Gift roster

Washington, May 16 (AP): It is good to be President, not the least because it inspires rock stars and others to buy you presents like $1,800 suits, $900 poker sets, $350 chain saws and $5,500 bikes.

President George W Bush and vice-president Dick Cheney yesterday released the financial disclosure forms they are required by law to file every year. They offer a broad portrait of both men’s not-insignificant wealth, showing Bush to possess a relatively safe portfolio, with much of his money locked up in real estate and rock-solid investments in government treasury notes, while Cheney has a more diverse spread of assets.

Among the awkward vagaries of being in high public office is that the forms reveal how much each spent on the other for Christmas. Last year, for instance, Cheney presented Bush with a $400 pair of binoculars, while the President bought his second-in-command a $338 hammock on a steel frame.

Since federal ethics law allows officials to list the values of their assets in wide ranges, rather than precise numbers, it is unclear whether Bush or Cheney are wealthier than they were a year ago.