Joe Biden:
Key Career Accomplishments
Biden became ranking Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee in 1997 and served as chairman of the committee from 2001 to 2003 and from January 2007 to the present. He has served as chairman or ranking member of the Judiciary Committee for sixteen years. He is recognized as one of the nation's leading authorities on foreign policy, as well as one of its most influential voices on terrorism, drug policy, crime, and issues important to women. He has been a tireless advocate for working families and has reached across the aisle to work with Republicans on tackling some of the greatest challenges facing Americans.
Like Barack Obama, Biden has been an outspoken critic of Bush’s handling of the war in Iraq.
Biden’s leadership was instrumental in helping to bring stability and peace to the Balkans. In 1999, Biden wrote a resolution endorsing the air war in Kosovo that was passed by the Senate.
Biden is a leader on the congressional effort to end genocide in Darfur.
In the late 1990s, Biden led the effort in the Senate to bring Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic into NATO and to pass the Chemical Weapons Treaty.
Biden has been instrumental in crafting almost every major piece of crime legislation over the past two decades. His Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 put more than 100,000 police officers on America’s streets and has been credited with bringing down crime rates to the lowest in a generation.
In 1996, Biden authored legislation to create a national registry of sex offenders, which tracks people convicted of sex crimes involving violence or committed against minors.
Biden authored and passed the landmark Violence Against Women Act, the strongest legislation to date that criminalizes domestic violence and holds batterers accountable.
Biden was a strong supporter of the Family and Medical Leave Act, cracked down on deadbeat dads, and has been a consistent champion for equal pay.
Biden was one of the first to introduce legislation to address global warming and he co-sponsored the most aggressive piece of climate change legislation in the U.S. Senate.
Biden is a champion on the issue of making college more affordable by using the tax code to reduce costs.
Biden was successful in passing a provision that prevents budget cuts to military facilities while the nation is at war, one of his key priorities, ensuring that all veterans have top-notch medical treatment in a fully-funded VA health care system.
Senator Biden has a proven record of bringing people together to get things done. From global warming to combating violence against women to confronting the challenges of the dangerous world in which we live, Joe Biden has fought every day over the course of his life in public service to improve the lives of middle class families.
Key Career Accomplishments
Biden became ranking Democrat on the Foreign Relations Committee in 1997 and served as chairman of the committee from 2001 to 2003 and from January 2007 to the present. He has served as chairman or ranking member of the Judiciary Committee for sixteen years. He is recognized as one of the nation's leading authorities on foreign policy, as well as one of its most influential voices on terrorism, drug policy, crime, and issues important to women. He has been a tireless advocate for working families and has reached across the aisle to work with Republicans on tackling some of the greatest challenges facing Americans.
Like Barack Obama, Biden has been an outspoken critic of Bush’s handling of the war in Iraq.
Biden’s leadership was instrumental in helping to bring stability and peace to the Balkans. In 1999, Biden wrote a resolution endorsing the air war in Kosovo that was passed by the Senate.
Biden is a leader on the congressional effort to end genocide in Darfur.
In the late 1990s, Biden led the effort in the Senate to bring Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic into NATO and to pass the Chemical Weapons Treaty.
Biden has been instrumental in crafting almost every major piece of crime legislation over the past two decades. His Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994 put more than 100,000 police officers on America’s streets and has been credited with bringing down crime rates to the lowest in a generation.
In 1996, Biden authored legislation to create a national registry of sex offenders, which tracks people convicted of sex crimes involving violence or committed against minors.
Biden authored and passed the landmark Violence Against Women Act, the strongest legislation to date that criminalizes domestic violence and holds batterers accountable.
Biden was a strong supporter of the Family and Medical Leave Act, cracked down on deadbeat dads, and has been a consistent champion for equal pay.
Biden was one of the first to introduce legislation to address global warming and he co-sponsored the most aggressive piece of climate change legislation in the U.S. Senate.
Biden is a champion on the issue of making college more affordable by using the tax code to reduce costs.
Biden was successful in passing a provision that prevents budget cuts to military facilities while the nation is at war, one of his key priorities, ensuring that all veterans have top-notch medical treatment in a fully-funded VA health care system.
Senator Biden has a proven record of bringing people together to get things done. From global warming to combating violence against women to confronting the challenges of the dangerous world in which we live, Joe Biden has fought every day over the course of his life in public service to improve the lives of middle class families.
