VP Report Card: Joe Biden
It has been a while, so please remember to respect the report card ground rules.
Joe Biden: regular guy or Washington insider?
Biden is supposed to be the friend of the every-day kind of guy, but he's also been in Washington for a long time. Personally I was hoping for a younger face who could carry the torch into the future. We'll have to see whether Biden affects the ticket based on his experience or his entrenchment.
Conflicts with Obama on:
- Drivers' licenses for undocumented persons (opposes)
- Ban on partial-birth abortion (supports)
Potential scandals brewing:
- Two previous instances of possible plagiarism (both have been determined to be careless errors)
Things you never knew about Joe
- He was named one of Time magazine's 200 Faces for the Future... in 1974.
- He is the longest-serving U.S. Senator in Delaware history.
- In the 1980s, he underwent life-saving brain surgery.
- He also ran for president in the 1988 election.
- According to Wikipedia, he's considered one of the least wealthy members of the Senate (less than $400,000 net worth).
- He once lobbied for a Kerry-McCain ticket in 2004.
- He teaches constitutional law on the side.
- He is still running for reelection to the Senate, despite accepting the VP nomination.
Bonus Points: Compelling story of personal resilience.
Minus Points: Possibly too old and too connected to the old school to help carry on the changes promised by an Obama administration.
= Great! 
= Good. 
= Mixed feelings or indifferent. 
= Not good. 
= Scary! 
= Believe it when you see it.
*note: any direct conflict in position with regard to the party's presidential candidate will be noted in italics.*
Hair style - the old golfer look
Fiscal Policy - supports balanced budget amendment
Energy and the Environment - opposes drilling in the Artic Wildlife Refuge opposes funding for increased road building in national forests supports cap-and-trade polution strategy supports ambitious deadlines for energy efficiency standards and alternative/renewable sources
Economy and Trade - supports ending tax breaks for companies that outsource jobs overseas supports free trade or protectionism on a case-by-case basis supports reforming bankruptcy laws for corporations and individuals supports supports free trade depending on labor and environmental protections consistantly pro-union
Health Care - supported renewal and expansion of the SCHIP program supports national catastrophic insurance supports universal coverage for children
Education - supports higher wages for teachers opposes vouchers supports reducing class sizes regrets No Child Left Behind vote
Domestic Surveillance, Patriot Act, Enemy Combatants - supports Patriot Act, but opposes wire tapping provisions supports granting habeas corpus protections to Guantanamo detainees no torture, no exceptions
Executive Authority - supports line-item veto
Campaign Finance - supports some campaign finance regulations supports limitations on issue ads
Foreign invlovement - supports intervention in Darfur supports more aid to Africa supports enlargement of NATO supports mandatory service in the military or peace corps
Immigration - supports a fence along the Mexico border supports undocumented persons' participation in government programs like social security and medicaid opposes driver's licenses for undocumented persons supports guest worker program and a "path to citzenship" supports protections for undocumented persons under the law.
Gun Control - supports some gun control initiatives opposes ban on lawsuits against gun manufacturers
Abortion - supports choice opposes parental notification supports the partial birth abortion ban supports allowing minors to cross state borders for abortions
Death Penalty - supports capital punishment.
Gay rights - supports civil unions opposes marriage amendment supports equal protection under the law opposes don't ask don't tell
Stem Cell Research - supports federal funding.
Internet Neutrality - no obvious position.
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Do you support a fence between us and Mexico? Why?
BethAnn asked me about that when I was doing the presidential report cards, and she had some good arguements against it.
Still, I think we can only blame people for entering illegally if we maike a good effort to deter/prevent them from coming across. While a fence might be a minor speedbump to a determined immigrant, I think it might be a necessary peice of a more wholistic approach.
For instance, banning cigarette vending machines never stopped kids from smoking, but how could we expect kids to abide by smoking age limits if we made cigarettes widely and easily accessible?
In the same way, how can we expect immigrants to haggle their way through the legal hurdles to enter legally if the border is wide open? Also, I think I would rather have a fence than a bunch of vigilante "minutemen" patrolling the wilderness, doing who knows what to people they find wandering in the desert.