Romney Touts Presidential Salary Plan That Was Literally A Saturday Night Live Skit

[Galraedia]

Source: ThinkProgress

In an interview with conservative radio host Neal Boortz, GOP presidential candidate Mitt Romney floated an unusual profit-making opportunity for himself if he becomes president — paying himself a higher salary if he performs well in the White House. In Romney’s words, “I do believe in linking my incentives and my commitment to the accomplishment of specific goals . . . . I wish we had that happen throughout government — where people recognized they are not going to get rewarded in substantial ways unless they are able to achieve the objectives that they were elected to carry out.”


This is not a new proposal, however. It was actually proposed in 1992 by billionaire presidential candidate Ross Perot — or at least by someone pretending to be Perot. In a 1992 Saturday Night Live skit, Perot impersonator Dana Carvey outlined something very similar to the Romney plan for presidential compensation:

If I’m President, we get 0% growth, you don’t pay me nothing. 1% growth? Hell, a chimpanzee could run this country and make 1% growth! So you don’t pay me dime one. Got my own plane, don’t need Air Force One. State Dinners? I’ll pay it, it’s nothing to me, sand on the beach! Now, don’t worry about ol’ Ross Perot, I got $3 billion back at home.

Now, here’s the deal. Here’s what I’m trying to tell you. 3% growth in our economy, $120 billion growth in our GNP – I get a billion dollars. Now, think about it, that’s a bargain! You’re up $119 billion. I’m telling you, 2.99% growth, I don’t see a penny, not one red cent. But don’t feel sorry for me – I got $3 billion. I’m gonna be fine.

Read more: http://thinkprogress.org/election/2012/06/13/498933/romney-touts-presidential-salary-plan-that-is-literally-a-saturday-night-live-skit/

[Enrique]

1. and if he's impeached

he gets a $50 million golden parachute, just like in his beloved private sector.

[Danmel]

2. the constitution forbids a change in remuneration for the president

During his/her term.
But why would Romney care about that?

[sarge43]

11. Implying that Romney has actually read the the Constitution?

[Harry Monroe]

3. God, this guy is a tool!!

[Scootaloo]

7. By definition, tools are useful

[Botany]

4. R you kidding me?

Mitt makes $500.00 in interest on his money when he takes his
morning dump ....... the man made 20 million not having a job
in 2011 just in interest on the money he made fucking people* and yet
we are supposed to buy his horse crap about helping the American
people?

Mitt made $ by:

firing people

off shoring work

looting pension funds

making the local government pay the health insurance on workers

loading companies w/ debt they couldn't pay back

[Moonwalk]

6. Kinda implies that higher salary wouldn't be much of an incentive...

Unless, as I suspect, making money to Mitt is a game. Anyway he can get more thrills him. So this proposition is probably his idea of making the office of president exciting and more of a challenge.

You know, I wasn't a big fan of Mayor Richard Riordan when he was running L.A., but the thing he proposed was that since he was a wealthy man he'd only take a token salary of $1. This earned some of my respect. Romney's a real idiot for proposing this rather than proposing the opposite, which might actually win him some votes.

[NCarolinawoman]

19. JFK donated his entire Presidential salary to charity. n/t

[agent46]

5. This completes

This completes the transition from a representative government to a purely corporate model with the president as CEO.

Of course, he's proposing a legal system of bribes to get all government personnel in line.

[jtuck004]

8. Now that's just silly. Serious people look to Road Runner cartoons for policy.

We need a serious person for President. A leader! Damn it, this is Amercia.

[Canuckistanian]

9. I thought this was the Borowitz Report

Is this for real?

[muriel_volestrangler]

10. (a) talking about linking his 'commitment' implies he'd think about going Galt as president

as if he might just decide that leading his country wasn't really putting all his effort into (still, I've heard it said that is roughly what he did in Massachusetts, after a bit - he was too interested in his presidential run. And it's more or less what Palin did too ...)

