Wednesday, August 02, 2006

Priceless

Check out this link where the Disembodied Head of Dick Devos brags that "his house is a hell of a lot bigger than your rathole." He's not kidding. According to this info provided by Dick's Head...
Property tax records show candidate DeVos' main home in Ada Township near Grand Rapids, a multistory brick house with a gabled roof set off from neighbors by a gated fence is valued at $2.6 million.

The sprawling 16,000-square-foot mansion sits on 16.8 acres of rolling, wooded land near the Thornapple River.

[...] Amenities at the DeVos homestead include an indoor underground swimming pool, a tennis court with a $22,000 lighting system, a wine room, a billiards room, seven fireplaces, a Jacuzzi, eight bathrooms, five bedrooms and a four-car garage connected to the main house by a covered walkway.

[...]Property records also show DeVos owns side-by-side homes on Lake Macatawa in Holland worth $1.9 million. It's part of the DeVos family compound there. This is where he can moor his boats, including a 70-foot fiberglass inboard pleasure craft, a 23-foot fiberglass outboard boat, a 48-foot sailboat and seven personal watercraft, according to state records.

In addition, Dick and Betsy DeVos have a summer place overlooking Lake Michigan near upscale Harbor Springs. The wood frame cottage and guest house on 5.9 acres with 335 feet of waterfront are valued at $2.45 million, according to tax records. The couple also has other land holdings in the state, including a breathtaking stretch of beach along Lake Michigan near Arcadia.

Outside Michigan, the family has a home in Vero Beach, Fla., and partial interest in a home in Colorado ski country.
Okay, so maybe my humble abode is a rathole compared to his home/homes, but I bet my car is better than his. Oh, wait a minute. I just scanned a little further down that link and noticed this:
When DeVos wants to get somewhere in a hurry, he can climb aboard any of the three aircraft he owns: a Cessna Citation III, a twin-engine jet that seats six; a Cessna Caravan, a single-engine transport plane that seats nine; or a Cirrus SR-22, a single-engine airplane that seats four.
Okay, so he has some pretty impressive wheels (wings), but he inherited that money from his daddy's legal pyramid scheme, which Notre Dame Law Professor G. Robert Blakely stated "is run in a manner that is parallel to that of major organized crime groups, in particular the Mafia."

So, Dick's Head, I may not have mansions and jet airplanes, but at least I never exploited someone for personal gain. In my book, that's priceless.

4 comments:

Lew Scannon said...

I'm sure by the time he's done being governor, there will be precious little left of Michigan he won't own, or at least have his name on. This guy is like dubya the second.

Anonymous said...

Priceless it right, Kathy. Although I have to admit, I've always wanted a billiards room.

I wonder how long I'd have to shame my relatives and friends into buying Amway until I could get one?

Anonymous said...

I have a billiards room? Sweet! Thanks Soup Lady!

Bets - hold my calls, I'm gonna shoot some pool!!

abi: If you'd like to explore an exciting career in Amway, drop by and I'd be happy to get you in my downline. It's not MLM! Well ... not much MLM. OK - it's totally MLM but you have the right attitude and if you have a lot of relatives and friends you could probably make enough to afford a billiards room AND enough prescriptions to take the edge off the guilt.

Kathy said...

Bill P, thanks for dropping by and leaving a comment. You bring up a good point...just because a person is rich or moral it doesn't mean they're qualified for the job. George Bush is proof of that.