Biden: Obama administration owns economic crisis

Oh dear. While he's not completely wrong - they do deserve ownership after a few years - he also is making a mistake in not blaming the Bush administration (and the Clinton administration) for the current economic crisis. There is no magic wand to eliminate years of bad political policy. The crisis that the banks triggered were never going to disappear in a year or two and the administration's real failing was not driving that point home more often. The Ticket:

"Even though 50-some percent of the American people think the economy tanked because of the last administration, that's not relevant," the vice president said. "What's relevant is we're in charge."

Biden added that he doesn't blame people who are mad at the administration, and said it is understandable and "totally legitimate" for the 2012 presidential election to be "a referendum on Obama and Biden and the nature and state of the economy."

Read the rest of this post...

Biden puts Medicare back on the table, right after Medicare being on the table just won Dems a House seat

From Reuters (h/t Marcy Wheeler):

Joe Biden group to tackle Medicare and Medicaid: aide

Vice President Joe Biden and top lawmakers will examine government-run health plans on Tuesday as they try to work out a deal to raise the United States' borrowing authority, a congressional aide said.

The article goes on to list Medicare and Medicaid as "major sticking points" in the attempt to give politicians "political cover" for raising the debt ceiling.

Everyone but Obama has NY-26 figured out, it seems — Democrats won a House seat in a conservative NY congressional district solely because of voter discontent over the GOP plan to cut/kill Medicare. So the White House decides it's time to talk about cutting Medicare.

Maybe the President has different goals than we hope he has. Hope ... that's so 2008. Time to look forward, not back. On to 2012.

GP Read the rest of this post...

Biden names CEO of DLC as his new chief of staff

Today, Vice President Biden announced his new Chief of Staff: Bruce Reed, who ran the "centrist," (but really conservative) Democratic Leadership Council for ten years before heading up the National Commission on Fiscal Responsibility and Reform (a.k.a. the Catfood Commission.)

Yep. Read the rest of this post...

Joe Biden: Message to progressives

I'm putting this up without comment, just to put it on the record AMERICAblog–style. Biden made his plea in a long taped interview with Rachel Maddow. Good choice of venue.

I've trimmed the segment to include just the message for progressives; to see the entire segment, click the link above.



Just putting his argument out there in one more place.

GP Read the rest of this post...

White House stands firm on tax cut expiration (for now)

We are grateful for stories like these. Mark Zandi is floating a tax cut "compromise" that "temporarily" extends the Big Boy tax cuts (those on the $250,000+/year crowd).

Jared Bernstein, Biden's economics adviser, just shot that down in an interview with the Huffington Post. Sam Stein (h/t David Dayen):

A key member of the White House economic team is throwing cold water on a leading compromise proposal in the debate over the extension of the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy.

"There are many good reasons not to extend the high-end parts of the Bush tax cuts having to do with the fear that a temporary extension could be made permanent," Bernstein said. "What you are talking about -- a $30 to 40 billion range in terms of adding to the deficit by extending the high end -- could easily become $700 billion over a ten-year budget window." . . .

The White House has favored letting the Bush tax cuts on the wealthy expire as they are set to do under the law. But administration officials haven't been pressed about the middle-ground proposal. Bernstein's comments are the closest that White House aides have come to fully rejecting the idea and they portend an even more dramatic and heated political fight once the issue of the Bush tax cuts re-emerges following Congress' August recess.

Dear Team Matching Words to Deeds — more of this please. Thanks.

GP Read the rest of this post...

Sunday Talk Shows Open Thread

Well, who knows what news will be made today. Joe Biden is on Meet the Press. He could say anything.

Besides, Biden, quite an array of guests who will probably talking a lot about health care. It's getting to crunch time and, as expected, lots of Democrats are aiding and abetting the insurance industry's lobbying effort to destroy real reform. We could get some clues about that this morning.

Here's the lineup:

ABC's "This Week" — Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius; former Gov. Mitt Romney, R-Mass.

___

CBS' "Face the Nation" — Sens. Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., and Dick Durbin, D-Ill.

