6:09 p.m. - 2004-10-27
Put some ketchup on this!

Forgive the Politics Please

Hi y'all buddies. I know that I have stepped out of the closet as one of the only Republican, Bush supporters on Diaryland and out of respect for most of you who are Kerry supporters, I have largely kept quiet and not offered any comment on some of the Bush bashing I see. I don't know why some of us see things one way and some of us see things another, but I am so glad that we can all be freinds anyway and agree to disagree.

Since we are coming to the end of this ugly but necessary American election process, (I hope), and since I and all of you as well are suffering from "Election Anxiety", I decided that I had to put my two cents in. I am only going to put my two cents in once and am not doing this to upset anyone and I am sure I won't change anyone's vote, but let it not be said that I didn't try to rock the boat a little in the favor of my candidate.

After all...I got guts and I'm gonna use them. Here I go...forgive me and please don't stop reading my diary just because I am going to spount off just this once.

I found this quite interesting and maddening! I didn't know all of this and it makes me wonder how many other "informed" American voters realize this.

Most of us haven't thought about this -- no matter how much we like or
dislike John Kerry. Even an estimate of this cost is staggering.

If elected, you and I (or those of us who actually pay taxes) will pay
upkeep and secret service protection for five Kerry mansions here in the
United States plus those he and his wife own abroad It is good to be
John F. Kerry...the F stands for Forbes in case you ever wondered. He is one ofthe richest senators in government and he married even richer. Their properties certainly reflect their opulent lifestyle. When someone is elected president, the Secret Service has to protect this person and family
as well as their property - for as long as the president and his spouse
lives!

Beacon Hill, Boston $6.9 million

As mentioned, the Kerry's have five US properties and several foreign
properties. The cost to run one of these homes for a year is more than
upper middle income Americans could afford, even if the rent was free, and
all you had to pay was the water, gas & electric bills (we won't mention ground keepers, maintenance, pool, cooks and house keepers).

Fox Chapel, PA $3.7 million (this is their "shanty")

If Kerry becomes president each property requires staffed secret
service security 24 hours a day. Security improvements to each home will come at tax payer expense. Even if the Kerry's never use all the properties - they
will be retrofitted -- just in case they drop by for a weekend. Facilities
for the secret service agents must also be provided on each property.
Who do you think will pay for this? We pay! This takes all the expense off
Kerry and puts it on us.

Bill Clinton is paying for his New York manor house by charging the
government monthly rent for the required secret service facility. The
monthly rent is nearly three times more than his mortgage payment. So
we the tax payers are buying his house and he pockets the extra money from
the rent on the secret service facility. Then he gets to write off the interest on his mortgage. Well, he was broke from defending his immoral skullduggery
and his wife's little scandals, so maybe we should feel sorry for poor
old Slick Willie.

Georgetown, Washington D.C. $4.7 million

Ketchum, Idaho $4.92 million

What does it cost to staff one property in terms of secret service
agents?Let's just talk about his American properties. Each property would require 5 agents per 6 hour shift 4 times a day 365 days a year for the rest of Kerry's life and however long his widow might live. In addition, we pay to house and feed these agents at each property for the duration. Do the math.
Five properties requiring five agents per shift, times four shifts.
That is 20 agents per day per property, 365 days per year. Lets say each agent receives a salary of about $60K (this doesn't include insurance,
retirement, etc.; add 30% of salary for that). There will also be vehicles, repairs,
gas, and other miscellaneous costs. Straight salary and benefits for
100 agents for one year would cost $7,800,000. We can only guess at the
cost of retrofitting each property, building the facility necessary to house the agents and the monthly rent for each facility

Nantucket, MA $9.18 million

On the other hand, George Bush owns one house - the one at his ranch in
Crawford, Texas.

Again, who pays? You and I pay. I don't mind one property; heck I
wouldn't even complain about two - but five in the U.S. and those abroad?
Perhaps Mr. and Mrs. Kerry should offer to foot the bill for all but two of these properties if they want me to consider his candidacy. Does it make
sense to spend this kind of money on his excessive life style when he and Mrs. Heinz-Kerry can better afford it??

Paying for the Kerry mansions is only a small part of my concern about
this man sitting in the White House. Tax and spend Kerry - that's his party
motto. I'd rather see the money we'd spend protecting his fancy properties
go toward health care, our military and homeland security. Which America
does he live in?? Not the same one I live in - that's for sure!

Let's keep Bush a resident of the White House rather than spend millions and millions to protect Kerry's preferred lifestyle and opulent properties.
We'd save an incredible amount of money for more deserving programs.
Oh, and viva Del Monte Ketchup!

And There's my two cents....Ok, maybe it's a nickels worth.

Good night buddies...I really do love all a ya.

P. I. Yarnsmith

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