I came across this on Daily Kos, and wanted to share it. Written the morning following the Democratic debate.
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Why I Like Biden For President
by Kat Maloo
Wed Oct 31, 2007 at 10:53:32 AM PDT
I am new to Blogging, but decided to get involved as we approach the next presidential election because I am outraged over the state of our government, our country, and the world. I'm hoping that by sharing my thoughts on issues, I'll become more engaged and more informed.
As a woman, I am happy that another woman is finally running for president, and that she just might win. But after some soul searching, I’ve realized that I must support a different candidate, at least in the primaries. Although I appreciate Hillary’s intelligence, her efforts on healthcare, her position on abortion, and the sacrifices she has made for this country, I lack confidence in whether she speaks her mind. I do not like some of her political connections. And I am very angry that she voted in favor of naming the Iranian Revolutionary Guard a terrorist organization. She articulated her reasons for her vote last night, and they were sensible, but only in a different context, a context that does not include Bush and his hawkish cronies.
Obama talks the talk, but, to me, only in sound bites. His answers lack depth, and spontaneity. It appears to me that he must always stay on his canned message, because he lacks a full grasp of all the issues and does not wish to risk sounding the fool. Not a bad policy, but I don’t want our next president spending his or her first six months in office getting up to speed. And Obama’s answer last night when questioned about Romney’s confusion over his name was bizarre. His long winded response indicated to me a lack of self confidence. It indicated insecurity about his image.—What about simply acknowledging that people get confused about names from time to time, or joking about the fact that Obama is apparently on Romney’s mind—A lot. And yes, Obama stood against going to war with Iraq back in the day, but not in Congress. He lacks experience generally, and foreign relations experience in particular.
I do not subscribe to the notion that what we need in politics is more people without experience and know how. I think what we need is more experienced politicians, but with consciences and convictions, and with a sense of duty or obligation to the electorate they supposedly serve. We need politicians who respect the law and understand it. We need people who are willing to work hard. Maybe then we would see politicians working together for us for a change.
Edwards? I liked aspects of his campaign, particularly on domestic issues. But he also lacks experience in foreign policy—and it is not reassuring that while serving on the Intelligence Committee during the run-up to the Iraq war, he seemed wholly removed from the process. But after last night, I think Edwards is out.
Senator Biden is a different story. A couple months ago, I watched Senator Biden respond to a question about gun rights. The so-called question was really a psycho pro gun statement. The speaker, while cradling an automatic assault weapon, asked what each candidate’s position was with respect to taking away his "baby." Other candidates responded carefully to the question. Senator Biden said "if that’s his baby he needs help." I thought first that Biden was absolutely right about the guy needing help, but also wow, this candidate actually speaks his mind. This incident made me take another, and more serious, look at Senator Biden as a candidate.
Initially, I was worried about his stance on abortion. But, while I still do not agree with him on the issue of late-term abortion, his stance on Roe v. Wade is reassuring. I was also extremely unhappy to learn that he voted for the Patriot Act, but just about everyone did. And more recently, Senator Biden has voted against extending the Patriot Act’s wire tapping provisions. He also voted for requiring the CIA to provide reports on their detainees and their treatment of these detainees. He strongly supports habeus corpus, and he voted to preserve it for detainees at Guantanamo. He has also personally sponsored legislation to end U.S. torture. I began to feel, although he does not represent my personal position on all of the issues, that Senator Biden is a humanitarian, that he has a conscience, that supports privacy and rule of law, and that he could be trusted to not trample over our civil liberties—although I wish he was a stronger advocate for civil liberties.
As I explored Senator Biden’s record further, I was pleased to learn that he has generally voted pro-environment. He stood against subsidizing large oil companies. He quite sensibly supported expending the Mercury regulations to include oil and gas smoke stacks. And even more sensibly, he voted against Gail Norton’s appointment. He has actively fought against killing whales. Environmental groups like him.
But what about domestic policy? ...After all, Biden voted for the new bankruptcy restrictions (a black mark) and is close to the credit industry.
After examining his record, it appears that Joe Biden is pretty good on domestic issues. Senator Biden voted against subsidies for corporations that move off-shore. He supports more cops, but he also supports more nurses, and more teachers. He is for Head Start and for making college more accessible financially. He sponsored the Violence Against Women Act, which I believe was an important piece of legislation. And he supports insuring all children and moving towards a health care system capable of providing for everyone.
Senator Biden is not for or against all taxes or for all spending programs. Instead, he takes a reasonable approach to tax and spending issues. He has worked hard to cut wasteful spending, including wasteful military spending, but not funding for our troops or our children. See Debunking The Myth: Which Candidate Will Cut Wasteful Defense Spending? He voted to get rid of the marriage penalty, but he voted to increase tax deductions for college tuition payments.
Important to me, Senator Biden also supports eliminating tax breaks for the top 1%, and he is against raising the Estate Tax. We all know the government is going to have to come after us for more money, despite all the republican promises of no new taxes. I agree with Senator Biden that the government should start paying down the deficit first by increasing the tax burden on people with five houses, a yacht, and $5,000 handbags, and not a retired school teacher, or a single mother working two jobs, or a young couple saving to buy their first home.
I also, like Biden, prefer taxing windfall-like inheritances to taking money from people who must clip coupons to feed their families. The person receiving a $2, 000,000 plus inheritance didn’t work for it. And that person probably has already benefited from their family’s wealth educationally, medically, nutritionally, and culturally. This person can afford to put a portion of their inheritance back into the system to benefit society.
...And, yes, I do understand the concept of building up wealth for capital investment. But when you have more money than god, you can afford to invest in business, and pay a few extra taxes. And, if you’re an entrepreneur or a productive citizen of some sort, and not a playboy, a few extra taxes won’t stop you from investing in businesses, growing the economy, and building more wealth....And I’ll add that, although I don’t have any children, and I’m certainly not wealthy, I’ve voted more than once to raise my local taxes for schools, etc. I’m sick of the wealthy crying that it’s not fair to tax them. Life’s not fair, and being taxed more heavily because you are a person with many millions of dollars and not one of the people treading water is, what one man I know coined, a happy problem.
But should Joe Biden be President?
Last night Senator Biden appeared to me to be in his element. When the candidates were asked about their experience, Senator Biden had it. When asked about protecting us from a nuclear Iran, Biden was the one that pointed out how a destabilized nuclear Pakistan is the greater threat, and forced the other candidates to agree with him. In fact, on more than one occasion other candidates answered questions by saying they agreed with something Senator Biden had just said.
Biden seems to understand the complexity of the issues facing us in the Middle East, and elsewhere, better than the other candidates, and the danger of acting in place without exploring possible consequences in other regions. He understands Washington (although he has never lived there) and how to make it work. He has crossed the partisan aisle many times, when necessary to pass needed legislation. He speaks his mind; I believe you can usually tell where he stands on an issue. He seems honest. He works hard—even while campaigning, Senator Biden has managed to attend important votes and draft important legislation. All of these things are qualities we need desperately in the White House. Also, I believe he would be electible in the general election.
Therefore, if given the chance, I’ll vote for Biden for President.
...And, last night, I really did like his shot at Giuliani.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OtGCaqOdIJ4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IUC8LeZ1hM4 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_HcXkLbRIWw
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