According to the most recent information available, Steve Rattner's net worth is at least $188 million. So perhaps it's not surprising that the hedge fund partner and former Obama car czar, who flies his own private jet, doesn't deem $100G+ per year to be a "full-time" salary.
On today's Morning Joe, commenting on the arrest of Dem NYS Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver on bribery charges, Rattner claimed that "they don't pay these guys full-time salaries. They pay them, I think, $112,000 a year." In fact, as Speaker, Silver was pulling down $121,000. The median annual income in the US during the fourth quarter of 2014, assuming a 50-week work year, was $39,950.
Rattner went on to argue that because of the supposedly non-full time pay, New York legislators are "allowed to have outside employment. Once you're allowed to have outside employment, where is the line?"
Rattner [who has had line-drawing issues of his own] could try this for the line. If you're a lawyer like Silver, doing house closings is OK. Accepting millions for doing no work in return for legislative favors is a crime.
STEVE RATTNER: [T]he fact is they don't pay these guys full-time salaries. They pay them, I think, $112,000 a year and allowed to have outside employment. Once you're allowed to have outside employment, where is the line?
