We shouldn't be too hard on Vice President Joe Biden for charging the Secret Service rent for the cottage they are using on his Delaware property. After all, times are tough and even working for the government doesn't insure a proper living standard these days.

Besides, they should be paying him something just for the privilege of guarding him, right?

Just curious: Does he make them pay utilities?

The U.S. Secret Service does more than protect Vice President Joseph R. Biden Jr. - the agency also pays him rent.

Since April, Mr. Biden has collected more than $13,000 from the agency charged with protecting him and his family for use of a rental cottage adjacent to the waterfront home he owns in a Wilmington, Del., suburb.

Mr. Biden, listed not as vice president in federal purchasing documents but as a "vendor," is eligible for up to $66,000 by the time the government contract expires in the fall of 2013, the records show.

Officials say the arrangement came about when a previous tenant moved out of the cottage and the Secret Service moved in.

Edwin M. Donovan, special agent in charge at the Secret Service's Office of Government and Public Affairs in Washington, said the agency pays $2,200 in rent per-month, the same amount a previous tenant had paid before moving out.

Yes, the Veep should get the best possible protection for himself and his family. But charging your bodyguards rent is not necessary for protection. Biden should stop the practice and give the money paid by the Secret Service back to the government - with interest.