Over time, the vice president has been granted the wonderful ability to see into the future (of newspaper headlines) and he’s shown more poise and reserve in his speech… although that may not necessarily be a good thing, according to recent poll numbers that show a Gaff-able Joe Biden is far more likable than this serious character he’s become. Oh, but there have been gaffes… don’t you worry about that. It’s just that no one’s really been talking all that much about them, since Balloon Boy’s dad has been toying with our emotions and Joe Lieberman has been all over the TV flapping his yap about healthcare filibusters. In other news, you’ll be happy to hear that some new Bidenisms have been printed in David Plouffe’s new book, The Audacity To Win.

“We’ve debunked about a dozen myths so far — from the outlandish ‘Death Panel’ claims to the idea that we’re eliminating Medicare benefits. But the biggest myth of all is that our health insurance system is just fine, that there is no serious need for reform. I heard one opponent of reform in congress say and I quote, ‘This is not a major issue among the American people.’ Nothing, nothing could be more further from the truth.”  (8/31/09, online video)

If there’s one thing Obama has always loved, it’s getting people involved via viral videos. Now he’s asking the American people to speak up at Whitehouse.gov and make the case that health care is an important issue. It seems shocking that anyone would suggest it’s not important, although many critics in the purple states are saying that Obama has too much on his plate. They’re saying they’re not quite ready for so much change right now. However, presidential polls continually reaffirm the fact that the president is never as popular later on in his presidency as he is at the beginning, so if he truly wants health care reform, it’s wise of him to pursue it sooner, rather than later. It would also be wise for him to take a more bipartisan approach to the issue and move to pass things both sides can agree upon, rather than holding out for a Nancy Pelosi-esque, “All or Nothing” stand-off.

Read more of Joe’s comments about Ted Kennedy & Little League baseball at The Examiner!

“It’s not just a congresswoman. This is bigger than Debbie. This is bigger than me. I promise you: If the Republicans succeed in knocking off these new bright stars … What do you think the chances [are] for the kind of reform we need for that little 3-year-old beauty in the next four to six years?” (8/19/09 – Chicago fundraiser)

Gesturing to a 3-year-old girl listening to his speech may have been a cheap trick to tug at our heart strands and an overly emphatic way of making his point. (Do you think the Republicans want to block 3-year-olds from health care?) Yet the Chicago audience ate it up. Halvorson faces an uphill battle against a National Air Guard pilot/former commissioner, a farmer and an activist/church TV show producer. I guess you’d really have to be embedded in Chicago politics to understand why someone with 12 years in the state Senate and a year in the House would be so nervous that she’d have to call up Biden for support. Then again, maybe Biden is just that cool to “hang out with.” 

On another note, it’s interesting to see the same old battle royale is starting up again, fear mongering and all, which makes us roll our eyes recalling about all that silly talk about “bipartisanship” during the primary season. Barack Obama may be a fair-minded individual, but he’s certainly ready to play hard ball, especially when his batter is Joe Biden and he’s got Nancy Pelosi on first, Kathleen Sebelius on second and Rahm Emanuel on third. 

Continue reading what Joe has to say about Bush & Healthcare!

Here’s a story you don’t hear about too often: How many stimulus funding bids have been outright rejected? This month, the Vice President has been jet-setting around the U.S. to some of the small towns and cities receiving stimulus money, touting progress, job creation and success. Yet, behind the scenes, Biden might be feeling a bit anxious, as though a lot is riding on the use of stimulus money.

Policing states’ use of funding is just one of the many tasks assigned to this powerful VP, of course, but as Joe points out, his “rear end is on the line.” He told his aides to return any email or phone call from states in-need of guidance within 24 hours. In a conference call with the mayors, he told them, “It’s so important that you make sure — don’t get mad at me — that there are no water parks, golf courses or anything that doesn’t pass, not only the test of the law, but also the sniff test, because we’ve got to do this thing right.”

