So how much is bailout czar Neel Kashkari getting paid?

SO why would a guy take a $600k pay cut to work for the federal government?

Does he feel some social responsibility?

I would think not. Somehow some way Paulson is getting quite a bit of money elsewhere.

I have notice that when people "retire" from their Pennsylvania regulator jobs, they find very rewarding jobs in "private industy" within their area of expertise. Think about it.

I like cynicism. Correspondant Iridium's grade is a bit too much for my palate, though. Not everyone who has made a lot of money remains in the game solely to collect more. In fact, I'd be inclined to believe there are varied subsets for whom other enticements play a bigger role, though money remains the energizing element. Power is one such enticement, and a stint through the power alleys of government can provide invaluable leverage to money, either acquired, or to be acquired more easily later because of that stint,and access to the halls of greater power.

Of course, there are others who honestly do serve to be of service. These are probably rare individuals, but history shows they exist. Herbert Hoover is one of these; he demonstrates how helpful such people can be, or unhelpful as the situation allows.

I agree with this article written by Michael Rainey....believe it or not, there are people that still feel a social responsibility to provide a service for their country, regardless of the income. Certainly, he has earned a higher income in the past and as Mr. Rainey writes, he has much to expect in the future. But for this small amount of time he is spending as Mr. Paulson's assistant, he is providing a great service to this country. Thank you Mr. Rainey for your insight and for responding to the greedy people that don't understand a person with true social responsibility.

To those who don't understand why people serve in the Federal Government. I served as a US Army Officer, Infantry from 1967 to 1977 because I wanted to serve my country. Political appointees also serve because they are asked to serve. They know that once their time is up they will be able to return to private industry with a good job. They may serve because they are asked, or they will be able to leverage their service in to a book deal,or become a lobyist, but the key is they serve. Let's give these people some credit.

This is a good story by the writer but he forgot to inform you that these big wigs in government make their money for their connections once they live government. We have had past people like FRANKLIN RAINES that went from the wages you have in the story to making millions at FANNIE MAE, tfhe whole story has to be told. One thing the HUFFINGTON POST was putting out that he was a JEW.

All interesting comment, but in this case we really don't know. Perhaps a dedicated patriot, perhaps ulterior reasons? Time will tell. There is a distinct motivation in the case of "one time" leadership. Do an outstanding job and you can gain great stature which results in job offers, speaking engagements and numerous other offers. I hardly think that Greenspan is worried about his financial future.
George Washington, although a definite one of a kind, was also one of the wealthiest men of his time in the U.S. I should also say that he acquired his by good business sense and not by who he was.

Michel Rainey,

You did not disclose how have you benefited or will benefit from this guy, directly or indirectly. From what I've seen 95% of the time any defensive blog or artclie are colluded. This smells like one.

This spin mastery is rotting America.

Neel is from India and India is secular country,it has people of all religeons since the origin of any of them, this includes Hindus,Budhists, jews,christians,and muslims.
People from India have a multicultural mind set and democratic tradition.
Majority of people arriving to USA from India already have graduate and post graduate education, near top of their education academic class and great ammount of sacrifice and hard work reach high levels in any organisation fast.
Years of attention to learning pays off and yes many of us sacrifice money to serve the country we migrate to in any capacity when called upon or the need of the hour demands it.

I find the above comments amusing.

Folks, these guys are in it for the money. Paulson, perhaps not so much as the ego trip for him.

The others? Strictly for the money.

Think about it - they work in the financial services sector. Odds are they own a fair number of shares and have been losing tons themselves. Hence, it's in their best interest to stop the sinking ship if they can...

Further, you can bet that they will be handsomely rewarded once they are finished... If any of you were worth 1 billion or so and had lost 400 million or so of wealth, would it be worth your while to promise a reward of 50 million if your stocks came back?

I'm betting you and many others would be very happy to pay that pittance...

He will be wealthy beyond his wildest dreams when he leaves the govt...

