Joe Biden is a landlord to the Secret Service.

That's right.

The Washington Times reports that Biden has collected $13,200 from the Secret Service since April to rent a cottage adjacent to his Wilmington, Del., home and continues to charge the agency rent. The Secret Service has agreed to pay $2,200 per month for use of the house in order to provide security to the Biden family, according to Edwin M. Donovan, special agent in charge at the Secret Service's Office of Government and Public Affairs in Washington.

(By the way, that's no discount on the rent--the Times reports that's the amount paid by the previous tenant.)

Some of the watchdog types interviewed by the Times questioned whether the agreement is appropriate, especially given Biden's deficit reduction leadership role. Leslie Paige, spokeswoman for Citizens Against Government Waste, said there's no question Biden deserves protection, "but this arrangement seems bizarre to me."

"You'd think the vice president, who shepherded the deficit committee, would think twice about charging the Secret Service rent. Why would he need the money? I don't get it."

The agency says it is a unique situation. "We don't pay rent to any other protectees," Donovan told The Ticket, but he added that the agency had wanted to be in close proximity to the vice president's house. Officials had been renting other properties in the area when Biden's cottage tenant moved out. So, the Secret Service reached out.

"The cottage was an existing rental property at the time the Secret Service signed its lease," Kendra Barkoff, press secretary for the vice president, informed the newspaper and wrote in an email to The Ticket.

Do we sense an Onion spoof in the making?

UPDATE 6:00PM EST: Story updated to add attribution to Edwin M. Donovan and statement from Kendra Barkoff.

UPDATE 6:25PM EST: Story updated to include Donovan's comments to The Ticket.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/ticket/joe-biden-collecting-rent-secret-194812366.html


so much helping out... and people say the republicans are greedy? I could almost understand it IF we were not almost ready to default with the government, but am i the only one that sees this as wrong?

You can protect me, but it'll cost you. WTF?

but at least he isn't charging them 2300 dollars a month, then that would be an outrage...

What a chode!

http://mingle2.com/topic/show/307825

sorry don, didn't know you already posted it...

Why shouldn't he charge them rent? They wanted to be there specifically, and they're taking up space so that other renters can't stay there. Biden is not a particularly wealthy Senator. What's wrong with supplementing his income by renting out space in a rental property. I think he's doing the Secret Service a favor by giving them a discount.

You guys scream that businesses don't operate in order to give away their services. Why should Biden have to?

same ole, same ole....

But, can you answer my question? I don't think that snark is an especially effective fall-back position.

because he is a greedy liberal, plain and simple... i thought even you could understand that...

still up to the same old snark and personal insults, I see. Keep em coming!

don't be mad at me because your liberal buddy is just as greedy as any republican you always gripe about...if your thinking that this is ok, then there is not really much to discuss.

just so you know, that wasn't meant as an insult, even you as a liberal is what i meant...

so, your answer is that you think Biden is being greedy for expecting to collect rent on his rental property. Well, I suppose that's an answer.

you don't think that is a double standard? he's leading the charge on wasteful government spending, and then charging the government to protect him? A job that is wasteful enough in it's own sense? does he need the money? is he broke? no wonder the government is going broke, if all liberals think like you do...

President Bush built a really nice place on his property to house the Secret Service Agents assigned to him, and he didn't charge them rent.

Shows the lack of class this administration has.

The Republican paid for it out of his own pocket and didn't charge then a penny.

The Democrat milks them for every penny.

agreed, the whole idea just shows this administrations level of greed...
and lack of caring, just another way to steal from the people he "serves"... i guess 26,000 dollars a year for the rest of his life sounds ok to some people. there are many in America that do not even earn that much in a year...

I wouldn't wanna insilt, slap in the face or piss off the people who are supposed to protect me, but that's just me........

No, I don't think it is a double standard. I don't see why Biden should be taking a loss on his rental property just because the Secret Service decided that that's where its agents should be housed.
BTW,Biden is the poorest member of the Senate. Obviously, he be never engaged in all the insider trading that goes on in Congress and he wasn't born with a silver spoon Like Bush was.