
nice non-sequitor. you said $5k wasn’t much in relation to 17k, which i was merely pointing out is an idiot’s stance.
i’m a volunteer blogger tell me, what do you think kristol gets, compared to me? is your point that there are no community organizing jobs which should carry a salary, and that somehow obama was gaming the system for the big bucks? how much do you think that priests get paid compared to church volunteers? when did obama ever claim to have taken a vow of total poverty and work tirelessly for the poor for nothing? did he have some kind of vast family fortune and if so does that mean he should have turned down the salary? what is it that obama claimed about choosing a lower paying career that did good for others instead of a high paying self promoting one do you find not to be true?
these are of course rhetorical questions, as you are too intellectually dishonest ideologically driven and mathematically insufficiently inclined to answer them properly.
June 2nd, 2008 at 12:14 pmSome nice lifts out of a Jim Manzi post at NRO Corner a week earlier:
the part about the single sentence paragraph and its dramatic effect;
the inflation-adjusted financial comparison;
Obama’s lack of mention of the military.
June 2nd, 2008 at 12:17 pmIf Obama had made his money honestly, like Bush and McCain did, there wouldn’t be a problem.
The sequence of events related to the purchase and sale of the Texas Rangers by George W. Bush and his partners:
McCain’s Divorce
June 2nd, 2008 at 12:21 pmcollection plaits ?? Churches use braided hair to gather collections?
Seriously, rogerX2, why don’t you stop giving us your 2-cents, save up and buy yourself some spelling and grammar tutoring, or at least a clue?
June 2nd, 2008 at 12:27 pmrogers Says:
Tell me, what is the average sallary for a “community organizor”, or church worker?, they must have alot of high-paying jobs with those collection plaits
I’m not sure they collect money with braids of hair, but I’m still waiting for your rationale for claiming that what Obama was making was “rolling in dough.”
BTW, if I get those average salary numbers for you, should I have Dr. Matt walk you through the inflation adjustment process again?
June 2nd, 2008 at 12:28 pmrogers spells much like ‘his’ presidunce, eh?
June 2nd, 2008 at 12:29 pmTell me, what is the average sallary for a “community organizor”, or church worker?, they must have alot of high-paying jobs with those collection plaits.
that’s a good question. perhaps you should know the answer before asking it, less you look STUPID again. really, there is nothing more pathetic than some moron making an easily slapped down idiotic and untrue statement and ending it with an all caps insult to his.her betters’ intelligence.
first, it is spelled ‘plates’ - plaits are for hair.
here is a financial statement i found for Our Lady Of The Meadows Church in about 5 seconds on google. you should try it. the bookkeeper makes more than obama did, inflation adjusted. the program coordinator makes $33k/year, about 30% more than obama did as a community organizer - i’m guessing it is an equivalent job.
people who help people have to eat as well, you know.
June 2nd, 2008 at 12:29 pm91. PatrioticLiberalChristian Says:
You beat me to it!!! Lots of priests plait their hair. Don’t they?
June 2nd, 2008 at 12:29 pmYes, Hagee braids his underarms…I saw it on TeeVee!
June 2nd, 2008 at 12:30 pm93. dirk gently Says
Dirk, I’d hate to be the bearer of bad news, but rogers will get confused by those numbers and will make claim that adjusted for inflation, 33k in 2008 is actually worth 45k in 2008. Or something…going over rogers posts the math goes all over the map.
June 2nd, 2008 at 12:32 pmrogers Says:
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Tweedster
I implore you…please enlighten me as to how Obama’s salary in 1985 can accurately be described as “rolling in dough.”
Tell me, what is the average sallary for a “community organizor”, or church worker?, they must have alot of high-paying jobs with those collection plaits.
June 2nd, 2008 at 12:21 pm
The median expected salary for a typical Community Organizer in the United States is $30,813.
http://swz.salary.com/ salarywizard/ layouthtmls/ swzl_compresult_national_CM0200074.html
Now stop posting stupid shit , you dopey bastood……..
June 2nd, 2008 at 12:33 pmTweedster, I’m thinking it might be possible that rogers “plates” his hair, that is he ties a bunch of dinner ware (wear?) into his locks. This might explain why he can’t see, hear, or speak well what with all the distraction and interference of those plates.
June 2nd, 2008 at 12:33 pmZimzone Says:
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Yes, Hagee braids his underarms…I saw it on TeeVee!
June 2nd, 2008 at 12:30 pm
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He is also the proud owner of a stunning pair of man-b00bs……
June 2nd, 2008 at 12:35 pmaw, shoot. someone beat me to salary wizard while i was answering the collection plate braids question.
June 2nd, 2008 at 12:36 pmWhat a surprise,,,Kristol’s wrong,,,AGAIN
June 2nd, 2008 at 12:37 pmtweedster, that was actually $33k in 2004. the popping sound you hear is rogers’s head exploding trying to figure out the adjustment on that.
