Biden Continues to Charge Secret Service Rent

[The Straight Story]

Biden Continues to Charge Secret Service Rent

Despite criticism from taxpayer groups, Vice President Joseph Biden has decided to continue charging rent to the Secret Service for guarding him at his home in Delaware.

Earlier this month the Secret Service approved yet another year of paying Biden for agents using a cottage at his lakefront property whenever the VP goes home. The arrangement is the same as before: $2,200 a month, or $26,400 for an entire year, the same price paid by the previous tenant. Until January 2010, the cottage had been occupied by Biden’s mother, Jean, who died at the age of 92.

Biden’s staff has not said whether he has considered letting agents stay in his cottage free of charge or for less money.

http://www.allgov.com/Where_is_the_Money_Going/ViewNews/Biden_Continues_to_Charge_Secret_Service_Rent_11113

[GoCubsGo]

1. So?

Every time they stay there, they put wear and tear on his property, and they use water, gas and electricity. If he lets them stay there for free, he is, in effect, paying for his own protection--something no other VP has had to do. If the Secret Service doesn't like paying rent, they can put their agents up in a motel. This article is also unclear as to whether the Secret Service is paying for the full year, full months, or just the days when agents are staying there. If they are actually paying for "whenever the VP goes home", they aren't paying the $26K this article claims.

I don't recall Dick Cheney ever undergoing this kind of scrutiny regarding his Secret Service protection.