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Home Front: Politix
Joe Biden: 'We Have to Go Spend Money to Keep From Going Bankrupt'
2009-07-18
Vice President Joe Biden told people attending an AARP town hall meeting that unless the Democrat-supported health care plan becomes law the nation will go bankrupt and that the only way to avoid that fate is for the government to spend more money.

"And folks look, AARP knows and the people with me here today know, the president knows, and I know, that the status quo is simply not acceptable," Biden said at the event on Thursday in Alexandria, Va. "It's totally unacceptable. And it's completely unsustainable. Even if we wanted to keep it the way we have it now. It can't do it financially."

"We're going to go bankrupt as a nation," Biden said.

"Now, people when I say that look at me and say, 'What are you talking about, Joe? You're telling me we have to go spend money to keep from going bankrupt?'" Biden said. "The answer is yes, that's what I'm telling you."

The event, sponsored by the AARP -- which supports the Obama administration's plan -- was attended by mostly AARP members who were bussed in for the meeting.
Bingo was off that evening?
Posted by:Fred

#22  Unfortunately, Glenmore, I think that the current bunch o' clowns is operating more on a "fake it till you make it" mentality. It's more along the lines of a goofy kid who just got out of college using someone else's money (usually mommy and/or daddy's, or a credit card if there are no relatives to tap) to appear successful.

It reminds me of an old stockbroker job I used to hold. One of the older pharts told me to rack up lotsa debt to keep me "motivated to sell". Even then it sounded nuts to me, but there were others who bought into that bullsh!t. (Didn't work for any of 'em, and their "advisor" picked up their leads once they left the firm...funny how that worked out.)
Posted by: Cornsilk Blondie   2009-07-18 23:20  

#21  Glenmore, economists call it pump priming - injecting money into the economy to get economic activity started.

However, as a link yesterday from Tipper I think, explained. All that money is doing is creating a (new) bubble in stocks, commodities, etc.

BTW, the real news here is Biden's admission of how serious the government's revenue problem is if economic activity doesn't return to pre-crisis levels.

And Biden is right.
Posted by: Phil_B   2009-07-18 22:13  

#20  Nimble, nobody to blame but themselves.
Posted by: OldSpook   2009-07-18 20:03  

#19  The VP who just keeps on giving and giving.
Posted by: JohnQC   2009-07-18 18:43  

#18  FWIW, AARP keeps sending me invitations to join them and I keep throwing them in the trash.

Same here. However, I do not throw the invitation away. I print the words "FUCK OFF" on a piece of paper, and mail it to them in their conveniently provided, postage paid return envelope.

And smile whenever I think about it.
Posted by: Gomez Sluper6441   2009-07-18 18:32  

#17  Biden made my "Moron of the week" for that bit of fiscal genius.
Posted by: Parabellum   2009-07-18 17:24  

#16  I doubt there's many "boomers" in Johnstown. More likely stunted New Dealers.

I'm second to none in my detestation of boomers, but the AARP types Joe is talking to are more likely "greatest generation" All the elderly welfare was set up by them in the '60s for them in the '80s and onward. The boomers are the ones who will break the system, kill the ponzi programs and generally die in elderly poverty unseen since the '50s. That should make you happy,
Posted by: Nimble Spemble   2009-07-18 16:44  

#15  Biden's statement is not as totally idiotic as it seems. I think the economic term is 'velocity'? The goal is to get each dollar to go through more transactions per unit time, where each transaction generates a little profit and a little tax revenue. In principle that's what the 'stimulus' was supposed to do - put some dollars (imaginary though they were) out there to get spent and respent etc. But mostly what they did was go to pay down debt. Of course that's not entirely bad either, since debt & bankruptcy have 'multiplier' effects too, with each failure leading to losses and decreased economic activity and decreased tax revenue.
Not saying it works, but it is not entirely idiotic.
Posted by: Glenmore   2009-07-18 16:24  

#14  There are exceptions to the rule. I doubt anyone here was burning draft cards, protesting nuclear weapons in the 80's and generally making life miserable for me and others who were doing our best to get by on poverty wages while defending the nation.

But a vast majority of the boomers are greedy assholes. The "Gimme Mine" bunch like the ones that keep sending Murtha back to Congress.
Posted by: OldSpook   2009-07-18 15:25  

#13  OS, I resemble that remark! 8-)

Me Three, born 1947 when daddy survived and came hone.
Posted by: Redneck Jim   2009-07-18 14:30  

#12  I give AARP my $12 a year and use the membership to get hotel and travel discounts. I probably saved over $600 this year alone, so that's a good thing.

The rest of their informational and 'benefit' literature is used to line our birdcages (ring-necked doves).
Posted by: Mullah Richard   2009-07-18 14:07  

#11  OS, I resemble that remark! 8-)

Yeah, me too.

FWIW, AARP keeps sending me invitations to join them and I keep throwing them in the trash. Besides, what do you expect? We had Walter Cronkite telling us "That's the way it is." We were just kids and we believed it. Some of us have grown up and now we know better.
Posted by: Abu Uluque   2009-07-18 13:32  

#10  "We had to destroy the village in order to save it!"
Posted by: borgboy   2009-07-18 13:18  

#9  OS, I resemble that remark! 8-)
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839   2009-07-18 12:59  

#8  AARP stacks the deck in things liek this - they are as leftist as you can get on almost everything.

I hate the boomers - the most selfish, pigheaded, self-righteous and WRONG generation this nation has ever seen.
Posted by: OldSpook   2009-07-18 12:46  

#7  Another gem from Joe, who's apparently on a tour of Bizzaro World...

"To those who say that our economic decisions 'have not produced jobs, have not produced and simply have not worked' I say, take a look around," Biden will say while visiting Cantor's home district.

"I say, 'Don't let your opposition to the Recovery Act blind you to its results. Come see what I see everywhere I go: workers rehired, factories reopened, cops on the street, teachers in the classroom, progress toward getting our economy back on the move.'"
Posted by: tu3031   2009-07-18 11:58  

#6  Must have bused in only Obama supporters. Most retiree's budgets are strained right now, but have the wisdom and experience from age, and they would have laughed him off the stage.
Posted by: Lumpy Elmoluck5091   2009-07-18 11:41  

#5  they said that if I voted for McCain we'd get a moron for VP. They were right
Posted by: Frank G   2009-07-18 11:18  

#4  Ya' know, someone suggested during the 08 campaign that Biden was on the ticket to make Bambi look more intelligent. With every passing utterance from Biden this suggestion becomes more credible.
Posted by: WolfDog   2009-07-18 10:44  

#3  Let me try that line on my bank. I'll tell them it's approved at the highest levels.
Posted by: ed   2009-07-18 10:29  

#2  Bingo was off that evening?

Previously scheduled comedian Al Franken had to cancel in order to review Perry Mason shows in preparation for the Judicial Committee hearings on a new so so Supreme Court Justice.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble   2009-07-18 08:14  

#1  
Posted by: gorb   2009-07-18 00:59  

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