Budgets, Bloomberg and balderdash

I'll start with something nice to say: I applaud the President for setting aside a date night with his wife. I try to do the same with my own. The big difference? The Musketeers' Mom and I don't take Manhattan on the taxpayers' dime (and then refuse to divulge how much it cost).

Meanwhile, the First Couple's evening out gives our ruling class another opportunity to demonstrate just how out of touch they are:

(New York Mayor) Bloomberg doesn't think $400,000 a year is much of a salary, even if it is what the commander in chief of these United States pulls down. "The president doesn't get paid that much. He's on a budget, too," Bloomberg said Monday.

Really? If the Obamas plan their household finances the way he proposes federal budgets, they'll go from the White House to the poorhouse in short order, despite the royalties from his books and the tidy little sums Michelle's made over the years.

A lot of people competed last year for that $400,000 job and the mansion on Pennsylvania Avenue. I think Bloomberg must be overlooking the rest of the appeal... like, say, unbridled executive privilege. And since the left likes to make so much of the pay disparity between employees and CEOs, let's put the President's salary into similar perspective:

Commander-in-Chief: $400,000 a year
10-year veteran E-6 serving in Iraq/Afghanistan/Somalia/etc, ad naseum: $36,500 a year

While the all-volunteer USO does a fine job bringing entertainment to the troops, I doubt seriously any of them will be jetting to Broadway at taxpayer expense any time soon.

Out. Of. Touch. And. Hopelessly. Clueless.