Tag Archives: Joe Biden

Say It Ain’t So, Joe

As El Somnabulo said yesterday, this Tigani story is HUGE. The News Journal has a story out today showing the links between Tigani’s illegal donation scheme and Joe Biden’s 2008 presidential run.

Joe Biden’s presidential campaign received a total of $64,300 on the three dates that federal prosecutors say Christopher Tigani ordered his employees to write checks and later reimbursed them. Several of Biden’s donors identified themselves on campaign finance reports as employees of N.K.S.

A key day was Dec. 17, 2007, when prosecutors say “Committee A” received six checks from N.K.S. employees and their spouses. Of the 25 people running for president in late 2007, Biden was the only candidate who received donations on that date from N.K.S. employees. Only Biden received a contribution on that date of $1,000 or more from a Delaware donor.

…

In December 2007, Kravetz said, a staffer with “Committee A” sent an email to a Tigani employee listing 13 N.K.S. employees and the amounts each had donated, noting they could still legally donate more, either as an individual or with a spouse. The next day, donations from six N.K.S. employees were made to the campaign. Each had appeared on the list sent by “Committee A,” he said.

Now this doesn’t mean that Joe Biden or his campaign did anything wrong. However, I’m sure it doesn’t want to be linked to a man who just pled guilty to campaign donation violations. I still think the real target is Minner since there seems to be much more of a quid pro quo relationship.

I think Jason is right that Tigani’s main motivation was to feel like a big-time player, and he no doubt was for a time. Big-time players can’t help but want to flex their muscles sometimes and perhaps that’s what we’ll see with the land deal.

Other politicians who received donations from Tigani (and say they will return them) are Jack Markell ($15,200), Matt Denn ($3000), Sen. Dave Sokola ($2400), Rep. Robert Walls ($3000), Rep. Melanie George ($1775).

It Was Joe Biden Hiding In The Bushes

Team O’Donnell released a statement about the criminal investigation of her campaign finance spending (via Dave Weigel at Slate:

December 29, 2010.  Wilmington, DE: Christine O’Donnell’s campaign released the following statement in response to investigation rumors and states that Democrat insiders warned her that the “Establishment” would use phony investigations to end her political career.

Campaign Manager Matt Moran responded to the rumor of a criminal investigation, “We have heard absolutely nothing other than the same unsubstantiated allegations and rumors that have been circulating in the press for months.  If anything does materialize from this rumor, we will continue to fully cooperate as we have made every attempt to ensure we are in compliance with all rules and regulations.  The politically motivated charge was all started by false accusations by Christine’s political opponents, and ratcheted up by former Biden staffer Melanie Sloan and CREW with their false claims. Let us be clear:  there was no impermissible use of campaign funds. Period. This is just an ongoing effort by the George Soros-funded CREW and other liberal groups and individuals to intimidate and threaten Christine, even after the election.”

Christine O’Donnell continued, “Since anonymous sources are being taken seriously, please allow me to share some tips I’ve received and keep the tipsters’ identities anonymous.  We’ve been warned by multiple high-ranking Democrat insiders that the Delaware Democrat and Republican political establishment is jointly planning to pull out all the stops to ensure I would never again upset the apple cart.  Specifically they told me the plan was to crush me with investigations, lawsuits and false accusations so that my political reputation would become so toxic no one would ever get behind me.  I was warned by numerous sources that the DE political establishment is going to use every resource available to them.  So given that the King of the Delaware Political Establishment just so happens to be the Vice President of the most liberal Presidential administration in U.S. history, it is no surprise that misuse and abuse of the FBI would not be off the table.  And further connecting the dots, do you think it is just a coincidence that Melanie Sloan was a senior Biden staffer just before she joined CREW and filed her complaint against me?!

“I have faith that our supporters and the general public will see right through these thug tactics.  This is simply an Establishment trick to stop the anti-establishment Tea Party movement in its tracks.  Heck, the Presidency is at stake in 2012.”

As normal, there was no addressing of the actual allegations against her and it’s everyone else’s fault but hers. She’s the most put upon person in the whole entire world.

Joe Biden Is Awesome

Let’s face it – Joe Biden often speaks before thinking. That can lead to some embarrassing moments. I think Joe Biden is actually a great partner for Barack Obama’s cool, intellectual style. Biden really hit it out of the park yesterday:

Biden jokingly said that GOP protests about the need for a balanced budget made him want to strangle them, which the vice president quickly clarified was a figure of speech.

“If I hear one more Republican tell me about balancing the budget, I am going to strangle them,” Biden said at a fundraiser in Minnesota, according to a pool report. “To the press, that’s a figure of speech.”

President Obama and other members of the administration have ridiculed Republicans as trying to have it both ways on budget issues. For all the GOP’s complaints about the ballooning deficit over the past 20 months, Democrats charge, their plan to extend all tax cuts for top earners would add hundreds of billions to the debt.

