Vice President Joe Biden told CBS anchor Harry Smith on the "Early Show" that "Washington, right now, is broken."
Biden, who has served 30 years in the Senate and seen his fair share of gridlock, said the current version is the worst he's ever seen.
"I don't ever recall a time in my career where to get anything done, you needed a supermajority, 60 out of 100 senators. You can block anything with 60 (votes).
"I've never seen it this dysfunctional," he said.
Biden said that Scott Brown's win in the race for the late Ted Kennedy's senate seat was not soley a warning to Democrats.
"I think it was to everybody in public life, and it was, 'Hey, guys, get your act together. Get something going.'"
According to a recent CBS News/New York Times poll, most Americans are dissatisfied or angry about the way things are going in Washington these days. Eight in 10 say Congress is more interested in serving the needs of special interest groups rather than the people they represent.
But only a third of people feel the same way about President Obama. Nearly 60 percent think he is more interested in serving the American people.
Biden was optimistic about the economy but said with the unemployment still close to 10 percent "he understands why Americans are frustrated and have criticized the administration for spending too much time on health care reform."
Watch CBS News Videos Online
Watch CBS News Videos Online
why, when the people can clearly see it's obstruction and just say NO by the GOP, will they vote them back in??? The voters have every right to be upset, but pay attention to which party trying to get things done and who isn't. How simple can that be!?
ReplyDeleteThat's exactly what I thought while reading and watching. Biden has a smooth way of calling someone a liar without saying it, i.e., "Cheney has a right to his opinion but he has his facts wrong."
ReplyDeleteNot for the first time I could be wrong, but the fact that Biden has been on TV twice in less than a week indicates that the WH is "finally" getting pro-active in fighting back.
I might also add that it's about time the media called on some top Democrats.
I love this guy. He has balls and brains and is not afraid to use them. The unemployment dynamic will be with us for years. It was caused by the lost years, the years of Bush and his gang that couldn't shoot straight. This works to the advantage of the Republicans because they can spin it to look like it is Obama's inability to lead that is causing the situation. Unfortunately there are millions of Americans who will believe them.
ReplyDeletePeople don't see this as a problem of the Rethugs obstructing.. they see the fact we have a D in the White House, and as the media keeps pointing out... Super majorities in the house and Senate.. and we still can't get anything done... Of course we know it is partly the GOPers fault, but to be honest it is also a huge part on the Dems... if they had gotten the Health Care passed last year when they should have.. instead of letting it drag on for so long.. we would be celebrating instead of wondering how it is going to get done now. Then we could concentrate more on showing how the R's are obstructing everything because people would be seeing it more instead of just hearing the sour grapes from people like Biden and other Dems.. and the media always showing the Rethugs instead of showing the truth.
ReplyDeleteMike and Annette: I keep knocking myself out, so rather than responding separately, I'm going to try giving it one (more) shot.
ReplyDeleteThe Republicans will try to put any spin they can on anything they can. This is precisely why I'm happy to see a top official of the WH finally get before the cameras and put things in proper perspective. It's about time we went on the offensive instead of simply looking the other way. And it's about damn time the media started balancing things out by interviewing the VP and other high officials.
I think the president being a D is only a tiny, tiny part of the equation. All through history the two parties have competed and disagreed but never before has the opposition been so insidious, evil and destructive at the expense of the government and the American people. No, I think it is because Obama is B pure and simple.
Both Obama and the Democrats share plenty in the blame game. Perhaps because of youth, inexperience, naivete, and a sincere belief that people are basically decent, he didn't put enough effort in getting the HC bill passed as he should have. No doubt he should have been more involved as opposed to taking 70 trips in his first three months.
The Dems allowed themselves to be rolled over and stomped and kicked. And then let's don't forget the Lieberman factor. Anything I wish for him wouldn't be bad enough.
We just have to hope that the Dems and the WH have learned something from their mistakes.
Amen and amen.
ReplyDeleteThanks, Darlene. I really appreciate that.
ReplyDelete