This is not a new story - it's been reported before. But no one is talking about the ethical question of whether a sitting vice president should be able to charge the government for his own protection.

Biden has a small cottage on his waterfront property in Deleware. He apparently rented it out previous to his being elected so the fact that the property was used for rental income is not at issue.

And no one is begrudging the Vice President the protection afforded from Secret Service guards. The issue then, isn't if it is legal. The question is, is it ethical?

Washington Times:

Vice President Joe Biden and his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, took in $26,400 in 2012 by renting a cottage on the property of their Delaware home to the Secret Service, tax records released by the White House revealed.

They netted $17,944 of that rental money.

The arrangement under which the vice president charged the Secret Service personnel for staying on his Delaware property was first reported by The Washington Times in 2011.

The 2012 payouts were part of the $385,072 in adjusted gross income the Bidens reported to the IRS in 2012, according to their 2012 tax returns.

I guess the notion that government service is a privilege is old fashioned. If nothing else, Biden's "arrangement" with the govenment shows just how creative some public servants can get when it comes to fleecing the taxpayer.