Gifts to "regular guy" Bush run in the millions.... read all about it

[Bluebear]

WASHINGTON – What to give a restless president who would seem to have it all? A chain saw? Why not? Maybe even a pair of them. "George's answer to any problem at the ranch is to cut it down with a chain saw," first lady Laura Bush joked the other night. A golf cart? Sure. Clubs and bags, too. And a boat? Of course. And two docks, plus fishing gear of all sorts.

Each year, in a bureaucratic rite of spring, the president and top administration officials report to the Office of Government Ethics the large gifts they've accepted. President Bush, like his predecessors, is besieged with largesse, all spirited away by a handful of White House gift office "analysts" to be appraised, catalogued and stored, or otherwise disposed of. Most of it is sent to the National Archives. But the president can keep some, which he must disclose if it's worth more than $285. The Protocol Office of the State Department controls foreign leaders' gifts, which are most often dispatched directly to the Archives because federal law forbids the president from keeping most of them. At the end of his term, many of the presents will end up at his presidential library, for storage and occasional display.....

A few years ago, the White House staff, which often passes the hat for presidential gifts, gave Mr. Bush unspecified "equipment for clearing brush."...

By far, the biggest givers were members of Saudi royal family, who have showered the first family with gifts – all stored in the Archives. State Department records show that the Saudi ambassador to the United States, Prince Bandar bin Sultan, gave the president a $1 million Western oil painting the day after he visited Mr. Bush at his Texas ranch in 2002. Saudi Crown Prince Abdullah has given Mrs. Bush $95,500 in diamond and sapphire jewelry, among other gifts. No word yet on what the two princes may have left behind on their visit to the ranch last April.


http://www.fox11az.com/news/other/stories/KMSB-20050620-dnbp-perks.2a9ca72a.html

[izzie]

1. I think he is playing RR

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[Swamp Rat]

2. "equipment for clearing brush."

Like mini-nukes?

[NewJeffCT]

3. If the Saudi prince gave Bush a diamond...

Does that mean they're engaged?

[slor]

4. Yep, just a "regular guy", someone you can have a beer with...

what? Did you guys not get your jewel encrusted, permanently frosted with diamonds mug from bandar?

[Bluebear]

5. Talk about a con job!

Those that bought into the 'have a beer with' Bush show a gullibility heretofor unmatched.