Paul Wolfowitz makes $391,440
There's a lot of noise right now about how Paul Wolfowitz, as the president of the World Bank, orchestrated a hefty raise for his girlfriend. She went from making $132,660 to $193,590 thanks to his influence. There's a good chance he will be forced to resign for it, and rightly so.
But to me, that's not the real story here. Isn't it ironic that one of the men who architected a failed preemptive war in the Middle East, that has cost this country its credibility abroad, billions in treasure, and thousands of American lives, may have to resign, not because of the foreign policy disaster he helped give birth to, but because he helped his girlfriend get a raise? The fact that he went from a Deputy Secretary of Defense position - where he probably pulled in no more than $150,000 - to the head of the World Bank, where, according to their 2006 annual report, he makes $391,440, is mind boggling to me. This man was effectively rewarded for helping architect the greatest foreign policy blunder in our history by doubling his income and being put in charge of an organization that is there, ostensibly, to help eliminate poverty and encourage economic development worldwide (whether or not it does that is another conversation...).
I haven't been able to track down how much Wolfowitz made as Deputy Secretary of Defense, nor how much cabinet members make, but I was able to find a table of White House staff salaries at washingtonpost.com. It's worth a look. Turd Blossom makes $165,200, which is the top pay grade for White House aides. Anyone out there know what a cabinet Secretary makes these days?
