Joe Biden

The Republican Call For Joe Biden To Be Dropped For Vice President: Delusional And Hypocritical!

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Vice President Joe Biden has been a major asset to the nation with his 40 year career, 36 years in the US Senate, and nearly four as Vice President!

Biden had a distinguished career in the Senate, including stints as Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and at other times, Chairman of the Senate Judiciary Committee.

Biden has been an important part of a lot of the history of American politics and policy making for four decades!

Biden entered the Vice Presidency with the most insight and experience of any Vice President in history, and has been an important player in the shaping of foreign policy and domestic policy under Barack Obama.

He is a likeable, sincere, dedicated public servant, who, like any human being, can make mistakes, utter gaffes that are embarrassing, and come across at times as foolish, but never in a way that harms American politics in a disastrous way!

When one hears that Republicans have suggested that Biden should be dropped for Vice President, it causes an intelligent person to laugh heartily, particularly when Sarah Pain has promoted such an idea, stating that Hillary Clinton should replace him on the Democratic ticket, as if Barack Obama is going to listen to a person totally unqualified to be Vice President, a woman who comes across as ignorant, moronic, and an embarrassment to the American political system! She proved it when she debated Biden in the 2008 Vice Presidential debate, and called him “O Biden”!

And if one wants to look at a Vice President who was truly an embarrassment, and came across as a moron, it was Vice President Dan Quayle under President George H. W. Bush!

For Obama to drop Biden would only benefit the Republicans and hurt the President, as Biden is a loyal supporter who will do whatever the President asks him, and he deserves to be re-elected with Obama!

And to claim that Biden is starting to “lose it”, as some Republicans declare, is also laughable, as one can think of Ronald Reagan REALLY losing it in his second term in an obvious way; Arizona Senator John McCain also acting weirdly at times in his public utterance in recent years; and even Mitt Romney, only 65, making one wonder at times has he lost it, with his massive number of gaffes and “flip flops”, much more than Biden has ever had in his career!

If Biden is to drop out, then years ago, Reagan should have resigned: McCain should resign from the Senate; and Mitt Romney should resign now because of massive blunders on issues that really matter, but of course, all these suggestions did not and will not occur, so Joe Biden is not going anywhere, other than to a continuation of a brilliant campaign as an “attack dog”, and an impressive winning debate against Paul Ryan in the Vice Presidential debate, coming up in October!

Vice Presidental Nominees: Ready On “Day One” Or Not?

Ronald 8 Comments

It has often been said that Presidential nominees do not think of their Vice Presidential nominees as replacing them in office, because of death. No one likes to think about that unpleasant, potential possibility.

But Presidential nominees NEED to think about that, because it should be the most important factor involved in selection of a running mate.

When one looks at Presidential elections since 1960, it is clear that Vice Presidential nominees fit into two categories: those ready on “Day One” to take over the Presidency, and those NOT ready on “Day One” to take over the Presidency.

Those Ready on “Day One” (15)–10 Democrats and 5 Republicans

Henry Cabot Lodge
Lyndon B. Johnson
Hubert H. Humphrey
Edmund Muskie
Sargent Shriver
Walter Mondale
Bob Dole
George H. W. Bush
Lloyd Bentsen
Al Gore
Jack Kemp
Dick Cheney
Joe Lieberman
John Edwards
Joe Biden

Those NOT ready on “Day One” (6)–1 Democrat and 5 Republicans

William E. Miller
Spiro Agnew
Geraldine Ferraro
Dan Quayle
Sarah Palin
Paul Ryan

The selection of the Vice Presidential nominee is the first, and in many ways, the most crucial decision a Presidential candidate makes. In that regard, the Democrats have been dramatically more careful than the Republicans!

