Ref question of the day

From one of our frequent callers:

"Does the President pay rent at the White House?"

Follow-up questions from the patron included

"What salary does the President get?"
"Does the Vice President Pay rent?"
"How many children does Sarah Palin have?"

As best as I could tell, he was trying to compare incomes and costs of living for these different stations to see how much worse off financially Sarah Palin is than those currently holding the post of President and Vice President. (There was some confusion on his part as to whether Sarah Palin was currently living at the Vice President's residence at Number One Observatory Circle. He seemed to believe that she is, despite my repeated efforts to clarify with him that Cheney is current VP, not Sarah Palin.)



Some of these answers were located thanks to a wonderful page at the Internet Public Library. And the lovely "Congressional Quarterly's Guide to the Presidency" explains, "One of the luxuries that presidents and their families enjoy is the rent-free White House mansion...almost every imaginable convenience is available to the president within the White House complex...including a theater, a swimming pool, a gymnasium, tennis courts, a bowling alley, a putting green, a jogging track, and a library regularly supplied by the publishing industry." Which would explain what Bush has been doing for the past eight years, except for the part about the library.



The patron explained to me in great detail his theory that Sarah Palin is more in tune with the average American, thanks to her paltry $125,000 salary and the fact that she has five kids to feed. (Because I'm sure that the average American has appeared in Vogue and is worth 1.2 million dollars. )



Bah.

I'm not sure why I'm doing this, but...

Per ruehllin,

"I come to a stop against a brass rail and straighten up, looking back at Earl in shock. Then I see the rest of them.

'What is this?' says Uncle Al from the depths of a winged chair. He is seated at a table with three other men, twaddling a fat cigar between the finger and thumb of one hand and holding five fanned cards in the other. A snifter of brandy rests on the table in front of him. Just beyond it is a large pile of poker chips.

'Jumped the train, sir.'"

Maybe now ruehllin will explain this bizarre exercise to me?