# Romney needs to say he will not accept the Presidential salary **URL:** \ **Category:** Politics & Elections\ **Created:** [October 10, 2012, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-needs-to-say-he-will-not-accept-the-presidential-salary/637298 "2012-10-10T11:55:21Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 19\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Robot\_Arm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/robot_arm/32/18280_2.png) [@Robot\_Arm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Robot_Arm)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 2:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-needs-to-say-he-will-not-accept-the-presidential-salary/637298/21 "2012-10-10T14:39:25Z")
If he can get a few tens of thousands of other presidents to go along with him, it might actually make a dent in the deficit. Will he also be paying rent on the White House, or repaying the government for the cost of having two 747s and a few helicopters at his beck and call? It does work into the Republican narrative though. If you have to pay 35% income tax, it’s hardly worth the trouble of making the money in the first place. ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-needs-to-say-he-will-not-accept-the-presidential-salary/637298/22 "2012-10-10T15:22:51Z")
> [@Oedipus](#): > > I guess it would not be spent…Its just like your household budget. I am hoping there is a concrete answer here. JFK and George Washington both declined their salaries as president, by the way. ---
**Author:** ![LonghornDave](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/a87d85/32.png) [@LonghornDave](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LonghornDave)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 3:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-needs-to-say-he-will-not-accept-the-presidential-salary/637298/23 "2012-10-10T15:34:08Z")
> [@Simplicio](#): > > Ditching it would make a big difference on his families lifestyle post-Whitehouse (and they’re already taking a hit for being President, as Michelle would presumably still be working if her husband wasn’t Prez). This proposal is meaningless, but your comment here is just laughably absurd. You are honestly trying to say that the Obama family’s post-Whitehouse lifestyle would be negatively affected? As if they have to save now in order to subsidize their lifestyle afterwards? They will be making millions per year afterwards on the speaking circuit and through additional book sales. Bill Clinton’s standard speaking fee was $150,000 per appearance after leaving office; he made more than $40 million in the years immediately after leaving office just from speaking appearances. He and his wife made over $20 million from book sales. He collects a huge presidential pension. I think it’s safe to say that ex-Presidents do pretty well these days just because of the fact that they are ex-Presidents. From purely a financial standpoint being elected the President is winning the lottery. They are not in any way taking a financial hit by being President. ---
**Author:** ![Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e47c2d/32.png) [@Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hershele_Ostropoler)\ **Post date:** [October 10, 2012, 3:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-needs-to-say-he-will-not-accept-the-presidential-salary/637298/24 "2012-10-10T15:57:31Z")
I don’t think there’s a significant number of people who think\* “Romney’s already rich, why does he need the half a million a year?” and are going to not vote for him on the basis that he doesn’t need the money. And even with the perks, the president’s compensation is a pittance when you consider the responsibilities of the job (and some of those perks are genuinely required to do the job). \*I learned a long time ago not to say “I don’t think there’s anyone who”. You can find someone who thinks any damn thing. ---
**Author:** ![appleciders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/85f322/32.png) [@appleciders](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/appleciders)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2012, 1:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-needs-to-say-he-will-not-accept-the-presidential-salary/637298/25 "2012-10-11T01:38:38Z")
It would, of course, be a trivial gesture, cynically designed to take up a single news cycle. It is, therefore, actually kind of a good idea. I hope it doesn’t occur to him. ---
**Author:** ![Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/spectre_of_pithecanthropus/32/12343_2.png) [@Spectre\_of\_Pithecanthropus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Spectre_of_Pithecanthropus)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 10:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-needs-to-say-he-will-not-accept-the-presidential-salary/637298/26 "2012-10-15T22:54:35Z")
> [@Oedipus](#): > > I guess it would not be spent…Its just like your household budget. You take in, say, $5,000 a month but then you spend about $6,000 a month. When you decide not to buy a bag of chips, that money just isn’t spent. It doesn’t go towards gas or the mortgage because you don’t have money, remember? You spend more than you make every month. As an example at state level, Arnold Schwarzenegger declined his salary as governor. Presumably it simply went into the general funds of the state, where it undoubtedly got spent. IIRC Schwarzenegger also did a lot of private jet miles between L.A. and Sacramento since, for the most part, he really didn’t live in capitol. While this level of ostentatious consumption might have been expected to irritate the population, it didn’t really, as far as I can see. I didn’t like the man as governor, but – and no offense meant – but if he didn’t want to live in the northern Central Valley I can’t entirely blame him. ---
**Author:** ![Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ecccb3/32.png) [@Skald\_the\_Rhymer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skald_the_Rhymer)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-needs-to-say-he-will-not-accept-the-presidential-salary/637298/27 "2012-10-15T22:56:58Z")
Meh. Romney declining the salary is a pointless exercise unless he’s also going to cut the salaries of thousands & thousands of federal workers (including soldiers, airmen, sailors,& Marines), which presents its own problems. The president’s salary is a drop in the bucket. ---
**Author:** ![Gangster\_Octopus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a8b319/32.png) [@Gangster\_Octopus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Gangster_Octopus)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 10:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-needs-to-say-he-will-not-accept-the-presidential-salary/637298/28 "2012-10-15T22:57:26Z")
I kind of doubt they would give him a Presidential salary anyway? I mean won’t that go to the guy who wins the election? ---
