Biden: ‘We misread how bad the economy was’
He stands by stimulus package, says jobs will be created in months ahead
The Associated Press
updated 11:46 a.m. ET, Sun., July 5, 2009
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WASHINGTON – Vice President Joe Biden said the Obama administration “misread how bad the economy was” but stands by its stimulus package and believes the plan will create more jobs as the pace of its spending picks up.
Biden, in an interview airing Sunday on ABC’s “This Week,” said the nation’s 9.5 percent unemployment rate is “much too high.”
“The figures we worked off of in January were the consensus figures and most of the blue chip indexes out there,” Biden said.
“We misread how bad the economy was, but we are now only about 120 days into the recovery package,” Biden added. More jobs will be created in coming months, he said.
Biden noted that the $787 billion economic stimulus package was set up to spend the money over 18 months. Major programs will take effect in September, including $7.5 billion for broadband Internet service, plus new money for high-speed rail and the nation’s electrical grid, he said.
Biden said it’s premature to say whether the country will need a second stimulus package.
On other issues:
Biden, asked whether the United States would put the lives of U.S. troops on the line should violence flare up again in Iraq, said “no.” The U.S. still plans to withdraw all troops by 2011, Biden said. “That is the intention,” he said. “We believe the Iraqis will be fully capable of maintaining their own security.”
Biden said if the Iranian government seeks to engage in a dialogue with the United States, the U.S. will engage. “If the Iranians respond to the offer of engagement, we will engage,” Biden said. “The offer’s on the table.”
Biden said Israel has the right to pursue a different course of action on Iran than the U.S. does. “Look, Israel can determine for itself — it’s a sovereign nation — what’s in their interest and what they decide to do relative to Iran and anyone else.”
On North Korea’s Saturday launch of more missiles, he said “the question is, is there anything that we should do about it? Look, this has almost become predictable behavior,” Biden said. “Some of it seems like almost attention-seeking behavior.” The U.S. shouldn’t give North Korea the attention, he said, adding that the U.S. policy has been correct so far. “We have succeeded in uniting the most important and critical countries to North Korea on a common path of further isolating North Korea,” Biden said.
The Obama administration is “well on the way” to resolving a dispute between CIA Director Leon Panetta and National Intelligence Director Dennis Blair, Biden said. The conflict centers on Blair’s effort to choose his own representatives at U.S. embassies instead of relying only on CIA station chiefs. “They both won,” Biden said. He declined to give details, saying the resolution was not yet complete.
Biden said he respected Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin’s decision to step down. “It maybe had a lot to do with what the state of their life was, and the state of their family, et cetera,” Biden said. “So I’m not going to second-guess her.”
URL: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/31745563/ns/politics-white_house/
The stimulus was never about stimulating the economy, so the lack of additional jobs should not be surprising to anyone. The purpose of the stimulus was to increase government’s control in our lives, while also being used to essentially buy votes. What do I mean by that? Do you think it’s an accident that they have been so slow to spend the money? It’s not. They want to spend the bulk of the money closer to mid-term elections while also waiting to blend it with the normal economic recovery that would take place anyway. By doing so, they will position themselves to take credit for a recovery that you and I had more responsibility for than they ever will.
Joe Biden is around for comic relief…thats about it.
I agree with both of you.
I think it’s a scam. I mean obviously they know exactly how to fix the economy and they are just sitting on that answer until they can take credit in their reelection campaign. They also know exactly how to fix social security, but figure they don’t want to burn all that goodwill so early so maybe they will work on that for the next election.
They are trying what they believe will fix things. Often these changes require time to make an impact so I am waiting until at least a year in office before I judge the effect of the new policies. Do I think they will fix everything? No, nobody can fix everything and/or get everything right or please everyone. After eight years of Bush I’m willing to give some latitude on Obama’s progress so far. Trust me I’m not giving him a rubber stamp of approval and have no problem criticizing him, but I want to give him a fair time frame to start his policies rolling.
@ Ron – I wish that you would allow yourself the same lenience you allow Barry.
If Barry would stay in-country and work on one thing at a time, I would have more faith.