It is good to be president, not the least because it inspires rock stars and others to buy you presents like $1 800 suits, $900 poker sets, $350 chain saws and $5 500 bikes.
President George Bush and Vice-President Dick Cheney on Monday released the financial disclosure forms they are required by law to file every year. They offer a broad portrait of both men’s not-insignificant wealth, showing Bush to possess a relatively safe portfolio, with much of his money locked up in real estate and rock-solid investments in government Treasury notes, while Cheney has a more diverse spread of assets.
Among the awkward vagaries of being in high public office is that the forms reveal how much each spent on the other for Christmas. Last year, for instance, Cheney presented Bush with a $400 pair of binoculars, while the president bought his second-in-command a $338 hammock on a steel frame.
Because federal ethics law allows officials to list the values of their assets in wide ranges, rather than precise numbers, it is unclear whether either Bush or Cheney are wealthier than they were a year ago.
The forms appear to suggest little substantial change in 2005 from years past in both the value and type of the men’s holdings.
The disclosure said Bush’s 633ha central Texas ranch was worth between $1-million and $5-million. The president also reported having at least $3,95-million in Treasury notes, $945 000 in certificates of deposits, $153 000 in checking and money market accounts and at least $1-million in investments held in a blind trust. Bush owns the mineral rights valued at up to $15 000 on property in Reeves County, Texas. He also owns a tree farm, which is not expected to have commercial sales until 2007, which has a value of just over $700 000.
Bush also reported salting away between $1 000 and $15 000 into a health savings account through Aetna. The president has been championing the expansion of such accounts as a way to expand health care coverage and reduce the nation’s health expenses. They allow individuals and families to save money tax-free for health care expenses, but require the purchase of an accompanying high-deductible health insurance policy.
Many Democrats say the accounts are merely a way to give wealthier families another tax-advantaged way to save money.
Cheney listed holdings including at least $10,5-million in tax-exempt bond funds, $3,6-million in stock and equity funds, $1,1-million in stock options, $2,5-million in retirement accounts, and $1,3-million in checking and money-market accounts. He also reported owning undeveloped property in tony McLean, Virginia, outside Washington worth between $1-million and $5-million.
There is no limit on the size of gifts a president or vice-president can receive from a US citizen, but federal law requires him to declare them if they are valued at $305 or more, said Erin Healy, a White House spokesperson. Multiple gifts over $100 from the same donor must be listed if their cumulative total exceeds the $305 limit. Gifts from foreign officials must be turned over to the US archives on behalf of the American people.
U2 frontman Bono gave Bush an iPod and a book on the Bible, together valued at $440, just one of the 16 gifts worth $17 316 that Bush reported accepting in 2005.
For the second year in a row, the president got a fancy mountain bike from John Burke, president of Trek Bicycle, in Waterloo, Wisconsin, this one worth $5 474. The president, who is an avid biker, also received a $1 700 indoor cycling trainer from Saris Cycling Group president Chris Fortune and $515 in cycling shoes from Trek Nike Cycling Division.
Games were another popular theme. Elms Puzzle gave Bush two hand-carved wooden puzzles worth $3 000, while the US Playing Card Company presented the president with two poker chip sets (with cases) worth $900.
No doubt aware of Bush’s penchant for cutting brush on his ranch, Home Depot chairperson Robert Nardelli gave the president a chainsaw and accessories worth $351.
Cheney reported 20 gifts worth $39 722, including several expensive pieces of art: a $15 000 oil painting of the vice-president’s home done by Thomas William Jones; a $900 photographic portrait of Cheney by Melvin Kim Jew of Albuquerque, New Mexico; a $550 artist’s proof by wildlife artist John Ruthven, from now-budget chief Rob Portman; and a $1 925 bronze statue of Nellie Tayloe Ross, the first American woman to vote, from the Laramie Foundation in Laramie, Wyoming.
Cheney’s love of hunting inspired many of his gifts — given well before he came under scrutiny, and became the butt of late-night jokes, for accidentally shooting a lawyer while quail hunting in Texas in February.
Stewart Hines of Vermillion, South Dakota, gave a $1 000 handmade, engraved Lewis & Clark reproduction rifle. US Firearms Manufacturing delivered a US prewar, single-action Colt 45 revolver worth $6 125 and which was donated to the Cody Firearms Museum in Cheney’s home state of Wyoming. The Marine Corps Law Enforcement Foundation sprung for a Smith and Wesson revolver. And the White House staff spent $800 on an antique decoy from Maryland’s Eastern Shore.
Cheney and his wife, Lynne, also reported receiving inaugural clothes from a McLean tailor. Suk Im Kwon gave Mrs Cheney a $5 360 dress-and-coat outfit and donated a $1 850 inaugural suit for the vice-president. – Sapa-AP