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McNally posted:I'm watching Season 3 episode Stirred and Bartlet is helping Charlie with his taxes and there's a line that strikes me. I think the context implied that it was $35k before taxes, so he probably took home something around $25k. He probably made relatively little compared to everyone else who works around the president (with all of their education and years of experience), but for someone with no college degree, no technical training, and basically no experience it seems about right. I suppose it could be on the low side considering the hours though. withak fucked around with this message at 19:39 on Dec 29, 2013 |
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Dec 29, 2013 19:37
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I think Charlie was on a salary and probably worked like 18 hours a day though. IIRC CJ was used to making over $500,000 a year before working at the White House.
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Dec 29, 2013 20:44
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azflyboy posted:Seasons 5-7 aren't quite as good as the first four seasons, but they're still well worth watching. I didn't notice any drop in quality on my first watch. Second...ehh, some weird stuff but mostly factual stuff that irks me. I guess West Wing universe Turkey is a theocracy where they execute women for having consensual relations with their fellow employees instead of a secular nationalist republic where until recently you couldn't even wear a headscarf to school. I mean, had none of the writers ever even been to Turkey? Though Leo's character switch from a person who basically threatened the President of the United States with a military coup if he was going to use the American military as a revenge of instrument to the biggest warhawk who ever warhawked was kind of weird. Or Will's change from a guy idealistic enough to get a dead man elected to a slimy political opportunist who attaches himself to a tool like Russell.
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Dec 29, 2013 21:02
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withak posted:I think the context implied that it was $35k before taxes, so he probably took home something around $25k. He probably made relatively little compared to everyone else who works around the president (with all of their education and years of experience), but for someone with no college degree, no technical training, and basically no experience it seems about right. I suppose it could be on the low side considering the hours though. He also is supporting his sister who is in high school on the one salary.
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Dec 29, 2013 22:25
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Asiina posted:He also is supporting his sister who is in high school on the one salary. He can sell his carving knife.
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Dec 30, 2013 01:49
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Or his DVD player with that wimp rear end Bond movie.
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Dec 30, 2013 08:46
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withak posted:I think the context implied that it was $35k before taxes, so he probably took home something around $25k. He probably made relatively little compared to everyone else who works around the president (with all of their education and years of experience), but for someone with no college degree, no technical training, and basically no experience it seems about right. I suppose it could be on the low side considering the hours though. That seems like an unreasonable number given the level of his access to the president. The security clearance alone required for that job should ensure him a $40k salary minimum to discourage any chance of bribery. I don't know if the salary for the President's personal aide has ever been made public but I really doubt its at the near to the low end of the poverty level for a single employee.
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Dec 30, 2013 14:36
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pentyne posted:That seems like an unreasonable number given the level of his access to the president. The security clearance alone required for that job should ensure him a $40k salary minimum to discourage any chance of bribery. I don't know if the salary for the President's personal aide has ever been made public but I really doubt its at the near to the low end of the poverty level for a single employee. And you would be right. http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/07/02/white-house-salaries-listed/?_r=0
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Dec 30, 2013 15:18
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Sure, but Charlie desperately needed a job thanks to his mother's death, and didn't have a college degree (Reggie Love graduated from Duke before working for Obama as a senator). The kid had no leverage to negotiate a better salary, and I guess Bartlett or Leo or Josh or whoever took advantage of that, saved the taxpayers some money. Third Way Democracy in action.
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Dec 31, 2013 01:24
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Plus he was applying to be a page or some low level poo poo like that. But thanks to Debbie Fiderer, he got to work 18 hour days and get shot at!
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Dec 31, 2013 04:04
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Sorkin seems obsessed with Belgium, I wish I had made a note of each time it was mentioned through season 4.
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Dec 31, 2013 04:59
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It just seems to me that $35,000 is way too high to be gofer pay in the government, especially in 2002. When I joined the Army in 2006, my base pay was about $18,000. I've been applying to all kinds of government jobs lately. $35,000 is what a GS-5 makes now. My guess is that the writers didn't do their homework and just came up with a number that seems low to people who have to pay rent in LA.
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Dec 31, 2013 05:34
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McNally posted:It just seems to me that $35,000 is way too high to be gofer pay in the government, especially in 2002. When I joined the Army in 2006, my base pay was about $18,000. I've been applying to all kinds of government jobs lately. $35,000 is what a GS-5 makes now. Charlie made an appropriate wage for an entry level position that year.
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Dec 31, 2013 05:53
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TheBigBad posted:Charlie made an appropriate wage for an entry level position that year. Not in the US Government. In 2002, a GS-9 Step 1 made $34,451. To be a GS-9 with no prior relevant experience you'd need to have a Master's Degree.
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Dec 31, 2013 06:25
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It is possible that the writers took some poetic license.
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Dec 31, 2013 06:35
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withak posted:It is possible that the writers took some poetic license. Yeah, and Indonesia does have a national language, Aaron. What, you think we have 583 different versions of each government form? You underestimate our
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Dec 31, 2013 06:48
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McNally posted:Not in the US Government. In 2002, a GS-9 Step 1 made $34,451. To be a GS-9 with no prior relevant experience you'd need to have a Master's Degree. Blake Gottesman, Bush's body man from 2002 to 2006, made 54,500 dollars a year in that position. He was a 22 year old college dropout when he got the job.
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Dec 31, 2013 19:48
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JohnSherman posted:Blake Gottesman, Bush's body man from 2002 to 2006, made 54,500 dollars a year in that position. He was a 22 year old college dropout when he got the job. See what some college will do for you, vs just a high school diploma.
