• 14th_cylon@lemmy.zip
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    4 months ago

    isn’t any gift received by the president property of the government? or so i gathered from watching the west wing 😆

    • themeatbridge@lemmy.world
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      4 months ago

      So much of our government worked on the idea that nobody would be brazen enough to break convention, and the untested belief that voters would immediately and vehemently reject anyone trying to openly abuse their power.

      We now know both of those assumptions were wrong.

      • bitjunkie@lemmy.world
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        4 months ago

        The country was formed when there were like 2 million people in it. We should have thrown everything out and rewritten it decades if not centuries ago.

      • pelespirit@sh.itjust.works
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        4 months ago

        But it’s going to cost around 1 billion to renovate by our tax dollars.

        Hey Doge! I think you can cut some waste right here!

        • LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world
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          4 months ago

          That’s the part that doesn’t make sense to me. It’s either a gift to him, and it’s his problem to take care of, or a gift to the government, and their problem.

          When you get elected president your car(s) doesn’t suddenly get overhauled with bullet proof glass and security features paid for by the government. You hop in a government provided vehicle, and when you leave (outside of specific instances and time frames) you hop back in your normal car and live your life. Sure the secret service is around for things, but George Bush buys a truck from dealership, it doesn’t get taken to a military installation and reworked with our taxes.

          • ohulancutash@feddit.uk
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            4 months ago

            Ex-presidents are banned from driving unless they have declined secret service protection.

            And their properties are renovated at taxpayer expense to add secure communications, guardhouses, helipads and covered space for vehicles.