Let's look at it this way. For his country I do not think so... He gains in every way and I am sure that he will make it work for his bottom line in the future. The article about Goldman Sacks may just be true. Wouldn't that be a kick in the good old tax payers ass...

youve got to be kidding,an ex sachs employee handing out the cash.the scam continues.when is all the crap going to end. this is another slap in the face. after all the@#$%the government puts a guy from goldman sachs in charge of the money.the country should be in an uproar. what a joke.

When is America going to wake up? Before the Europeans even landed in America, the Red Indians were ruling all over the place. Obviously Mr. NEEL KASKARI deserves to be where he is because the whole of America did not find a more suitable WHITE AMERICAN fit for the job. Are the Americans still color prejudiced? Does it matter whether only the skin of the person is white/black/brown/yellow? All Human Beings have red colored blood. Does it matter whether you are a Hindu/Sikh/Muslim/Christian/Jew/Buddhist etc. to be chosen for such an important task. Are you people just plain jealous of somebody's success just because he prefers to be bald or is from ANY ETHNIC BACKGROUND? They have different skin colors due to climatic conditions over millions of years, but the blood remains still red. America has to face the fact that their next President to be is also NOT WHITE. Does that make a difference? The chosen person must be fit for the job,that's all. Does it matter to find out how much money Mr.NEEL KASKARI is making? The money he earns now is well deserved as he is only + 30 years and has reached where no WHITE AMERICAN was found fit enough to occupy the same post. Have a heart folks. Give Mr, Kaskari a break for the hard work he has put in to reach where he is now to bail out the living-on-credit-Americans from their own economic miseries.

All should understand that these types of government jobs are prestigious and very attractive to private sector firms. Paulson and/or Kashkari, among many others, do this because they become much more valuable to the private sector (from an experience and "connections" perspective) after spending some time on the public side. They aren't as myopic as most people and they understand that some time now with a pay cut will be rewarded much better later. To a lesser extent, there might be some patriotic feeling to help his nation.

KASHkari is just another part of the problem. We need a new constitution NOW!

In 1962 my father posed this question to me regarding Ed Macnamara the President of Ford Motor Company at that time. "Do you think he left a $250,000 a year job at Ford to become the Secretary of Defense in the Kennedy administration at $50,000 a year because he was patriotic? Ford Motor company got a lot of new business once the Vietnam War started and old Ed Macnamara made a lotta money for himself in that exchange. Same with the "Golden sorry Goldman" boys today.

Some of these people blaming Wall Street Greed on a few Jews, or Indians, Muslims, Blacks, or whatever are still stuck in the past. Here's a newsflash for the bigots on this site: GREED has nothing to do with race, its ethics stupid! I recall the fat cat CEO's who were paraded in front of Congress last week were White. So stop with your racial bull, & realize its the Bankers who are running this country into the ground and they dont care what color we are as long as we are all in debt. Republican & Democrat means nothing when they both play for the same banker team. Wake up! because America is slipping away, and its not because of a Jew or some other "minority" in office. The Bankers just covered their bad investments with our money by raiding the Treasury. Now they are going to give themselves a fat bonus for pulling it off with more of that money too. Go ahead blame Paulson, Bush, & Kashkari--But people need to face the fact that our bought out Congress helped them gift wrap this whole sceme (one would think with all those elected lawyers and staff they could of closed a lot of the loopholes and added some better oversight on the bailout terms). Jews, Muslims, Hindus, Buddhists, Christians, Blacks, Browns, Reds, Yellows, and Whites all bled, died, sacrificed and killed for this country. Dont be so quick to forget their sacrifice. Be a REAL PATRIOT and Vote the Bums out this election!!!!!!! Vote out those who sold us out for trinkets and chump change while our friends, sons and daughters are sacrificing themselves in foriegn lands. Vote, open your eyes, take a stand, & see whats really going on.

Paulson made hundreds of millions before going to Washington to help "bail out" his cronies!!!!!!!!!

Neel Kashkari is there to do Paulson's bidding.Paulson needs someone trustworthy to carry out his instructions
Forget patriotism.

WITH THE WAY THE ECONOMY'S IN THE TANK, THIS GUY SHOULD BE MAKING MINIMUM WAGE.