Joe Biden on the Stimulus: "Come see what I see"

Amanda Carey | July 17, 2009

Vice President Joe Biden has once again put in his two cents about the economic stimulus. Via The Washington Post:

"To those who say that our economic decisions haven't saved jobs, it simply hasn't worked, I say, 'Look around you,' " Biden said in his appearance at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College in Cantor's Richmond area district.

"I say, 'Don't let your opposition to the Recovery Act blind you to the results. Come see what I see.' Look, workers rehired, factories reopened, cops on the street, teachers in the classroom, progress toward getting our economy back on the move."

Well said, Mr. Vice President. Of course, never mind the fact that the unemployment rate for June was 9.5 percent (the highest it's been in over two decades), and all signs point to double digit unemployment before any improvement is expected.

With nearly one in 10 Americans currently unemployed, maybe Biden should go see what they see before declaring the stimulus a success.

Comments

|7.17.09 @ 6:03PM|#

Of course, never mind the fact that the unemployment rate for June was 9.5 percent

And dems de gubmit numbers.

smartass sob|7.17.09 @ 6:04PM|#

With nearly one in 10 Americans currently unemployed, maybe Biden should go see what they see before declaring the stimulus a success.

Speaking for myself I wouldn't mind seeing Biden unemployed. ;-)

|7.17.09 @ 6:19PM|#

The stimulus may, and probably will reduce unemployment at some point, but it won't be productive employment. Since none of these jobs are fulfilling actual market demands (if there were, they would already exist), they are, regardless of the window dressing just a bunch of make-work.

The kicker is that all this make-work is being funded by borrowed money. In an effort to stimulate the economy by getting people to spend money on consumer goods that they otherwise would cut from their budget. In other words, we're paying people to produce things nobody wants so they will have money to buy stuff they don't really need.

This is the fucked up economic system that "progressive" policies really lead to.

Chrispy|7.17.09 @ 6:25PM|#

This guy used to be a big anti-drug crusader, right? I wonder what he's smoking now...

Anonymous|7.17.09 @ 7:24PM|#

Biden is an honest, seriously, and knowledgeable man.

Imagine the alternative, Palin demanding cripples to stand out of respect and identifying employment trends backwards and not aborting fetuses!

ed|7.17.09 @ 7:39PM|#

Speaking of Mrs. Palin: as she has set a dubious precedent by resigning her office mid-term, what are the chances that Joe Gaffe will do the same? He can say he wants to Spend More Time With His Family­­©. Or something.

The High Priest of The Great K|7.17.09 @ 8:25PM|#

"The stimulus may, and probably will reduce unemployment at some point, but it won't be productive employment."

Oh, you naysayers. The Great Keynes has shown us that employment need not be productive to bring prosperity.

|7.17.09 @ 9:06PM|#

Hey! Stop thinking! Biden has said everything is better, so it is. Do not question fearless leader. Also pretend that we are not fighting and dying in Iraq, and have the largest casualty rates in Afganistan since it started. Just do not think about any of that. Don't bring it up, I am warning you.

BakedPenguin|7.17.09 @ 11:02PM|#

What did Biden see? Someone replacing windows?

|7.17.09 @ 11:08PM|#

What did Biden see? Someone replacing windows?

I was just going to say that Bastiat is once again rolling in his grave.

|7.17.09 @ 11:09PM|#

Biden is an honest, seriously, and knowledgeable man.

[citation needed]

|7.17.09 @ 11:34PM|#

nice post..
___________________
Britney
Entertainment at one stop

|7.18.09 @ 1:34AM|#

Come see what I see

AAAAHHH! It burns! It buuuuuurrrrns!

Is anyone wondering if things would have been quite so fucked up so if the other guy had gotten elected?

Tim Cavanaugh|7.18.09 @ 1:44AM|#

I'm sorry I don't have photographic evidence of this, even though photographic evidence is the biggest lie of all, but:

On a dark desert highway just this evening (specifically the 60 Westbound in ), with the warm smell of both colitis and irritable bowel syndrome rising up through the air, I hit a patch of ill-paved road that suddenly turned into freshly paved road. At the exact place where the change takes place, there's a big green sign with white lettering that reads (by memory) "This highway project made possible with funds from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act."

