Jun 1, 2009 11:45 pm US/Eastern
Bloomberg: President Obama Lives 'On Budget, Too'
Mayor Says $400,000 Not Enough Salary For Commander In Chief; New Yorkers Question Where His Head's At
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Mayor Michael Bloomberg think the president of the U.S. deserves a raise. He's not comfortable with $400,000 a year.
Win McNamee/Getty Images
Mayor Michael Bloomberg thinks President Barack Obama's date night in New York last weekend was just peachy, but according to the billionaire mayor what isn't so peachy is the president's salary.
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.
All this came by way of the billionaire mayor's defense of taxpayers footing the bill for the first couple's date in New York, which some say cost $25,000 just for the airplanes.
But then again, Bloomberg is the richest man in New York, and 17th in the world according to Forbes, with an estimated fortune of $16.5 billion. So to him $400,000 is not what it is to you.
"Give me $400,000 a year. My problems are solved. A lot of other peoples are solved problems as well," said Aaron Hudson of Far Rockaway.
"He's not talking for all New Yorkers; he's talking for the elite few who can afford the multimillion dollar condos who have a big pay check," added Lois Brooks of Midtown.
For the record, about just 378,000 of New York City's 7.1 million households –18 percent -- make more than $200,000.
It makes New Yorkers think the mayor is tone deaf.
"That's a lot of money to make a year considering what I'm making. I'd like to make $100,000," said Radiance Salem of Bedford Stuyvesant.
"I just wonder what perspective [Bloomberg] is thinking of and who he's thinking about," another New Yorker said.
"I'm thinking he's living in different world. I think $400,000 is a lot of money."
The mayor also suggested that he ought to be paid more and he may be right. The mayoral salary is only $1 a year.
Just for the record, the president's total compensation package is $569,000-a-year, including his expense account and entertainment budget.
It does not include the cost to tax payers of his flights on Air Force One as he travels around the world representing the United States.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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