More Biden Baggage For The Debates -- Pick On THIS

[ancianita]

Be careful not to provide the Republicans with all their media and election talking points while you're picking at Joe's baggage, so they don't pass themselves off as smarter than they are.

Any fair and productive discussion of Joe Biden's baggage -- Democrats are nothing if not fair, right? -- just remember to credit Biden with advising, helping and standing by the guy who gets most, but should not get ALL the credit.

Here's more than half of Joe's baggage.

Joe helped Obama with so much of the sausage making that he can ride on Obama's successes without being accused of riding on his coattails. Obama knows this: Biden helped MAKE Obama's coattails.

Think about the list below. Sure, his Democratic opponents helped vote for these, some of them.

Think about this list as he talks about governmental experience that is greater than any Democrat debating him.

Biden's got muscle memory about governing the way that Trump's got muscle memory about lying.

What Trump has put asunder, Biden will join back together as befits the country's current and future economic, social and national security needs.

Joe Biden is the one who best knows which of the following should get revived from Trump's wrecking ball.

Joe can rightfully ride on his work in the previous administration that

1. Passed Health Care Reform
2. Passed the Stimulus
3. Ended the War in Iraq
4. Began Drawdown of War in Afghanistan
5. Eliminated Osama bin laden

6. Established Stress Tests As the Condition of Recapitalizing Banks
7. Repealed “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell”
8. Reversed Bush Torture Policies
9. Improved America’s Image Abroad: With new policies, diplomacy, and rhetoric, reversed a sharp decline in world opinion toward the U.S. (and the corresponding loss of “soft power”) during the Bush years.
10. Kicked Banks Out of Federal Student Loan Program, Expanded Pell Grant Spending.

11. Created Race to the Top: With funds from stimulus, started $4.35 billion program of competitive grants to encourage and reward states for education reform.
12. Boosted Fuel Efficiency Standards: Released new fuel efficiency standards in 2011 that will nearly double the fuel economy for cars and trucks by 2025.
13. Coordinated International Response to Financial Crisis: To keep world economy out of recession in 2009 and 2010, helped secure from G-20 nations more than $500 billion for the IMF to provide lines of credit and other support to emerging market countries, which kept them liquid and avoided crises with their currencies.
14. Passed Mini Stimuli: To help families hurt by the recession and spur the economy as stimulus spending declined, signed series of measures (July 22, 2010; December 17, 2010; December 23, 2011) to extend unemployment insurance and cut payroll taxes.
15. Began Asia “Pivot”: In 2011, reoriented American military and diplomatic priorities and focus from the Middle East and Europe to the Asian-Pacific region. Executed multipronged strategy of positively engaging China while reasserting U.S. leadership in the region

16. Increased Support for Veterans: increased 2010 Department of Veterans Affairs budget by 16 percent and 2011 budget by 10 percent.
17. new GI bill offering $78 billion in tuition assistance over a decade, and provided multiple tax credits to encourage businesses to hire veterans.
18. Tightened Sanctions on Iran: to deter Iran’s nuclear program, signed Comprehensive Iran Sanctions, Accountability, and Divestment Act (2010) to punish firms and individuals who aid Iran’s petroleum sector. In late 2011 and early 2012, coordinated with other major Western powers to impose sanctions aimed at Iran’s banks and with Japan, South Korea, and China to shift their oil purchases away from Iran.
19. Created Conditions to Begin Closing Dirtiest Power Plants: New EPA restrictions on mercury and toxic pollution, issued in December 2011, likely to lead to the closing of between sixty-eight and 231 of the nation’s oldest and dirtiest coal-fired power plants. Estimated cost to utilities: at least $11 billion by 2016. Estimated health benefits: $59 billion to $140 billion. Will also significantly reduce carbon emissions and, with other regulations, comprises what’s been called Obama’s “stealth climate policy.”
20. Passed Credit Card Reforms: Signed the Credit Card Accountability, Responsibility, and Disclosure Act (2009), which prohibits credit card companies from raising rates without advance notification, mandates a grace period on interest rate increases, and strictly limits overdraft and other fees.

