Bush's Assets May Top $20M

And Cheney's May Be Valued At $94M; Forms List Dozens Of Gifts Too

(CBS/AP)  President Bush and his wife, Laura, had assets valued between $7.2 million and $20.9 million last year, Bloomberg News assessed in a review of annual disclosure forms, up from as much as $18.1 million a year earlier.

Vice President Cheney disclosed a portfolio worth as much as $94.6 million in 2005, according to Bloomberg.

The assets are derived from President Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney's financial disclosure forms, which they are required by law to file every year. They offer a broad portrait of both men's not-insignificant wealth, showing Mr. 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.

Most of the Bushes' wealth was in real estate and a diversified trust, which combined were worth as much as $10 million, according to Bloomberg's report on the 18-page statement.

The forms also show it's 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.

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 Mr. Bush with a $400 pair of binoculars, while the president bought his second-in-command a $338 hammock on a steel frame.

Because federal ethics law allows officials to list the value of their assets in wide ranges, rather than precise numbers, it is unclear whether either Mr. Bush or Cheney are wealthier than they were a year ago. The forms appear to suggest little substantial change in 2005 from years past in both the value and type of the men's holdings.

The disclosure said Mr. Bush's 1,583-acre central Texas ranch was worth between $1 million and $5 million, the same range given in last year's filing, Bloomberg News notes. The president also reported having at least $3.95 million in Treasury notes, $945,000 in certificates of deposits, $153,000 in checking and money market accounts and at least $1 million in investments held in a blind trust.

Mr. Bush owns the mineral rights valued at up to $15,000 on property in Reeves County, Texas. He also owns a tree farm, which is not expected to have commercial sales until 2007, which has a value of just over $700,000.

Mr. Bush also reported salting away between $1,000 and $15,000 into a health savings account through Aetna Inc.

The president has been championing the expansion of such accounts as a way to expand health care coverage and reduce the nation's health expenses. They allow individuals and families to save money tax-free for health care expenses, but require the purchase of an accompanying high-deductible health insurance policy.

Many Democrats say the accounts are merely a way to give wealthier families another tax-advantaged way to save money.