Has the fake ranch been sold yet?

[Kingofalldems]

I haven't heard. BTW, When he first came on the scene I actually believed he was a rancher as portrayed by the media. How silly of me.

[grantcart]

1. in this market? are you kidding

he needs Obama to rebuild the economy first

[Veritas_et_Aequitas]

2. No he won't.

Some rich, stupid, Reagan-worshiping Freidmanite will come along and snatch that up. Probably make it the Mecca of neoliberalism.

[SoCalDem]

3. He's probably going to keep it....as a "retreat"..one they never go to

Think of all the high-tech "gadgetry" installed in that house.. and it does (or so he hopes) have some sort of cachet, and value as home of an ex-president.. He may hang onto it for a while..or maybe Jenna & her hubby will "camp-out"...it does have that pool that she and her sis lobbied for..:)

There's no rush to sell it now.. he does not need the money:)

[JDPriestly]

10. Your post raises a question SoCalDem, if the Bush's keep the ranch,

who is going to provide the security for all that high-tech equipment when the Bush's aren't there? How large a Secret Service contingent is Bush going to have? That's a rhetorical question on my part. I'm not really asking how many people will be assigned to him. That is obviously a security matter that should not be made public. But a lot of top secret stuff may be on that ranch. Where does it go? To the National Archives? Or to the Bush library? Or does it stay at the ranch? What will it cost taxpayers to clean up that place and put it back into a condition that is appropriate for Bush's use as a private citizen? Or is there no change?

Obviously, the Clintons didn't have their own second home until very late in or maybe even after the end of the presidency, so this was not a problem. I think the Reagans just kept the ranch and lived there. This is quite different. Will the taxpayers have to secure two residencies for the Bush family?

[ColbertWatcher]

13. After reading your post, maybe he should just make that his liberry. n/t

[SoCalDem]

14. Nope.. once he donates his book he keeps there,

the shelf will be empty:)

[ColbertWatcher]

15. Empty bookshelves arde so sad.

Almost as sad as an uncolored coloring book.

:cry:

[SmileyRose]

23. calling that a "book" is a little generous don't you think?

Even the comic book Dick reads to him every night has more pages than that thing at the ranch.

[madokie]

25. Is it even owned by the bushes

best I remember some supporters bought that had the house that was there removed and the one the bushes used built barely getting it finished by the time junior was sworn in.

I'm not sure that bush owns that pig farm.

[mrbill]

31. the ranch is owned by dipshit's blind trust

the mclennen county tax rolls show the ranch to be owned by the Lone Star Trust. Midland, Texas.

wonder how the live oaks on the tree farm are coming along? they should be for sale to the republican faithful soon.

[CTyankee]

35. I get the impression that this thing is GONE. My take is that it was a fake to being with

and now the family is glad to get rid of it!

I hope so. And I hope the whole scandal of this fake deal will come out in the open very soon...

[kskiska]

36. I remember Jenna saying that the reason she got married there

rather than the White House is that it's a place they can return to. The spot is even marked by a large stone cross. I doubt they'll unload it. Or maybe the state of Texas will take it and create a national historic site.

[Captain Hilts]

4. You mean the "Prairie Chapel?"

[Warpy]

5. I think he'll stick poor Jenna with it

if he can't sell it to the taxpayers of Texas for twice what it was worth at the height of the real estate bubble.

He only got it so he could play Reagan. I'm afraid a lot of people bought the act.

He's a Connecticut preppie. There is no way he'd ever want to live on a ranch.

[JDPriestly]

6. I have always wondered where Bush got the money to buy and fix up

his ranch. I suppose he sold a house. But that ranch was not cheap. That was quite an investment. I realize the Bush family has a lot of money, but I also realize that W was not a successful businessmen except when he was given credit for whatever he did with the Cowboys (That was the name of his team wasn't it?).

I wonder who "loaned" him the money for the ranch. The dealings were never discussed in the media as far as I know.