___

NBC's "Meet the Press" — Vice President Joe Biden.

___

CNN's "State of the Union" — Sebelius; Sens. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., Kent Conrad, D-N.D., and Susan Collins, R-Maine; Rep. Mike Pence, R-Ind.


"Fox News Sunday" _ Sens. Chris Dodd, D-Conn., and Charles Grassley, R-Iowa; Thomas Donohue, president and CEO of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce.

Read the rest of this post...

Biden hits the trail to promote Amtrak

And I hope he spends even more time rallying support for more investment. I used to use Amtrak between Baltimore and New York years ago and always found it convenient. The new Accela is much too pricey and offers too little in terms of time savings (in terms of cost) but Amtrak has the framework to be a much better service. When I can I use trains for travel over here in Europe and prefer them over driving or flying except when the train costs are prohibitive.

While running around the UK for work I get to experience the glory of the current British rail system that was privatized in the post-Thatcher/let's let business show government how to run a public service. If the Republicans have their way, they would do the same to Amtrak and they would be completely wrong. The end result in the UK is a confusing system of trains that deliver shoddy quality and service at ridiculously expensive rates. I often take the train from London to Reading which is a 25 minute ride, yet almost £15 (over $21) off peak. The last time I took that train in the middle of the day and I had to stand for the almost $1 per minute ride. Privatization sure has delivered results...for someone other than the consumer.

Business is what drives our economies but business isn't the only solution. I fail to see how privatizing Amtrak or any rail system brings any real benefit to consumers or society. Biden has been an active Amtrak rider for years and it's great to see him out there stumping for the system. I only hope he continues to help Amtrak expand once they invest in the basics. The US could be doing much more to make Amtrak a decent service, if only the Republicans could move away from the same old failed strategies that they promoted for banking and every other business.

Vice President Joe Biden continued the administration's rollout of the recently passed economic stimulus package Friday, highlighting $1.3 billion in federal funding for Amtrak.

The money for the rail service, which carried almost 29 million passengers in the previous fiscal year, will go primarily to infrastructure repair and improvement.

The $787 billion stimulus plan includes a total of $8 billion for improvements in rail service, a crucial investment to help ease traffic in the congested northeast corridor running from Boston, Massachusetts to Washington, Biden argued.

It is "a necessity for a great nation to have a great [rail] passenger system," Biden said. "I'm tired of apologizing for help for Amtrak. ... It's an absolute national treasure and necessity."

The $1.3 billion will roughly double the size of Amtrak's capital investment program over the next two years, according to the vice president's office.

The largest single project funded by the stimulus money is the $105 million replacement of a movable bridge over Connecticut's Niantic River. The replacement of the 102-year-old drawbridge has been delayed for more than 20 years because of a lack of capital, Biden noted.

Read the rest of this post...

CNN focus group results

CNN just showed their focus group results. This was the group from the dial meter audience of uncommitted Ohio voters. The usual back and forth who did better on what questions, etc. One interesting question however had consensus - who do you think will win this election: almost unanimous response Obama will win.

Side note - of the six CNN political commentators who scored the debate, only Ed Rollins said Palin did better. All five others favored Biden:

Read the rest of this post...

Biden: 'On the most critical national security issues of our time, John McCain’s judgment was wrong.'

John McCain's first critical national security decision of the presidential campaign was picking Sarah Palin to step in if anything were to happen to him. That says all we need to know about his judgment.

After Palin is done with all the photo ops, I want to hear her deliver a major foreign policy address -- or at least answer some real questions on the subject. Here are some excerpts from Biden's address today:

Our country is less secure and more isolated than it has been at any time in recent history. This administration has dug America into a very deep hole around the world at a time our leadership is needed to meet the challenges of the 21st century.“ A central question for this election is which candidate will keep digging that hole…and which candidate will dig us out of that hole – indeed which candidate has the judgment and the vision to renew the promise of America in the world. It won’t surprise you who I believe that candidate is: Barack Obama. But it is equally clear who that candidate is not: John McCain...