June 2nd, 2008 at 12:38 pmMCMetal Says:
Rogers cant stop posting dopey shit unless he retires from trolling all together.
Rogers - again, I would like to gain the wisdom you have and be able to see how Obama was “rolling in dough” as a community organizer. I wish your genius was something I could bottle and use to mix my Kool-Aid with.
June 2nd, 2008 at 12:39 pm100 MCMetal Says:
Isn’t there a passage in Corinthians regarding man bosom? Also, is motorboating a sin, or does it feel so good that it should be a sin? Questions…
June 2nd, 2008 at 12:40 pmDon’t you also have to take into account the fact that you’re talking about Chicago wages as opposed to average wages? It’s an indisputable fact that life costs more in the largest metropolitan areas than it does in smaller areas — and while wages are often higher in such places, this doesn’t always sufficiently compensate for the cost of living differential. I should know…my parents like to remind me from time to time what sort of place I could afford to rent back home in the Midwest (and we’re not talking about Chicago) for the same amount that I pay to live here in New York. Based on my own experience and observations, I would hardly call earning a present-day salary of $23,958 in a major city “rolling in dough”, even for a new college graduate. Maybe Obama could have done worse — but for a relatively new graduate from Columbia back in the mid-1980’s economy prior to Black Monday, he could probably have done much better!!!
June 2nd, 2008 at 12:43 pmtrollshit like rogers can debate nothing on the merits, the issues of importance at this critical time, so they take to bashing community service. Yes, the act of helping others.
They’re catering to the dumbest, shallow voters of this country, who will be easily scared to voting Republican. I don’t know how long that tactic will work as long as their homes are going under and more middle class people have to muster the courage to go to the food pantry.
His pastor. A visiting pastor. His starting salary. This is the strategy of the right to frustrate smart voters by diverting discussion to rile up less-educated voters to the polls.
Obama, you are being held to a higher standard. Safety is one issue, first and foremost. I just feel better that he has David Axelrod on his staff to plot a good course.
June 2nd, 2008 at 12:47 pmbut for a relatively new graduate from Columbia back in the mid-1980’s economy prior to Black Monday, he could probably have done much better!!!
which of course is the point. if he’d been paid $100k/year for a community service job, but turned down the chance of a $1million/year corporate law job, his statements would have been just as valid. it isn’t about how much money he made (not much) but that he was advocating some personal sacrifice in favor of the common good, a policy which he himself followed.
unlike, say, someone who urged continuing war in vietnam while he himself got deferments or blew off the national guard.
June 2nd, 2008 at 12:50 pmdirk gently Says:
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aw, shoot. someone beat me to salary wizard while i was answering the collection plate braids question.
June 2nd, 2008 at 12:36 pm
Sorry , didn’t mean to steal your thunder ; just view me as a facilitator.
You can recieve all the credit , starting with me recommending your post(s) for giving me the impetus to do something…….
June 2nd, 2008 at 12:53 pmand bluestockings is correct, the median salary for community organizers is a little higer in the midwest - over $31k. highest in the west, which i guess is because of california.
June 2nd, 2008 at 12:55 pmTweedster Says:
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100 MCMetal Says:
Isn’t there a passage in Corinthians regarding man bosom? Also, is motorboating a sin, or does it feel so good that it should be a sin? Questions…
June 2nd, 2008 at 12:40 pm
Corinthian leather ?
A Chrysler Cordoba ?
Ricardo Montalban ?
BTW
Anyone know where Fantasy Island’s “owner” gets his last name from ?
I do…………
June 2nd, 2008 at 12:55 pmAnyone know where Fantasy Island’s “owner” gets his last name from ?
well? I’m pulling a troll move here and won’t be doing research on your question…but I want to know.
Will my lack of willpower be overcome by my drive to know? Only time will tell…
June 2nd, 2008 at 12:58 pmMCMetal Says:
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You can recieve all the credit
i’m wary of credit these days, what with bear stearns abd all. no worries, you got it fair and square :)
speaking of doing something, i’d better get back to work before my own median earnings drop again. see y’all again later.
June 2nd, 2008 at 12:58 pmI bet Haggee loooooves rich Corinthian leather. He probably has a thong made out of corinthian leather to protect his jewels from demons.
June 2nd, 2008 at 1:00 pmWho is Mr. Roarke?
June 2nd, 2008 at 1:01 pmHow many people who read the New York Times would look at $23 thou a year and say, “wow, he was making out like a bandit!”?
June 2nd, 2008 at 1:06 pmyou might make it on late night TV filled with Medicare motorize wheelchairs and payday loan stores, but iin the Times?