“These guys have absolutely no credibility, no credibility on debt,” Biden said.

There is absolutely zero evidence that the GOP cares about debt. Debt is only a GOP issue when a Democratic president is trying to clean up their mess.

Where Are My Smelling Salts?

Where did I put my fainting couch? I can’t find any pearls to clutch! The News Journal weighs in on the Biden hot mic moment:

When you call a press conference, watch what you say in front of the microphones.

Thanks to modern technology, the globe can now hear your whisper.

…

All Mr. Biden has to do is say something pithy about a crucial topic, say health care, and instantaneously his comment is transmitted around the world, posted on Internet videos and printed on T-shirts.

Well … sometimes you can be a little too pithy. Especially in front of an open microphone.

Let’s just say that a certain choice of words (call them forceful and emphatic) at yesterday’s White House ceremony marking the signing of the health care reform law will get a lot more attention than they deserve.

Dear News Journal, Joe Biden’s BFD is no BFD. I, for one, adore the fact that Biden talks like everyone else.

Joe Biden, Comedian

Joe Biden spoke at the Radio and Television Correspondents dinner on Wednesday and got in some pretty good lines.

Here are my personal favorites, courtesy of Unofficial Roast Master and VP Joe Biden

On Liz Cheney: Liz Cheney is questioning whether Tom Brady is a real patriot! What the hell, it was worth a try.

On reporters: You guys know the truth. Sometimes.

On Fox News: There were never any snakes in Ireland. St. Patrick just made that up. Which for the first time is when I realized he is the patron saint of Fox news.

On life in Washington: I actually now have a house in Washington D.C. for the first time. I voted for public housing my whole career I never realized it was this good.

On Rahm: Senior White House Advisor means Rahm.

snip

By the way, Rahm was only pointing his finger.

On Dick Morris: When Dick Morris is quick to point our every time I put my foot in my mouth, well, Dick, at least it’s my foot.

On the Stimulus and Sen. Scott Brown: Republicans keep saying it (the stimulus) hasn’t created a single job. Well tell that to Senator Scott Brown.

By the way, speaking of Scott, it’s kinda ironic, the man who posed with his pants down caught us with our pants off. Funny how that works.

On Sarah Palin and GOP obstruction: In fairness, I think you are a little rough on the Republicans for constantly repeating the mantra The Health Care Bill is 200 and 22 pages long! Well put yourself in their spot. Just ask Sarah, that’s a hell of a lot to write on the palm of your hand!

On Dogs and Democrats: Sasha and Melia weren’t the only ones who to get a dog when they got to Washington. I got one too. His name is Champ. You can see, you can see that he is a Democratic dog, he’s biting the hand that feeds him.

Did Biden Screw Over Democrats In The Senate Race?

Let me say up front, I think the DE-Sen race is wide open and Chris Coons can emerge victorious. However, Joe Biden is now saying Beau Biden’s decision not to run was made around Thanksgiving:

Vice President Joe Biden predicted Tuesday that New Castle County Executive Chris Coons will “surprise the devil out of” election watchers in the contest for Biden’s old Senate seat in Delaware.

…

Asked on MSNBC whether Beau had bowed out of a Senate campaign because the political terrain was just too unfavorable for Democrats, the vice president said that’s not how things went down: “He basically made that decision at Thanksgiving. It’s a question of how it got rolled out.”

Really? It sure would have been nice for Beau Biden to tell the party that he was leaning against running 2 months ago. The long delay in making the decision sure screwed Chris Coons out of 2 months of fundraising. I don’t think party officials were aware of this decision either since I kept hearing from them that Beau was running. Something is fishy here.

Breaking: Joe Biden’s Mother Has Died

I just received a call from LiberalGeek who has informed me (via twitter) that Joe Biden’s mother, Jean Biden, has died. She was 92, so at least we can say she lived a long and eventful life, and saw her son become Vice President of the United States.

Our thoughts are with the Biden family.

Update from Delaware Dem:

The News Journal now has the story. I want to post a quick story from that article that I think perfectly describes Jean Biden:

The young Joe Biden had a stutter that garnered plenty of laughter and teasing nicknames from his peers. He walked out of his seventh grade Catholic school classroom, ashamed after a nun teased him in front of his peers for being unable to clearly read a paragraph. Jean Biden met him at the door of the family home and drove him back to school, where she confronted the teacher.

“I could see my mother pull herself up to her full height, 5 foot 1.” Joe wrote in his 2007 autobiography, “Promises to Keep.” “My mother, who was so timid, so respectful of the church, stood up, walked over in front of the nun and said, ‘If you ever speak to my son like that again, I’ll come back and rip that bonnet off your head.”

Her point made, Jean Biden then ordered her son to get back to class.

Now go give God a good talking to, Mrs. Biden.