This week, John talked about the judgment required to be Commander in Chief. He’s right: nothing is more important than judgment. But time and again, on the most critical national security issues of our time, John McCain’s judgment was wrong. Right after the terrorists attacked us on 9-11, John responded by urging that we consider attacking countries other than Afghanistan, including Iraq, Iran and Syria. In the run up to the war in Iraq, John insisted that we would be greeted as liberators… that we didn’t need a lot of troops… that victory was imminent. Then, he said he wasn’t worried about Afghanistan… that we would “muddle through”… and he declared Afghanistan to be “a remarkable success. In John’s judgment, there is nothing to talk about with Tehran. And he has one idea for dealing with Russia: kick it out of the Group of Eight nations...

In John’s judgment, it is not the federal government’s responsibility to protect us here at home. He voted again and again against fully funding cops and firefighters… against interoperable communications so that our first responders can talk to each other… against screening more cargo on planes and ships… against better security for our tunnels, trains, ports and chemical plants. It is John’s judgment that six years into the war in Iraq, we should keep spending $10 billion a month… indefinitely… at a time Iraq is running an $80 billion surplus.

All well and good, Joe Biden. But, there's the Palin/McCain campaign has established a new standard for foreign policy and national security: can you see a foreign country from Delaware? I don't think so. Read the rest of this post...

MSNBC tries to equate foreign policy credentials of Biden and Palin

Okay, I've seen a lot of absurdities during the election, but this latest effort by MSNBC's Contessa Brewer to somehow equate Biden and Palin on foreign policy takes the cake. The MSNBC anchor actually said that both Biden and Palin will "try to bolster their foreign policy credentials." Biden doesn't have to bolster his foreign policy cred. He's chair of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, for christ sakes. Palin got her passport last year....photo ops with foreign leaders doesn't bolster her cred, it makes her look more unprepared and unqualified. All of this coming right when we learn McCain doesn't know where Spain is. Watch this, it's classic. Absurdly classic:



Yeah, you might say Biden has "the edge" on experience -- by a 2 to 1 margin. Even if the traditional media is doing contortions to equate the experience of Biden and Palin, the American people get it:
Read the rest of this post...

Biden blasts McCain for opposing GI Bill and not supporting the troops

You remember the new GI Bill? The one that John McCain opposed because it was TOO GENEROUS to our troops fighting and dying in Iraq and Afghanistan.

McCain can remind us again and again how he was a POW, so this proves that he cares about the troops, and I suspect he'll remind us of that fact yet again in response to this latest criticism from Biden, but it doesn't negate the fact that there are American service members in Iraq and Afghanistan who aren't getting more benefits because of John McCain. Tell them why John McCain didn't think their sacrifice merited all the benefits Senator Webb's bill was offering them. The Republicans like to talk all patriotic, but when you put their patriotism into practice, it doesn't look very patriotic at all. Make John McCain explain exactly what constitutes "too generous" for our troops?

From CBS:

"George Bush initially opposed it, John McCain stood with him and he called Jim Webb's effort, quote, too generous. Ladies and gentlemen, if John McCain had his way on that G.I. Bill, those military personnel who served two tours in Iraq or Afghanistan would not qualify for the same benefits that anyone in the 'regular Army or Marine corps' did."

"Ask yourself the question, who supports our troops? Who supports those National Guard personnel? Who supports those reservists who make up 40 percent of the people?" asked Biden, and turned to Gov. Ed Rendell, D-Pa., in the crowd.

"I don't have to tell you that, Governor. You see them dispatched every day from your state, and you're there like I am when that flag-draped coffin comes home for some."

As he speech went on, Biden's tone turned from critical to one of disgust.

"I am sick and tired of this Republican garbage," Biden said to applause from the crowd of 3,000 supporters. "I am sick and tired of being told that we don't care."

While the McCain campaign called Biden's comments "absurd", a McCain campaign aide speaking on background, when asked if Biden was accurate in saying that McCain had called the G.I. Bill 'too generous', said "I don't know."

McCain, who is a veteran, said last spring that he feared the bill would deter soldiers from re-enlisting.

