Tag Archive for Joe Biden

Democratic Party Values, Editors' Choice, Election 2020

President Barack Obama Endorses Joe Biden for President

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President Barack Obama has endorsed his former Vice President, Joe Biden, for president.

Text (bolding added).

“Hi everybody. Let me start by saying the obvious – these aren’t normal times. As we all manage our way through a pandemic unlike anything we’ve seen in a century, Michelle and I hope that you and your families are safe and well. If you’ve lost somebody to this virus, or if someone in your life is sick, or if you’re one of the millions suffering economic hardship, please know that you’re in our prayers. Please know that you’re not alone. Because now’s the time for all of us to help where we can and to be there for each other, as neighbors, as coworkers, and as fellow citizens.

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Editors' Choice, Fighting Back

Fighting Back: “People need the facts. They need a plan. And they need it now.”

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The Weekly Democratic Party Address was delivered by Senator Patty Murray of Washington calling out the Trump “administration” for the delays in getting a plan in place to address the coronavirus crisis.

(“Democrats understand the urgency of this moment in no uncertain terms—and we are going to work to do everything we can, as fast as we can, to protect you, your loved ones, and all our communities,” said Senator Murray (D-WA). “We are in this together, and we will get through it together.”)

I have been incredibly frustrated and concerned by the Trump Administration’s missteps and slow response to this crisis so far.

“People need the facts. They need a plan. They need transparency. And they need it now.

“So I’m working to make sure we not only hold the Trump Administration accountable for the delays and missed opportunities so far, but that we also do everything in our power to immediately take the steps we need to do to start to finally get ahead of this crisis.[…]

Democrats understand the urgency of this moment in no uncertain terms—and we are going to work to do everything we can, as fast as we can, to protect you, your loved ones, and all our communities.

“We are in this together, and we will get through it together.

(CSPAN link to Weekly Democratic Address: here)

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Editors' Choice, From the White House

Weekly Address: Vice President Biden – Building on a Record of Economic Progress

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The President’s Weekly Address post is also an Open News Thread. Feel free to share other news stories in the comments.

From the White House – Weekly Address

In this week’s address, Vice President Joe Biden discussed the progress we have made to ensure that anyone who works hard and plays by the rules has a real shot at getting into the middle class and staying there. Over the past eight years, we have made significant progress; from working with Congress to cut taxes for low- and middle-income families, to taking executive authority to provide paid sick leave to more than 1.1 million workers. Since the President’s call to action to increase the minimum wage in 2013, 18 states and 55 cities have raised their minimum wage. The Vice President noted that although we’ve made progress, more work needs to be done to give American workers a chance. Because when they are given the chance, American workers never let their country down.

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Featured Posts, From the White House

Weekly Address: Vice President Joe Biden – Achieving the Mission of the Cancer Moonshot

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The President’s Weekly Address post is also an Open News Thread. Feel free to share other news stories in the comments.

From the White House – Weekly Address

In this week’s address, Vice President Joe Biden discussed the progress of the White House Cancer Moonshot, an initiative with the goal to make a decade’s worth of advances in cancer prevention, diagnosis, and treatment, in five years. Recently, the Cancer Moonshot Task Force released a report that outlines what we need to do to achieve this goal, including: enhancing prevention efforts, expanding access to care, increasing collaboration and sharing data amongst cancer researchers, and building an international commitment to the fight against cancer. The report also highlighted the progress we’ve made since the launch of the Moonshot. Today, federal agencies are working together to share research – such as the National Institutes of Health using NASA’s research on radiation and its effects on the human body. In the past few months, more than 70 public and private sector commitments have been made to join the fight against cancer – such as IBM, which offered its supercomputer, Watson, to partner with the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs to help patients determine specific therapies they need for their cancer treatment. The Vice President said the Moonshot is about all of us doing our part in the fight against cancer. To learn how you can volunteer to help, visit Cancer.Serve.Gov, and to learn about clinical trials nearby, visit Trials.Cancer.Gov.

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News and Opinion

Democratic National Convention – Day Three – July 27, 2016

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From Philadelphia’s Wells Fargo Arena, July 25th through July 28th

Watch Live!