21. Eliminated Catch-22 in Pay Equality Laws: Signed Lilly Ledbetter Fair Pay Act in 2009, giving women who are paid less than men for the same work the right to sue their employers after they find out about the discrimination, even if that discrimination happened years ago. Under previous law, as interpreted by the Supreme Court in Ledbetter v. Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co., the statute of limitations on such suits ran out 180 days after the alleged discrimination occurred, even if the victims never knew about it.
22. Protected Two Liberal Seats on the U.S. Supreme Court: Nominated and obtained confirmation for Sonia Sotomayor, the first Hispanic and third woman to serve, in 2009; and Elena Kagan, the fourth woman to serve, in 2010. They replaced David Souter and John Paul Stevens, respectively.
23. Improved Food Safety System: In 2011, signed FDA Food Safety Modernization Act, which boosts the Food and Drug Administration’s budget by $1.4 billion and expands its regulatory responsibilities to include increasing number of food inspections, issuing direct food recalls, and reviewing the current food safety practices of countries importing products into America.
24. Achieved New START Treaty: Signed with Russia (2010) and won ratification in Congress (2011) of treaty that limits each country to 1,550 strategic warheads (down from 2,200) and 700 launchers (down from more than 1,400), and reestablished and strengthened a monitoring and transparency program that had lapsed in 2009, through which each country can monitor the other.
25. Expanded National Service: Signed Serve America Act in 2009, which authorized a tripling of the size of AmeriCorps. Program grew 13 percent to 85,000 members across the country by 2012, when new House GOP majority refused to appropriate more funds for further expansion.

26. Expanded Wilderness and Watershed Protection: Signed Omnibus Public Lands Management Act (2009), which designated more than 2 million acres as wilderness, created thousands of miles of recreational and historic trails, and protected more than 1,000 miles of rivers.
27. Gave the FDA Power to Regulate Tobacco: Signed the Family Smoking Prevention and Tobacco Control Act (2009). Nine years in the making and long resisted by the tobacco industry, the law mandates that tobacco manufacturers disclose all ingredients, obtain FDA approval for new tobacco products, and expand the size and prominence of cigarette warning labels, and bans the sale of misleadingly labeled “light” cigarette brands and tobacco sponsorship of entertainment events.
28. Pushed Federal Agencies to Be Green Leaders: Issued executive order in 2009 requiring all federal agencies to make plans to soften their environmental impacts by 2020. Goals include 30 percent reduction in fleet gasoline use, 26 percent boost in water efficiency, and sustainability requirements for 95 percent of all federal contracts. Because federal government is the country’s single biggest purchaser of goods and services, likely to have ripple effects throughout the economy for years to come.
29. Passed Fair Sentencing Act: Signed 2010 legislation that reduces sentencing disparity between crack versus powder cocaine possessionfrom100 to1 to 18 to1.
30. Trimmed and Reoriented Missile Defense: Cut the Reagan-era “Star Wars” missile defense budget, saving $1.4 billion in 2010, and canceled plans to station antiballistic missile systems in Poland and the Czech Republic in favor of sea-based defense plan focused on Iran and North Korea.

31. Began Post-Post-9/11 Military Build-down: After winning agreement from congressional Republicans and Democrats in summer 2011 budget deal to reduce projected defense spending by $450 billion, proposed new DoD budget this year with cuts of that size and a new national defense strategy that would shrink ground forces from 570,000 to 490,000 over the next ten years while increasing programs in intelligence gathering and cyberwarfare.
32. Let Space Shuttle Die and Killed Planned Moon Mission: Allowed the expensive ($1 billion per launch), badly designed, dangerous shuttle program to make its final launch on July 8, 2011. Cut off funding for even more bloated and problem-plagued Bush-era Constellation program to build moon base in favor of support for private-sector low-earth orbit ventures, research on new rocket technologies for long-distance manned flight missions, and unmanned space exploration, including the largest interplanetary rover ever launched, which will investigate Mars’s potential to support life.
33. Invested Heavily in Renewable Technology: As part of the 2009 stimulus, invested $90 billion, more than any previous administration, in research on smart grids, energy efficiency, electric cars, renewable electricity generation, cleaner coal, and biofuels.
34. Crafting Next-Generation School Tests: Devoted $330 million in stimulus money to pay two consortia of states and universities to create competing versions of new K-12 student performance tests based on latest psychometric research. New tests could transform the learning environment in vast majority of public school classrooms beginning in 2014.
35. Cracked Down on Bad For-Profit Colleges: In effort to fight predatory practices of some for-profit colleges, Department of Education issued “gainful employment” regulations in 2011 cutting off commercially focused schools from federal student aid funding if more than 35 percent of former students aren’t paying off their loans and/or if the average former student spends more than 12 percent of his or her total earnings servicing student loans.