Let’s face it: no one wants another public backlash like the circus that occurred following AIG’s misuse of funds to whisk employees away on lavish business seminars or to pay exorbitant bonuses. So what is Sheriff Joe saying “no” to these days? Continue Reading…

Some people say “a vice president is just a vice president,” that a visit from a #2 isn’t all that big a deal. However, it seems that Vice President Biden’s current trip has important meanings for all involved. While it may not be as big a deal as a visit from Obama himself, sending the #2 is a great way for Obama to highlight areas of the world that mean the most to the current administration.

One might ask, “Why not send Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on these missions? Isn’t that her job?” Yet, Obama has said that he prefers a “divide and conquer” approach to foreign policy, which is reinforced by his sending of Biden, his closest foreign policy advisor. As promised on the campaign trail, Joe Biden is proving that he’s involved in all the major operations within the White House and he’s getting the ability to wear that Secretary of State hat a little bit, while sitting tall in the second-highest position in the land.

Today, the vice president is traveling to Ukraine to reassure Russia’s embattled neighbors that the new administration will not abandon them as they improve ties with the Kremlin… Continue Reading…

“Folks look, AARP knows and the people with me here today know, the president knows, and I know, that the status quo is simply not acceptable. It’s totally unacceptable. And it’s completely unsustainable. Even if we wanted to keep it the way we have it now. It can’t do it financially. We’re going to go bankrupt as a nation. Now, people when I say that look at me and say, ‘What are you talking about, Joe? You’re telling me we have to go spend money to keep from going bankrupt?’ The answer is yes, that’s what I’m telling you.”
(7/16/09 – Virginia, AARP Health Meeting)

Did he really just say that? We’re going to go bankrupt as a nation… and that the only real plan is to spend our way out of it?

For political pundits, Biden’s gaffes are the gift that keeps giving. These assurances do precious little to make us feel secure. It’s a tough position to be in…having to applaud this experiment in taxpayers’ dollars, when there is no calculable evidence that the economy is any better off now than it was before. The White House’s approach seems to point out the small, anecdotal “success” stories — a plant opening here, a plant opening there.

Yet, these efforts are hardly impressing the local people directly affected, so why would the rest of the nation care? We need jobless rates and foreclosure rates to go down, period. We need the stock market to climb and we need price stability in our markets.

Read more Biden quotes and gaffes from this week here.

“To those who say that our economic decisions ‘have not produced jobs, have not produced and simply have not worked’ I say, take a look around. I say, ‘Don’t let your opposition to the Recovery Act blind you to its results. Come see what I see everywhere I go: workers rehired, factories reopened, cops on the street, teachers in the classroom, progress toward getting our economy back on the move.’”
(Biden, 7/16/09 – Virginia speech)

Looks like the “Attack-Dog Biden” we so loved on the ’08 campaign trail is back… but with a few obedience lessons. Perhaps his advisors told him to “turn that frown upsidedown” and play nice in the sandbox with Republicans, but also to remind Americans that the stimulus dollars are flowing from the spigot for the good of all humanity.

Biden breezed through House Republican Whip Eric Cantor’s home state of Virginia today with these bold words for the outspoken critic. Cantor has been quoted as saying, “For the stimulus alone, Washington has borrowed $10,000 from every American household. Let me ask you: Do you feel $10,000 richer today?” He’s also called their “cap and trade policies” a “job-killer,” accused that the administration “miswrote the stimulus bill and got the prescription wrong,” and referred to the stimulus as “a flop.” Did he really think Papa Biden would let these comments go unnoticed?

I hoped that Biden would roll through and slam Cantor in his old way… maybe say he is “full of malarkey,” or say that he has “no notion of what’s going on,” or make accusations that he’s “unqualified” to speak on issue of the economy. Remember the good old days when he attacked Rudy Giuliani during the primaries, saying: “There’s only three things he mentions in a sentence — a noun, a verb and 9/11″…? And remember when he touched upon the latest McCain controversy, joking that “He’ll have to figure out which of the seven kitchen tables he’ll sit down at” (to worry about how to pay the bills, like many other middle class families). He always seemed to know which issues could really suck the life out of a Republican campaign. Yet now, it seems his wit has been stifled. He’s instructed to adhere to some clear talking points… and he’s not allowed to be nasty.

