M2RB: Roger Daltrey
Say it ain't so, Joe, please
Say it ain't so
I'm sure they're telling us lies Joe and I've got a right to know
They told us are hero has played his last trump card
He doesn't know how to go on.
We're clinging to his charm and he turned and smiled
But the good ole days are gone.
The army and the empire may be falling apart
And the money had gotten scarce
One man's word held the country together
But the truth is getting fierce.
Say it ain't so, Joe, please
Say it ain't so
That's not what I want to hear Joe and I've got a right to know
Say it ain't so
I'm sure they're telling us lies Joe and I've got a right to know
They told us are hero has played his last trump card
He doesn't know how to go on.
We're clinging to his charm and he turned and smiled
But the good ole days are gone.
The army and the empire may be falling apart
And the money had gotten scarce
One man's word held the country together
But the truth is getting fierce.
Say it ain't so, Joe, please
Say it ain't so
That's not what I want to hear Joe and I've got a right to know
Don't worry.
If Bidumb said it, it probably isn't.
“And by the way, at the time we were told
exactly — we said exactly what the intelligence community told us that
they knew. That was the assessment. And as the intelligence community
changed their view, we made it clear they changed their view.”
On the morning of the 12th of September — that would be the morning after the evening President Obama had been briefed that there was an ongoing assault on the Benghazi consulate and the Ambassador was missing and went to bed to get his beauty sleep – the President was told that Stevens and 3 others were dead…evidently, he did not answer the 3 AM phone call or his staff didn’t think it was important enough to tell him…he canceled his PDB and made a statement in the Rose Garden.
The significance of his statement is that, standing next to him, was one Hillary Clinton – THE SECRETARY OF STATE.
Now, why is this important?
The Deputy Assistant Secretary of State, Charlene Lamb, has already testified that she was able to follow what happened “in almost real time” from a command centre in Washington. She KNEW what had happened.
Do they really think that we are stupid enough to believe that the
Deputy Assistant Secretary of State did not tell the Secretary of State what she
witnessed “in almost real time” from a command centre in DC and the
Secretary of State didn’t tell the President of the United States before
she joined him in the Rose Garden for his address to the nation?
Really?
"On Iraq, the president said he would end the war. Governor Romney said
that was a tragic mistake, we should have left 30,000 — he ended it.
Governor Romney said that was a tragic mistake, we should have left
30,000 troops there."
- Joe Biden, debate
Per the NYT:
"All American forces were to leave Iraq by the end of 2011, the departure date set in an agreement signed by President George W. Bush and Mr. Maliki in 2008. Even so, Mr. Obama left the door open to KEEPING TROOPS IN IRAQ to train Iraqi forces if an agreement could be negotiated.
Convening a videoconference on Oct. 6, 2010, Mr. Biden and top American officials reviewed the options. The vice president favored a plan that would keep Mr. Maliki as prime minister, but which involved installing his main rival, Mr. Allawi, leader of the Iraqiya bloc, near the top of the pyramid. To make way for Mr. Allawi, Mr. Biden suggested that Mr. Talabani, an ethnic Kurd, be shifted from the presidency and given another position. “Let’s make him foreign minister,” Mr. Biden said, according to the notes of the meeting.
“Thanks a lot, Joe,” Mrs. Clinton said, noting that Mr. Biden had cast the Foreign Ministry as a consolation prize.
Mr. Biden also predicted that the Americans could work out a deal with a government led by Mr. Maliki. “Maliki wants us to stick around because he does not see a future in Iraq otherwise,” Mr. Biden said. “I'LL BET YOU MY VICE-PRESIDENCY MALIKI WILL EXTEND THE SOFA,” he added, he added, referring to the Status of Forces Agreement the Obama administration hoped to negotiate.
James B. Steinberg, the deputy secretary of state, questioned whether Mr. Biden’s plan would make the already inefficient Iraqi government more dysfunctional.
Admiral Mullen sent a classified letter to Mr. Donilon that recommended keeping 16,000 troops.
The attempt by Mr. Obama and his senior aides to fashion an extraordinary power-sharing arrangement between Mr. Maliki and Mr. Allawi never materialized. NEITHER DID AN AGREEMENT THAT WOULD HAVE KEPT A SMALL AMERICAN FORCE IN IRAQ TO TRAIN THE IRAQI MILITARY AND PATROL THE COUNTRY'S SKIES. A plan to use American civilians to train the Iraqi police has been severely cut back. The result is an Iraq that is less stable domestically and less reliable internationally than the United States had envisioned."
In the end, Biden's plan was rebuffed by the Iraqis and the SOFA was not extended.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/23/world/middleeast/failed-efforts-of-americas-last-months-in-iraq.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
Evidently not. Marc Grossman,
the State Department's special representative for Afghanistan and Pakistan, has said that the point of the upcoming
negotiations is to agree on an extension of the U.S. troop presence well past
2014, for the purposes of conducting counterterrorism operations and training
and advising the Afghan security forces. Some U.S. military officials have
said the plan is to keep 25,000 American troops in Afghanistan past 2014,
but Grossman insisted that there is no number yet and the 25,000 figure quoted
in reports is speculative. Grossman was speaking on a panel at the annual summit of the
International Stability Operations Association in Washington. Also on the panel
was Under Secretary of State for Management Patrick Kennedy, who said that the State Department would need U.S.
military troops in Afghanistan to protect them and help them well past 2014.
Untrue.
"The government’s chief spending watchdogs have already secured nearly 600 convictions and judgments against people and companies accused of misusing stimulus funds and have a whopping 1,900 investigations currently open into possible wrongdoing, officials say."
http://www.washingtonguardian.com/stimulating-investigation
Untrue. As Netanyahu stated in his speech before the UN, "Iran has completed the first stage of uranium enrichment and are 70% of the way there.” He further stated that Iran will breakout by next summer. Obvious, the Israelis and the United States, our military and intelligence communities are NOT absolutely the same exact place in terms of how close -- how close the Iranians are to getting a nuclear weapon. The Israelis do NOT believe that the Iranians "are a good way away." Finally, there ABSOFUCKINGLUTELY IS A "DIFFERENCE BETWEEN OUR VIEW AND THEIRS."
1.
"Martha, if we just did one thing, if we just -- if they just allowed Medicare to bargain for the cost of drugs like Medicaid can, that would save $156 billion right off the bat."
"There's not one Democrat who endorses (Medicare reform with a defined contribution or premium support)..And he said he does no longer support (Ron Wyden)...Who disavows it.(Rivkin)..."
"There's not one Democrat who endorses (Medicare reform with a defined contribution or premium support)": Lie. Erskine Bowles does.
"And he said he does no longer support (Ron Wyden)": Lie.
"Who disavows it.(Rivkin)...": Lie.
Huh?
"All American forces were to leave Iraq by the end of 2011, the departure date set in an agreement signed by President George W. Bush and Mr. Maliki in 2008. Even so, Mr. Obama left the door open to KEEPING TROOPS IN IRAQ to train Iraqi forces if an agreement could be negotiated.
