Joe Biden

Biden's Office Complains After Reporter Ambush

Susan Crabtree | October 25, 2011, 9:47AM

Vice President Joe Biden

Vice President Joe Biden's office is none too pleased with a tricky reporter ambush of him that got ugly and went viral last week.

Biden, never one to shy away from reporters even after a career of headline-making gaffes and wisecracks, is drawing the line. Biden's office has complained to the Senate press gallery about a confrontation he had with a conservative reporter, The Hill reports.

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Joe Biden

Biden Takes Senate Republicans To School On Tiny Millionaire's Surtax (VIDEO)

Brian Beutler | October 20, 2011, 10:19AM

V.P. Joe Biden Speaks to the Press on Capitol Hill

One reason you can expect unanimous Republican opposition to Senate Democrats' latest jobs bill Friday is because it includes a tax -- a 0.5 percent surtax on income above $1 million starting in January 2013.

That would raise enough money over the next 10 years to cover the $35 billion cost of hiring and retaining about 400,000 teachers and emergency responders next year -- but for Republicans, it's not worth it.

"This is the worst possible way to promote economic growth and job creation," warned Sen. Jon Kyl (R-AZ) -- the Senate Minority Whip, and member of the joint deficit Super Committee.

Enter Vice President Joe Biden, who at a Capitol Hill rally on Wednesday provided a lesson on just how modest the tax is.

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Harry Reid

Reid To GOP On Jobs: POTUS Bus Tour Seems To Be Working

Susan Crabtree | October 19, 2011, 1:04PM

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV)

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) is reminding Republicans attacking President Obama for traveling around the country promoting his jobs plan that the bus tour seems to be working -- polls show most Americans support the plan to get Americans back to work.

Ahead of Vice President Joe Biden's visit to Capitol Hill later Wednesday afternoon, Reid touted poll number after poll number showing strong bipartisan support for the entire jobs package -- and overwhelming support for the break-out component introduced in the Senate Monday aimed at putting 400,000 teachers, police officers and first-responders back to work.

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Occupy Wall Street

Biden Attacks Big Banks, Compares Rise Of Occupy Wall Street To Rise Of Tea Party

Brian Beutler | October 6, 2011, 11:51AM

Vice President Joe Biden

Vice President Joe Biden empathized with the Occupy Wall Street movement Thursday, and criticized big banks in harsher terms than most people in the Obama administration are typically comfortable with.

At The Atlantic's Ideas Forum, Biden said he understands what underlies the anti-Wall Street movement, and compared it to the anger driving the Tea Party.

"What is the core of that protest, and why is it increasing in terms of the people it's attracting -- the core is the bargain has been breeched with the American people," Biden said. "The core is the American people do not think the system is fair or on the level..... That is the core of what you're seeing on Wall Street. And that's what started, by the way -- there's a lot in common with the Tea Party. The Tea Party started why? TARP. They thought it was unfair -- we were bailing out the big guy."

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Barack Obama

Obama Has No Regrets For Acknowledging Economic Woes

Susan Crabtree | October 4, 2011, 2:12PM

President Barack Obama

President Obama is standing by his concession Monday in an interview with ABC News that Americans aren't better off than they were four years ago before the near collapse of the financial system and a deep economic recession -- both of which occurred at the tail end of President George W. Bush's term.

At a fundraiser in Dallas, Obama returned to the point he made in the interview, that Americans are still suffering through hard economic times.

"Of course they're still hurting," he said. "Every night I get letters and emails from families who are struggling."

He listed among his successes the auto bailout and Wall Street reform, noting Republican opposition to both.

The President doesn't regret acknowledging the truth, namely, that the economy is still flagging and is unlikely to quickly rebound any time soon, White House spokesman Jay Carney also told reporters Tuesday while traveling to Texas on Air Force One.

"It would be wrong to somehow suggest that the hole created by that recession was not very deep ... or that somehow we'll emerge from it overnight," Carney said.

But Carney also noted that "four years ago was 2007 -- prior to the point where the policies of the previous administration plunged us into the greatest recession since the Great Depression."

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