John McCain didn't even bother showing up to vote for the GI Bill when it came up on the Senate floor. Here is what Obama had to say at the time:

I respect senator John Mccain's service to our country. He is one of those heroes of which I speak. But I can't understand why he would line up behind the president in opposition to this G.I. bill. I can't believe why he believes it is too generous to our veterans. I could not disagree with him and the president more on this issue. There are many issues that lend themselves to partisan posturing, but giving our veterans the chance to go to college should not be one of them. I'm proud that so many Democrats and Republicans have come together to support this.

Read the rest of this post...

Biden jumps on McCain's "fundamental strong economy" story

Let's just say Joe isn't giving McCain the same free pass that Obama handed out. Read the rest of this post...

McCain opposed Biden's legislation to stop charging rape victims for sexual assault exams

Okay, this issue gets bigger by the hour. John reported on it first, days ago. Finally in the past 24 hours, the corporate media got wind of it (what, not reading our AMERICAblog are we?). Now, the issue has moved beyond just Sarah Palin charging rape victims for rape kits (i.e., intrusive forensic rape exams, exams that are needed to prove the rape and find the rapist). It now involves McCain and Joe Biden.

One would think that the Obama/Biden campaign would have blown this issue up by now - kind of a no-brainer, as John explained this morning. For Christ sakes, the McCain campaign turned that "lipstick on a pig" line into a two-day story -- and it was about nothing. This is a real issue that affects the health and safety of women in America. It's real, it's creepy as hell, and McCain and Palin are on the record on the wrong side. The very wrong side or a horrible issue. An issue that jeopardizes the very relationship with women that McCain and Palin are trying to build by repeatedly accusing Obama of being a 'sexist', among other things. Again, kind of a no-brainer.

Biden has been a champion in the effort to end domestic violence. I know this first-hand from my work on the Board of the National Network to End Domestic Violence. Biden championed the effort to stop charging rape victims for exams after they'd been sexually assaulted.

John McCain voted against Biden's efforts -- repeatedly. Like his running mate, John McCain wanted to charge rape victims for exams.

Jed has uncovered the details:

In 1994, John McCain voted against legislation -- pushed through Congress by Joe Biden -- that helped put an end to the practice of charging rape victims for sexual assault exams.

Twisted as it may sound, charging victims for a forensic exam was a real problem. For example, as AMERICAblog has documented (and the media is now reporting), when Sarah Palin was mayor of Wasilla, the town charged rape victims for the exams.

Biden's legislation required that state, local, and Indian governments provide the rape exams to victims free of charge as a condition of receiving federal funds under the Violence Against Women Act. In 2000, Alaska finally passed state legislation in order to qualify for federal funding.

McCain not only opposed Biden's legislation, but also has voted against funding it as recently as October 2007.

Read the rest of this post...

On ads and messaging at the Obama/Biden campaign

First, Nate Silver is absolutely right. The Obama campaign needs better ads. I've been saying that for a couple months now, and things haven't improved. The D.C. market, where I live, is getting the ads because of Northern Virginia - so I've seen them. I have yet to see one memorable Obama ad -- they're the typical, generic political ads we've come to expect from Democratic media firms like GMMB. Those media types get paid a lot of money (win or lose), so you'd think that they'd come up with something original for the most interesting and charismatic candidate we've seen in decades. We've lost the last two elections following the conventional wisdom of ad agencies like this. Infuse the campaign with some original, creative thinking, please.

Also, I have a hard time understanding why "John McCain is one of my best friends" was Joe Biden's message over the weekend. Do the Democrats really think they can win by being nice guys? They can't. John McCain's campaign has been taken over by Karl Rove and his crew. Just wait to see what else they'll unleash on Obama and Biden (we've already had a taste of it). Republican Senators loathe McCain and think he's scary. Yet our v.p. nominee sings his praises and tells funny anecdotes about what a fun swell guy he is. Can Patty Solis Doyle please get her candidate on message? Is that too much to ask? We need a lot more of this from Joe Biden. Read the rest of this post...