Convening a videoconference on Oct. 6, 2010, Mr. Biden and top American officials reviewed the options. The vice president favored a plan that would keep Mr. Maliki as prime minister, but which involved installing his main rival, Mr. Allawi, leader of the Iraqiya bloc, near the top of the pyramid. To make way for Mr. Allawi, Mr. Biden suggested that Mr. Talabani, an ethnic Kurd, be shifted from the presidency and given another position. “Let’s make him foreign minister,” Mr. Biden said, according to the notes of the meeting.
“Thanks a lot, Joe,” Mrs. Clinton said, noting that Mr. Biden had cast the Foreign Ministry as a consolation prize.
Mr. Biden also predicted that the Americans could work out a deal with a government led by Mr. Maliki. “Maliki wants us to stick around because he does not see a future in Iraq otherwise,” Mr. Biden said. “I'LL BET YOU MY VICE-PRESIDENCY MALIKI WILL EXTEND THE SOFA,” he added, he added, referring to the Status of Forces Agreement the Obama administration hoped to negotiate.
James B. Steinberg, the deputy secretary of state, questioned whether Mr. Biden’s plan would make the already inefficient Iraqi government more dysfunctional.
Admiral Mullen sent a classified letter to Mr. Donilon that recommended keeping 16,000 troops.
The attempt by Mr. Obama and his senior aides to fashion an extraordinary power-sharing arrangement between Mr. Maliki and Mr. Allawi never materialized. NEITHER DID AN AGREEMENT THAT WOULD HAVE KEPT A SMALL AMERICAN FORCE IN IRAQ TO TRAIN THE IRAQI MILITARY AND PATROL THE COUNTRY'S SKIES. A plan to use American civilians to train the Iraqi police has been severely cut back. The result is an Iraq that is less stable domestically and less reliable internationally than the United States had envisioned."
In the end, Biden's plan was rebuffed by the Iraqis and the SOFA was not extended.
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/09/23/world/middleeast/failed-efforts-of-americas-last-months-in-iraq.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0
"Governor Romney said that was a tragic mistake, we should have left
30,000 -- (Obama) ended it. Governor Romney said that was a tragic mistake,
we should have left 30,000 troops there..
But we are leaving. We are leaving in 2014."
- Joe Biden, debate
"And by the way, that program (Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious Stimulus Act
of 2009), again, investigated. What the Congress
said was it was a model. Less than four-tenths of 1 percent waste or
fraud in the program. And all this talk about cronyism. They investigated and investigated,
did not find one single piece of evidence. I wish he would just tell --
be a little more candid."
- Joe Biden, debate
Untrue.
"The government’s chief spending watchdogs have already secured nearly 600 convictions and judgments against people and companies accused of misusing stimulus funds and have a whopping 1,900 investigations currently open into possible wrongdoing, officials say."
http://www.washingtonguardian.com/stimulating-investigation
"But number two, the Iranians are -- the Israelis and the United States,
our military and intelligence communities are absolutely the same exact
place in terms of how close -- how close the Iranians are to getting a
nuclear weapon. They are a good way away. There is no difference between
our view and theirs...When my friend talks about fissile material, they have to take this
highly enriched uranium, get it from 20 percent up, then they have to be
able to have something to put it in. There is no weapon that the
Iranians have at this point. Both the Israelis and we know -- we'll know
if they start the process of building a weapon."
- Joe Biden, debate
Untrue. As Netanyahu stated in his speech before the UN, "Iran has completed the first stage of uranium enrichment and are 70% of the way there.” He further stated that Iran will breakout by next summer. Obvious, the Israelis and the United States, our military and intelligence communities are NOT absolutely the same exact place in terms of how close -- how close the Iranians are to getting a nuclear weapon. The Israelis do NOT believe that the Iranians "are a good way away." Finally, there ABSOFUCKINGLUTELY IS A "DIFFERENCE BETWEEN OUR VIEW AND THEIRS."
"Who you believe, the AMA, me, a guy who's fought his whole life for
this, or somebody who would actually put in motion a plan that knowingly
cut -- added $6,400 a year more to the cost of Medicare?"
- Joe Biden, debate
An AMA committee just approved a Ryan-esque Medicare reform plan.
“The [AMA] policy identifies changes that must be made to strengthen the
traditional Medicare program (i.e., restructuring beneficiary
cost-sharing, including modifying Medigap rules, and changing the
eligibility age to match Social Security) and
expresses support for giving beneficiaries a choice of plans for which
the federal government would contribute a standard amount (i.e., a
‘defined contribution’) toward the purchase of traditional
fee-for-service Medicare or another health insurance plan approved by
Medicare. The Council firmly believes that implementing a defined
contribution system, with strong regulatory protections for patients, is
a responsible and feasible approach to strengthening the Medicare
program.”
http://www.forbes.com/sites/aroy/2012/10/16/key-ama-committee-endorses-paul-ryan-like-defined-contribution-reforms-for-medicare/
“Look, I was there when we did that with Social Security in 1983. I was one of eight people
sitting in the room that included Tip O’Neill negotiating with
President Reagan. We all got together and everybody said, as long as
everybody’s in the deal, everybody’s in the deal, and everybody is
making some sacrifice, we can find a way.”
- Joe Biden, debate
1.
“(I was) one of five people — I
was the junior guy — in the meeting with Bob Dole and George Mitchell
when we put Social Security on the right path for 60 years.”
- Joe Biden, Meet The Press, 29 April 2007
2. Jake Tapper: Tapper: “But according to the historical record, Biden was not one of the small group of people in ‘the room,’ or in ‘the meeting’ — nor was he even a key player in reforms.”
"Martha, if we just did one thing, if we just -- if they just allowed Medicare to bargain for the cost of drugs like Medicaid can, that would save $156 billion right off the bat."
- Joe Biden, debate
In fact, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that such a change “would have a negligible effect on drug spending.”
"There's not one Democrat who endorses (Medicare reform with a defined contribution or premium support)..And he said he does no longer support (Ron Wyden)...Who disavows it.(Rivkin)..."
- Joe Biden, debate
"There's not one Democrat who endorses (Medicare reform with a defined contribution or premium support)": Lie. Erskine Bowles does.
"And he said he does no longer support (Ron Wyden)": Lie.
"I do know, however, that because we worked together, Paul Ryan now
knows more about the Medicare Guarantee and protecting seniors from
unscrupulous insurance practices than he did before. If that is
reflected in his budget this year, as someone who has been fighting for
seniors since he was 27 years old, I think that's a step in the right
direction."
- Senator Ron Wyden (D-OR), Preserving the Medicare Guarantee: Why I've Been Working with Paul Ryan, 19 March 2012
"Who disavows it.(Rivkin)...": Lie.
“Dr. Rivlin emphasized that defined contribution amounts should be
sufficient to ensure that all beneficiaries could afford to purchase
health insurance coverage, and that private health insurance plans
should be subject to regulations that protect patients and ensure the
availability of coverage for even the sickest patients.”
“That’s why I said we will get to the bottom
of this. You know, usually when there’s a crisis, we pull together. We
pull together as a nation. But as I said, EVEN BEFORE WE KNEW WHAT HAD
HAPPENED TO THE AMBASSADOR, the governor was HOLDING A PRESS CONFERENCE
— was holding a press conference. That’s not presidential leadership.”
- Joe Biden, debate
Huh?