Likely Voting Blocs For Each Side In Upcoming Presidential Election Of 2012

Ronald 4 Comments

With the Presidential Election of 2012 now exactly 12 weeks from today, the likely results by voting bloc are as follows, meaning a majority of a particular bloc will side with one or the other Presidential tickets, with no special order of listing:

OBAMA-BIDEN

Self Identified Progressives and Liberals
Moderates
Independents
African Americans
Jews
Hispanics-Latinos
Secular Voters
Women
Senior Citizens
Middle Class (loosely defined)
Working Class (loosely defined)
Urban Voters
Labor Voters
Young Voters Under 35
Gay and Lesbian Voters
New England and Middle Atlantic States, except maybe New Hampshire
Pacific Coast States and Hawaii
Virginia, Ohio, Iowa, Pennsylvania, Colorado, New Mexico, Nevada (swing states)

ROMNEY-RYAN

Self identified Conservatives
Evangelical Christians
Catholics (loosely defined)
Cuban Americans
Mormons
Wealthy Upper Class
Rural Voters
Suburban Voters
Corporate World Voters
Gun Owners
West Virginia, Kentucky
Most of Southern States, except for Virginia, and maybe Florida
Great Plains States
Mountain States, except New Mexico, Colorado and Nevada
Alaska

It is possible some groups or blocs have been left out, but this is a fairly good list of categories, and I welcome discussion and debate on this post!

Odd And Interesting Points About Paul Ryan, And The Presidential Election Of 2012

Ronald 4 Comments

There are many odd and interesting points about Vice Presidential nominee Paul Ryan that have been gathered, and here are some of them!

Paul Ryan, like Mitt Romney, is handsome, and they look good together photogenically.

Paul Ryan looks as if he could be one of Mitt Romney’s sons, and actually is only 12 days older than Romney’s oldest son, Tagg!

Paul Ryan has spent his whole adult life in government, with no experience in the private sector.

Paul Ryan was affected by the narrow minded, selfish teachings of Ayn Rand, and he was involved in work with former Congressman Jack Kemp, one of the authors of what became known as Reaganomics, which started tripling the national debt in the 1980s, due to the theory of Supply Side Economics. Now, Ryan wishes to multiply what Reaganomics in the 1980s and Bushonomics in the 2000s brought about, most of the increased national debt, $7 trillion of the total $10.5 trillion debt that existed when George W. Bush left the Presidency in January, 2009!

Paul Ryan’s dad died when he was in high school, and he was supported by the social safety net of Social Security with survivors benefits while in college.

Paul Ryan has lived off the American taxpayer his entire life, and will receive better health care and pension benefits as part of the federal payroll, that he wishes to cut for everyone else in the middle and lower classes!

Paul Ryan alienated Catholic nuns when he came out for cuts in food stamps and other benefits to poor children, and called for privatizing of Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid, while wanting greater tax cuts for the top two percent!

Paul Ryan was booed in his own congressional district for the Ryan plan which passed the House of Representatives earlier this year, but with no Democratic support and ten Republicans voting against, as well.

Paul Ryan comes across as articulate, handsome, and charming personally, the latter much more than Mitt Romney, but he also comes across to many as arrogant, nasty, mean spirited, uncaring, hypocritical , uncompromising, and loved by the Tea Party and the right wing media which have declared war on women, senior citizens, the middle class, minorities, and the poor!

Paul Ryan has no foreign policy experience, and being only a Congressman, can be seen as not qualified to be Commander in Chief on Day One!

This is the 5th time in the past half century that a member of the House of Representatives has been selected as a Vice Presidential running mate—William E. Miller of New York with Barry Goldwater in 1964; Geraldine Ferraro of New York with Walter Mondale in 1984; Jack Kemp of New York with Bob Dole in 1996; Dick Cheney of Wyoming with George W. Bush in 2000; and now Paul Ryan of Wisconsin with Mitt Romney in 2012. Notice all four of the earlier choices LOST the election that followed, with the exception of Cheney with Bush, but remember that Al Gore actually won the popular vote in 2000 by 540,000 votes, and the Supreme Court decided the election, intervening for the first time in American history!

