President George H.W. Bush was famously portrayed by the media as out of touch when he expressed wonder at a supermarket scanner. The truth of that case is that the technology he was wowed by was an advanced scanner that could read a barcode even after it had been mangled.

Today we get an assessment from President Obama on what “relatively modest pay” is:

Perhaps it was the long flight back from Hawaii. But President Obama's first full day back on the job suggested a slight case of tone deafness.

In bidding a sort-of farewell to White House spokesman Robert Gibbs, he noted the "relatively modest pay" for which Gibbs has labored.

In fact, he earns $172,200 in a nation where the average family income hovers around $55,000, unemployment is high, record foreclosures persist and wages for most folks are at best stagnant.

You know, that’s a pretty narrow band there from $172,200 being “relatively modest” to $200,000 being “rich” (for a single-income earner). Apparently those making as little as $140,000 are “dirt poor.”