SALARY: Why not give back larger percent

Let me get this straight. President Obama, John Kerry and other government officials are wonderful for voluntarily taking a 5 percent cut in their pay in solidarity with other government workers facing furloughs due to sequestration and potentially losing 5 percent of their salary!

1. Aren’t these the same folks that say the 1 percent (which they both are) should pay “their fair share” by paying a larger percent of their income in taxes than the working folks? If that’s what they believe, then why aren’t they giving back a larger percent of their salary than the other federal workers are potentially going to loose?

2. Why do the same people who think Obama and Kerry are heroes think Mitt Romney was an uncompassionate Republican fat cat when he gave back 100 percent of his salary when he was governor of Massachusetts? It’s also interesting that John Kerry could buy and sell Mitt Romney with his money and Obama’s last available income figure was from 2011 when he and Michelle reported $789,674 of gross income (his salary alone being $400,000).

Talk about hypocrisy!

TAD LEACH

Coeur d’Alene