And as said in an earlier post, finally, this marks the fourth time in the past 60 years that the Vice Presidential nominee has been more than 20 years younger than the Presidential nominee—Richard Nixon with Dwight D. Eisenhower in 1952; Dan Quayle with George H. W. Bush in 1988; Sarah Palin with John McCain in 2008; and now Paul Ryan with Mitt Romney in 2012.

Additionally, we have no one on either ticket for this upcoming election who is from the Sun Belt states, the growing part of the nation. Instead, we have a Midwesterner and an Easterner on each ticket–Barack Obama and Paul Ryan from the Midwest, and Joe Biden and Mitt Romney from the Northeast!

Also, there is no candidate with military experience on either Presidential ticket, the first time since the 1940s!

And we also have no mainline Protestant on the Republican ticket, a mainstay of the GOP, and instead have a Mormon and a Catholic.

If anything, the only true “Protestant” is Barack Obama, as Joe Biden is Catholic!

More oddities and trivia will probably arise as the campaign develops further!

The Vice Presidential Selection: More Important Than Many People Realize!

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The office of the Vice Presidency has often been ridiculed, and some have argued for its abolition by a constitutional amendment, but that is a wrong headed idea.

The Vice Presidency has become an important office since the 1950s, when Richard Nixon transformed the office, both by his own ambitions, and the willingness of President Dwight D. Eisenhower to allow the office to expand.

While Lyndon B. Johnson under John F. Kennedy and Hubert H. Humphrey under Johnson were not used effectively by their Presidents, and while Spiro Agnew under Richard Nixon and Dan Quayle under George H. W. Bush could be seen as disasters in office, still the office has grown in stature and accomplishments otherwise.

So Gerald Ford, in his brief Vice Presidency under Richard Nixon, Nelson Rockefeller under Gerald Ford, Walter Mondale under Jimmy Carter, George H. W. Bush under Ronald Reagan, Al Gore under Bill Clinton, Dick Cheney under George W. Bush, and Joe Biden under Barack Obama have had a great impact on the office, and made it an office of real power and influence!

When one realizes that Ford and the first Bush ended up in the White House, as did Nixon and Lyndon Johnson; and that Humphrey, Mondale, and Gore were Presidential nominees; and that Rockefeller and Biden both sought the Presidential nomination, one realizes that choosing a Vice Presidential nominee is not to be regarded as insignificant to the nation!

But can we afford another Agnew, Quayle, Geraldine Ferraro, or Sarah Palin to be a possible heartbeat away from the Presidency?

The answer clearly is NO, so Mitt Romney, by taking his time to choose a running mate, hopefully is carefully considering who could really contribute to the office, and help Romney if the two of them end up in the White House!

If one decides to forget everything but experience and competence, and ability to add to Romney’s candidacy, then the choice must be one of the following: Condoleezza Rice, Rob Portman, or Tim Pawlenty.

Bobby Jindal, Marco Rubio, Chris Christie, Paul Ryan, Bob McDonnell, John Thune, and Kelly Ayotte all have issues and problems if they are chosen, and one could argue that some of them could not match the list of Vice Presidents who have served, as not being on their competency level.

But if one had to predict what now seems likely, don’t be surprised that Mitt Romney selects Paul Ryan, which would be an unmitigated disaster, as the controversy surrounding him and his economic plans would reverberate against Mitt Romney.

The gut feeling is that Ryan is on the top of the list, followed by Kelly Ayotte, who is simply not qualified to be President, and would not be much better than Sarah Palin was in the 2008 election cycle.

So bet on Ryan or Ayotte, but if Romney does the best for the nation, it would be Rice, Portman, or Pawlenty!

Liz Cheney Glorifies Sarah Palin As More Qualified Than Barack Obama AND Joe Biden Combined! Is Liz Cheney For Real?

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Liz Cheney, the conservative activist daughter of former Vice President Dick Cheney, has been trying to make a name for herself on Fox News Channel, and in assisting her father in the writing of his memoirs.

She wants us to take her seriously, but it is very hard to do so after her defense of Sarah Palin, the Vice Presidential nominee selected by John McCain in 2008.

