 |
| Vice President Biden |
Vice President Biden was fierce. He never allowed Ryan to make inaccurate claims either about Republican plans or Democratic policies. He even broke into Ryan's monologue on numerous questions to call him out on his inaccuracies. Vice President Biden spelled out the differences between Republican and Democratic policies on every topic presented by the moderator. Some of those where the differences between the two men were greatest is described below.
He was able to remind viewers of Romney's flip-flops. He reminded them of Romney's malevolence with 47% of Americans and Ryan's discontent with 30% of them. He pointed out Romney's outrageous behavior in using the attack on the US embassy in Libya for political gain. He reminded viewers that Democrats are the guardians of medicare and social security and asked them the question "Who would you trust to protect those institutions...the party that introduced and protected it since its inception or the Party that has been fighting against it since the beginning?"
About Iran, Ryan indicated that the administration's position is weak and giving mixed signals when we supposedly separate ourselves from Israel and say that all options are on the table. He implied that because of that, Iran was working faster to make a nuclear bomb. The Vice President challenged Ryan's attack on the administration's policies, showing that the sanctions against Iran are working and supported by our allies across the world. He gave confidence that the intelligence being supplied to the government about Iran's capabilities with nuclear weapons was accurate and that the United States would never let Iran develop a nuclear bomb.
About the economy, Ryan repeated the claims that the President has had enough time to solve the problems and has not kept his promises of 6% unemployment. He mislead the conversation by saying that the jobless rate was going in the wrong direction despite the fact that the Obama administration has seen a constant and steady increase in employment since the President took office. The recent news of the lowest unemployment rate since 2008 did not seem to make an impression on Ryan, or he didn't believe it. He gave no specifics on how a Romney Presidency would improve the jobs situation other than the empty promise encapsulated in Romney's speeches about reducing the tax burden on the job creators. Biden noted that if they (Republicans) were in favor of improving the economy perhaps they should not stand in the way of the American Jobs Act offered by President Obama or perhaps they should allow the middle class tax break to go through without holding it hostage to a tax break for the wealthiest of Americans.
Viewers never got to understand the details of Romney's tax plan and supposed elimination of tax loopholes because Ryan could not give any solid examples. He only stated that they had a framework of 20% across the board tax cuts. We never got to see the math.
On defense spending, Ryan went on about proposed cuts by the Democrats that would weaken the military. Vice President Biden made it clear that the joint chiefs of staff do not want or need the kind of military budget that Romney is proposing. Further he made it clear that the cuts in military spending and other government budgets are required now as the result of an agreement that the Republicans wanted if the super committee could not agree on budget deductions being worked on earlier this year.
In a modified view of abortion, Ryan indicated that Romney would be against abortion except in cases of rape, incest or health of the mother. These conditions were never part of Romney's recent policies and do not abide with the Republican platform. Vice President Biden noted the change in policy and indicated that he agrees with the right to life on a personal level, but he would never impose his personal beliefs on others whose faith or beliefs may oppose his. He reminded us that a Party's belief in that area should not violate existing laws or require the government to interfere with or control women's health issues. He added that a Romney Presidency would likely select Supreme court judges (two of whom may be retired during the next President's term) who would support Romney's view on abortion rights. Romney has declared that he is going to defund Planned Parenthood and repeal Roe v Wade during his Presidency.
"Smokin" Joe Biden did the job that Obama needed him to do. The bounce in election polls is sure to follow. Way to go Joe!
