The Bush administration, in describing its labor policies, often emphasizes the idea of “merit pay.” It’s pay-for-performance compensation.
As the National Journal reported today, it seems to be a concept foreign to the White House when setting salaries for its own employees.
The top pay rate at the White House for senior aides like Chief of Staff Andy Card and Deputy Chief of Staff Karl Rove is now $161,000, according to an internal White House list of staff salaries compiled as of July 1.
The White House is required to send the salary list to Congress annually. At the lowest end of the pecking order, some young staff assistants and correspondence helpers earn just $30,000 for the honor of sitting on the fringes of history and near the corridors of power. The White House exercises its discretion to organize President Bush’s staff and compensate aides based on rank, as described by job titles, and within overall budget limits for the Executive Office of the President.
If the Bush gang were to be paid based on performance, you’d hope most of these guys would get a pay cut. But not in this White House. Karl Rove, Andy Card, Dan Bartlett, Scott McClellan, Nicolle Devenish, Stephen Hadley, Allan Hubbard, Candida Wolff, and Frances Townsend all saw a bump in salary this year, to $161,000 (from $157,000).
So, instead of the president giving many of the players involved with the Plame scandal a pink slip, he gave them a raise. As Jesse Lee put it, “The era of personal responsibility is dead! Long live the era of personal responsibility!”