36. Improved School Nutrition: In coordination with Michelle Obama, signed Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act in 2010 mandating $4.5 billion spending boost and higher nutritional and health standards for school lunches. New rules based on the law, released in January, double the amount of fruits and vegetables and require only whole grains in food served to students.
37. Expanded Hate Crimes Protections: Signed Hate Crimes Prevention Act (2009), which expands existing hate crime protections to include crimes based on a victim’s sexual orientation, gender, or disability, in addition to race, color, religion, or national origin.
38. Avoided Scandal: As of November 2011, served longer than any president in decades without a scandal, as measured by the appearance of the word “scandal” (or lack thereof) on the front page of the Washington Post.
39. Brokered Agreement for Speedy Compensation to Victims of Gulf Oil Spill: Though lacking statutory power to compel British Petroleum to act, used moral authority of his office to convince oil company to agree in 2010 to a $20 billion fund to compensate victims of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico; $6.5 billion already paid out without lawsuits. By comparison, it took nearly two decades for plaintiffs in the Exxon Valdez Alaska oil spill case to receive $1.3 billion.
40. Created Recovery.gov: Web site run by independent board of inspectors general looking for fraud and abuse in stimulus spending, provides public with detailed information on every contract funded by $787 billion American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. Thanks partly to this transparency, board has uncovered very little fraud, and Web site has become national model

41. Pushed Broadband Coverage: Proposed and obtained in 2011 Federal Communications Commission approval for a shift of $8 billion in subsidies away from landlines and toward broadband Internet for lower-income rural families.
42. Expanded Health Coverage for Children: Signed 2009 Children’s Health Insurance Authorization Act, which allows the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to cover health care for 4 million more children, paid for by a tax increase on tobacco products.
43. Recognized the Dangers of Carbon Dioxide: In 2009, EPA declared carbon dioxide a pollutant, allowing the agency to regulate its production.
44. Expanded Stem Cell Research: In 2009, eliminated the Bush-era restrictions on embryonic stem cell research, which shows promise in treating spinal injuries, among many other areas.
45. Provided Payment to Wronged Minority Farmers: In 2009, signed Claims Resolution Act, which provided $4.6 billion in funding for a legal settlement with black and Native American farmers who the government cheated out of loans and natural resource royalties in years past.

46. Helped South Sudan Declare Independence: Helped South Sudan Declare Independence: Appointed two envoys to Sudan and personally attended a special UN meeting on the area. Through U.S. ambassador to the United Nations Ambassador Susan Rice, helped negotiate a peaceful split in 2011.
47. Killed the F-22: In 2009, ended further purchases of Lockheed Martin single-seat, twin-engine, fighter aircraft, which cost $358 million apiece. Though the military had 187 built, the plane has never flown a single combat mission. Eliminating it saved $4 billion.

Yes, Joe will tell you all the stories of his work.

Don't get me started... !

[ProudMNDemocrat]

1. My my! That's a lot of baggage to cover.....

Republicans are NOT that smart if they are going to use all of that to attack Biden with.

[ancianita]

2. They'll probably lead with Anita Hill and Joe's "hypocrisy." But I've got a solution for that, too.

[ProudMNDemocrat]

3. "Grab em by the pussy" will be a great comeback from Joe in any debate about Trump....

If attacked for making women feel uncomfortable with a hug.

[ancianita]

5. Killer comeback!

[ProudMNDemocrat]

8. GREAT minds think alike.....

[ancianita]

11. Yep.

[EveHammond13]

4. when I see media talking about Anita Hill I reply to them "trump raped his own wife"

[ancianita]

6. Yet another!

[DownriverDem]

25. We should all be careful

to not attack our candidates. We all just want to win. From this list, it sure seems clear that folks do not even know Biden.

