What Bush and Cheney do with their millions
Friday, May 16, 2008
WASHINGTON (AP) - The tens of millions of dollars in assets reported by Vice President Dick Cheney and his wife, Lynne, triple those held by President Bush and the first lady, Laura Bush.
Bush kept much of his money invested fairly conservatively, in U.S. Treasury notes and certificates of deposit, according to financial disclosure reports released Thursday.
Cheney spread his money around, at least $15.8 million in mutual funds that include bonds, international equities and domestic stocks.
In the financial wild ride of 2007, Bush's wealth appears to have held steady while Cheney's seemed to decline a little.
Of course, how much difference does it really make when you're talking real wealth - $7 million to $20 million in the case of Bush, $20 million to $100 million in the case of Cheney, according to the documents released by the White House.
It's impossible to tell the actual numbers because federal law allows top government officials and members of Congress to report their financial picture in wide ranges. So wide that Bush actually might have lost money while Cheney could have gained.
For example, how much is Bush's Texas ranch worth? According to the financial disclosure forms, the 1,583-acre spread near Crawford is worth somewhere between $1 million and $5 million - the same range listed for Cheney's undeveloped real estate in McLean, Va.
Bush got $15 million when the Texas Rangers baseball team which he owned a piece of was sold, Cheney got $35 million by exercising his stock options at his old firm, Halliburton.
The big pay days are over. What's left is the task of looking after lots of money.
Personal finances have taken up some time this year on the presidential campaign trail.
While Sen. John McCain released his tax return - total income of $405,409 last year - his wife is causing some controversy. Cindy McCain, an heiress to a Phoenix-based beer distributing company, has a fortune in the range of $100 million, but she has declined to disclose her tax returns. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and former President Clinton made nearly $109 million since they left the White House, capitalizing on the world's interest in the former first couple and lucrative business ventures.
Obama released tax documents last year showing income of more than $991,000 for him and his wife, Michelle. The figure included his Senate salary as well as her income as an administrator of the University of Chicago Hospitals.
On their financial disclosure reports, the president and vice president also revealed they received a number of gifts last year.
The most expensive was a $6,160 bike that a Waterloo, Wis., manufacturer gave the president, an avid biker.
The Greenbriar Lodge of Carlisle, Ark., hosted Cheney for two days of hunting and gave the vice president a hunting vest and a hardcover book, "Duck Calls: An Enduring American Tradition," all valued at $1,600.
The financial disclosure forms also suggest that if he chooses, Cheney will have lots to do next year when he leaves the White House. He's a trustee at the Gerald R. Ford Foundation and the George C. Marshall Foundation, an adviser at the University of Wyoming College of Arts and Sciences in Laramie and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations in New York and the Business Council in Washington.
May 15 is the annual deadline for top government officials and members of Congress to file the forms. The congressional forms will be released next month.
AP-ES-05-15-08 1915EDT |
CLICK HERE To Show/Hide Discussion Thread - (11 Comments)
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Posted By:linda at May 16, 2008 6:41 AM (Suggest Removal) They should be forced to give some of their 'millions' to the war vets, who have come back severely wounded, permanantly disabled,and those who have given their lives to this country. After all, it's the 'oil', and the war that has made them rich. Make them pay for it.
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Posted By:horsefeathers at May 16, 2008 8:36 AM (Suggest Removal) Who cares what they make? I measure quality of life differently. There is an old song, "Money can't buy back your youth when you're old, or a friend when your lonely , or a love that's grown cold. The wealthiest person is a pauper at times. Compared to a man with at SATISFIED MIND".
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Posted By:JulieL at May 16, 2008 8:37 AM (Suggest Removal) ".....Cheney got $35 million by exercising his stock options at his old firm, Halliburton....." Are you Republicans who still support this administration ok with this? And why doesn't Cindy MCCain have to disclose her tax returns? We just found out she had $2 million in a Sudan mutual fund.....what else is she hiding....Theresa Hines Kerry disclosed her wealth and investments. I want to know where the "heiress" invests her millions.....
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Posted By:Matt at May 16, 2008 8:51 AM (Suggest Removal) ....and no comments about how the Clintons have made more in the past 7 years than Cheney's entire net worth after a lifetime of work!
I am very interested in what Bill Clinton delivers when he is paid tens of millions for "speeches" and for his role as an "advisor".
Cheney's wife inherited the money and she has NEVER disclosed her tax returns. Were you all clamoring for Theresa Heinz Kerry to release her tax returns in 2004?
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Posted By:gil at May 16, 2008 9:53 AM (Suggest Removal) Take a deep breath julie, hold it, let it out slowly. There, a;; better. Now, remember that it wa the screaming of the left that led Cheney to divest of his stock options and holdings in Haliburton when he first ran as VP. Don't act like this is something new and you never heard of it before. Oh, that's right, since you merely parrot what you hear without first bothering to do any type of research on your own, you probably did just find that out.
"it's the 'oil', and the war that has made them rich"
Really Linda? After an article full of disclosure on how Bush and Cheney EARNED their money, you are still trying to pull out the old tired rhetoric. Please show us where you got your figures from on just how much money they made off of oil. Granted, Cheney made some off of Haliburton, but they would have made him a lot of money anyway. But just for giggles, why don't you put your money where your keyboard is and show us how much war profiteering Cheney actually did. Actual, verifiable facts please. Begin holding breath in 3,...2,...1
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Posted By:Matt at May 16, 2008 9:54 AM (Suggest Removal) It's only dead if we allow it. Don't be a quitter. Keep fighting for what you believe in.
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Posted By:gil at May 16, 2008 10:04 AM (Suggest Removal) Amen Matt. Freedom is an ideal that is hard to come by, and once obtained, must be preserved and defended at all costs. Michael, the glass isn't half empty, it's merely twice as big as it needs to be. All you have to do is have Barbara "Eyebrows" Pelosi let us in on her secret plan that she said the Dems had and would use if returned to power to bring gas prices down. That promise was made by her over 2 years ago and we still haven't seen it implemented. They must be waiting for just the right time.
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Posted By:Drew at May 16, 2008 10:24 AM (Suggest Removal) And the Clinton's have made most of that money while Hillary has been a sitting U.S. Senator! Do you think maybe there's been a little tit for tat going on there? Anybody remember when Newt Gingrich was offered a book deal when he was in office? The left acted like he was robbing widows and orphans. Along comes a book deal for Hillary and it's all rainbows and butterflies, it's the greatest thing ever and they see nothing at all wrong with it.
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Posted By:Marc at May 16, 2008 2:26 PM (Suggest Removal) gil, it's Nancy Pelosi. Maybe you could do some research.
Matt, linda made the comment about war and oil, not Julie.
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Posted By:T at May 16, 2008 4:07 PM (Suggest Removal) "Cheney's wife inherited the money and she has NEVER disclosed her tax returns."...Do you mean McCain's wife?
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Posted By:T at May 16, 2008 4:09 PM (Suggest Removal) Does anyone read anything carefully before they respond or post?
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