Tuesday, about 6 AM, before the attack in Benghazi (all times Eastern): BLAMES VIDEO
Tuesday, about 6:30 PM, in Twitter message, U.S. Embassy stands by statement
Tuesday, 10:08 PM: Clinton Confirms Death of One American in Libya (BLAMES VIDEO)
Tuesday, 10:10 PM: Politico reports Obama Administration disavows Embassy Statement
Tuesday, 10:24 PM: Romney criticizes Administration’s response
Wednesday, 7:22 AM: President Confirms Death of the Ambassador and Three Others
Wednesday, 10:17 AM, ROMNEY’S FIRST PRESS CONFERENCE
“Americans woke up this morning with tragic news and felt heavy hearts as they considered that individuals who have served in our diplomatic corps were brutally murdered across the world. This attack on American individuals and embassies is outrageous, it’s disgusting. It breaks the hearts of all of us who think of these people who have served, during their lives, the cause of freedom, and justice and honor. We mourn their loss and join together in prayer that the spirit of the Almighty might comfort the families of those who have been so brutally slain.FOUR DIPLOMATS LOST THEIR LIFE (sic)….”America will not tolerate attacks against our citizens and against our embassies. We will defend also our constitutional RIGHTS OF SPEECH and assembly and religion…I also believe the Administration was wrong to stand by a statement sympathizing with those who had breached our embassy in Egypt instead of condemning their actions. It’s never too early for the United States Government to condemn attacks on Americans, and to defend our values. THE WHITE HOUSE FINALLY DISTANCED ITSELF LAST NIGHT FROM THE STATEMENT, saying it wasn’t ‘cleared by Washington.’ That reflects the mixed signals they’re sending to the world.”- Statement of Mitt Romney, 12 September 2012
“We will be no part of a voucher programme.”
- Joe Biden, debate
Surprise! Obama's HHS pilot programme to send 2 million poor seniors from Medicare into … “voucher” programmes
http://nationaljournal.com/healthcare/obama-more-flexible-on-medicare-than-rhetoric-suggests-20120908?page=1
"(Romney said about the auto industry) let it go bankrupt."
- Joe Biden, debate
Um, GM & Chrysler DID go bankrupt.
“This President doesn’t bluff.”
- Joe Biden, debate
“Eric (Cantor), don’t call my bluff.” – President Barack Obama
"That would (bipartisanship) — that would be a first for the Republican Congress...That’s coming from a Republican Congress working bipartisanly, 7 percent rating? Come on."
- Joe Biden, debate
Congress has two chambers: The House of Representatives and the Senate. The last time that I looked, Harry Reid, the Majority Leader of the United States Senate, was a Democrat.
"There are people that are concerned (about the timeline for withdrawal)
but not the Joint Chiefs. That was their recommendation in the Oval
Office to the President of the United States of America. I
sat there. I’m sure you’ll find someone who disagrees with the
Pentagon. I’m positive you’ll find that in the military. But that’s not
the case here."
- Joe Biden, debate
- Joe Biden, debate
Lie. The Joint Chiefs did NOT recommend a timeline. In fact, Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told a House hearing that he supports THE PRESIDENT'S PLANS, but Mullen said they are "MORE AGGRESSIVE AND INCUR MORE RISK THAN HE CONSIDERS PRUDENT."
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/06/23/mike-mullen-obama-afghanistan-troop-withdrawal_n_882938.html
While we are at it, let's look at what some Democrats have said in the past about telegraphing exit dates to enemies...
"A deadline for pulling out will only encourage our enemies to wait us out. It would be a Lebanon in 1985, and God knows where it goes from there."
- Senator JOE BIDEN, remarks to the Brookings Institution, 21 June 2005
"I don't believe it's smart to set a date for withdrawal. I don't think you should ever telegraph your intentions to the enemy so they can await you."
- Senator HILLARY CLINTON, 22 September 2005 via "Clinton II: parsing Clinton's history on Iraq," National Journal's The Hotline, 13 February 2007
"As far as setting a timeline that's not a wise decision, because it only empowers those who don't want us there."
- Senator HARRY REID, remarks to the National Press Club, 31 January 2005
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
A few points...
1. Iran does has Shahab missiles and Sajjil missiles- the Sajjil-2 is a medium-range missile of about 2,200 km or 1,375 miles when carrying a 750-kg warhead, capable of hitting our assets in the Middle East or any of our allies in the regime (although admittedly it’s rather inaccurate) and it is working on more sophisticated delivery systems, including those newfangled things called "ships."
2. Biden is basing his statement on what he has been told by the intelligence community, yet...
A.
B.
- Senator Joe Biden, Meet The Press, 29 April 2007
- Senator HARRY REID, remarks to the National Press Club, 31 January 2005
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
“Let’s all calm down a little bit here...Iran has no weapon to put an atomic bomb in."
- Joe Biden, debate
- Joe Biden, debate
A few points...
1. Iran does has Shahab missiles and Sajjil missiles- the Sajjil-2 is a medium-range missile of about 2,200 km or 1,375 miles when carrying a 750-kg warhead, capable of hitting our assets in the Middle East or any of our allies in the regime (although admittedly it’s rather inaccurate) and it is working on more sophisticated delivery systems, including those newfangled things called "ships."
2. Biden is basing his statement on what he has been told by the intelligence community, yet...
A.
"Fateful
decisions will be made in the days and weeks ahead. At issue is nothing
less than the fundamental question of whether or not we can keep the
most lethal weapons known to mankind out of the hands of an
unreconstructed tyrant and aggressor who is in the same league as the
most brutal dictators of this century."
- Senator Joe Biden, about Saddam Hussein's WMD, 12 February 1998
- Senator Joe Biden, about Saddam Hussein's WMD, 12 February 1998
B.
“[Saddam
Hussein is] a long term threat and a short term threat to our national
security. We have no choice but to eliminate the threat. This is a guy
who is an extreme danger to the world. He must be dislodged from his
weapons or dislodged from power.”
- Senator Joe Biden, Meet The Press, 26 September 2002
- Senator Joe Biden, Meet The Press, 26 September 2002
C.
"The weapons inspectors said he had them. He catalogued—they catalogued them. This was not some, some Cheney, you know, pipe dream. This was, in fact, catalogued. They looked at them and catalogued. What he did with them, who knows? The real mystery is, if he, if he didn’t have any of them left, why didn’t he say so? Well, a lot of people say if he had said that, he would’ve, you know, emboldened Iran and so on and so forth."
- Senator Joe Biden, Meet The Press, 29 April 2007
D. But then, "Bush lied. People died." or based his decision to invade Iraq on "faulty intelligence."
E. "Our intel on Libya was faulty."
F. According to our intel, Iran doesn't have delivery-system capacity....
So, we are supposed to cherrypick when to believe the intelligence community!
3. There's much focus on Israel in relation to Iran's nuclear weapons programme and, while Iran's threat is gravely real, there is another issue that I haven't seen discussed...and it doesn't have anything to do with a nuclear Iran sparking a nuclear arms' race in the ME, possible disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, or the price of oil.
Iran doesn't need a delivery system capable of hitting the US to get us involved in a war even if you could care less about Israel. All it has to do is hit any member of NATO, such as Turkey, and we are automatically involved in a war. As should have been a reminder, NATO recently said that should a war breakout between Turkey and Iranian-backed, Syria, its members WILL defend the Turks...and guess who supplies the majority of troops and materiel to NATO? Yep.
