With all the wailing and gnashing of teeth, the White House is paying $277,050 to hire three... three... three Calligraphers.
From The Weekly Standard:
Chief White House Calligrapher Gets Paid $96,725 Per Year
With the White House closing its doors to public tour groups in order to save money for the sequester, it's worth remembering some of the other costs the White House incurs annually.
Like the "Chief Calligrapher," Patricia A. Blair, who has an annual salary of $96,725, and her two deputies, Debra S. Brown, who gets paid $85,953 per year, and Richard T. Muffler, who gets paid $94,372 every year.
In all, the White House appears to employ 3 calligraphers for a yearly total of $277,050.
For 95% of the work, there are some really nice calligraphic fonts available for the secretary to use.
For the other 5% (documents to heads of state, etc...) they should outsource the work.