Here are a few of her accomplishments to date. Quite an impressive lady if I do say so myself.
Palin served two terms on the Wasilla City Council from 1992 to 1996. In 1996, she challenged and defeated the incumbent mayor, criticizing wasteful spending and high taxes.<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-Sarah_2-9>[3]</SUP> The ex-mayor and sheriff tried to organize a recall campaign, but failed.<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-Sarah_2-10>[3]</SUP> Palin kept her campaign promises by reducing her own salary, as well as reducing property taxes by 60%.<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-Sarah_2-11>[3]</SUP> She ran for reelection against the former mayor in 1999, winning by an even larger margin.<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-Sarah_2-12>[3]</SUP><SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-6>[7]</SUP> Palin was also elected president of the Alaska Conference of Mayors.<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-Palin-bio_7-0>[8]</SUP>
<SUP></SUP>
Governor Murkowski appointed Palin Ethics Commissioner of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission,<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-8>[9]</SUP> where she served from 2003 to 2004 until resigning in protest over what she called the "lack of ethics" of fellow Alaskan Republican leaders, who ignored her whistleblowing complaints of legal violations and conflicts of interest.<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-Rebel_9-0>[10]</SUP><SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-Sarah_2-14>[3]</SUP> After she resigned, she exposed the state Republican Party's chairman, Randy Ruedrich, one of her fellow Oil & Gas commissioners, who was accused of doing work for the party on public time, and supplying a lobbyist with a sensitive e-mail.<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-10>[11]</SUP> Palin filed formal complaints against both Ruedrich and former Alaska Attorney General Gregg Renkes, who both resigned; Ruedrich paid a record $12,000 fine.<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-Sarah_2-15>[3]</SUP>
<SUP></SUP>
In 2006, Palin, running on a clean-government campaign, executed an upset victory over then-Gov. Murkowski in the Republican gubernatorial primary.<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-Sarah_2-16>[3]</SUP> Despite the lack of support from party leaders and being outspent by her Democratic opponent, she went on to win the general election in November 2006, defeating former Governor Tony Knowles.<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-Sarah_2-17>[3]</SUP> Palin said in 2006 that education, public safety, and transportation would be three cornerstones of her administration.<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-Hopkins_11-0>[12]</SUP>
When elected, Palin became the first woman to be Alaska's governor, and the youngest governor in Alaskan history at 42 years of age upon taking office. Palin was also the first Alaskan governor born after Alaska achieved U.S. statehood. She was also the first Alaskan governor not to be inaugurated in Juneau, instead choosing to hold her inauguration ceremony in Fairbanks. She took office on December 4, 2006.
Highlights of Governor Palin's tenure include a successful push for an ethics bill, and also shelving pork-barrel projects supported by fellow Republicans. After federal funding for the Gravina Island Bridge project that had become a nationwide symbol of wasteful earmark spending was lost, Palin decided against filling the over $200 million gap with state money.<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-quinn_12-0>[13]</SUP><SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-13>[14]</SUP> "Alaska needs to be self-sufficient, she says, instead of relying heavily on 'federal dollars,' as the state does today."<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-Barnes_14-0>[15]</SUP>
She has challenged the state's Republican leaders, helping to launch a campaign by Lieutenant Governor Sean Parnell to unseat U.S. Congressman Don Young<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-WSJ_15-0>[16]</SUP> and publicly challenging Senator Ted Stevens to come clean about the federal investigation into his financial dealings.<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-quinn_12-1>[13]</SUP>
In 2007, Palin had an approval rating often above 90%.<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-Barnes_14-1>[15]</SUP> A poll published by Hays Research on July 28, 2008 showed Palin's approval rating at 80%.