[olegramps]

36. Contrast that to Sander's accomplishments of two post offices named and one Vet bill.

[NBachers]

7. That's been my talking point about Biden- He knows how to put our shattered government back together

after trump and the republicans have destroyed it. He has the experience to know how it works, and rebuild it.

He also knows how to rebuild the USA's tarnished goodwill with the rest of the world.

The world is waiting for Joe Biden.

Biden - Harris!

[ancianita]

9. Yes! Now if we can spread our focus to getting Senate Democrats into the majority, yes?

[NBachers]

13. Another plus: I think Biden will have coat tails, and will campaign for other Democrats relentlessly

[ancianita]

14. Sure. I rather think they will campaign with HIM. I get your point, though.

[BlueFlorida]

10. wow

What a great compilation

Kudos to you ancianita.

[ancianita]

12. Awww. Just helping the team out.

[emmaverybo]

16. Thank you

for all your hard work

[Qutzupalotl]

15. Great list, but one quibble:

Regarding the raid on bin Laden, it is true Biden advised the president extensively. However, Biden felt the daring raid was too risky, and advised against it. My sense is that Biden objected to conducting the capture without notifying Pakistan. Obama suspected Pakistan of secretly and knowingly harboring bin Laden, and did not want to give them a heads up. This was a rare instance where Obama disagreed with his VP. The raid was indeed risky and could have ended in disaster, so I don’t fault Joe here. I only point this out to say that advising against the raid is not the same as killing bin Laden.

[ancianita]

17. Right on both counts. Do you think he learned from that event, how his decisions should err?

I think he even gave a speech about how it all fell on Obama in the end, and that he gave brilliant Obama all the credit for his greater judiciousness.

[Qutzupalotl]

21. Joe was very gracious

and gave all the credit to Obama, which makes him a statesman in my book. I like politicians who can admit when they were wrong, because they all are at some point. One of the fatal flaws of this president is he just doubles down rather than admit any mistake out of fear of showing “weakness.”

[mn9driver]

22. Biden was probably flashing back on the Iran hostage rescue disaster.

He was in the Senate when that happened and besides the tragic loss of life, he witnessed its destructive effect on Carter’s Presidency.

[olegramps]

40. His input was valuable as a point to be taken into concideration. Contrast that to Trump.

Such input doesn't necessarily kill the project, but actually by taking the risks into account forces taking the proper steps to eliminate or minimalize them. It is no different than in industry. When I was in a command position I welcomed both pro and con input. If a situation was presented in which we would be making a response to a competitive challenge then it could be a choice of doing nothing, or perhaps developing a better, cheaper model building on existing capabilities or the attempt to leap frog the competitor. What are the costs and development time frames of various choices. Contrasting opinions is essential to any chance of success. You don't look at that those opinions that were rejected as failures, but as providing better chance of success. From what I have discerned regarding Trump he doesn't use or value input. He believes that he is omnipotent not unlike many dictators.

[CaptainTruth]

18. Thanks for such an extensive list!

[jalan48]

19. I hope we can get the corporate media to go along.

[ancianita]

23. That's been the dance, hasn't it. It's Joe who dances by taking the lead and "guiding." We'll have

to stay all over him about who are the best partners, probably.

He's partial to green partners, experienced military and international partners.

He's got to watch the Big Health partners and maybe make them do new steps under regulation.

[emmaverybo]

20. Adding this, under Holder, but stopped...

So another great idea to come out of Obama-Biden admin, but of course stopped—a good step towards police dept. accountability:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/national-security/justice-department-ends-program-scrutinizing-local-police-forces/2017/09/15/ee88d02e-9a3d-11e7-82e4-f1076f6d6152_story.html

[ancianita]

24. How do you think it will and/or should play out?

[onit2day]

26. Paranoid? Why did you feel the need to do this

[ancianita]

28. Why should I be paranoid? How does a set of facts or arguments for Biden's qualifications show that?

Please proceed.

[George II]

33. At least your OP was a positive one about YOUR candidate, unlike some who post negative OPs and...

...other posts about candidates that are the biggest threat.

I really appreciate this OP, and also the videos you posted in the last couple of days. Thanks!