CSPAN coverage begins at 4:30pm Eastern: Democratic National Convention, Day 3

(DNC YouTube archive)

Day Two Motley Moose Coverage:
Democratic National Convention – Day Two – July 26, 2016

Day One Motley Moose Coverage:
Democratic National Convention – Day One – July 25, 2016

Updated Speaker List:
Congressman GK Butterfield and members of the Congressional Black Caucus
Congresswoman Judy Chu (California) and members of the Congressional Asian Pacific American Caucus
NARAL President Ilyse Hogue
Rear Admiral John Hutson (Ret. USN)
Civil Rights leader Jesse Jackson
Congressman Ben Ray Lujan and candidates of the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee
Former Congressman and Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta
Former Philadelphia Police Commissioner Charles Ramsey
EMILY’s List President Stephanie Schriock
Center for American Progress Action Fund President Neera Tanden

July 27th Speakers

Wednesday July 27 | 4:30 pm ET – Wells Fargo Center
Gavel In

Erica Smegielski

Erica’s mother Dawn was the principal of Sandy Hook Elementary and was killed while trying to protect her students. Since then, Erica has become an outspoken advocate for commonsense gun violence prevention measures. Erica was featured in the ad, My Mom.

Felicia Sanders & Polly Sheppard

Felicia and Polly are two of the three survivors of the Mother Emanuel Church shooting in Charleston, SC.

Jamie Dorff

Jamie’s husband was Patrick Dorff, an Army helicopter pilot from Minnesota who died while on a search and rescue mission in northern Iraq. As a senator, Hillary worked with Republicans and Democrats to increase the gratuity paid to family members of fallen veterans from $12,000 to $100,000.

Vice President Joe Biden

Speaker: Vice President Joe Biden

President Barack Obama

Speaker: President Barack Obama

Gavel Out

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Editors' Choice, From the White House

Weekly Address: Vice President Biden – Standing Together to Stop the Violence

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The President’s Weekly Address post is also an Open News Thread. Feel free to share other news stories in the comments.

From the White House – Weekly Address

In this week’s address, Vice President Joe Biden commemorated the lives of the five police officers who were killed and the seven people who were wounded in Dallas. The police officers were providing safety to those who were peacefully marching against racial injustices in the criminal justice system – and the shocking images of the lives lost in St. Paul and Baton Rouge. Echoing the remarks of Dallas Mayor Mike Rawlings and Police Chief David Brown, the Vice President called on the American people to act with unity and to stop the violence. He emphasized that it is the responsibility of everyone to speak out against disparities within the criminal justice system, just as much as it is the responsibility of everyone to stand up for the police who protect us every day. Because together, we as a nation will persevere and overcome.

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Featured Posts, From the White House, Good Government

Good Government: New Overtime Pay Rules Going Into Effect in December

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Good government brought to you by the Democratic administration of President Barack Obama and his Labor Secretary, Tom Perez.

Today, the administration will announce new overtime pay rules that will insure that millions of middle-income Americans get paid for the hours they work.

It is pretty simple, as explained by this short video:

Every week, millions of Americans work more than 40 hours a week but do not receive the overtime pay they have earned. Today, the Department of Labor will be finalizing a rule to fix that by updating overtime protections for workers.

In total, the new rule is expected to extend overtime protections to 4.2 million more Americans who are not currently eligible under federal law, and it is expected to boost wages for workers by $12 billion over the next 10 years.

FACT SHEET: Growing Middle Class Paychecks and Helping Working Families Get Ahead By Expanding Overtime Pay

“We’re making more workers eligible for the overtime that you’ve earned. And it’s one of the single most important steps we can take to help grow middle-class wages.”
– President Barack Obama, La Crosse, WI, July 2, 2015

From the Moose Archives: Good Government: Updating Fair Labor Standards
(La Crosse WI – July 2, 2015 – Speech and Transcript)

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Editors' Choice, From the White House

Mobilizing Private-Sector Support for Homegrown Clean Energy

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From the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy and Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz:

Ingenuity is one of our country’s greatest assets. America’s entrepreneurs and innovators have a legacy of unleashing their creativity, grit, and imagination to invent, discover, and build solutions that not only contribute to our growing economy, but also solve some of the toughest challenges facing the nation. Investing in homegrown innovation, including the development of new, clean-energy technologies, is a crucial part of the fight against climate change – and is key to keeping America on the leading edge of the world’s transition to a low-carbon economy.

That’s why today, we’re hosting a Clean Energy Investment Summit at the White House, where we’re announcing $4 billion in independent commitments by major foundations, institutional investors, and others to fund innovative solutions to help fight climate change, including technologies with breakthrough potential to reduce carbon pollution.

Taken together, these commitments far surpass the initial $2 billion goal set at the launch of the Administration’s Clean Energy Investment Initiative last February. And we look forward to seeing this initiative continue to build momentum in the months ahead.

Vice President Biden:

Biden touts clean energy to investors

[T]he vice president addressed the White House Clean Energy Investment Summit, rallying charitable groups and large investors to commit $4 billion toward clean energy technologies.

