Biden Speaks!

This past weekend, Vice President Elect Joe Biden gave an interview to George Stephanopoulos in which he said the economy was in danger of "absolutely tanking" and that a big bold stimulus package of another $600 or $700 billion is needed. "There is no short run other than keeping the economy from absolutely tanking. That's the only short run."

The media's assessment of Biden's remarks? Yawn.

Back in September, on day one of what would become the financial crisis, John McCain gave a speech in which he said the "fundamentals of the US economy are strong." The media excoriated him for saying that. Yet, what he was saying was correct. The fundamentals of our economy - free market capitalism - are strong. The media further piled on that deregulation is what got us into this mess. No, actually regulation, in the form of the Community Reinvestment Act, helped get us into this mess. If it were not for deregulation, Bank of America could not have bought Countrywide, JP Morgan could not have bought Chase, and Wells Fargo could not have bought Wachovia. If those banks had failed, imagine what the financial situation would look like today? In free market capitalism, certain businesses fail. It's the law of averages but it is also necessary for the market to function. There are risks to free market capitalism and failure is one of them. There is also a spectacular upside to it as well. The banks that survive will emerge stronger from this situation and be smarter than before.

Now back to Joe Biden. Consumer confidence is at an all time low and VP Elect Biden thinks it's a good idea to go on national TV and say that the economy is in danger of "absolutely tanking." What not just tell people to buy soup, ammo, and batteries for the bomb shelter in the backyard? There is a reason Joe Biden could never be president and this weekend was a prime example. He's not presidential material. People make fun of President Bush because of his accent and malapropisms but Joe Biden is far worse as he doesn't think before he speaks. But because he speaks the "King's English" and is a Democrat, he gets a pass from the media.

One thing Barack Obama does extremely well is looking or sounding presidential. During the financial crisis, as John McCain was coming up with a new plan every day, Obama remained fairly silent and appeared collected. Now, he may not have had any answers to the unfolding crisis and he may simply be following Mark Twain's advice better to remain silent and be thought a fool rather than open one's mouth and remove all doubt.

That is clearly a lesson Joe Biden has not learned. For everyone's sanity, I think Obama needs to put the muzzle back on Joe.