Continue Reading…

Back when I first heard that Barack Obama had selected Joe Biden as his running mate, I wondered, “How’s that dynamic going to work out?” The Joe Biden I knew was a senior senator who liked his Amtrak commutes, his role on the foreign relations committee and his independence. But then Obama appeared on “Meet the Press” and said, “I’m going to want someone with independence, who’s willing to tell me when he thinks or she thinks I’m wrong. We’re going to have a lot of problems and a lot of work to do, and I’m not interested in a vice president who I just send off to go to funerals.”

After many interviews of putting down the Veep speculation, Biden finally told the world he was ready to serve, especially since Obama made it clear he wants more than just a figurehead for his vice presidency. When Biden was first announced as the VP-elect, they went on this whirlwind “rockstar” tour of America to show that they had the charisma, the passion and the gravitas to lead the nation. But over time, Biden’s independent spirit has done the administration well: while Obama stays in Washington, tending to business, he can send Joe jet-setting and globe-trotting on special missions.

Continue Reading…

The good news is that the White House struck a deal with the Catholic Health Association, the American Hospital Association and the Hospital Corporation of America to forgo $155 billion in government healthcare reimbursements over the next 10 years. If you’re keeping track, the pharmaceutical companies hopped onboard last month, offering up another $80 billion to help make all of Barack and Joe’s healthcare dreams come true. If you were reading this with a calculator in your hand, you’d see they need $765 billion for their estimated $1 trillion plan.

In his affable way, Biden assures us, “Folks, reform is coming. It is on track. It is coming. We have tried for decades and decades to fix the broken system and we have never in my entire career in public life been this close.”

“But Joe, where will this money come from?” we ask. The Wall Street Journal reported that the administration can add another $540 billion over 10 years by upping the taxes for households making more than $350,000/year. Under Charlie Rangel’s proposed plan, these households would not only pay their 39.6% income-tax rate, but they would also pay another 1% surtax for the health plan (or 2% for households making more than $500,000 and 3% for households making $1 million or more.) So that brings us to a $225 billion discrepancy to fill… unless of course, this money is just being used to keep the over-inflated plan under a trillion, as USA Today suggests… and unless you tack on the $500 billion it’d cost to expand Medicaid and Medicare (to households making as much as $33,000/year). Yes, Houston, we’ve got problems – even if “over two-thirds of the money is already in the system,” as National Health Secretary Kathleen Sebelius says.

Continue Reading page 2/2…

“Look, Israel can determine for itself — it’s a sovereign nation — what’s in their interest and what they decide to do relative to Iran and anyone else,” Biden said on ABC’s “This Week” on Sunday. Moments later, he added: “What we believe is in the national interest of the United States, which we, coincidentally, believe is also in the interest of Israel and the whole world.”

In no uncertain terms, Stephanopoulos asked the VP, “But just to be clear here, if the Israelis decide Iran is an existential threat, they have to take out the nuclear program, militarily the United States will not stand in the way?”

“Look, we cannot dictate to another sovereign nation what they can and cannot do when they make a determination, if they make a determination that they’re existentially threatened and their survival is threatened by another country,” Biden said.

That last comment was exactly what Iran had been waiting for. While the administration was careful not to get involved during the initial election and early protests – which was a wise move – they’re now stoking the fires. “We warn the leaders of those countries trying to take advantage of the situation: beware. The Iranian nation will react,” Ayatollah Khamenei announced in a televised speech on Monday. “The leaders of arrogant countries, the nosey meddlers in the affairs of the Islamic Republic, must know that even if the Iranian people have their differences, when your enemies get involved, the people… will become a firm fist against you.” Continue Reading…

The Veep sat down with Stephanopoulos recently and shared some sobering news about our economic health and how their projections and predictions were too rosy.