[Tangerine LaBamba]

8. Are you kidding?

That's a joke post, right?

You know who George W. Bush is?

You know his family background, right?

He was born wealthy, and that's why he could afford all those failed businesses - his family's friends were the "investors," the ones who ponied up to keep W busy and pretend that he was actually accomplishing something.

His "ranch," which was quickly built with prefabricated stuff, was purchased the same way his new Dallas house was purchased - by someone else, in the name of a trust. It's designed to keep the names of the principles out of court documents. And, W and Pickles took about a mortgage of something like two million bucks, I believe, to purchase it.

[JDPriestly]

21. How much money do you think the Bush family has lost in this

melt-down? Or did they safely transport their loot overseas before this all started?

[Tangerine LaBamba]

22. People like the Bushes

don't ever "lose" money. That's for the ones Leona Helmsley famously called "the little people."

The Bush/Walker money is greatly tied up with the Carlyle Group. Doesn't get safer or more untouchable than that.

[SammyWinstonJack]

26. Whatever the BFEE 'lost', you can be sure they stole more. The BFEE loves other peoples' money.

It's how they 'made' their fortune. Thieves, every one of them. And if I recall correctly, george bought his 'ranch' with the money he made from the sale of his share of the Texas Rangers, which he bought with the money he made from insider trading of Harkin Energy stock. Of course, I could just have a faulty memory. :shrug:

[Raster]

28. you are correct. Ol' W invested approximately $600,000 he received from his questionable

sale of Harken stock. bush* was paid over $12,000,000.00 as a BONUS when the Texas Rangers were sold for being the "face of the team."

[SammyWinstonJack]

29. I thought that was right and thanks for the verification.

:hi:

[Raster]

30. My pleasure. I lived in Texas at the time. I knew of W long before the rest of the world.

I followed his "career" closely and still chuckle every time I hear that bush* "was the owner of the Texas Rangers."

[SammyWinstonJack]

32. I live in Texas and I suffered under george as 'gov'. I remember his shenanigans

He pulled some pretty rank stuff on the taxpayers of Arlington, Texas and the Curtis Mathes family, with that stadium deal.

[xxqqqzme]

12. I have wondered the same as well.

It is supposed to be completely 'off the grid' both w/ electricity and water; a self contained fortress in the armpit of America.

[ayeshahaqqiqa]

18. Not the Cowboys--The Texas Rangers baseball team

Don't mention Bush's name to the small businessmen of Arlington. They are still paying for Rangers Stadium.

[tammywammy]

24. No, the Ballpark was paid off in 2001

[LiberalEsto]

7. Is the "brush" included?

Or did he finally finish clearing it all?

[Kingofalldems]

9. I suspect the help did the actual clearing.

[ben_meyers]

11. I haven't seen where it's for sale

I thought I heard an interview where Laura said they were keeping it too.

[Mira]

16. I suspect that's where he will be living...all by himself.

My gut says Laura ain't stayin'.
Would you?

[Mari333]

17. kinda sad..the Crawford TX homepage

hasnt been updated since 2004. and no mention of Bush anywhere on the front page.
guess the patina wore off.
www.hulu.com has a great documentary on it called 'Crawford', and how the town has been boarded up since Bushs ratings have plummeted.
the movie http://www.hulu.com/watch/37906/crawford
homepage of Crawford:
http://www.crawfordtx.com/

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

19. Are we talking about Dumbya or Don Imus?

Two fake cowboys.

[Kingofalldems]

20. At least Imus can ride a horse

I think the other guy is afraid of horses.

[lutefisk]

27. Will Junior take the limestone altar with him and turn it into a barbecue grill?

It would make a a great poolside grill for his new Dallas home.

[Nikki Stone1]

33. When a fake buyer comes along there will be a fake sale

:)

[Canuckistanian]

34. The poor pigs are missing their home

Please give generously, so that these unfortunate porcine orphans can find meaning in their lives again.