Tim Cavanaugh|7.18.09 @ 1:45AM|#

(specifically the 60 Westbound in ) should read: (specifically the 60 Westbound in Riverside County)

Anonymous|7.18.09 @ 8:01AM|#

Is anyone wondering if things would have been quite so fucked up so if the other guy had gotten elected?

My short conclusion: no, but not because he's not statist, which he is in spades, but because he's not leftist. However, he'd also alienate even more conservatives by making the party leader more "liberal" (as opposed to classically liberal) than ever, and while they try to hold back undue criticism the zombies would be foaming like a hyena that salivates when it smells jasmine -- but that just shows that the unabomber set is in charge, and the faculty of reason has been taken out of politics and aged in a barrel of shit and rat carcasses.

The question, obviously, then is whether a Democrat can be so horrible as to get the party to renounce them: people like "Chemtrail" Kucinich and Teddy K and Barry S suggest that isn't going to happen. There are no principles there, just stupid people who literally think everyone votes for "the party". It makes Eastern Europe in the 1980s look rational.

Neu Mejican|7.18.09 @ 1:13PM|#

Short memories.
I am struck by the fact that the WORST people can say about the current situation is that things are as bad as they were in 1984.

I don't recall 1984 being that bad.

Lord Jubjub|7.18.09 @ 2:59PM|#

More than 1 in 10 Americans are unemployed. Consider that these people are generally not employed:

A majority of those over the age of 65
Everyone under the age of 14
A substantial number of women (and a small number of men) who have chosen to dedicate several years to raising their children.
A small number of people who can support themselves without being employed.

Taking those into account, only about half of all Americans are employed.

|7.18.09 @ 9:41PM|#

I find it interesting that the only specifics that come to his mind (cops, teachers) are government employees.

Xeones|7.19.09 @ 1:24AM|#

Joe Biden is a Goddamn retard.

Ratdog|7.19.09 @ 12:57PM|#

"Joe Biden is a Goddamn retard." -and a compulsive liar, a combination sure to lead to some zany statements that will have the audience scratching their heads and wondering 'WTF??'

|7.19.09 @ 5:28PM|#

Tim C,
There are a couple of stretches on I-25 in northern Colorado with those very same signs. These stretches stand out not only for their shiny, dark patches of smooth pavement, but for their somewhat similar description before the paving, minus the shiny dark part.

Nothing says recovery like a 3-day job of unnecessary highway paving. Talk about sustainability.

Fist of Etiquette|7.19.09 @ 8:43PM|#

So far, the Obama Administration had its "I'm the decider" moment, and now its "Mission Accomplished" moment.

What could possibly be next? The threat of the dire consequences of a failed vote from Congress on something huge like a war resolution or, say, a stimulus package?

Chew those pretzels carefully, Mr. President.

JB|7.20.09 @ 2:03PM|#

Biden should shut the fuck up.

His toilet of a mouth just proves how stupid that fucker is.

Paul|7.20.09 @ 7:25PM|#

To those who say that our economic decisions haven't saved jobs, it simply hasn't worked, I say, 'Look around you,

My organization just recently laid off 85 people. They laid off a few more day before yesterday, and they're not refilling positions where people have resigned. They're looking at more layoffs in August. So, your point Mr. Biden? Or are we going to be treated to another that's-not-what-he-meant session from your boss?

Paul|7.20.09 @ 7:32PM|#

The stimulus may, and probably will reduce unemployment at some point, but it won't be productive employment.

It will not. See Biden's own comments "cops on the street, teachers in classrooms".

I can take money from your bank account, and hire me a maid (causing you to fire yours*). That doesn't a new job make. That merely stole productive money from one sector and moved it to an unproductive sector. And if I've said it once, I've said it a thousand times, the DEFINITION of the stimulus is to take money from the productive, and give it to the unproductive. If you're not productive, you won't have any money to take, and if'n you're productive, you don't need the money.
The counter argument is, of course, that if we take the monies from the productuve sector and give it to the unproductive, the unproductive will become productive (hopefully) before the productive is bled completely dry. *fingers crossed*

*being libertarians, I'll bet that neither of us have maids, or ever will. But hey, I was just illustrating.