Tweedster Says:
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Anyone know where Fantasy Island’s “owner” gets his last name from ?
well? I’m pulling a troll move here and won’t be doing research on your question…but I want to know.
Will my lack of willpower be overcome by my drive to know? Only time will tell…
June 2nd, 2008 at 12:58 pm
Sorry , I should have been more concise ; I was asking where the actor’s name comes from , not his charcter’s ……….
June 2nd, 2008 at 1:09 pmTell me, Rogers, what did you make in 1985? Don’t remember? Could that be because you were probably in second grade at the time? I remember 1985, and twelve grand was chump money back then. It’s about what an Army private first class might have made.
June 2nd, 2008 at 1:10 pm“Montalban” was the name of the castle of the 2nd most renowned peer or paladin of Charlegmagne , Rinaldo ……
June 2nd, 2008 at 1:13 pmThat’s the plate in rogers skull, not in his hair, popping. Obvoiusly he’s been kicked in the head by a mule. The mule claims he had it coming for being so annoying.
June 2nd, 2008 at 1:16 pmMCMetal Says:
“Montalban” was the name of the castle of the 2nd most renowned peer or paladin of Charlegmagne , Rinaldo ……
Thanks for clearing that up :-)
Well, off to another thread to stomp out troll fires…
June 2nd, 2008 at 1:17 pmShayne Says:
dirk gently Says:
tweedster, that was actually $33k in 2004. the popping sound you hear is rogers’s head exploding trying to figure out the adjustment on that.
That’s the plate in rogers skull, not in his hair, popping. Obvoiusly he’s been kicked in the head by a mule. The mule claims he had it coming for being so annoying.
The mule needs to finish what it started…rogers has left the thread, maybe the mule came back.
June 2nd, 2008 at 1:19 pmThat … visual … is … nauseating!
Who has the industrial strength brain cleaner?
June 2nd, 2008 at 1:21 pm123. Shayne - That … visual … is … nauseating!
Sorry, forgot it was around lunch time.
June 2nd, 2008 at 1:39 pmThat’s OK Tweedster, if we had an actual photograph I’d love to see it in print!
June 2nd, 2008 at 1:43 pmRealClearPolitics, May 27, 2008, in an article ironically titled “Obama’s sin of omission”:
So I guess it’s just me wondering — how on earth do you give a speech on that topic and not mention our country’s most widespread and important form of public service and sacrifice, military service?
Now here is NYT op ed columnist Bill Kristol, dated today June 2, in a piece entitled “What Obama left out”:
More striking is Obama’s sin of omission.
(Only the day before, Obama had been squabbling with John McCain about veterans’ benefits.)
Kristol ignores the obvious question — when did he serve in the military? In fact as an administration rife with chickenhawks, how dare they even think of questioning Obama’s lack of military service — they choose to denigrate his years in community srevice instead.
PLAGIARISM — FROM THE SNEERING AND SNIFFING MR. KRISTOL.
June 2nd, 2008 at 2:44 pm“$8500 for a year of teaching sounds woefully low, even for the 1980’s. I don’t blame your teachers for wanting to strike.”
The town next door had just raised their base salary to $12K. It was felt at that time that $12K was the minimum ‘living’ wage, and our school wanted that too. They settled for $10.5K.
I was 17 and in total shock that school teachers were paid so very badly.
So Obama was NOT making LOTS of money, and certainly NOT ‘rolling in dough’.
June 2nd, 2008 at 2:57 pmI think rodgers has learned something in this thread today. I’m pretty sure he’s renegotiating his contract with the RNC to pay him his $4000/year in inflation-adjusted dollars.
June 2nd, 2008 at 4:23 pmUm Rogers, in addition to not understanding a lot of bits, like how much money$5,000 is to someone making $12,000, you’re comparing mean average salary to GDP per capita. These are not really comparable. Counting into per capita are folks like infants, schoolchildren and the eldery who do not have a salary.
June 2nd, 2008 at 5:13 pmHmmm. I graduated in 1980 and my salary was $13 pre-taxes. And that was during the time that Reagan imposed the largest tax increase on workers — that of doubling their contribution to their own Social Security. And Guess What? I couldn’t pay my bills even with a room mate… I had to get a second job… Now that’s “uniquely American” - ain’t it?
I hate Repukelicans that are born with a silver foot in their mouth.
June 2nd, 2008 at 10:29 pmOOps make that $13 K
June 2nd, 2008 at 10:30 pmThis says more about the NYT than Kristol. Beware.
June 3rd, 2008 at 4:28 pmThis just shows me how low the REICH will stoop. Kristol has not got enough brass to show up in Chicago and do half as much as Obama has done, for the same amount of money. These guys in the REICH just keeps giving the old man more and more help and digging him a deeper hole from which he will not get out of ………….
June 27th, 2008 at 11:47 pm