“The truth is, there was a misreading of just how bad an economy we inherited,” said Biden, who is leading the administration’s effort to implement it’s $787 billion economic stimulus plan.

“Now, that doesn’t — I’m not — it’s now our responsibility. So the second question becomes, did the economic package we put in place, including the Recovery Act, is it the right package given the circumstances we’re in? And we believe it is the right package given the circumstances we’re in,” he told me.

So what now?

I discuss over at True/Slant.

Anti-U.S. cleric Moqtada al-Sadr has said that the withdrawal pledge has left him “filled with hope,” but he added, “If the occupation forces breach the claimed withdrawal even with the government’s cover, then the people have the right to express their opinion by peaceful means and the right of self-defense in a way that does not harm the Iraqi people or security forces.”

On the flight over, the U.S. Vice President told reporters, “I think the Iraqis have become invested in their nationhood. I think they’ve become invested in the idea that they want to run their own lives, that they want to be in charge. The reason I came is [President Barack Obama] wants to focus within the White House on the implementation of our administration’s plan to…. draw down troop levels in Iraq.” …Continue reading here…

“I am not unaware of the controversies swirling around this dinner, swirling around the speed — or lack thereof — that we’re moving on issues that are of great importance to you and, quite frankly, to me and to the president and to millions of Americans…. More importantly , I want thank you for being a critical — critical — voice for keeping the nation focused on the unfinished business of true equality for all of our people; and I know and this administration knows that we have so much more to do. I promise you, I promise you, with your help we’ll get there in this administration.”
(6/25/09, LGBT Leadership Council fundraiser for the Democratic National Committee)

Joe Biden said he had specifically requested to speak at the LGBT Leadership Council fundraiser and that his wife, Jill, is also interested in voicing her opinion on the issue. To a crowd of 180 people who paid $1,000 – $30,400 per plate to hear him speak, Biden gave a heart-felt message that the Administration is committed to making equality for gays and lesbians a priority during this term. Even though many were pleased with Biden’s message, there were hordes of protestors outside who were not pleased with the 265 gays and lesbians discharged from the military since Obama’s inauguration, which they say is a failure to follow through with campaign promises.

Read what Biden had to say about the Recovery Act & Violence Against Women here.

This Tuesday, Joe Biden will be traveling to a solar panel manufacturer near Toledo, Ohio to put his money where his mouth is. Willard & Kelsey Solar Group just received $10 Million from the Economic Stimulus Plan to create up to 3,500 new jobs making thin photo-voltaic cells for residential and commercial use.  VP Biden will tour the facility at 10 AM and hold a middle class task force meeting titled “Promoting American Manufacturing in the 21st Century” afterwards. He’ll discuss the state of the manufacturing industry, how the administration is supporting manufacturing communities presently and what they have planned for the future.

Read more Quotes about Father’s Day and Plans for Michigan here!

Yet the question remains: What has Joe Biden done for the Middle Class?

Several months ago, I checked the Middle Class Task Force site only to find a discussion of ways to help people send their kids to college… and I thought, “So what?” What is the purpose of going to college if there are no jobs waiting at the other end of the tunnel? Moreover, a 20/20 special posited that Bachelor’s Degrees are “America’s biggest over-rated product.” Upping college enrollment seems to be the wrong approach. After all, 1 in 5 people who are unemployed hold at least a college degree, according to NPR.   

This month, everyone’s clamoring, “Where are the jobs, Joe?” We’re told there’s good news from the White House – that 150,000 jobs have been either saved or created in the first 100 days.

Yet, when questioned how they arrived at that figure, Joe just sheepishly replied, “I’m a little above my pay grade here as I try to explain in more detail how they count spinoff effects of actual jobs created, I’m sorry. I’m not an Economist. My background is in foreign policy and the constitution.”

