Tag: Joe Biden

Supreme Court could threaten Biden agenda

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The Supreme Court is looming as a roadblock for Democrats as they plot an ambitious wish list if they gain control of the White House and Congress for the first time in a decade. 

Judge Amy Coney Barrett’s ascension to the Supreme Court, which Republicans hope to finalize this month, would lock in a conservative majority likely for decades, setting the courts up as a potential foil for Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s agenda and Democratic leadership in the House and Senate. 

The result of a 6-3 court, Democrats warn, could lead to the justices striking down a host of top priorities for the party, including health care, voting rights legislation or enacting stricter background checks for gun purchases.  Continue reading.

Biden campaign says it will now disclose the result of every coronavirus test

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Joe Biden’s campaign said Saturday it will now disclose the result of every coronavirus test the candidate takes, following increased pressure for more transparency after President Trump recently tested positive for the virus and Vice President Pence has released results for two consecutive days.

“We have adhered to strict and extensive safety practices recommended by public health experts and doctors in all of our campaigning — including social distancing, mask wearing, and additional safeguards,” campaign spokesman Andrew Bates said in a statement. “Vice President Biden is being tested regularly, and we will be releasing the results of each test.”

Bates did not say how often Biden would be undergoing such tests, beyond saying they would happen on a regular basis. Biden, who tested negative Friday, told reporters he had not undergone a test Saturday but would on Sunday. Continue reading.

Joe Biden Tests Negative For Coronavirus After Trump Announces He Is Infected

Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden’s campaign announced on Friday afternoon that he and wife Jill Biden were both tested for coronavirus with negative results. 

Their announcement followed hours of uproar over President Donald Trump’s tweet announcing that he and First Lady Melania Trump tested positive for the virus yesterday — along with White House aide Hope Hicks. White House Chief of Staff Mark Meadows told reporters that the president has “mild symptoms” but is “overall feeling good.” View the post here.

Fox Business host gives Kayleigh McEnany a brutal reality check: ‘Biden won the debate’

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Following Trump’s presidential debate with former Vice President Joe Biden on Tuesday night, September 29, Fox Business host Stuart Varney was honest enough to admit that Biden won the debate. And he was clearly in disagreement with White House Press Secretary Kayleigh McEnany when she tried to convince him that Trump was the winner.

McEnany, appearing on Fox Business, told Varney that Trump was “in very good spirits” following the debate and “brought the fight that I think the American people wanted to see.” But Varney responded that Trump was much too abrasive for his own good during the debate, which was moderated by Fox News’ Chris Wallace.

“His style, the frequent interruptions — I mean, the insults came from Biden — but the frequent interruptions and the talking over everybody, that was a lot from President Trump,” Varney argued. “And I think that’s what the audience didn’t like and will turn off.” Continue reading.

Debates panel says changes under consideration ‘to ensure a more orderly discussion’

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Organizers are considering changes for the next two debates between President Trump and former Vice President Joe Biden after their first meeting Tuesday night descended into chaos. 

The Commission on Presidential Debates (CPD), a bipartisan body that helps plan and execute the quadrennial meetings between presidential and vice presidential contenders, said Wednesday that the messiness of the first debate made clear that changes need to be made to make the next event more “orderly.”

“The Commission on Presidential Debates sponsors televised debates for the benefit of the American electorate. Last night’s debate made clear that additional structure should be added to the format of the remaining debates to ensure a more orderly discussion of the issues. The CPD will be carefully considering the changes that it will adopt and will announce those measures shortly,” the group said in a statement.  Continue reading.

5 takeaways from the first presidential debate

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President Trump and Joe Biden took part in their first of three one-on-one debatesof the 2020 general election Tuesday night in Cleveland.

It was so contentious and full of interruptions that it was almost unwatchable, but there were some takeaways. Here they are.

1. Biden resists Trump’s goading — mostly.

Trump’s strategy was clear: to steamroll both Biden and debate moderator Chris Wallace, hoping to provoke a bad moment. It was the strategy of a challenger, more than of an incumbent, and seemed to reflect that Trump needs to change the race more than Biden does. Continue reading.

With Cross Talk, Lies and Mockery, Trump Tramples Decorum in Debate With Biden

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Interrupting Joe Biden nearly every time he spoke, President Trump made little attempt to reassure swing voters about his leadership. Mr. Biden hit back: “This is so unpresidential.”

WASHINGTON — The first presidential debate between President Trump and Joseph R. Biden Jr. unraveled into an ugly melee Tuesday, as Mr. Trump hectored and interrupted Mr. Biden nearly every time he spoke and the former vice president denounced the president as a “clown” and told him to “shut up.”

In a chaotic, 90-minute back-and-forth, the two major party nominees expressed a level of acrid contempt for each other unheard-of in modern American politics.

Mr. Trump, trailing in the polls and urgently hoping to revive his campaign, was plainly attempting to be the aggressor. But he interjected so insistently that Mr. Biden could scarcely answer the questions posed to him, forcing the moderator, Chris Wallace of Fox News, to repeatedly urge the president to let his opponent speak. Continue reading.

Biden releases 2019 tax returns hours before first presidential

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Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden and his running mate, Sen. Kamala Harris (D-Calif.), released their 2019 federal and state tax returns on Tuesday, hours before the former vice president meets face-to-face with President Trump in the first debate of the 2020 presidential race.

The release comes days after a bombshell New York Times investigationshowed that Trump paid just $750 in federal income tax in both 2016 and 2017 and paid no taxes in 10 of the 15 previous years. The newspaper detailed questionable tactics that the president reportedly used to lower his tax bill over multiple years.

Biden and his wife reported an adjusted gross income of $985,233 and paid a total of $299,346 in taxes, for an effective tax rate of about 30 percent. Continue reading.

Joe Biden for president

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In order to expel the worst president of modern times, many voters might be willing to vote for almost anybody.

Fortunately, to oust President Trump in 2020, voters do not have to lower their standards. The Democratic nominee, former vice president Joe Biden, is exceptionally well-qualified, by character and experience, to meet the daunting challenges that the nation will face over the coming four years.

Those challenges have been, to varying degrees, created, exacerbated or neglected by the incumbent: the covid-19 pandemic, which has claimed more lives in this country than anywhere else in the world; rising inequality and racial disparities; a 21st-century, high-tech authoritarianism ascendant in the world, with democracy in retreat; a planet at risk due to human-caused climate change. Continue reading.

For Democrats, infrastructure equals fighting climate change, creating jobs

Joe Biden is putting an infrastructure proposal that calls significant green investments front-and-center in his campaign

In Democratic politics, infrastructure and fighting climate change have become increasingly synonymous: You can’t have one without the other.

Take the $494 billion surface transportation bill that House Democrats passed July 1. Republicans criticized it as an outgrowth of the Green New Deal. Democrats embraced it for the same reason, with House Transportation and Infrastructure Chairman Peter A. DeFazio, D-Ore., insisting that climate change “is absolutely key for my side of the aisle.”

The Democrats’ 2020 standard-bearer, Vice President Joe Biden, is putting front-and-center in his campaign his “Build Back Better” infrastructure proposal that calls not only for building roads and bridges but also for investments in electric vehicle charging stations, zero-emission buses, transit and zero-carbon electricity generation by 2035. Continue reading.