**Author:** ![Typo\_Negative](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/typo_negative/32/484_2.png) [@Typo\_Negative](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Typo_Negative)\ **Post date:** [October 15, 2012, 11:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-needs-to-say-he-will-not-accept-the-presidential-salary/637298/29 "2012-10-15T23:58:19Z")
> [@Malden\_Capell](#): > > To me, saying you will decline the salary just screams ‘I’m a millionaire who has no idea about life for ordinary people’. To me, it says ‘I’ll be using an alternate revenue stream’. Yeah, I see no upside for him to make the offer. ---
**Author:** ![Little\_Nemo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/little_nemo/32/3120_2.png) [@Little\_Nemo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Little_Nemo)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2012, 12:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-needs-to-say-he-will-not-accept-the-presidential-salary/637298/30 "2012-10-16T00:59:40Z")
> [@Oedipus](#): > > Even more, I can’t think of a good way for Obama to attack that. He can defer the salary himself, but then he’s just copy-catting Romney. Even if he defers it, then talks about how Romney doesn’t need the money anyway, it just looks like he’s grasping for straws against him. Obama says, _“I’m glad to hear Governor Romney would follow the example of John F. Kennedy. Will he also pledge to follow JFK’s example of helping those who aren’t born wealthy enough to be able to turn down money?”_ ---
**Author:** ![Nazarene](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/c57346/32.png) [@Nazarene](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Nazarene)\ **Post date:** [October 16, 2012, 1:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-needs-to-say-he-will-not-accept-the-presidential-salary/637298/31 "2012-10-16T01:06:17Z")
For Romney this is the equivalent of leaving 4 cents in the penny tray at a gas station. ---
**Author:** ![Chessic\_Sense](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/7c8e57/32.png) [@Chessic\_Sense](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chessic_Sense)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-needs-to-say-he-will-not-accept-the-presidential-salary/637298/32 "2012-10-17T00:52:19Z")
> [@Oedipus](#): > > "I have decided that I will not be accepting the Presidential salary of $500,000 a year and… …I’ll just take the regular $[400](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/President_of_the_United_States#Compensation),000 instead." ---
**Author:** ![Kent\_Clark](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kent_clark/32/105_2.png) [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 2:25am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-needs-to-say-he-will-not-accept-the-presidential-salary/637298/33 "2012-10-17T02:25:31Z")
Herbert Hoover[never took a salary](http://hoover.archives.gov/info/faq.html#salary)when he served as Secretary of Commerce or later as President. Some he donated to charity, and the rest he used to augment the salaries of government employees he felt were underpaid. The real question is, who remembers that Washington, Kennedy and Hoover didn’t take a salary, and who cares? ---
**Author:** ![Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e47c2d/32.png) [@Hershele\_Ostropoler](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hershele_Ostropoler)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-needs-to-say-he-will-not-accept-the-presidential-salary/637298/34 "2012-10-17T14:07:05Z")
Still not sure how Romney saying “you keep your puny $400K/year” makes Obama look bad, except to the sort of person who equates personal worth with virtue in other areas, or at least in the areas they consider when voting. If he were elected I wouldn’t be surprised if he did defer his salary, without making a big deal out of it. My recollection is that Washington generously offered to decline his salary if Congress would cover his FiDi loft, and Congress said “no, General, that’s quite all right, we’re good actually paying you.” He’d worked for just expenses in the past and they figured salary would be cheaper. ---
**Author:** ![Andiethewestie](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ba9def/32.png) [@Andiethewestie](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Andiethewestie)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 2:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-needs-to-say-he-will-not-accept-the-presidential-salary/637298/35 "2012-10-17T14:44:51Z")
This is just trotting around money for Rafalca ---
**Author:** ![YogSothoth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/y/8edcca/32.png) [@YogSothoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/YogSothoth)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 3:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-needs-to-say-he-will-not-accept-the-presidential-salary/637298/36 "2012-10-17T15:44:59Z")
> [@Oedipus](#): > > Even more, I can’t think of a good way for Obama to attack that. He can defer the salary himself, but then he’s just copy-catting Romney. Even if he defers it, then talks about how Romney doesn’t need the money anyway, it just looks like he’s grasping for straws against him. > > Thoughts? I can. Obama simply can say that he’s donating his salary to some charitable organization like the Red Cross or something ---
**Author:** ![Enkel](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/df705f/32.png) [@Enkel](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Enkel)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-needs-to-say-he-will-not-accept-the-presidential-salary/637298/37 "2012-10-17T15:46:12Z")
> [@Typo\_Negative](#): > > Yeah, I see no upside for him to make the offer. There is the collective pucker of the bumholes of every other republican running for congress as their constituents look at them and say… “Hmmm, aren’t YOU pretty well off too? You want to hold office AND get paid?” ---
**Author:** ![Marley23](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/45deac/32.png) [@Marley23](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Marley23)\ **Post date:** [October 17, 2012, 4:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-needs-to-say-he-will-not-accept-the-presidential-salary/637298/38 "2012-10-17T16:28:31Z")
> [@Hershele\_Ostropoler](#): > > Still not sure how Romney saying “you keep your puny $400K/year” makes Obama look bad It doesn’t. I would argue that the salary means almost literally nothing to Romney because he is far richer than Obama and also significantly older with grown children and that Obama would be ill-advised to turn down his salary, but they’re both rich men who are going to continue making plenty of money into the future. Turning down the presidential salary wouldn’t do anything for either of them politically. ---
**Author:** ![kaylasdad99](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kaylasdad99/32/3398_2.png) [@kaylasdad99](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kaylasdad99)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2012, 1:23am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-needs-to-say-he-will-not-accept-the-presidential-salary/637298/39 "2012-11-08T01:23:16Z")
No, he doesn’t. 😃 [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/romney-needs-to-say-he-will-not-accept-the-presidential-salary/637298.md?page=1)