He told us to be patient, that the $500 million training program was on its way. The latest unemployment figures indicate 345,000 jobs were cut in May, bringing the national unemployment rate to 9.4%. Back in January, we were promised the unemployment rate wouldn’t exceed 8% if the stimulus was passed. (To be safe, Obama changed his figures to a projected 10% unemployment rate before the end of the year.)

Continue reading…

“They’re either going to have to agree with us, come up with an alternative or we’re not going to have health care… and we’re going to get health care.” (NBC, “Meet the Press,” 6/14/09)

There are few areas Democrats and Republicans disagree in more than healthcare. The Obama-Biden administration has made it abundantly clear that they plan to push legislation through this year. Obama has called healthcare a “ticking time bomb,” especially as the baby boomers age. U.S. government health-related expenditures are already at more than $1.9 trillion per year, which is 44% more than what Switzerland spends on their national healthcare plan and 134% more than the median average of all the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, according to the Council on Foreign Relations.

Over the weekend, Obama and Biden proposed a plan that would: curtail fraudulent lawsuits and malpractice awards, lower the pay rate of Medicare, reduce hospital subsidies for treating uninsured patients and negotiate better prices for prescription drugs. This plan, they said, would cost about $1 trillion over 10 years — a figure which many Republicans scoff is just a starting point. Biden adds that it’s “up to Congress” to figure out how to pay for universal healthcare, but he made it clear they’re playing hardball and backing down is not an option for this administration.

Click here to read what Joe Biden had to say about National Security, GM Ownership, North Korea and Iran this week!

Here’s the recent gaffe fest that people are focusing on. Watch the whole thing and tell me what you think. And do note the part around 2:25 where Laurer says, “This is by no means a gotcha type of question…” and then asks a question where Biden answers pretty truthfully.

Do note that he answers that question in a very straightforward, honest manner by saying, “That’s me” at the end of it. And you know what? I agree with him. If members of my family didn’t absolutely need to travel, I’d tell them to try and avoid it.

Still, the result from this?

TIME, of all publications, titled their blog post, “No Need to PANIC EVERYBODY!”, and put it under the category of “Foot-In-Mouth Disease.”

So yes, that’s an obvious attempt to paint Biden as some sort of dumb, fear mongering buffoon, but did they watch the video they embedded? Because that title or category doesn’t match the tone of what Biden said at all. I mean, not in the least.

So while many have been saying that Biden told people that they should panic, I genuinely see none of that in this. In fact, he’s embracing exactly the type of transparency and honesty we often say we want to hear from our political leaders, but when they actually do it we hammer them for it.

Good times.

The exact quote was, “My memory is not as good as Justice Roberts’” Obama was right behind him at the time and you could tell he wasn’t amused.

Karma, karma, karma…

What do they say about people who live in glass houses?

In Delaware, Joseph Biden is ascending to the Vice Presidency, and in an example of horse-trading so transparent that it apparently doesn’t even warrant comment, twisted the arm of the governor to appoint his senior aide to the seat with the more-or-less express intent of keeping it warm for his son in 2010. The appointee, Ted Kaufman, has never received a single vote and has never held elected or even public office and, as far as I’m aware, doesn’t even have any noteworthy experience in the private sector. He was appointed over other potential candidates like the sitting Lieutenant Governor, the sitting Secretary of State, a sitting state supreme court justice, and, presumably, every other previous or sitting elected official in the state of Delaware.

In New York, of course, it seemed very likely, at least until she botched her entrance into the field, that Governor Patterson, at least in part on direction from the Obama campaign, would appoint Caroline Kennedy. Kennedy has done some good work in her life, but again has eschewed public accountability, and I think precisely nobody denies that the #1 qualification which puts her into such strong contention is her recent role as being one of the President elect’s top surrogates and fundraisers. Again, it’s not that Governor Patterson has no options, but rather no imagination. The other two names being widely floated for the seat are Andrew Cuomo and, yes, Bill Clinton. Which would be mind-blowing considering he would be holding the seat of the lady who was only put into the seat for being married to him (though at least she got elected and thus deserved it). In any case, who says the American aristocracy is dead? I’m still holding out hope that Patterson does the right thing and nominates somebody not on the basis of horsetrading and favor-rewarding, but rather looks to an actual prominent public servant in New York who deserves the ascension (unlike, say, in Delaware, where that was apparently not even a consideration). In any case, the decision right now is who needs to be pleased, the Obama camp, the Clinton camp, or Patterson’s 2010 reelection camp. The people of New York are so far running a distant fourth.

