Notepad

This is the way it works: The White House froze the salary level for existing positions that paid more than $100,000 during President Bush's last term in office. But since Obama's aides were not in those jobs, many of them received significant increases over the salaries they earned working as campaign go-fers, junior Capitol Hill aides or think tank staffers.

Chicago ward heeler Paddy Bauler once famously declared "Chicago ain't ready for reform yet." Perhaps the same could be said of the West Wing.

Emanuel, for example, is making the White House staff maximum of $172,200 per year. Last year, when he represented Illinois' 5th Congressional District, he made $169,300. The $2,900 raise -- about 1.7 percent -- is chump change for a multimillionaire like Emanuel, but others have found far greener pastures in the West Wing than on the campaign trail.

The president's twentysomething wordsmith, Jon Favreau, hauls in the maximum of $172,200 before taxes -- the same amount as National Security Adviser James L. Jones. In 2008, the Obama campaign paid Favreau $61,720 after payroll deductions. In fiscal 2006, Favreau's only full fiscal year working in Obama's Senate office, he made $68,165.89.

Is Favreau worth the money? Of course. He could certainly earn more than he does if he was in the private sector. But the point is that the pay freeze isn't as Draconian as it sounds.

Indeed, it may not be exactly what Americans envisioned when Obama wrote in a presidential memorandum on his first full day in office that "in this challenging economic period, it is only appropriate that senior officials on the White House staff forgo pay increases until further notice."

Not everybody won in moving to the White House.

Longtime Emanuel adviser Sarah Feinberg took a serious pay cut to join her boss. As an aide to the House Democratic Caucus, Feinberg was making $150,000 per year. As a White House official, she's making $120,000. Now that's a sacrifice.

Feinberg's husband, Deputy Communications Director Dan Pfeiffer, is at the $150,000 level after making what appears to be a comparable amount in a similar role in the Obama campaign in 2008.

While $270,000 per year is easily enough for most families to get by -- even by Washington standards -- the Feinberg/Pfeiffer pay cut must have hurt a bit.

While Emanuel saw a slight raise in his own pay, several of his top aides took significant cuts to move down Pennsylvania Ave. with their boss.

Sean Sweeney, who made $163,500 per year as executive director of the House Democratic Caucus under Emanuel, is now pulling in $120,000 -- the same amount as Feinberg -- as director of Emanuel's office in the White House.

The chief of staff in Emanuel's congressional office, Elizabeth Sears Smith, made just under $163,000 per year on Capitol Hill. As a deputy assistant to the president and deputy Cabinet secretary, she is down to $130,000.

The Emanuel aides will surely have tremendous earning potential when they leave the White House -- whether tomorrow or in seven-and-a-half years -- but for now they know a little bit what it's like to be outside the Washington political bubble.

Some notable boosts among the 487 salaries listed on the White House Web site:

• When chief White House lobbyist Phil Schiliro left his post as the top aide on the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee last year, his annual salary was $143,800. Now, it's $172,200.
• Micaheal Strautmanis earned $105,250 per year as Obama's chief counsel in the Senate in fiscal 2007, Now, as a special assistant to the president, he makes $139,500.
• In fiscal 2008, Christoher Lu earned $114,500 as Obama's legislative director and as his acting chief of staff in the Senate. Now, he's at the maximum $172,200 as assistant to the president and secretary for the Cabinet.