Palin has strongly promoted oil resource development in Alaska, but also helped pass a tax increase on oil company profits.<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-quinn_12-2>[13]</SUP><SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-Barnes_14-2>[15]</SUP> Palin has announced plans to create a new sub-cabinet group of advisors, to address climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions within Alaska.<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-emissions_17-0>[18]</SUP>
Shortly after taking office, Palin rescinded thirty-five appointments made by Murkowski in the last hours of his administration, including the appointment by Murkowski of his former chief of staff James "Jim" Clark to the Alaska Natural Gas Development Authority.<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-AlaskaReport-sacks_18-0>[19]</SUP><SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-19>[20]</SUP> Clark later pled guilty to conspiring with a defunct oil-field-services company to channel money into Frank Murkowski's re-election campaign.<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-20>[21]</SUP>
In March 2007, Palin presented the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act (AGIA) as the new legal vehicle for building a natural gas pipeline from the state's North Slope. <SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-AGIA-unveil_21-0>[22]</SUP> This nixed a deal by the previous governor to grant the contract to a coalition including BP (her husband's seasonal employer). Only one legislator, Representative Ralph Samuels, voted against the measure,<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-Alaska_legislature_news_22-0>[23]</SUP> and in June Palin signed it into law.<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-AGIA-sign_23-0>[24]</SUP><SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-AGIA-HB177_24-0>[25]</SUP> On January 5, 2008, Palin announced that a Canadian company, TransCanada Corp., was the sole AGIA-compliant applicant.<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-25>[26]</SUP><SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-26>[27]</SUP> In August of 2008 Palin signed a bill into law giving the state of Alaska authority to award TransCanada Pipelines a license to build and operate the $26-billion-dollar pipeline to ship natural gas from the North Slope to the Lower 48, through Canada. <SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-27>[28]</SUP>
In response to high oil and gas prices, and in response to the resulting state government budget surplus, Palin proposed giving Alaskans $100-a-month energy debit cards. She also proposed providing grants to electrical utilities so that they would reduce customers' rates.<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-28>[29]</SUP> She subsequently dropped the debit card proposal, and in its place she proposed to send Alaskans $1,200 directly and eliminate the gas tax.
Basically that's just scratching the surface of her many accomplishments to date.
Palin served two terms on the Wasilla City Council from 1992 to 1996. In 1996, she challenged and defeated the incumbent mayor, criticizing wasteful spending and high taxes.<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-Sarah_2-9>[3]</SUP> The ex-mayor and sheriff tried to organize a recall campaign, but failed.<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-Sarah_2-10>[3]</SUP> Palin kept her campaign promises by reducing her own salary, as well as reducing property taxes by 60%.<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-Sarah_2-11>[3]</SUP> She ran for reelection against the former mayor in 1999, winning by an even larger margin.<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-Sarah_2-12>[3]</SUP><SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-6>[7]</SUP> Palin was also elected president of the Alaska Conference of Mayors.<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-Palin-bio_7-0>[8]</SUP>
<SUP></SUP>
Governor Murkowski appointed Palin Ethics Commissioner of the Alaska Oil and Gas Conservation Commission,<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-8>[9]</SUP> where she served from 2003 to 2004 until resigning in protest over what she called the "lack of ethics" of fellow Alaskan Republican leaders, who ignored her whistleblowing complaints of legal violations and conflicts of interest.<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-Rebel_9-0>[10]</SUP><SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-Sarah_2-14>[3]</SUP> After she resigned, she exposed the state Republican Party's chairman, Randy Ruedrich, one of her fellow Oil & Gas commissioners, who was accused of doing work for the party on public time, and supplying a lobbyist with a sensitive e-mail.<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-10>[11]</SUP> Palin filed formal complaints against both Ruedrich and former Alaska Attorney General Gregg Renkes, who both resigned; Ruedrich paid a record $12,000 fine.<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-Sarah_2-15>[3]</SUP>
<SUP></SUP>
In 2006, Palin, running on a clean-government campaign, executed an upset victory over then-Gov. Murkowski in the Republican gubernatorial primary.<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-Sarah_2-16>[3]</SUP> Despite the lack of support from party leaders and being outspent by her Democratic opponent, she went on to win the general election in November 2006, defeating former Governor Tony Knowles.<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-Sarah_2-17>[3]</SUP> Palin said in 2006 that education, public safety, and transportation would be three cornerstones of her administration.<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-Hopkins_11-0>[12]</SUP>
When elected, Palin became the first woman to be Alaska's governor, and the youngest governor in Alaskan history at 42 years of age upon taking office. Palin was also the first Alaskan governor born after Alaska achieved U.S. statehood. She was also the first Alaskan governor not to be inaugurated in Juneau, instead choosing to hold her inauguration ceremony in Fairbanks. She took office on December 4, 2006.