“To state the obvious, I’m not an investment banker,” Biden said. “I wouldn’t go long on investments that lead to carbon pollution. I’d bet on clean energy.”

Biden said even China was beginning to understand the escalating health effects of carbon pollution.

“In the United States, even the climate deniers are preparing for greater impacts from more extreme weather, from heat waves wildfires, superstorms, droughts — all of which drastically effect local security and local economies,” he said.

(Transcript of Vice President Biden’s speech will be added when it becomes available.)

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Featured Posts, From the White House

President Obama: “The world noticed”

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On Saturday, June 6, President Obama delivered a eulogy in honor of Beau Biden, the son of his friend and vice-president, Joe Biden.

PRESIDENT OBAMA:

Without love, life can be cold and it can be cruel. Sometimes cruelty is deliberate –- the action of bullies or bigots, or the inaction of those indifferent to another’s pain. But often, cruelty is simply born of life, a matter of fate or God’s will, beyond our mortal powers to comprehend. To suffer such faceless, seemingly random cruelty can harden the softest hearts, or shrink the sturdiest. It can make one mean, or bitter, or full of self-pity. Or, to paraphrase an old proverb, it can make you beg for a lighter burden.

But if you’re strong enough, it can also make you ask God for broader shoulders; shoulders broad enough to bear not only your own burdens, but the burdens of others; shoulders broad enough to shield those who need shelter the most.

To know Beau Biden is to know which choice he made in his life. To know Joe and the rest of the Biden family is to understand why Beau lived the life he did.

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Like his father, Beau did not have a mean bone in his body. The cruelty he’d endured in his life didn’t make him hard, it made him compassionate, empathetic. But it did make him abhor bullies.

Beau’s grandfather, Joe’s father, believed that the most egregious sin was to abuse your power to inflict pain on another. So Beau squared his broad shoulders to protect people from that kind of abuse. He fought for homeowners who were cheated, seniors who were scammed. He even went after bullying itself. He set up a Child Protector — Predator Task Force, convicted more than 200 of those who targeted vulnerable children.

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You know, anyone can make a name for themselves in this reality TV age, especially in today’s politics. If you’re loud enough or controversial enough, you can get some attention. But to make that name mean something, to have it associated with dignity and integrity –- that is rare. There’s no shortcut to get it. It’s not something you can buy. […]

That’s what our country was built on –- men like Beau. That’s who built it –- families like this. We don’t have kings or queens or lords. We don’t have to be born into money to have an impact. We don’t have to step on one another to be successful. We have this remarkable privilege of being able to earn what we get out of life, with the knowledge that we are no higher than anybody else, or lower than anybody else. We know this not just because it is in our founding documents, but because families like the Bidens have made it so, because people like Beau have made it so.

As hard as it is right now, through all the heartache and through all the tears, it is our obligation to Beau to think not about what was and what might have been, but instead to think about what is, because of him. Think about the day that dawns for children who are safer because of Beau, whose lives are fuller, because of him. Think about the day that dawns for parents who rest easier, and families who are freer, because of him. Some folks may never know that their lives are better because of Beau Biden. But that’s okay. Certainly for Beau, acclaim was never the point of public service.

Jill, Joe, Hallie, Hunter and Natalie — the world noticed. They noticed. They felt it, his presence. And Beau lives on in the lives of others. And isn’t that the whole point of our time here? To make this country we love fairer and more just, not just for Natalie and Hunter, or Naomi, or Finnegan, or Maisy, or Malia, or Sasha, but for every child? Isn’t that what this amazing journey we’ve been on is all about -– to make life better for the next generation?

Full transcript below.

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Featured Posts, News and Opinion

The passing of Beau Biden

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Last night, Beau Biden, son of Vice President Joe Biden, died of the brain cancer he had been battling since 2013.

This is Beau Biden at the DNC in 2008, introducing his Dad:

(grab kleenexes)

From the White House: Statement by the President on the Passing of Beau Biden:

Michelle and I are grieving tonight. Beau Biden was a friend of ours. His beloved family – Hallie, Natalie, and Hunter – are friends of ours. And Joe and Jill Biden are as good as friends get. […]

… for all that Beau Biden achieved in his life, nothing made him prouder; nothing made him happier; nothing claimed a fuller focus of his love and devotion than his family.

Just like his dad.

Joe is one of the strongest men we’ve ever known. He’s as strong as they come, and nothing matters to him more than family. It’s one of the things we love about him. And it is a testament to Joe and Jill – to who they are – that Beau lived a life that was full; a life that mattered; a life that reflected their reverence for family.

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