Untrue. Russia's government-run weapons manufacturer, Rosoboronexport, is supplying equipment, including the Tor-M1 missile defence system, for Iran's missile programme. Further, according to Ruslan Pukhov, an expert Russian foreign policy and leader of the director of the Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies in Moscow, which is aligned with Vladimir Putin, if Assad's regime in Syria regime is removed by force or Putin doesn't approve of the outcome of a "peaceful transition" to a new government, Russia will resume it sales of S-300s to Iran.
In 2010, China built an entire missile plant in Iran to produce the Nasr-1 anti-ship cruise missile and has sold $312 million worth of arms to the country in violation of the UN sanctions. Most of the weapons transfers involved sales of Chinese anti-ship cruise missiles, including C-802 missiles that China promised the United States in 1997 would not be exported to Iran.
While the junior oil minister of India, RPN Singh told Hillary Clinton that Indian refiners would decrease Iranian oil purchases by 11% this year, the largest refineries have tripled their imports despite Western sanctions against Iran that came into effect in July, 2012.
Finally, on the issue of total isolation, Venezuela, North Korea, et al, are still doing business with Iran.
As for Iran's currency, oil sales are transacted in US dollars and the country is sitting on a tremendous amount of American currency. It has enough reserves to hold its own for quite a long time. So while it is true that the Iranian rial has tremendously weakened, it would be erroneous to assume that a currency collapse in Iran would mean the end of the Ayatollahs.
Iran's economy actually grew last year by 2%. Its GDP is projected to contract by 0.9% this year, which while recessionary, is far from what is being experienced by countries such as Greece, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, etc. Hell, the US' economy is only growing by 1.3% and, if the idiots in DC do not address the fiscal cliff, the most conservative estimate is a 10% correction in the stock market....in other words, a double-dip is almost a certainty.
E. "Our intel on Libya was faulty."
F. According to our intel, Iran doesn't have delivery-system capacity....
So, we are supposed to cherrypick when to believe the intelligence community!
3. There's much focus on Israel in relation to Iran's nuclear weapons programme and, while Iran's threat is gravely real, there is another issue that I haven't seen discussed...and it doesn't have anything to do with a nuclear Iran sparking a nuclear arms' race in the ME, possible disruption in the Strait of Hormuz, or the price of oil.
Iran doesn't need a delivery system capable of hitting the US to get us involved in a war even if you could care less about Israel. All it has to do is hit any member of NATO, such as Turkey, and we are automatically involved in a war. As should have been a reminder, NATO recently said that should a war breakout between Turkey and Iranian-backed, Syria, its members WILL defend the Turks...and guess who supplies the majority of troops and materiel to NATO? Yep.
"The ayatollah sees
that there are 50 percent fewer exports of oil. He sees the currency
going into the tank. Iran is more isolated today than
when we took office. It was on the ascendancy when we took office. It is
totally isolated."
- Joe Biden, debate
Untrue. Russia's government-run weapons manufacturer, Rosoboronexport, is supplying equipment, including the Tor-M1 missile defence system, for Iran's missile programme. Further, according to Ruslan Pukhov, an expert Russian foreign policy and leader of the director of the Centre for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies in Moscow, which is aligned with Vladimir Putin, if Assad's regime in Syria regime is removed by force or Putin doesn't approve of the outcome of a "peaceful transition" to a new government, Russia will resume it sales of S-300s to Iran.
In 2010, China built an entire missile plant in Iran to produce the Nasr-1 anti-ship cruise missile and has sold $312 million worth of arms to the country in violation of the UN sanctions. Most of the weapons transfers involved sales of Chinese anti-ship cruise missiles, including C-802 missiles that China promised the United States in 1997 would not be exported to Iran.
While the junior oil minister of India, RPN Singh told Hillary Clinton that Indian refiners would decrease Iranian oil purchases by 11% this year, the largest refineries have tripled their imports despite Western sanctions against Iran that came into effect in July, 2012.
Finally, on the issue of total isolation, Venezuela, North Korea, et al, are still doing business with Iran.
As for Iran's currency, oil sales are transacted in US dollars and the country is sitting on a tremendous amount of American currency. It has enough reserves to hold its own for quite a long time. So while it is true that the Iranian rial has tremendously weakened, it would be erroneous to assume that a currency collapse in Iran would mean the end of the Ayatollahs.
Iran's economy actually grew last year by 2%. Its GDP is projected to contract by 0.9% this year, which while recessionary, is far from what is being experienced by countries such as Greece, Spain, Portugal, Ireland, etc. Hell, the US' economy is only growing by 1.3% and, if the idiots in DC do not address the fiscal cliff, the most conservative estimate is a 10% correction in the stock market....in other words, a double-dip is almost a certainty.
"The president has met with Bibi [Netanyahu] a dozen times....This is a bunch of stuff."
- Joe Biden, debate
He has met with him less than a half a dozen times; however, President Obama will face off with the heavyweight, Jon Stewart, for the 6th time on Thursday, 18 October 2012.
"But it shouldn’t be surprising for a guy who says 47 percent of the
American people are unwilling to take responsibility for their own
lives. My friend recently in a speech in Washington said '30 percent of
the American people are takers.' These people are my mom and dad — the people I grew up with, my
neighbors. They pay more effective tax than Governor Romney pays in his
federal income tax."
- Joe Biden, debate
No, they do not. Based on the most recent IRS data for 2009, the average tax rate (after deductions) paid by all Americans is 11 PERCENT. It is also clear that millionaires pay an average of 25%, while virtually every taxpayer earning under $100,000 pays an average rate of no more than 8% of their income in taxes.
88 percent of all taxpayers pay 8 percent or less of their income in income taxes.
Which gets us back to Mitt Romney’s effective tax rate of 14%, after deductions. This rate is still higher than the average rate paid by taxpayers earning up to $200,000. There are about 136 million taxpayers who have adjusted gross incomes less than $200,000, or 97% OF ALL TAXPAYERS. SO EVEN WITH AN EFFECTIVE TAX RATE OF 14%, ROMNEY STILL PAID A HIGHER AVERAGE EFFECTIVE RATE THAN 97% OF HIS FELLOW AMERICANS.
The average rate is skewed due to millionaires, who pay rates on income from employment like athletes and executives. It is not evidence that Romney pays less than the average taxpayer.
Source: IRS 2009 Data, Table 1.2 http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-soi/09in12ms.xls
88 percent of all taxpayers pay 8 percent or less of their income in income taxes.
Which gets us back to Mitt Romney’s effective tax rate of 14%, after deductions. This rate is still higher than the average rate paid by taxpayers earning up to $200,000. There are about 136 million taxpayers who have adjusted gross incomes less than $200,000, or 97% OF ALL TAXPAYERS. SO EVEN WITH AN EFFECTIVE TAX RATE OF 14%, ROMNEY STILL PAID A HIGHER AVERAGE EFFECTIVE RATE THAN 97% OF HIS FELLOW AMERICANS.
The average rate is skewed due to millionaires, who pay rates on income from employment like athletes and executives. It is not evidence that Romney pays less than the average taxpayer.