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Dec 31, 2013 19:57
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JohnSherman posted:Blake Gottesman, Bush's body man from 2002 to 2006, made 54,500 dollars a year in that position. He was a 22 year old college dropout when he got the job. Just looked him up, he was admitted to Harvard Business School for an MBA without a bachelors degree  Charlie shouldn't have wasted all his free nights getting a degree.
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Dec 31, 2013 20:56
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JohnSherman posted:Blake Gottesman, Bush's body man from 2002 to 2006, made 54,500 dollars a year in that position. He was a 22 year old college dropout when he got the job. YGBSM.
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Jan 1, 2014 06:58
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McNally posted:YGBSM. Sorry you didn't get Secretary of State, Nancy.
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Jan 1, 2014 08:35
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JohnSherman posted:Blake Gottesman, Bush's body man from 2002 to 2006, made 54,500 dollars a year in that position. He was a 22 year old college dropout when he got the job. Bush is a bad example when it comes to hiring practices. See also: the head of FEMA
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Jan 1, 2014 16:28
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I'd forgotten how sweet that scene with Danny is in Season Seven. "If I'm about to jump off the cliff, and you're about to get pushed off the cliff, why don't we hold hands on the way down?" 
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Jan 18, 2014 14:52
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The White House is doing a Big Block of Cheese Day https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2JJGDieJ5Tc
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Jan 24, 2014 23:51
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That is amazing. And makes me miss John Spencer 
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Jan 25, 2014 00:10
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Just in case you had a hankering for the original Big Block of Cheese Day Speech: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vm9HZq53rqU
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Jan 27, 2014 00:41
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Did they ever specify where Josh and Donna fly off to in "Transitions"? While watching "Lies, drat Lies and Statistics" (s1.e21) I caught the following bit Donna to Josh: "Micronesia is a collection of islands 2,000 miles southwest of Hawaii, where you've never taken me before...It's one of those things a boss does for someone who works for them" (or something to that general effect). I'm probably overthinking things, but that would be a neat little callback if the flight was headed to Hawaii.
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Jan 27, 2014 01:17
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I doubt the writers even remembered that throwaway joke by the end of the show.
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Jan 27, 2014 02:30
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Josh belonged with Amy.
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Jan 27, 2014 02:34
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Josh belonged with Joey Lucas.
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Jan 27, 2014 15:38
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Josh belonged with Mandy. Just kidding. Donna rules!
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Jan 27, 2014 16:54
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Hansen85 posted:Josh belonged with Mandy. Who? Just kidding. Mandyville.
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Jan 27, 2014 16:58
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All this recent talk has me realizing that I honestly can't pick a favorite character (or pair). They are all my favorites.  (Except maybe Will, and only because I miss Sam)
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Jan 27, 2014 17:01
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WarLocke posted:All this recent talk has me realizing that I honestly can't pick a favorite character (or pair). They are all my favorites. Mandy was kind of annoying.
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Jan 27, 2014 17:45
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WarLocke posted:All this recent talk has me realizing that I honestly can't pick a favorite character (or pair). They are all my favorites. Me too. But pair-wise, CJ/Danny is hard to beat because Danny.
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Jan 27, 2014 18:22
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njbeachbum posted:Just in case you had a hankering for the original Big Block of Cheese Day Speech: Hahah that was awesome! Code Gouda:)
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Jan 27, 2014 18:48
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My advice for people watching the series is to watch the first four series, then just read about the endings to any plotlines that are left hanging. For me the drop-off in quality in seasons 5-7 is just too severe. I get the impression the new writers were just trying to imitate the writing style from the first four seasons, but don't understand some of the important concepts of the show.
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Jan 27, 2014 19:59
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My advice is to ignore everyone who parrots watching only the first four seasons. The whole series has wonderful work throughout. There is nuance in the performances in every single episode, the art direction is handled by the same people. It remains relevant and it becomes a new show. The only time it suffers is when John Spencer dies and you can tell if you know what you're looking for that the entire original cast just has the wind knocked out of em. There's more to this show than the writing. Just resign yourself that the show turns into something different from its premise by the end.
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Jan 27, 2014 20:15
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TheBigBad posted:My advice is to ignore everyone who parrots watching only the first four seasons. The whole series has wonderful work throughout. There is nuance in the performances in every single episode, the art direction is handled by the same people. It remains relevant and it becomes a new show. The only time it suffers is when John Spencer dies and you can tell if you know what you're looking for that the entire original cast just has the wind knocked out of em. There's more to this show than the writing. Just resign yourself that the show turns into something different from its premise by the end. Yeah, the first time I watched The West Wing, I didn't make it far past season 4... but I just rewatched it all and finally finished it recently, and I have to say I actually really ended up liking the later seasons. You just need to be prepared for significant shifts in the focus of the story and the writing style/voice. I think one of my issues the first time that I watched it was that I really didn't get into the idea of Matt Santos as a potential President... this time, though, I appreciated the fact that while I did like Vinick a lot more at the start of the arc, they managed to slowly sell me on Santos before the end... which works if you stick with it, since it matches the arc of his campaign. Once you accept that in the later seasons, the show is more about this new campaign instead of the Bartlet administration, the story is quite interesting to watch. And in the end, I feel like they did also wrap up the plot/emotional threads for the Bartlet administration very well in the final season. thexerox123 fucked around with this message at 20:51 on Jan 27, 2014 |
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Jan 27, 2014 20:25
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Arnold Vinick is one of my favorite characters and Aaron Sorkin had nothing to do with him. Alan Alda also won an Emmy for it.
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Jan 27, 2014 20:43
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