Wonkette: Mrs. Jeb Bush Will Buy ALL THE THINGS

[Ichingcarpenter]

So, uh, Jeb Bush’s wife has a problem. And it’s kind of a serious problem. You see, Columba Bush cannot stop buying ALL THE THINGS:

[In 2000], she took out a loan to buy $42,311.70 worth of jewelry on a single day, according to records filed with the state of Florida by Mayors Jewelers.

That purchase was part of a pattern by Columba Bush of borrowing to buy tens of thousands of dollars of jewelry at a time from the South Florida store over a 14-year period. Documentation available online, which does not include the details of two transactions made less than six weeks apart in 1995, shows that she spent a total of more than $90,000 at the store.

Turns out, Mrs. Bush was fond of seeking loans from her favorite store to buy herself a metric fuckton of baubles. And instead of having the paperwork sent to the governor’s mansion, where she lived with her husband the governor, she had it sent to a postal box instead. Hmmm, wonder why? Maybe because she didn’t want her husband the governor to open the mail and find out that she had purchased:

[A] $25,600 pair of diamond stud earrings set in platinum; an 18-karat white-gold and diamond bracelet by the Italian designer Bulgari, priced at $10,500; an 18-karat white-gold and diamond necklace, costing $3,200; and another pair of diamond earrings, for $3,300. The records indicate that she received discounts and price adjustments totalling $2,780 and paid $2,491.70 in sales tax.

That was one of at least five such loans made by the store to Columba Bush between 1995 and 2009. The most recent was for an $11,700 Rolex watch and a $5,900 pair of earrings.


See, Mrs. Bush also has a history of trying to keep these things from her husband, even at the risk of violating the law. Oh yeah, it’s that bad. In 1999, she was detained at Atlanta’s Hartsfield International Airport by customs officials “for misrepresenting the amount of clothing and jewelry she had bought while on a solo five-day shopping spree in Paris.”


more buying all things........... bling................ history
Read more at http://wonkette.com/577181/mrs-jeb-bush-will-buy-all-the-things#6CvyjG2ZKSPWdtfg.99

[riversedge]

1. um...didn't Newt --have this problem also. Himself I think...

sorry but can not recall any details. I think he went into debt buying very expensive jewelry for his wife--

[Laura PourMeADrink]

22. Don't think his wife hid it - but I remember them owing Tiffany's a hundred grand. nt

[ohheckyeah]

2. She and

Virginia's ex-governors wife would get along fabulously.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

24. I don't know. Think Columbia is a hoarder and McDonald a flaunter

[chillfactor]

3. My god....

As a 73-year-old senior I would be happy just to pay my bills...and hiding her purchases from her husband..what a deceitful person!

[Ilsa]

4. I smell a big emotional problem in this woman.

Does she feel unloved? Unworthy? Is this a hedge against her own financial ruin in a divorce? It just feels like something worse than "she's hiding it from her husband".

[Are_grits_groceries]

5. I think she might.

It may not be another secret. It may be a coping mechanism for stress. She must really feel like an outsider in that family. It is one big WASP party. I read that she speaks 'heavily accented English.' That has to make it even harder to fit in.
With all the nastiness about immigration, can you imagine how that would make her feel?

[Ilsa]

7. Yeah. could be part of it.

After Philips Academy, Wiki says JEB got his degree at UT in Austin in Latin American Studies. I guess he didn't want to go the route of Yale, etc, but it surprised me.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

16. This may be it

Columbia Bush

Early life
Columba Bush was born as Columba Garnica Gallo in León, Guanajuato, Mexico, where she grew up and attended high school. Her parents were José María Garnica Rodríguez, a migrant worker, and Josefina Gallo Esquivel.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columba_Bush


Where does compulsive shopping come from? Sometimes, people acquire objects as a way of dealing with chaos and feeling out of control, Benson said. "You buy something, you're in control of it," she said.

It may also be related to childhood. Parents may have given presents instead of time and attention, leading a child to grow up wanting to get more material possessions. Other people may have grown up with a lot of emotional or financial deprivation, and when they're able to afford shopping for themselves, they overbuy as a way of not going back to the way things were. Another theory is that "we buy as a way of trying to deal with our fears of death and the inevitability of death," Benson said.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/12/19/health/mental-health/shopping-addiction-compulsive-buying/

[onethatcares]

6. well,

I know that my wife is always looking for a pair of diamond stud earrings set in platinum. What else is one to wear garage saling?????

Do you think John Ellis will represent the working man or you?

[Cha]

8. Damn gurrrl! 'Course family members of Democratic candidates are all systems go.. but

it's different if you're a repub(or so they say).. Columbia's penchant for jewelry at any price will be off limits.. just like bush's..