Source: IRS 2009 Data, Table 1.2 http://www.irs.gov/pub/irs-soi/09in12ms.xls
"With regard to the assault on the Catholic Church, let me make it absolutely clear. No religious institution—Catholic or otherwise, including Catholic social services, Georgetown hospital, Mercy hospital, any hospital—none has to either refer for contraception. None has to pay for contraception. None has to be a vehicle to get contraception in any insurance policy they provide. That is a fact. That is a fact."
- Joe Biden, debate
- Joe Biden, debate
“This is NOT a fact."
- The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
http://www.usccb.org/news/2012/12-163.cfm
- The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops
http://www.usccb.org/news/2012/12-163.cfm
"You know, I heard that death panel argument from Sarah Palin. It seems that every vice presidential debate, I hear this kind of stuff about panels."
- Joe Biden, debate
- Joe Biden, debate
Who knew that Obamacare with its IPAB board had been introduced as legislation and/or passed while Joe Biden was a Senator in 2008 and debating Sarah Palin in the Vice-Presidential Debate?
In fact, I bet Biden is tired of debating the individual mandate in Vice-Presidential debates, too, especially since his running mate opposed it in 2008.
In fact, I bet Biden is tired of debating the individual mandate in Vice-Presidential debates, too, especially since his running mate opposed it in 2008.
"The congressman here cut embassy security in his budget by $300 million below what we asked for."
- Joe Biden, debate
- Joe Biden, debate
Ryan's budget proposal did not cut $300 million from embassy security. It called for a 19% overall decrease in non-defense discretionary spending, but does not even mention embassy security. The cut does not have to affect every programme equally. For example, in 2012, we gave a grant of $444.1 million to Big Big & Co, who have said that they do not need subsidies. That money could have been used to increase embassy security.
Also, 4 days after the administration denied additional security to Libya, including the request of continued usage of a DC-3, it authorised a new electric charging station and Chevy Volts the American Embassy in Vienna, which is located in the country where Obama claims they speak "Austrian."
Also, it is absolutely impossible for the House to cut ANYTHING when the Senate hasn't passed a budget in 1,253 days and the President hasn't signed it.
On 14 September 2012, President Obama released the long-awaited “sequestration report,” detailing the cuts the White House would make to the budget under last year’s Budget Control Act if no deal is reached in Congress.
And there, buried on page 136, is the White House’s proposed cuts to “Embassy Security, Construction, and Maintenance.” $129 million. That’s a full 8.2 percent of the possible sequestrable amount. It’s a massive slash of the budget for our embassies, consulates, and security abroad.
http://images.politico.com/global/2012/09/120914_omb_report_sequestration.html
Additionally, from CNS, the State Dept. Confirms: Marines on 9/11/12 Were Protecting U.S. Embassy--in Barbados
When terrorists attacked the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, on Sept. 11 of this year and killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans, there were no U.S. Marines deployed in Libya to defend U.S. diplomats, diplomatic facilities and classified information and equipment.
However, says the State Department, a Marine Security Detachment was deployed on that day to carry out those duties at the U.S. Embassy in Bridgetown, Barbados.
http://cnsnews.com/news/article/state-dept-confirms-marines-91112-were-protecting-us-embassy-barbados
And there, buried on page 136, is the White House’s proposed cuts to “Embassy Security, Construction, and Maintenance.” $129 million. That’s a full 8.2 percent of the possible sequestrable amount. It’s a massive slash of the budget for our embassies, consulates, and security abroad.
http://images.politico.com/global/2012/09/120914_omb_report_sequestration.html
Additionally, from CNS, the State Dept. Confirms: Marines on 9/11/12 Were Protecting U.S. Embassy--in Barbados
When terrorists attacked the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, Libya, on Sept. 11 of this year and killed the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans, there were no U.S. Marines deployed in Libya to defend U.S. diplomats, diplomatic facilities and classified information and equipment.
However, says the State Department, a Marine Security Detachment was deployed on that day to carry out those duties at the U.S. Embassy in Bridgetown, Barbados.
http://cnsnews.com/news/article/state-dept-confirms-marines-91112-were-protecting-us-embassy-barbados
"The recession] came from this man [Ryan] voting to put two wars on a
credit card, at the same time, put a prescription drug plan on the
credit card, a trillion dollar tax cut for the very wealthy….I was
there, I voted against them. I said, no, we can’t afford that. He did…"
- Joe Biden, debate
Biden voted FOR BOTH WARS. He also voted FOR including prescription drugs under Medicare in 2000, FOR cloture for Bush's Medicare Part D (before voting against the bill on the floor when it was already going to pass because of 11 other Democrats), FOR expanding the enrollment period for Medicare Part D, AGAINST means-testing for the prescription drug benefit, AGAINST Medicare means-testing, and even AGAINST medical savings acounts.
It is also of note that "Lunch Bucket Joe" voted FOR Reagan's 1986 tax cuts, which reduced the top marginal rate from 50% to 28%.
Besides, none of this had anything to do with the recession. If it had, revenues would have been going down and the deficit going up before the recession hit and that is simply not the case. FY 2007 saw record revenues for the Treasury and a deficit of $163 billion -- the second smallest of Bush's presidency.
- Joe Biden, debate
Biden voted FOR BOTH WARS. He also voted FOR including prescription drugs under Medicare in 2000, FOR cloture for Bush's Medicare Part D (before voting against the bill on the floor when it was already going to pass because of 11 other Democrats), FOR expanding the enrollment period for Medicare Part D, AGAINST means-testing for the prescription drug benefit, AGAINST Medicare means-testing, and even AGAINST medical savings acounts.
It is also of note that "Lunch Bucket Joe" voted FOR Reagan's 1986 tax cuts, which reduced the top marginal rate from 50% to 28%.
Besides, none of this had anything to do with the recession. If it had, revenues would have been going down and the deficit going up before the recession hit and that is simply not the case. FY 2007 saw record revenues for the Treasury and a deficit of $163 billion -- the second smallest of Bush's presidency.
"What we did is we saved $716 billion and put it back -- applied it to Medicare."
- Joe Biden, debate
Lie. According to the CBO, the "savings" is double-counted and the money they cut “would be used to pay for other spending and therefore would not enhance the ability of the government to pay for future Medicare benefits.”
http://www.pdfdownload.org/pdf2html/pdf2html.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbo.gov%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2Fcbofiles%2Fftpdocs%2F113xx%2Fdoc11376%2Fryanltrhr4872.pdf&images=yes
"Let me tell you what was a good idea. It was a good idea, Moody’s and others said that this was exactly what we needed to stop this from going off the cliff. It set the conditions to be able to grow again. We have, in fact, 4 percent of those green jobs didn’t go under. It’s a better batting average than investment bankers have. They have about a 40 percent…"
- Joe Biden, debate
“When the stock market crashed, Franklin D. Roosevelt got on the television and didn’t just talk about the, you know, the princes of greed. He said, ‘Look, here’s what happened.’”
- Joe Biden, vice-presidential nominee, interview with Katie Couric, 2008
“How they can justify … raising taxes on the middle class that has been buried the last four years?”
- Joe Biden, 2 October 2012 (The last 4 years he and Obama have been in charge)
“[Obama is] the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.”
- Joe Biden, 2007, evidently African-Americans didn't take showers or speak articulately until Barack Obama arrived on the scene.
“'Dey gonna put y’all back in chains.”
