First Lady's Job Is Real: Let's Pay Her

Michelle Obama is taking flak because she's putting her law career on hold to help her kids adjust to life in Washington. In fact, however, she’s not leaving professional life at all: Her new role as first lady—"the hardest job she will ever hold"— comes with a staff, a budget, and the weight of expectations, writes Lauren Stiller Rikleen in the Washington Post. It's time we came up with a job description and a salary, too.

"Surely the person in one of the most visible roles on the planet deserves a proper title and salary to go along with the intense demands of this most nebulous position, which is, in essence, a job."
(More Michelle Obama stories.)