V.P. Biden an embarrassment for prez?
Is Vice President Biden embarrassing the President? (PHOTO CREDIT: GETTY IMAGES)
From CNN's Jack Cafferty:
"Barack Obama throws Joe Biden under the bus" is how one British newspaper describes the president's little dig at his number two during last night's press conference.
President Obama was asked about the Veep's recent remark that even if the White House did everything right in combating the economic downturn, there's a "30% chance we're going to get it wrong." The president grinned a little, saying he didn't remember "exactly what Joe was referring to.” Smooth as ever, Mr. Obama went on to say that he wouldn't assign a numerical value to all this. But given the magnitude of the problems we're facing, no one single thing they do will solve all the problems.
But let's get back to the vice president. During the campaign, folks were always wondering what would pop out of Biden's mouth next. Biden has said "I never make any big, big gaffes”, but many would beg to differ.
Perhaps the biggest headache came in late October when his running mate suggested that Mr. Obama would be tested by an international crisis within his first six months in office, something the McCain camp seized on immediately.
And, it didn't end on the campaign trail. During their first full day in office, Biden joked at a press conference about how his memory wasn't "as good" as Chief Justice John Roberts', who stumbled over the president's oath of office. The president wasn't laughing, and Biden later apologized to Roberts.
Here’s my question to you: Is Vice President Joe Biden becoming an embarrassment for President Obama?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
How concerned are you about the banking system?
From CNN's Jack Cafferty:
So Tim Geithner, the wunderkind who didn't bother to pay all his taxes and kept the nation waiting breathlessly for an extra 24 hours, finally unveiled his plan to save the world today.
The Dow dropped 300 points minutes after Geithner's plan was unveiled.
Well actually it's the banking system. But if he doesn't save that, then somebody is going to have to save the world. The plan he announced is like a Chinese crossword puzzle unless you have a PhD in economics and finance. So let us try to simplify; it may cost another trillion dollars to keep the banking system afloat and get credit flowing again.
When Wall Street heard the news, it immediately threw up on itself, with the Dow dropping 300 points in a matter of minutes. And if Wall Street doesn't like it, I find it difficult to imagine why the rest of us should get too excited.
Nevertheless, at this point, we have little choice but to pull for Geithner- 34 banks have failed in the last year.
As the cost of dealing with our financial crisis soars into the trillions of dollars, I have this nagging feeling that we were never told the truth about how bad things were getting last year right up until Lehman Brothers went belly up in September. I still don't think we know.
Here’s my question to you: How concerned are you about the nation’s banking system?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
Releasing prison inmates to save tax dollars?
From CNN's Jack Cafferty:
A California court says the state has to reduce its prison population by as many as 57,000 inmates within three years. That's more than one-third of the nation's largest prison population.
California prisons house nearly 173,000 inmates.
The panel of three judges ruled the state could do this by shortening sentences, limiting new admissions, sending nonviolent felons to county programs, reforming parole and giving early releases for good behavior. They say these options would not harm public safety. Not sure how they came to that conclusion, but anyway.
By keeping the system at more than 150,000 - which is double capacity - the panel says inmates are not receiving a level of medical and mental health care that's guaranteed by the Constitution.
California's attorney general is already vowing to appeal the ruling, saying it goes against public safety and that they will appeal directly to the U.S. Supreme Court. However, the panel of judges cites Governor Schwarzenegger's support for prison reforms. He has said this would reduce the prison population by about 40,000 inmates.
Perhaps more importantly, state budgets around the country are strapped for cash in these tough economic times and the court says California would save between $800 and $900 million a year by doing this. They say some of that money could go to local groups that would work with inmates put on parole or probation.
Here’s my question to you: Should state prison inmates be released as a way of saving taxpayer dollars?
Interested to know which ones made it on air?
@jackcafferty on Twitter
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