- Joe Biden, 2012, on what will happen to blacks if Republicans win
"My dad respected Barack Obama - would've respected Barack Obama if he'd been around."
- Joe Biden, Democratic National Convention acceptance speech, 6 September 2012
"I would tell members of my family, and I have, I wouldn't go anywhere in confined places right now. It's not that it's going to Mexico, it's that you are in a confined aircraft. When one person sneezes, it goes everywhere through the aircraft. That's me."
—Vice President Joe Biden, when asked on NBC's Today Show what he would tell his relatives if they wanted to fly to Mexico. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs later commented, "If people felt unduly alarmed for whatever reason, we would certainly apologize for that," 30 April 2009
"If we do everything right, if we do it with absolute certainty, there's still a 30% chance we're going to get it wrong."
- Joe Biden, speaking to members of the House Democratic caucus who were gathered in Williamsburg, Va., for their annual retreat, 6 February 2009
"Am I doing this again? ... My memory is not as good as Justice Roberts'."
- Joe Biden, alluding to Supreme Court Justice John Roberts, who flubbed a line during Barack Obama's presidential oath the previous day, before swearing in members of his senior staff. Obama, standing nearby, shook his head disapprovingly and gave Biden a stern poke, 21 January 2009
"Hillary Clinton is as qualified or more qualified than I am to be Vice President of the United States of America. Let's get that straight. She's a truly close personal friend. She is qualified to be President of the United States of America. She's easily qualified to be Vice President of the United States of America. Quite frankly, it might have been a better pick than me. But she's first rate."
- Joe Biden, suggesting Obama's former rival Senator Hillary Clinton might have been a better choice for the Vice President than him at a rally in Nashua, N.H., 10 September 2008
"I'm told Chuck Graham, state senator, is here. Stand up Chuck, let 'em see you. Oh, God love you. What am I talking about. I'll tell you what, you're making everybody else stand up, though, pal."
- Joe Biden, telling Missouri state senator Chuck Graham to stand up at a campaign rally, before realizing that Graham is confined to a wheelchair, 9 September 2008
"In Delaware, the largest growth of population is Indian Americans, moving from India. You cannot go to a 7-11 or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent. I'm not joking."
- Joe Biden, captured on C-SPAN's "Road to the White House" series, trying to bond with an Indian-American supporter. A Biden spokeswoman later said, "The point Senator Biden was making is that there has been a vibrant Indian-American community in Delaware for decades," 17 September 2006
"I started thinking as I was coming over here, Why is it that Joe Biden is the first in his family ever to go to a university?"
— Joe Biden, during his first presidential run, lifting passages and even gestures from a speech by Neil Kinnock without giving credit to the leader of the British Labour Party.
Biden's problems continued when C-SPAN footage surfaced two weeks later showing Biden inflating his academic record at law school. (His claims included one that he finished in the top half of his class at Syracuse Law School; he graduated 76th of 85.) Though he later called the accusations of plagiarism "much ado about nothing," he dropped out of the race on Sept. 23.
“Now these guys pledge that they’re gonna de-fund Planned Parenthood, which under law cannot perform any abortions."
- Joe Biden, 12 October 2012
"Folks, I can tell you I've known eight presidents, three of them intimately."
--Joe Biden, 22 August 2012
"My mother believed and my father believed that if I wanted to be president of the United States, I could be, I could be Vice President!"
--Joe Biden, campaigning in Youngstown, Ohio, 16 May 2012
"His mom lived in Long Island for ten years or so. God rest her soul. And- although, she's- wait- your mom's still- your mom's still alive. Your dad passed. God bless her soul."
--Joe Biden, on the mother of Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen, who is very much alive, Washington, D.C., 17 March 2010
"An hour late, oh give me a f**king break."
–Joe Biden, caught on a live mic speaking to a former Senate colleague after arriving on Amtrak at Union Station in Washington, D.C., 13 March 2009
"Look, John's last-minute economic plan does nothing to tackle the number-one job facing the middle class, and it happens to be, as Barack says, a three-letter word: jobs. J-O-B-S, jobs."
-Joe Biden, Athens, Ohio, 15 October 2008
“You don’t know my state. My state was a slave state … my state is the 8th largest black population in the country."
- Joe Biden, 2008, Delaware was not a slave state
"Look, John's last-minute economic plan does nothing to tackle the number-one job facing the middle class, and it happens to be, as Barack says, a three-letter word: jobs. J-O-B-S, jobs."
- Joe Biden, 2008
"This is deadly earnest. How they can justify -- how they can justify raising taxes on the middle class that's been buried the last four years. How in the lord's name can they justify raising their taxes with these tax cuts?"
- Joe Biden, who has been Vice-President for the last 4 years, 3 October 2012
Nevertheless, Biden ALWAYS means what he says…
- Joe Biden, debate
Lie. According to the CBO, the "savings" is double-counted and the money they cut “would be used to pay for other spending and therefore would not enhance the ability of the government to pay for future Medicare benefits.”
http://www.pdfdownload.org/pdf2html/pdf2html.php?url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.cbo.gov%2Fsites%2Fdefault%2Ffiles%2Fcbofiles%2Fftpdocs%2F113xx%2Fdoc11376%2Fryanltrhr4872.pdf&images=yes
"Iran is not closer to a nuclear weapon and the Obama administration was
not asked for more security by personnel in Libya prior to the 9/11
attacks."
- Joe Biden a/k/a resident at the bottom of the Rabbit Hole, at the debate
- Joe Biden a/k/a resident at the bottom of the Rabbit Hole, at the debate
"Let me tell you what was a good idea. It was a good idea, Moody’s and others said that this was exactly what we needed to stop this from going off the cliff. It set the conditions to be able to grow again. We have, in fact, 4 percent of those green jobs didn’t go under. It’s a better batting average than investment bankers have. They have about a 40 percent…"
- Joe Biden, debate
In Obamaworld, 4% > 40%. Great.
BTW, Joe, did you agree with Moody's when they downgraded the creditworthiness of the United States for the first time in history?
BTW, Joe, did you agree with Moody's when they downgraded the creditworthiness of the United States for the first time in history?
‘I always say what I mean.’
- Joe Biden, debate
- Joe Biden, debate
“When the stock market crashed, Franklin D. Roosevelt got on the television and didn’t just talk about the, you know, the princes of greed. He said, ‘Look, here’s what happened.’”
- Joe Biden, vice-presidential nominee, interview with Katie Couric, 2008
“How they can justify … raising taxes on the middle class that has been buried the last four years?”
- Joe Biden, 2 October 2012 (The last 4 years he and Obama have been in charge)
“[Obama is] the first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy.”
- Joe Biden, 2007, evidently African-Americans didn't take showers or speak articulately until Barack Obama arrived on the scene.
“'Dey gonna put y’all back in chains.”
- Joe Biden, 2012, on what will happen to blacks if Republicans win
"My dad respected Barack Obama - would've respected Barack Obama if he'd been around."
- Joe Biden, Democratic National Convention acceptance speech, 6 September 2012
"I would tell members of my family, and I have, I wouldn't go anywhere in confined places right now. It's not that it's going to Mexico, it's that you are in a confined aircraft. When one person sneezes, it goes everywhere through the aircraft. That's me."