[ancianita]

35. Thank you, George! I just think we can't win by anything but earnest, honest discussion, nothing

personal.

I can use the positive feedback.

I'm trying to see, for weary folks (me included), the inspiriting in every candidate.

My posts are to try to lift up the best of the party, which is what I thought we're here for, right?

[USALiberal]

34. Wow, no idea where you saw paranoia. It was a fact filled post. Nt

[Skittles]

51. why do you feel the need to question this

[msdogi]

27. We aere on the fence before he announced

Remembering who he is, his kindness, intelligence, experience and humanity make him our choice.
thanks for posting this

[George II]

29. Amazing list of accomplishments, thanks for putting that together. I don't bookmark much here....

.....but this one will come in mighty handy when the attacks begin. And this doesn't even include anything he accomplished as a Senator for 35+ years.

[ancianita]

31. Maybe someone here can do that? It's always good to be armed with past accomplishments.

[Vinca]

30. Great post. I've been listening to the talking heads too much today and was

just about to suggest Biden throw in the towel (not really) because he can never pass the purity test. Why are there 2 standards? One for Republicans and another for Democrats. We have Biden, a serial hugger, vs. Trump, a serial lecher. As far as I know, Joe Biden has never been accused of grabbing anyone in their private parts, cheating on his wife, bilking thousands of people with a fake university scam, making googly eyes at murderous dictators or a million other disgusting things. I'm hoarse from yelling at the television today. LOL.

[PatrickforO]

32. I have bookmarked this thread for future reference.

Thank you for posting.

[Mr.Bill]

37. And don't forget he brings with him

a strong and well-educated First Lady. A Democratic tradition in modern times.

[brandnewday2009]

39. Dr. Biden is my idol.

Not just because we both teach English at a community college!

Go Jill Biden!

[ancianita]

41. True that.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jill_Biden

[Doreen]

54. Wow, she has a little in common with my mother.

My mother has double masters in English and taught at a community college. She had classes for adults who were going back to school to get their high school diploma along with the regular English courses.

[brandnewday2009]

38. Marriage Equality

Joe calling for marriage equality on national television provided leadership and prompted President Obama to get on board. When leaders set the precedent, others are able to fight the good fight.

Go Joe!

[Persondem]

42. Number 11 is most definitely NOT something for Biden to be proud of

11. Created Race to the Top: With funds from stimulus, started $4.35 billion program of competitive grants to encourage and reward states for education reform


RTTT amounted to federal arm twisting and/or bribery to ratchet up educational "standards" which resulted in more testing, more teaching to the test and more BS for educators to deal with.

Yes, I am a teacher.

[ancianita]

43. Me, too. It was the infamous Arne Duncan's pet piece of crap. Still, it had Obama's blessing.

And was part of the Recovery and Reinvestment Act to put money to the states.

I can't even talk about how much I detested working under Duncan in Chicago Public Schools. He continued hierarchally rating schools and slowly allowed privatization that Paul Vallas began before him.

I was retired by the time the Race crap got started, but got lots of feedback from former colleagues, especially over the Core Curriculum component.

I don't think Biden's resistance to it would have stopped the entire act, but it got through.

There's much that not pure good passed with these laws that are rarely voted on as clean bills, as we know.

[LongtimeAZDem]

44. 48. Introduced Legislation to address global warming in 1986

[ancianita]

45. Can't throw that into the list. It didn't pass. Thanks, anyway.

[ancianita]

46. He also sponsored the Violence Against Women Act of 2000 and 2005.

Biden said, "I consider the Violence Against Women Act the single most significant legislation that I've crafted during my 35-year tenure in the Senate."

[LongtimeAZDem]

47. OMG, I just assumed that was on the list!

Jeeze; this guy is unelectable

[ancianita]

48. I can't find a record of this. Can you link it? The earliest pieces I see are from 1993.

[LongtimeAZDem]

49. Global Climate Protection Act of 1986

Global Climate Protection Act of 1986 - Directs the President to establish a Task Force on the Global Climate to research, develop, and implement a coordinated national strategy on global climate. Requires such Task Force to transmit a United States Strategy on the Global Climate to the President within a year. Requires the President to then report to specified members of Congress on such report.