Her dad had the intelligence to admit that Sarah Palin was not qualified to be President in 2008, but she contradicted him, and made the amazing statement that Palin was better qualified for the Oval Office than Barack Obama AND Joe Biden combined!

That is a totally moronic, asinine, ridiculous statement! Biden had 36 years in the US Senate, and was one of its best members in its entire history, and made Palin look terrible in the Vice Presidential debate in 2008. And Barack Obama had a lot more experience in office, and an obviously superior intelligence and brilliance that Sarah Palin does not possess!

Of course, John McCain came to Sarah Palin’s defense, but he has to, in order to legitimize his terrible choice in 2008!

But for Liz Cheney to make such a statement makes one wonder about her own intelligence and qualifications, as she plans to run for the US Senate in Wyoming or Virginia in the future.

But her major qualification is being an “adviser” to her dad! Is that enough to make her qualified to be a Senator? The author will leave that issue to the reader to decide!

The Republican Attack On “Chicago Politics”: Pitiful And Ridiculous!

Ronald 2 Comments

The Republican Party is reacting to attacks on Mitt Romney and his refusal to release tax returns, with the accusation that this is old style “Chicago politics”, because Barack Obama comes out of the Illinois political system.

Give me a break, as if only in Chicago, has politics been seen as manipulative and corrupt!

What about New Jersey politics; West Virginia politics; Texas politics; Ohio politics; New York politics; Pennsylvania politics; Georgia politics; Florida politics; Louisiana politics; Missouri politics; Oklahoma politics; Los Angeles politics; California politics; Nevada politics; Arizona politics; Alaska politics; Washington DC politics; and NATIONAL politics, and the list goes on!

The story of American politics is the story of corruption, manipulation, deceit, unfair attacks, character assassination, etc, including some people going to prison for corruption!

This is the big time, Mitt Romney and the Republican Party!

You used dirty tactics against George McGovern, Walter Mondale, Michael Dukakis, Al Gore, John Kerry and many other Democrats!

You have also been brutal in your attacks on Jimmy Carter, Bill Clinton, and Barack Obama, as well as Hillary Clinton and other Democrats.

You have been involved in corruption big time with your SuperPACS already this year, refusing to support DISCLOSE legislation yesterday in the US Senate, to allow Americans to know how much money wealthy people are contributing to Mitt Romney!

You are NOT interested in “good government’! You are interested in wishing to dish out attacks, but cannot tolerate attacks by the Democrats!

But there is some news for you! Democrats, including Barack Obama and Joe Biden, are no longer going to allow themselves to be attacked and play defense!

The Democrats will be on the offensive, and give back in kind what you have been doing for many years with a poor response by Democrats!

We are finally using the tactics of Franklin D. Roosevelt, Harry Truman, and Lyndon Johnson, giving the Republican Party and its candidates “Hell”, and rightfully without apology! This has been LONG overdue!

The Scranton, Pennsylvania Financial Disaster: What It Means!

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Scranton, Pennsylvania, the home city of Vice President Joe Biden, has reached the absolute bottom fiscally, unable to pay its city workers a living wage, and breaking all wage agreements in the process.

We are talking about a Democratic Mayor unable to get the City Council to agree to tax increases on residents, in order to pay a living wage to police officers and fire fighters, as well as other city workers.

So police officers and fire fighters, who protect and serve the residents of Scranton, are being told they will now be paid the minimum wage, $7.25 an hour, to do their crucial jobs!

These courageous city workers are supposed to be able to pay their mortgages or rents; take care of their children’s needs; and plan for a future being paid what they might have been paid when they were in high school or started their first job after graduation!

The citizens of Scranton need to look in the mirror! Do they wish police protection and fire fighting expertise, or do they not?

YES, times are tough, but any sane person will realize that if taxes have to go up, so be it, as everyone tightens the belt, but we have lost our whole purpose as a society if we are telling police officers and fire fighters, as well as other public workers, that we have so little respect and honor for their sacrifice, as to insult them by expecting them to accept the minimum wage for a job that deserves proper pay and benefits!