—Vice President Joe Biden, when asked on NBC's Today Show what he would tell his relatives if they wanted to fly to Mexico. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs later commented, "If people felt unduly alarmed for whatever reason, we would certainly apologize for that," 30 April 2009
"If we do everything right, if we do it with absolute certainty, there's still a 30% chance we're going to get it wrong."
- Joe Biden, speaking to members of the House Democratic caucus who were gathered in Williamsburg, Va., for their annual retreat, 6 February 2009
"Am I doing this again? ... My memory is not as good as Justice Roberts'."
- Joe Biden, alluding to Supreme Court Justice John Roberts, who flubbed a line during Barack Obama's presidential oath the previous day, before swearing in members of his senior staff. Obama, standing nearby, shook his head disapprovingly and gave Biden a stern poke, 21 January 2009
"Hillary Clinton is as qualified or more qualified than I am to be Vice President of the United States of America. Let's get that straight. She's a truly close personal friend. She is qualified to be President of the United States of America. She's easily qualified to be Vice President of the United States of America. Quite frankly, it might have been a better pick than me. But she's first rate."
- Joe Biden, suggesting Obama's former rival Senator Hillary Clinton might have been a better choice for the Vice President than him at a rally in Nashua, N.H., 10 September 2008
"I'm told Chuck Graham, state senator, is here. Stand up Chuck, let 'em see you. Oh, God love you. What am I talking about. I'll tell you what, you're making everybody else stand up, though, pal."
- Joe Biden, telling Missouri state senator Chuck Graham to stand up at a campaign rally, before realizing that Graham is confined to a wheelchair, 9 September 2008
"In Delaware, the largest growth of population is Indian Americans, moving from India. You cannot go to a 7-11 or a Dunkin' Donuts unless you have a slight Indian accent. I'm not joking."
- Joe Biden, captured on C-SPAN's "Road to the White House" series, trying to bond with an Indian-American supporter. A Biden spokeswoman later said, "The point Senator Biden was making is that there has been a vibrant Indian-American community in Delaware for decades," 17 September 2006
"I started thinking as I was coming over here, Why is it that Joe Biden is the first in his family ever to go to a university?"
— Joe Biden, during his first presidential run, lifting passages and even gestures from a speech by Neil Kinnock without giving credit to the leader of the British Labour Party.
Biden's problems continued when C-SPAN footage surfaced two weeks later showing Biden inflating his academic record at law school. (His claims included one that he finished in the top half of his class at Syracuse Law School; he graduated 76th of 85.) Though he later called the accusations of plagiarism "much ado about nothing," he dropped out of the race on Sept. 23.
“Now these guys pledge that they’re gonna de-fund Planned Parenthood, which under law cannot perform any abortions."
- Joe Biden, 12 October 2012
"Folks, I can tell you I've known eight presidents, three of them intimately."
--Joe Biden, 22 August 2012
"My mother believed and my father believed that if I wanted to be president of the United States, I could be, I could be Vice President!"
--Joe Biden, campaigning in Youngstown, Ohio, 16 May 2012
"His mom lived in Long Island for ten years or so. God rest her soul. And- although, she's- wait- your mom's still- your mom's still alive. Your dad passed. God bless her soul."
--Joe Biden, on the mother of Irish Prime Minister Brian Cowen, who is very much alive, Washington, D.C., 17 March 2010
"An hour late, oh give me a f**king break."
–Joe Biden, caught on a live mic speaking to a former Senate colleague after arriving on Amtrak at Union Station in Washington, D.C., 13 March 2009
"Look, John's last-minute economic plan does nothing to tackle the number-one job facing the middle class, and it happens to be, as Barack says, a three-letter word: jobs. J-O-B-S, jobs."
-Joe Biden, Athens, Ohio, 15 October 2008
“You don’t know my state. My state was a slave state … my state is the 8th largest black population in the country."
- Joe Biden, 2008, Delaware was not a slave state
"Look, John's last-minute economic plan does nothing to tackle the number-one job facing the middle class, and it happens to be, as Barack says, a three-letter word: jobs. J-O-B-S, jobs."
- Joe Biden, 2008
"This is deadly earnest. How they can justify -- how they can justify raising taxes on the middle class that's been buried the last four years. How in the lord's name can they justify raising their taxes with these tax cuts?"
- Joe Biden, who has been Vice-President for the last 4 years, 3 October 2012
Nevertheless, Biden ALWAYS means what he says…
"I've been in that country...up in an airplane...sometimes in a helicopter..."
- Joe Biden, debate
"Ladies and gentlemen, where are we now? Where are we now? If you want to know where Al Qaeda lives, you want to know where Bin Laden is, come back to Afghanistan with me," Biden said. "Come back to the area where my helicopter was forced down, with a three-star general and three senators at 10,500 feet in the middle of those mountains. I can tell you where they are."
- Joe Biden
"The superhighway of terror between Pakistan and Afghanistan where my helicopter was forced down…John McCain wants to know where Bin Laden and the gates of Hell are? I can tell him where. That’s where Al Qaeda is. That’s where Bin Laden is. It’s not in the country of Iraq."
- Joe Biden
In February 2008, Biden — along with Sens. John Kerry, D-Mass., and Chuck Hagel, R-Neb. — was on a chopper that made an emergency landing in the mountains of Afghanistan.
A snowstorm had forced them down.
No one was injured, and the Associated Press reported at the time that "the senators and their delegation returned to Bagram Air Base in a motor convoy, and left for Turkey.
http://abcnews.go.com/blogs/politics/2008/09/the-story-behin/
Hey, didn't Joe "Osama bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive -
and you can put that on a bumper sticker!" Biden advise Obama NOT to
authorise the attack on bin Laden?
Didn't he vote to cut off funding for American troops while they were on the ground in Vietnam?
Yes.
Didn't he vote against the Gulf War and for the Iraq War that he claimed in the debate that he voted against?
Yes.
Didn't
he say that we should divide Iraq into three countries, which,
evidently, unlike "nation-building" is not "imposing our values" on
other people?
Yes.
AFTER SEPTEMBER 11th, JOE BIDEN SUGGESTED SENDING $200 MILLION TO IRAN, "NO STRINGS ATTACKED," AS A GESTURE OF GOOD FAITH TO THE ARAB WORLD.
“At the Tuesday-morning meeting with committee staffers, Biden launches into a stream-of-consciousness monologue about what his committee should be doing, before he finally admits the obvious: ‘I’m groping here.’ Then he hits on an idea: America needs to show the Arab world that we’re not bent on its destruction. ‘Seems to me this would be a good time to send, no strings attached, a check for $200 million to Iran’ Biden declares. He surveys the table with raised eyebrows, a How do ya like that? look on his face.”
Michael Crowley, “Rhetorical Question,” The New Republic, 22 October 2001
http://www.tnr.com/article/politics/rhetorical-question
The "foreign policy genius" is so smart that -- apart from his ludicrous idea of sending the nutters $200 million with "no strings attached" as a "goodwill gesture" after 9/11 -- he doesn't even know that Iran is NOT Arab. It's Persian...and much of the Arab World loathes Iran.
The "foreign policy genius" is so smart that -- apart from his ludicrous idea of sending the nutters $200 million with "no strings attached" as a "goodwill gesture" after 9/11 -- he doesn't even know that Iran is NOT Arab. It's Persian...and much of the Arab World loathes Iran.