Biden challenges Palin to come out of hiding and answer questions

She's not quite ready to answer questions about her qualifications yet, but I'm sure she'll be fine facing down Osama. Well, that is unless Osama throws a curve ball and tries to - dare I say it - ask her a question. In that case, we're all doomed. Read the rest of this post...

Convention Ratings Sky High at Mile High

Nielsen has released their ratings for last night's Obama speech - 38 million viewers. Stunning results, beating even the Olympic Opening Ceremonies that had weeks of hype surrounding it. From AP:

Barack Obama's acceptance speech at the Democratic National Convention was seen by more than 38 million people.
Nielsen Media Research said more people watched Obama speak than watched the Olympics opening ceremony in Beijing, the final "American Idol" or the Academy Awards this year. Obama talked before a live audience of 80,000 people in Denver.

Overall, here's the breakdown night-by-night (other days from MarketWatch):

Monday: 22.3 million
Tuesday: 25.9 million
Wednesday: 24 million
Thursday: 38 million

Those are really, really, great numbers. Read the rest of this post...

Wednesday Convention Night Open Thread

Bill Clinton is speaking now, and up later tonight we'll see Joe Biden. Once again the networks will be picking up coverage at 10PM. Are we all unified yet? Read the rest of this post...

Philadelphia Inquirer, a paper that knows Joe Biden, mostly sings Biden's praises

Joe Biden is the Senator from Delaware, we all know that. But, Philly news covers Delaware politics and a lot of Delaware (not that there's a lot of Delaware) gets the Philadelphia t.v. stations. They know Joe Biden, so I was interested to see how the Philadelphia Inquirer's take on the Biden choice. All in all, pretty good:

Democrat Barack Obama's selection of Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. of Delaware to be his running mate puts pressure on John McCain to choose an equally strong running mate for the Republican ticket.

Biden brings valuable foreign-policy experience as the chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. Obama said he wanted a vice president who could help him to navigate dangerous international waters; Biden has a firm grasp of foreign affairs and national defense.

A senator for almost 36 years, Biden also understands how Washington works. He's an effective lawmaker and, for years, has been a prominent voice in evaluating Supreme Court nominees. The choice of Biden blunts the criticism that Obama lacks Washington experience.

On the electoral map, Biden could help Obama in Pennsylvania, where his family roots go back at least five generations. Biden was born in Scranton and lived there until age 10, when his family moved to Delaware. Obama said he wanted a running mate who would speak his mind and question his decisions; Biden fits the bill. He said famously in a primary debate that Obama wasn't ready to be president. Obama certainly hasn't chosen a yes-man.

The two didn't see eye to eye initially on the Iraq war, either. Obama opposed the invasion while Biden voted to authorize war. Since then, Biden has become an outspoken critic of the war and a leader in the Senate in trying to find workable solutions to the conflict.

The editorial also cautioned on Biden's capacity for gaffes. Obviously, Biden will have to be on guard for that. It's critical because the Obama/Biden ticket is running against the GOP's one-man gaffe machine: John McCain. Read the rest of this post...

Biden on gay civil rights

78% from HRC. He's been pretty good. If we could get more sixty-something, white Catholic men to show this much support, we'd really make some progress. Read the rest of this post...

Great rollout for Biden today

I've been traveling today. Just getting caught up on the reactions to Obama's choice of Joe Biden as his running mate. So, far, it looks very good. Taegan Goddard has a good rundown of what the pundits are saying (and includes the painful smarty pants Mark Halperin, who, of course takes a contrarian view. Read Jason Linkins brutal, yet beautiful, take down of Halperin here. It's classic. Jason refers to "The Page" as "like a comic book.) Taegan offers this himself:

From a purely political perspective, no presidential campaign has ever handled the announcement of a running mate so deftly. The Obama campaign set a new standard that will be studied for years.

Several Republican Senators, Hagel, Lugar and Specter, have also offered praise for Biden.
And, while I missed the actual speech, I love this.
Jed has video of Biden's best line has about John McCain's "seven kitchen tables":



Mock McCain. It's so easy. Read the rest of this post...