Is The Presidential Pig Farm Up For Sale?

Rumor has it in McClennan and Bosque counties that the George W. Bush's pig farm Prairie Chapel Ranch is headed for the market.

Of course, this rumor has been out there since the 2004 election; after all, it was never more than a campaign Potemkin prop anyway. That being said, rumors of George (with or without Laura) leaving Crawford for the gated safety of Dallas' Highland Park after he leaves office simply refused to die.

If this rumor is ever proved to be true, which BushCo minor biz minion will ante up the inflated price and pretend to live happily ever after... until he and the little missus can pass the pig farm to its next sucker eager buyer?

According to one of my well-placed sources, here's the current 411 on the pig farm:

If you go to McLennan County and type "Bush" into the search function, it won't work. You have to know the secret trust name. Clue, Texas is the _______ Star State.

For the year 2006, the 1577.22 acres of dryland cropland, improved and native pasture has a Land/Market value of $1,815,404. That works out to $1151.02 per acre. In my neighborhood of a more rural Texas, that would be cheap cheap. Some comps from McLennan County would be nice.

Strangely the "ranch" has an ag valuation of $108,116. That would be the number that the taxes on the land are based on. Native pasture is supposed to mean cows and hay balers. Where's the beef?

The improvements (house) are valued at $810,922 and the 3 acre yard is $3446 for a total of $814,368. All the support stuff looks like a freebie.

Market Value: Land, $1,815,404 plus house and yard, $814,368 = $2,629,772.

Taxable Value: Land, $108,116 plus house and yard, $814,368 = $922,484.

What we know: George W. is always bailed out by his daddy's cronies, and he always walks away with pockets full of profit. If and/or when W. walks away from the pig farm, you can bet that he'll leave with a seriously inflated sale price... And that means that the Crawford folks will see their property taxes climb even higher than they climbed when W. moved in.

Nice parting shot.

Such a deal! Won't last at this price! Hurry!


Best bar bet in the world: Delilah didn't do it.
Judges 16:19-- And she made him (Samson) sleep upon her knees; and she called for a man, and she caused him to shave off the seven locks of his head.