More to come....
Mr Vice-President, I didn't serve with Lloyd Bentsen. I didn't know Lloyd Bentsen. Lloyd Bentsen wasn't a friend of mine. Mr Vice-President, you're no Lloyd Bentsen.
The Left can't discern the difference between a devastating, rapier debate performance and an obnoxious, condescending, oafish, undignified, disrespectful, off-his-meds, buffoonish meltdown.
Trust me, most women have had the displeasure of either working for a Joe Biden or having a drunken one paw her in a pub and the instinctive, guttural reaction is anything but attractive or swaying.
While Paul Ryan missed so many obvious opportunities, the one thing that his performance -- like Romney's debate -- allowed the public to see that he was anything but the blood-dripping-from-his-teeth, granny-killing radical that over $200 million in negative ads by Team Obama had attempted to make him out to be. He was knowledgeable, calm, prepared, respectful, and measured.
The Left can't discern the difference between a devastating, rapier debate performance and an obnoxious, condescending, oafish, undignified, disrespectful, off-his-meds, buffoonish meltdown.
Trust me, most women have had the displeasure of either working for a Joe Biden or having a drunken one paw her in a pub and the instinctive, guttural reaction is anything but attractive or swaying.
While Paul Ryan missed so many obvious opportunities, the one thing that his performance -- like Romney's debate -- allowed the public to see that he was anything but the blood-dripping-from-his-teeth, granny-killing radical that over $200 million in negative ads by Team Obama had attempted to make him out to be. He was knowledgeable, calm, prepared, respectful, and measured.
I found this and consider it trustworthy:
Biden’s Frequent Falsifications on Medicare and Tax Reform
When it came to
health-care and tax reform, nearly everything that came out of Vice
President Biden’s mouth was untrue. Here’s an incomplete list:
2. Biden repeated the false talking points about Obamacare’s $716 billion in Medicare cuts not being real cuts, because they allegedly don’t cut “benefits.” Indeed, the ratio of Obamacare’s Medicare cuts to “new benefits” is 15 to 1.
3. Biden claimed that Democratic senator Ron Wyden opposes the Wyden-Ryan Medicare reform plan. Wyden opposes the House GOP budget, because it repeals Obamacare and block-grants Medicaid, but rest assured that Wyden still supports the Wyden-Ryan plan. And that plan is actually to the right of Romney’s plan, because Wyden-Ryan contains a hard cap on Medicare spending growth (GDP + 1 percent) whereas Romney’s plan contains no growth cap.
4. Biden claimed that having the government directly negotiate drug prices under Medicare Part D would save taxpayers “$156 billion right off the bat.” In fact, the Congressional Budget Office estimates that such a change “would have a negligible effect on drug spending.”
5. Biden claimed that Paul Ryan’s House budgets would “knock 19 million people off of Medicare.” This is an entirely made-up figure. Not a single person would lose their Medicare coverage under Ryan’s budgets, and not a single person would under Romney’s plan either.
6. Biden repeated the long-debunked claim that Romney seeks a “$5 trillion tax cut,” when in fact Romney’s tax proposal is designed to be revenue-neutral. Furthermore, Biden claimed that there is a study from AEI supporting his claims. “The American Enterprise Institute study [says that] taxes will go up on the middle class,” claimed Biden. There is no such study. Two AEI scholars, Matt Jensen and Alex Brill, have in fact made the opposite case.
For those who enjoy getting in the weeds, I have more details over at my Forbes blog.
— Avik Roy is a senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute and the author of The Apothecary, the Forbes blog on health-care and entitlement reform. He is a member of Mitt Romney’s Health Care Policy Advisory Group. You can follow him on Twitter at @aviksaroy.
Say It Ain't So, Joe - Roger Daltrey
Say it ain't so, Joe please
Say it ain't so
That's not what I want to hear Joe and I've got a right to know.
Say it ain't so, Joe please
Say it ain't so
I'm sure there telling us lies Joe please tell us it ain't so.
They told us are hero has played his last trump card
He doesn't know how to go on.
Were clinging to his charm and he turned and smiled
But the good ole days are gone.
The army and the empire may be falling apart
And the money had gotten scarce.
One mans word held the country together
But the truth is getting fierce.
Say it ain't so, Joe please
Say it ain't so
We pend our hopes on you Joe and there ruining our show.
(Guitar Solo)
[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/r/roger_daltrey/say_it_aint_so_joe.html ]
(Ooo Baby)
Don't you think where going to get back
(Ooo Baby)
Don't you think where going to get tired
Where going to get burned
Where going to get learned
Where going to get turned
Where going to get burned
Where going to get burned
Ooo learn
Turn
Burned
Ooo burned
Yea.....
Say it ain't so, Joe please
Say it ain't so
That's not what I want to hear Joe please tell us it ain't so
Say it ain't so, Joe please
Say it ain't so
I'm sure there telling us lies Joe and I've got a right to know
They told us are hero has played his last trump card
He doesn't no how to go on.
Were clinging to his charm and he turned and smiled
But the good ole days are gone.
The army and the empire may be falling apart
And the money had gotten scarce
One mans word held the country together
But the truth is getting fierce.
Say it ain't so, Joe please
Say it ain't so
That's not what I want to hear Joe and I've got a right to know
Say it ain't so, Joe please
Say it ain't so
They keep on telling us lies Joe please tell us it ain't so
Say
Say it ain't so
Say it ain't so
Cause I've got a right to know
Say it ain't so, Joe please
Say it ain't so
That's not what I want to hear Joe and I've got a right to know.
Say it ain't so, Joe please
Say it ain't so
I'm sure there telling us lies Joe please tell us it ain't so.
They told us are hero has played his last trump card
He doesn't know how to go on.
Were clinging to his charm and he turned and smiled
But the good ole days are gone.
The army and the empire may be falling apart
And the money had gotten scarce.
One mans word held the country together
But the truth is getting fierce.
Say it ain't so, Joe please
Say it ain't so
We pend our hopes on you Joe and there ruining our show.
(Guitar Solo)
[ Lyrics from: http://www.lyricsmode.com/lyrics/r/roger_daltrey/say_it_aint_so_joe.html ]
(Ooo Baby)
Don't you think where going to get back
(Ooo Baby)
Don't you think where going to get tired
Where going to get burned
Where going to get learned
Where going to get turned
Where going to get burned
Where going to get burned
Ooo learn
Turn
Burned
Ooo burned
Yea.....
Say it ain't so, Joe please
Say it ain't so
That's not what I want to hear Joe please tell us it ain't so
Say it ain't so, Joe please
Say it ain't so
I'm sure there telling us lies Joe and I've got a right to know
They told us are hero has played his last trump card
He doesn't no how to go on.
Were clinging to his charm and he turned and smiled
But the good ole days are gone.
The army and the empire may be falling apart
And the money had gotten scarce
One mans word held the country together
But the truth is getting fierce.
Say it ain't so, Joe please
Say it ain't so
That's not what I want to hear Joe and I've got a right to know
Say it ain't so, Joe please
Say it ain't so
They keep on telling us lies Joe please tell us it ain't so
Say
Say it ain't so
Say it ain't so
Cause I've got a right to know
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