Directs the President to appoint an ambassador at large to coordinate Federal efforts in multilateral activities relating to global warming.

Directs the Secretary of State to promote the early designation of an International Year of Global Climate Protection.

Urges the President to give climate protection high priority on the agenda of U.S.-Soviet relations.

https://www.congress.gov/bill/99th-congress/senate-bill/2891

This was two years before practically anyone had even heard of Global Warming.

[ancianita]

50. The Atlantic says the bill didn't pass in 2015. But he's clearly been ahead of the curve on climate.

[LongtimeAZDem]

53. No, but he introduced it.

[ancianita]

56. Not an accomplishment to add to the OP list, sorry.

[LongtimeAZDem]

57. I disagree completely; he was one of the first to present the issue on the national stage

This was two years before Dr. James Hansen's testimony before Congress.

The fact that he recognized the science that early, and attempted to do something about it, is extraordinary.

[ancianita]

58. True! But since a bill isn't a law, nothing but a little awareness growth has come of it. Just sayin

[bloom]

52. That looks like a list of what Obama did - not what Biden did.

If you want to get my attention - figure out what Biden did and post that.

I do not buy the idea that whatever Obama gets credit for, that Biden gets equal credit. It was not a co-presidency.

[ancianita]

55. By your logic, any laws the 112th -115th Congresses passed, Obama should not get equal credit for.

Since it's not a co-legislation, either, is it.

All those Acts passed above? They were passed with former senior senator Joe Biden, President of the Senate for those four sessions. Over in the House, drunken, crying John Boehner worked his hardest to never pass anything Obama wanted.

Whips are symbolic titles and real activities. You know who the Democratic whips during the Boehner years? My Senator, Dick Durban was one of those kind. And Joe Biden was another.

I have all the legislation Biden got signed, sponsored, and his seven most recent bills.

If you show us Warren's legislation, or any other Democratic candidate's legislation, and I'll show you Biden's. I can assure you, very few of them got very few bills actually signed.

No one's saying that Biden should get equal credit, but look up what Obama has to say about Biden.

[bloom]

59. They absolutely were saying Biden should get credit for Obama's accomplishments

That is what that list is from.

And no - you did not refute my logic. Senators who voted on a thing - at least had that - a vote. The things posted were not things that Biden voted on, or sponsored - or anything of the sort.

I just want people to keep it real.

[ancianita]

60. "I just want people to keep it real." Do you, now. 1. SOME credit isn't ALL the credit,

goes for BO as much as JB. Nobody who even votes in Congress gets ALL the credit, not even the author/sponsor of a bill. I explained that. That's as real as it gets.

2. The "real" context of this post were previous threads picking at JB's negative baggage.


This thread was posted for that reason. From the OP:

Any fair and productive discussion of Joe Biden's baggage -- Democrats are nothing if not fair, right? -- just remember to credit Biden with advising, helping and standing by the guy who gets most, but should not get ALL the credit.

In further support of the "advising, helping and standing by," here are

Obama's words:

"To know Joe Biden is to know that love without pretense, service without self-regard, and to live life fully.

"He’s not just a great vice president, he is a great friend. We’ve gotten so close that in some places in Indiana, they won’t serve us pizza anymore."

""He has been a lion of American history. The best part is, he's nowhere close to finished."

-- From Katie Hill, Obama spokeswoman:

“President Obama has long said that selecting Joe Biden as his running mate in 2008 was one of the best decisions he ever made. He relied on the vice president’s knowledge, insight and judgment throughout both campaigns and the entire presidency. The two forged a special bond over the last 10 years and remain close today.”


Keep it as real as you want. Your technical point about WHO does stuff defines who gets credit shows disregard for the context and spirit of the post. I said what I said.

[Prosper]

61. Biden's biggest +

His biggest accomplishment is addressing , acknowledging and changing his touchy feely issue. I think he took care of his only liability .

Joe Biden Says He'll Lay Off Invading Personal Space Going Forward | TMZ ...
TMZ.com › 2019/04/03 › joe-bi...
Apr 3, 2019 · Joe Biden I Get It, I'll Respect Personal Space .... into lampooning Biden for his touchy-feely tendencies