In Colorado, Senator Ken Salazar is vacating to be Obama’s Secretary of the Interior. Yesterday, Governor Bill Ritter announced that his appointment to fill the seat to term will be…Denver Public Schools Superintendent Michael Bennet.

And a collective “who?” echoes throughout the rocky mountains.

However, the liberal netroots know what’s going on. As David Sirota writes here, there is only one area in which Ritter excels: he is the most well connected candidate to the big money donors in Colorado and beyond:

Considering his lack of legislative record, lack of experience in any elected or statewide office, and considerable ties to the biggest of big money, it’s logical to be concerned about how a Senator Bennet will vote on issues. Off the top of my head, I’m wondering, for instance, whether someone with this kind of resume is going to be in favor of tougher financial industry regulations?*
[...]
Colorado has no dearth of very, very qualified people to be U.S. Senator. More specifically, we have a lot of people who have worked very hard passing good public policy and building the grassroots of the Democratic Party for years here. Looking at this bench, and then selecting a person with almost none of those qualities confirms that what gets rewarded in politics today is not legislative accomplishments nor even political ones – what counts is money, inside connections, Ivy League pedigree and a Beltway-padded resume.

And then you have Illinois.

There, the controversial but innocent-until-proven-guilty governor apparantly rethought his standards and decided to go after a candidate who was the least offensive and most obviously squeaky clean and qualified candidate for the office possible. The Illinois legislature punted on holding a special election, despite their protestations that they wanted a fair process (when what they really mean is one in which they get to have their thumbs on the scales), so rather than leave Illinois with only one Senate vote for the foreseeable future, the governor went with a known public servant, a man who has made a career out of seeking public approval, a man with some pretty germane qualifications considering the context (a former Attorney General (i.e. anti-corruption crusader) and former Comptroller (i.e. bank regulator)), a man who would be the sole African-American in the Senate, and a man who, despite the most intense public scrutiny spotlight in America right now, precisely nobody can level a real accusation against. In other words, the man, given the circumstances, most qualified for the job.

So, four Senate vacancies. In one, literally a staffer is appointed to keep the seat warm for the Senator’s son. In another, it’s an ongoing battle of which high-profile election surrogate to reward for their loyalty. In the third, the trumping consideration was apparently in favor of the guy most connected to big money, at the expense of qualifications or experience. And in the fourth, the guy nominated was an unimpeachable public servant undeniably qualified for the job.

Now, the question:

Guess which one doesn’t get seated?

Cross-posted at The Crossed Pond

Now, this is actually a pretty interesting strategy by the the Obama team. Have Biden focus on the problems of the largest group in this country while Obama tries to save everybody.

From AP:

Vice President-elect Joe Biden will oversee an Obama administration effort to find ways of building up the ranks of the middle class, that ambiguously defined segment of society most Americans identify themselves with.

The task force will include four Cabinet members as well as other presidential advisers, the Obama transition team announced Sunday.

The goal is to recommend proposals to ensure the middle class is “no longer being left behind,” Biden said. The proposals could include executive orders and legislative plans.

“Our charge is to look at existing and future policies across the board and use a yard stick to measure how they are impacting the working and middle-class families,” Biden said in a statement released Sunday. “Is the number of these families growing? Are they prospering? President-elect Obama and I know the economic health of working families has eroded, and we intend to turn that around.”

And hey, better this than a task force that cherry picks intelligence.

More as it develops…