The City Council and Mayor should be paid the minimum wage as well, and see what it is like to live on it!

And despite the reality that, short term, these workers will have to accept this horrible situation in order to keep their jobs, if this continues more than a few weeks, many will simply quit and move, as there is no way one can sustain himself or herself on the minimum wage when bringing up a family, and sacrificing their safety every day, to do their job, one they knew would never enrich them, but never dreamed that they would be so disrespected that they would told to take a pay cut, averaging 66 percent!

This is a crisis all of America is going to face if we allow the Republican philosophy of “starving” public services to continue to prevail, all to avoid making those who have more to pay more!

Mitt Romney’s Vetting Process For Vice President: Different Than For Himself!

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Former Massachusetts Governor Mitt Romney, the Republican Presidential nominee, is deep into the process of vetting potential Vice Presidential running mates.

Among those thought to be in the competition are:

Tim Pawlenty
Rob Portman
Paul Ryan
Bobby Jindal
Marco Rubio
Condoleezza Rice
Bob McDonnell
Kelly Ayotte
Chris Christie
John Thune

What is being expected of any, and all, of the above candidates?

A complete vetting, including many years of tax returns!

Hey, wait a minute here! Mitt Romney wants these people, or at least those on the short list, to give information about their finances?

If that is so, which it is, WHY is it that Mitt Romney refuses to give the American people an accounting of his finances, as well?

Why is it that potential Vice Presidential candidates must do this, and Romney will not do so?

Does Mitt Romney think he is a “privileged character”, who does not have to meet the same standards as those who might be his Number Two, and ALL presidential nominees or contenders from his father George Romney on through both Bushes, Bob Dole, John McCain, and all others?

That is the answer: Mitt Romney THINKS he is a “privileged character”, who is “entitled” to play by his own rules, and to remain secretive about his finances!

Why would he be so vehement about this, if there is nothing to be concerned about in his finances?

BECAUSE, obviously, there is a lot to hide!

But one thought crosses one’s mind: Mitt Romney handed over 23 years of financial information to John McCain in 2008, as he was on the short list to be McCain’s running mate!

So the McCain campaign has these records, and if Mitt Romney refuses to release them, they should be released against his will!

Of course, one would say that would be illegal, which, technically it would be!

And certainly, Senator McCain, being a loyal Republican, is not about to do such a thing to his fellow Republican!

But what about the thought that to refuse to reveal information that EVERY other candidate in the past 40 years has done SHOULD be seen as disqualifying someone to be President, and should actually be illegal itself!

In conclusion: Mitt Romney is trying to hide something, probably a lot, as if that were not so, why not release the financial information?

So as Vice President Joe Biden said the other day; Mitt Romney wants Latino and Hispanic immigrants to be forced to “show their papers”, but he is not willing to show his own papers!

It is a great laugh line, but also totally TRUE!

America In 2012: African American President, Irish Catholic Vice President, Mormon Presidential Candidate, Supreme Court Of Catholics, Jews, Women, African American And Hispanic, And The Third Woman Secretary Of State!

Ronald 2 Comments

In the midst of all the turmoil we are going through politically, America should sit back and marvel at how far this nation has come by 2012.

We have an African American President, Barack Obama!

We have an Irish Catholic Vice President, Joe Biden, the only Catholic since John F. Kennedy in 1960.

We have a Mormon Presidential candidate, Mitt Romney.

We have a Supreme Court consisting of six Catholics (Antonin Scalia, Anthony Kennedy, Clarence Thomas, John Roberts, Samuel Alito, Sonia Sotomayor) and three Jews (Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Stephen Breyer, and Elena Kagan), and also an African American (Clarence Thomas), an Hispanic, (Sonia Sotomayor) and three women (Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan) on the Court.

And we have the third woman Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton, after two earlier ones (Madeleine Albright and Condoleezza Rice (one with Jewish heritage and one African American).

So we have a lot to be proud of in 2012, with the tremendous amount of diversity!