[Laura PourMeADrink]

9. Here's what's odd. Where does she wear the stuff? I googled her

pic since I really didn't know what she looked like. Some she wore no jewelry - Most - just simple pearls. Many no necklace. I only saw one where she wore elaborate earrings and that was a gala. In general, she looks like a simple, rather matronly woman.

But...this story popped up from 1999...

http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1999-06-22/news/9906220022_1_columba-bush-jeb-bush-governor-s-wife

TALLAHASSEE — Florida first lady Columba Bush made a mistake and "feels horrible" about her embarrassing run-in with U.S. Customs agents late last week, a chagrined Gov. Jeb Bush said Monday. "I can assure you it was a difficult weekend at our house," the governor said. "She knew that what she did was wrong and [she] made a mistake."

Columba Bush was briefly detained and fined at Atlanta's Hartsfield International Airport on Thursday after her arrival following a five-day shopping spree in Paris. The governor was not with her. She declared only $500 worth of merchandise on a Customs form at the airport. But during a random check, agents found receipts indicating the governor's wife was toting about $19,000 worth of clothing and jewelry bought in France.

Using a personal check, she paid $4,100 in duty and fines on the items. She was then allowed to continue to Tallahassee. Still, the episode dogged the governor on Monday when he was forced to answer questions about his wife's run-in before signing into law a sweeping education reform package.

"It is a lot of money. But look, that's between her and me," said Gov. Bush, adding that his wife was embarrassed by the incident. "The mistake was not filling out the form at Customs properly -- that was the mistake," said the governor, who has reported a net worth of $2.4 million. The question on many people's minds was why Columba Bush, an accomplished international traveler, disclosed only $500 in purchases.

more at link

[Ichingcarpenter]

13. how many shoes did Mrs Marcos have back in the days?

I sense a similar neurosis , especially not wearing them and hiding the purchases from her husband. Maybe its part of the Bush family thing.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

14. Don't really think in the big scheme of things - hiding purchases

from her husband is that big a deal, typically. have done that too -
but do not hide the thing later - just hope it's not noticed that it's new.

That's what is weird - she doesn't seem to wear any of it - based on google pics.
The guy's worth a couple million at least. 20 grand in jewelry is not that big
a deal. Wasn't Newt's account at Tiffany's $100m.

Makes me think he realizes she has some kind of problem for sure. If
she doesn't wear the stuff in public - what does she do with it?

[Vinca]

10. Let's face it. If you marry a Bush you've earned it.

You go Columba. Take him for all he's worth.

[marions ghost]

32. ha ha

[Skidmore]

11. Heard a R pundit yesterday on one of the afternoon programs on MSNBC essentially comment that

that well, duh, rich people buy jewelry. Let's put that in an ad.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

15. Yikes - can't believe I agree with an R. It is true - rich people

buy jewelry.

[HappyMe]

17. Oddly enough, the R pundit is correct.

Rich people buy nice jewelry. Political party doesn't have much to do with it.

[pinboy3niner]

12. BFEE: Bush Family Emerald Empire?

[Doctor_J]

18. whole family has deep emotional problems

Thieves, drug addicts, stalkers, and JEB. Keep them away from the white house

[panader0]

19. I live for a year on what that Rolex costs.

And that includes food, gas, beer, electric, land taxes--basically everything. Jeannie pays cable and internet. (I own my house).

[FSogol]

20. So, Maureen McDonald was just a Columba Bush in training?

[calikid]

23. Maureens' problems were much larger, plus she (or her lawyer) blamed it on her losing

her husband. At least that's what they said if I remember correctly.
Thanks for the reminder of another despicable person.

[Laura PourMeADrink]

25. Think Maureen flaunts wealth. Columbia seems to want to amass and hide?

[Gothmog]

21. Thank you for posting

[Sunlei]

26. odd, Mr. Bush didn't even question lg loan payments? who paid for the jewelry?

where are all the jewelry pieces today?

[840high]

27. Leave children and

spouses out of this please. Unrec.

[UTUSN]

28. Since she's so shy & dislikes public appearances, does she just prance around the mansions?!1

Somebody posted above she might be a "HOARDER" haha. Other news profiles have said that one of her main activities is to watch telenovelas, so she must dress up for doing that!1

[betsuni]

29. Men grow cold, as girls grow old,

and we all lose our charms in the end. But square-cut or pear-shaped, these rocks don't lose their shapes. Diamonds are a girl's best friend.

[Paladin]

30. Jeez, this is just a Maureen Dowd column, waiting to be written.

If you can dignify Dowd's work as being "written".....

[GreatCaesarsGhost]

31. It's nice to see some one taking advantage of a Bush for a change.

[Arugula Latte]

33. "Metric fuckton" -- that's my favorite unit of measurement!