Joe Biden: ‘We Have to Go Spend Money to Keep From Going Bankrupt’

From CNSNews.com:

Vice President Joe Biden told people attending an AARP town hall meeting that unless the Democrat-supported health care plan becomes law the nation will go bankrupt and that the only way to avoid that fate is for the government to spend more money.

“And 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,” Biden said at the event on Thursday in Alexandria, Va. “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,” Biden said.

“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?’” Biden said. “The answer is yes, that’s what I’m telling you.”

With all due respect Mr. Vice President, we’re already bankrupt… Or do you think trillion-dollar deficits as far as the eye can see are a good thing?

Oh, and  by the way Mr. Vice President the Congressional Budget Office has already laid waste to your foolish ‘We Have to Go Spend Money to Keep From Going Bankrupt’ argument.

Related

• Centrist Dem Leader: Has Committee Votes To Block Health Bill – Dow Jones Newswires
• President Obama Continues Questionable “You Can Keep Your Health Care” Promise – ABC News Political Punch
• Bombshell: CBO chief tells Congress ObamaCare will “significantly expand” federal spending – Hot Air

AP: Stimulus not Stimulating

The  AP’s Matt Apuzzo yesterday examined Vice President Joe Biden’s first quarterly report of the Stimulus plan and found the picture to a bit more cloudy than the White House claims:

Capturing the full effect of the stimulus at this early stage is difficult, but the administration has set high bars for success. In championing those successes, however, the White House plays a little loose with the facts.

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BIDEN SAID: First-time home buyers are “driving increased activity in the home sales market,” while mortgage and title companies are hiring more workers because of the first-time home buyer tax credit included in the stimulus bill.

THE FACTS: The report cites anecdotes from a New Orleans business journal to back up the claim. It’s true, buyers are taking advantage of the $8,000 first-time home buyer tax credits. The IRS said more than 567,000 tax returns claimed the credit in just the first weeks of the program. But that hasn’t provided an immediate turnaround in the market.

Since February, sales of existing homes have fallen 3 percent and new home sales are down .6 percent.

And the number of jobs in the real estate industry has declined by about 20,500, according to the Department of Labor.

There are signs that the housing market is improving. But the numbers suggest that if the market bottomed out, it did so in January, before the stimulus was passed.

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BIDEN SAID: Employment agencies are placing more workers in jobs, and demand is up since February.

THE FACTS: The report cites an interview with an employment service manager quoted in the same New Orleans business article. The anecdote may be true, but it’s impossible to extrapolate that any further, even just to New Orleans. The city has lost more than 200 jobs since February. Overall, Louisiana lost 16,085 jobs over the same span, according to the Department of Labor.

Read the rest…

Alright first off the White House has to make optimistic statements on the economy for valid political reasons… Simply put if they strike to pessimistic a tone it could undermine public confidence and further weaken the economy.

Anyway with that in mind Biden’s report stikes me as being overly optimistic particarly in light of 637,000 new jobsless claims, a rise in wholesale prices and a drop in oil prices based in part on the increasing U.S. unemployment numbers.

Tough Questions for Joe Biden

WFTV anchor Barbara West conducted a satellite interview with Sen. Joe Biden on Thursday, October 23rd. Unlike most reporters West didn’t shy away from asking tough questions… She questioned Biden on democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s ties to ACORN and his plans to “spread the wealth” around. Biden’s answers are quite revealing.

The only quesion I have is why is West the only reporter asking the tough questions?

H/T: Michelle Malkin.

Sarah Palin & Barack Obama: Tops In Spam

Secure Computing released a new report on spam trends Friday, among the reports findings, spam citing Gov. Sarah Palin topped her opponent, Sen. Joe Biden, by a ratio of 5 to 4 during the month of September.

In a top-of-the-ticket comparison, spam using the name of Sen. Barack Obama easily topped the use of his opponent, Sen. John McCain, by 6 to 1.

I’m not sure this a race either candidate wants to win though. It just goes show that spammers are continuing to exploit current events to get their message out.

The full report titled “Major Spam Trends, October 2008″ is available from Secure Computing’s web site.

70 Million Viewers – Wow

Ok so it was really only 69,989,000 but last nights Vice Presidential debate was the most watched ever.

From the the Live Feed:

Thursday’s highly anticipated face-off between Alaska governor Sarah Palin and Delaware senator Joe Biden was the most-watched vp debate of all time.

Last night’s event was seen by nearly 70 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research.

That’s the most-viewed debate — presidential or vp — since the second round between Bill Clinton, Ross Perot and George Bush in 1992 (and possibly the most since 1980’s famed debate between Ronald Reagan and Jimmy Carter).

Thursday’s event was 33% higher than Friday’s top-of-the-ticket debate between John McCain and Barack Obama. It’s 61% higher than the 2004 debate between Dick Cheney and John Edwards. And it ranks 23% higher than the former title-holder for the most-watched vp debate — the 1984 match between George Bush and Geraldine Ferrarro (56.7 million).

H/T: Flopping Aces.

Poll Question: Who Won The Vice Presidential Debate?

On points I’d score it as a narrow win for Gov. Palin, overall on style and substance it was a landslide… She wiped the floor with both Senator Biden and moderator Gwen Ifill.

Best line: “I may not answer the questions the way that the moderator or the Senator may want me to but I will speak to America.”

She lost me with populist greed rhetoric, but I understand they’re trying to appeal to independents and/or undecided voters… But she won me back when channeled Reagan and hit Biden with that “there you go again” line.

I thought she also missed a couple of opportunities to really drive home the point that reducing the corporate tax rate will, in the long term, promote economic growth and create jobs.

Michelle Malkin says SARAH ROCKS… I agree.

Mark Levin says “She is the bright light in this campaign from my perspective.”

Ed Morrissey has post debate commentary and analysis here.

Ace has Biden’s 14 lies.

Stephen Dinan says Biden got the VP’s role wrong.

Poll Question: If The Election Were Held Today Who Would You Vote For?

Sorry, there are no polls available at the moment.

Dear Mr. Obama…

A message from a military wife.

H/T: Floppingaces.

Foreign Policy Experience – Does It Matter?

One of the things that’s been bothering me about this presidential campaign is the constant droning of so and so doesn’t have any foreign policy experience. Where is it written that a presidential candidate has to have “foreign policy experience”?

How much foreign policy experience did Ronald Reagan, Bill Clinton or George W. Bush have when they took office? Not to be flippant but I think it’s safe to say a hell of a lot less than when they left. Personally, I’m not particularly swayed by the experience argument; I’m much more concerned with a candidate’s position on the issues and their ability to make the tough choices.

A president has to be a leader and a visionary. He or she has have intelligence to understand and evaluate the information their advisers provide and the courage to act on it.

Yes, a candidates background matters but it’s only one part of the overall picture. We also need to examine the backgrounds and qualifications of the people a candidate turns to for advice on issues whether it’s foreign policy, the economy, defense or immigration.

The cold hard truth is we live in a complicated world and we can’t expect president to be an expert in all things, if we do we’re only deluding ourselves.