(b) A president is not elected to 'achieve objectives'. A president is elected to lead the country - a holistic job. Members of Congress are elected to represent the people. It's ridiculous to think you can set up government with 'achievable milestones'. Which is probably why the American constitution doesn't contemplate it in any way.

You know what country did have official objectives? The Soviet Union. Yeah, Stalin's Five Year Plans really worked out well, didn't they? No chance of misreporting in present-day America, of course ...

[erpowers]

12. Repeat of Bush

So, what happens if Mitt Romney has an administration like President Bush II? During the Bush II Administration this country went from having a balanced budget to a deficit of $1.3 trillion. Also, the debt increased from about $4 trillion to about $9 trillion. So, If by chance the debt and deficit go up during a Romney Administration will Romney give up his salary? Will he have to pay the country?

Also, is Romney saying that a $400,000 yearly salary is not high enough for him. In addition, what would be considered doing well? If Romney is successful at lowering multiple tax rates, but deficits and debt increase and the U. S. government is thrown into recession will he still get a higher salary.

Furthermore, what about government workers? What goals and objectives will be used to determine who gets a higher salary? If one government worker knowingly pushes through a contract that is bad for the U.S. government but good for a company, but another government worker refuses to do the same thing which worker will get a higher salary?

I am not a supporter of Romney's idea. I am just pointing out a few questions I think should be asked before anything like this should be put into place.

[Swede Atlanta]

13. RMoney is stupid...there I said it.....

I mean not Bush stupid but still stupid. His money has not come from being a smart businessman. His money has come from a lot of "startup" money from his father and his connections.

He obviously does not see SERVICE as the reason one aspires to public office. Don't get me started on how Congress and the rest of them take a very good salary and benefits and transform that into tremendous wealth through connections with lobbyists, books, etc. The same is true of any former President. They can milk their notoriety into wealth.

I sincerely believe Obama sees his role as President as something he is doing out of a desire to serve the nation. I'm not naive enough to not understand he realizes that being president means he will be financially set for life for himself and his family once he leaves office. But I think he sincerely believes he can make a difference.

RMoney just sees the office as another money-making scheme. He will do to the American taxpayer (rich people don't pay taxes don't you know) what he has done to employees of the companies he destroyed. In the meantime he will be sure himself and his cronies become even richer.

[truthisfreedom]

14. Rmoney's campaign is more entertaining than HBO's VEEP.

He trips over his own tongue and provides more laughs than all of their writers combined.

[KurtNYC]

15. pay off the national debt first and it's a deal

we should out-source our lawmakers. Chinese lawmakers would be much cheaper and they have the death penalty over there as an incentive:

http://articles.latimes.com/2007/jul/11/world/fg-execute11

The heightened anger and fear felt by average Chinese over the safety of food ingredients, medicine and other consumer products were vividly on display here Tuesday after the execution of the former head of China's food and drug safety agency.

Within hours of an announcement that Zheng Xiaoyu, 62, had been put to death for taking bribes from pharmaceutical companies, China's internet lit up.

[and-justice-for-all]

16. What a fuckin loser...nt

[siligut]

17. He has been handed so many golden opportunities, he actually thinks he is golden.

That is how I interpret his idea. Of course, being able to set his own goals, would be a real advantage. Unlike the people he would lord over, who would be given impossible goals, like the proverbial carrot on a stick.

[demwing]

18. There is so much wrong with just this one statement

it epitomizes everything that's wrong with a Romney candidacy. Unabashed greed, ignorance of (or disconcern with) the constitution, and a blatant attempt to turn the USA away from a Democracy and toward a Corporatocracy...

If Obama isn't able to use these words to destroy Romney, then I think I just might consider moving out of this forsaken pit of a country.

[BlueStater]

20. Good lord. This guy is the biggest jerkoff to ever be nominated for president.

He may even top Dumbya and I never would have thought that was possible.