In his usual meticulous way, Walter Pincus reviews a Blackwater contract and crunches the numbers:
Amount billed per day for a Blackwater senior manager: $1,075
Amount paid per day to U.S. Gen. David Petraeus: $493
Late Update: Let me head off a couple of potential criticisms of this comparison in advance. First, Blackwater was a third tier subcontractor: a sub of a sub of a sub. So the amount listed above is what Blackwater charged directly–not what the prime contractor, Halliburton subsidiary KBR, ultimately charged to the U.S. government, which would be a higher number. Second, Petraeus’ daily salary does not include all of the costs associated with his compensation, which would also be a higher number. The fact is that a perfect apples to apples comparison is difficult if not impossible, but the gross disparity here is illustrative nonetheless.
