So Who
REALLY
pays for the Secret Service
Quarters at Hillary's New York Home?
"Urban legends are a real
trip."
Try this little thought-game for yourself: We've all read those
emails, the ones that expose some revelation about a politician, or
tries to scare you with some other earth-shaking news that no one else
other than the writer seems privy to... But inevitably, the political stuff is
written by neo-cons and the subject involves some wrong-doing on the
part of a Democrat or a liberal, or possibly even about a Republican the
writer wants to slap around. Curiosity forced me to investigate,
and I have looked extensively, but I have never been able to find an
urban legend written by a liberal about a
conservative. Try it for yourself. And if you find one,
please send it to me.
Here's a popular urban legend about the Clintons and the way they take
advantage of your tax dollars:
"When
Hillary Clinton decided to run as Senator from New York, the
Clintons had to establish residence in New York State. So
they bought a large and expensive house. But there was no
place to house the necessary Secret Service, who are required to
protect the First Family. So special quarters were built.
"Of course, the Clintons decided
to charge them rent! And the rent they are charging just
happens to be the same as their mortgage payment: $10,000
a month!
"That means WE taxpayers had to
pay for the Secret Service addition, and for the Clinton's
mortgage! Wake up, America!
"Can you feel the Big Screw coming
on? Can’t you feel Hill and Billary putting it to us
again? How long are we going to take this?
"How many people can YOU send this
to… ?" |
Emails like this are interesting, but generally untrue. The
writers usually have an axe to grind, therefore the truth proves to be
inconvenient. It is also no surprise when the writer asks you to pass the email on to others. They
want you to help them gratify their egos by
spamming everyone you know with something that will probably make you
look foolish if anyone bothers to check it out.
Having said that, let’s take a look at the "Fib Value" of
this email:
|
[FACT] |
Hillary Rodham Clinton, a Senator from New York, comes under the
Congressional Retirement and Staffing Plan. To establish New York
residency they had purchase a home there, i.e., a million-plus dollar
home in posh Chappaqua, NY. |
|
[FACT] |
The Clintons are entitled to Secret Service protection for life.
(I might add that they are the last presidential family to get
protection for life.) |
|
[FACT] |
The mortgage payment on their home is about $10,000 a month. |
|
[FICTION] |
The Clintons are charging the Secret Service $10,000 a month
in rent for the use of a Secret Service residence, which just happens to
coincide with their $10,000 mortgage payment. |
|
[FACT] |
It is standard practice for the Secret Service to use a set
government formula to determine the payment provided to the
"client" for the space they occupy at the residence. In the
Clintons’ case, that amounts to about $1,100, a far cry from the
$10,000 this rumor would have you believe. |
The irony is that although it would have been perfectly correct for them
to accept up to $1,100, the Clintons are the first former First Family
in history to NOT accept a single dime from the Secret Service. The
Clintons deserve our thanks for turning the money down, and the creator
of this urban legend deserves our contempt.
|
