Joe Biden – Our Man in D.C.

The long awaited debate between Vice President Joe Biden and Congressman Paul Ryan was as interesting as they can get.  Everyone thought that Joe would do his “boo boo bear” impression.  Well, that was wrong!  Everyone thought that Paul Ryan was going whip the old man with one hand tied behind his back.  Well, that was really wrong!

First off, the debate format was fairly straight forward.  The two candidates sat at a 45 degree angle, so they didn’t have to twist their necks to look at their opponent.  The Moderator Martha Radditz offered clean questions and followed up as she could between the over-talk by both candidates.  Real differences were exposed, either by plan or by circumstance.  For those that were living in a cave on the dark side of the moon and didn’t see the debate –  it was fun to see the old guy beat up on the young buck….entertaining television to be sure.  A tweet by Bill Maher said it all:  “Call the police a old man is beating up a young kid on TV!”

What was amazing was that Paul Ryan couldn’t come up with any specifics. His answers were “a 20% across the board tax cut, remove the various deductions and grow the economy!”  Supposed this grand plan – will solve all of America’s problems, restore 23 million jobs and grow another 12 million jobs in 4 years!  What is the middle part – again Paul?  Which deductions Paul/Mitt?   The Mortgage Deduction, the Medical Expense Deduction, The Child Dependent Credit..perhaps?

Two items were missing that Joe should have hit Ryan on:  The Stimulus Package Vote and the TARP Vote.  These two votes did more to increase our National Debt than anything else.  Of course we did have some side benefits….like the bailout of General Motors, Fanny Mae, Freddy Mac, AIG and saving the Banking Industry…so they could continue to rip off the Global Society.  Who implemented Dodd-Frank?  What was the Republican Alternative again?  We still haven’t heard.  Who made sure that folks that were used in Liar Loans and had their homes taken away, or folks that continued to make their payments are not being allowed to re-finance their homes at lower rates – at de-leveraged prices?

Instead of talking about whether or not we need a detachment of Marines at every U.S. Embassy in the world to stop our Ambassadors from “Terrorist Attacks”, and spending endless hours asking rhetorical questions of State Department officials….about “what did they know and when did they know it”..perhaps other priorities should be brought forward.   W hat about talking about how to save folks homes, prosecuting the evil greed merchants of Wall Street and making sure that every Home Loan in America can be reviewed and if appropriate, re-financed?  We need to get our priorities in order and Joe missed the opportunity to follow up on Ryan’s two written requests for Stimulus Cash for his constituents.  A deeper question lies below – what will Ryan-Romney do for the Middle Class that was buried by bad bankers?

Joe was kind, he did smile alot and did the best to control the outright lies he faced.  Yes, he did interrupt from time to time and several times those interruptions proved to be very effective.  Ryan’s position on Abortion is untenable for modern day folks.  It may have been viable in the 1950’s and the 1960’s – but the Social Contract has changed in America and after the pill – Women need to control their own bodies and what they do with them.  As usual, men who have never been pregnant themselves want to write laws for the opposite sex without their input.

Joe Biden could not have been clearer about our role in Afghanistan.  With great resolve and with great specificity VP Joe said:  “We are definitely leaving in 2014 no matter what!”  Ryan used the tried and true:  “Well, we know two Generals that disagree!”  Joe then repeated his statement with greater emphasis!  It was a very telling moment.  Ryan kept gulping water like he just hit the last Oasis on an 2000 mile trip in the Sahara.

No matter what polls, which polls, what pundits say or believe – Joe Biden won this debate going away!  Show this debate in any English or Non English speaking country in the world and ask the question:  Who won?  It was Joe Biden all the way, showing his great statesmanship, clarity and kindliness to explain each and every position in detail.  The way he handled the Israeli issue was priceless.  Ryan just melted away on that one!

Joe Biden…..our man in Washington, D.C.  Four more years Joe…Four more years!  Now, if the President can do just as well…..next week!