Highlights of Governor Palin's tenure include a successful push for an ethics bill, and also shelving pork-barrel projects supported by fellow Republicans. After federal funding for the Gravina Island Bridge project that had become a nationwide symbol of wasteful earmark spending was lost, Palin decided against filling the over $200 million gap with state money.<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-quinn_12-0>[13]</SUP><SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-13>[14]</SUP> "Alaska needs to be self-sufficient, she says, instead of relying heavily on 'federal dollars,' as the state does today."<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-Barnes_14-0>[15]</SUP>
She has challenged the state's Republican leaders, helping to launch a campaign by Lieutenant Governor Sean Parnell to unseat U.S. Congressman Don Young<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-WSJ_15-0>[16]</SUP> and publicly challenging Senator Ted Stevens to come clean about the federal investigation into his financial dealings.<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-quinn_12-1>[13]</SUP>
In 2007, Palin had an approval rating often above 90%.<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-Barnes_14-1>[15]</SUP> A poll published by Hays Research on July 28, 2008 showed Palin's approval rating at 80%.
Palin has strongly promoted oil resource development in Alaska, but also helped pass a tax increase on oil company profits.<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-quinn_12-2>[13]</SUP><SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-Barnes_14-2>[15]</SUP> Palin has announced plans to create a new sub-cabinet group of advisors, to address climate change and reduce greenhouse gas emissions within Alaska.<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-emissions_17-0>[18]</SUP>
Shortly after taking office, Palin rescinded thirty-five appointments made by Murkowski in the last hours of his administration, including the appointment by Murkowski of his former chief of staff James "Jim" Clark to the Alaska Natural Gas Development Authority.<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-AlaskaReport-sacks_18-0>[19]</SUP><SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-19>[20]</SUP> Clark later pled guilty to conspiring with a defunct oil-field-services company to channel money into Frank Murkowski's re-election campaign.<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-20>[21]</SUP>
In March 2007, Palin presented the Alaska Gasline Inducement Act (AGIA) as the new legal vehicle for building a natural gas pipeline from the state's North Slope. <SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-AGIA-unveil_21-0>[22]</SUP> This nixed a deal by the previous governor to grant the contract to a coalition including BP (her husband's seasonal employer). Only one legislator, Representative Ralph Samuels, voted against the measure,<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-Alaska_legislature_news_22-0>[23]</SUP> and in June Palin signed it into law.<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-AGIA-sign_23-0>[24]</SUP><SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-AGIA-HB177_24-0>[25]</SUP> On January 5, 2008, Palin announced that a Canadian company, TransCanada Corp., was the sole AGIA-compliant applicant.<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-25>[26]</SUP><SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-26>[27]</SUP> In August of 2008 Palin signed a bill into law giving the state of Alaska authority to award TransCanada Pipelines a license to build and operate the $26-billion-dollar pipeline to ship natural gas from the North Slope to the Lower 48, through Canada. <SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-27>[28]</SUP>
In response to high oil and gas prices, and in response to the resulting state government budget surplus, Palin proposed giving Alaskans $100-a-month energy debit cards. She also proposed providing grants to electrical utilities so that they would reduce customers' rates.<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-28>[29]</SUP> She subsequently dropped the debit card proposal, and in its place she proposed to send Alaskans $1,200 directly and eliminate the gas tax.
Basically that's just scratching the surface of her many accomplishments to date.
ok Lou a little more on the personal level, if Obama get in what and how will he help you in your life.will your life get better from now to 4 yrs down the road.just what Will Obama do for you and me in our normal lives, because up to now he really have not been pin down to anything just election bs and bashing.ck
Here's a few things that were left out of the Biden resume.........
When questioned by a New Hampshire resident about his grades in law school, Biden had inaccurately recollected graduating in the "top half" of his class when he actually graduated 76th from 85, that he had attended on a full scholarship, and had received three degrees. He had received two majors, History and Political Science, and a single B.A., as well as a half scholarship based on financial need.<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-nyt092287_36-1>[37]</SUP> Faced with these revelations, Biden withdrew from the nomination race on September 23, 1987, saying his candidacy had been overrun by "the exaggerated shadow" of his past mistakes.
It was also discovered that, during his time as a law student at Syracuse, Biden had plagiarized a law review article.
No question who would win a Biden/Palin ethics debate.
When questioned by a New Hampshire resident about his grades in law school, Biden had inaccurately recollected graduating in the "top half" of his class when he actually graduated 76th from 85, that he had attended on a full scholarship, and had received three degrees. He had received two majors, History and Political Science, and a single B.A., as well as a half scholarship based on financial need.<SUP class=reference id=cite_ref-nyt092287_36-1>[37]</SUP> Faced with these revelations, Biden withdrew from the nomination race on September 23, 1987, saying his candidacy had been overrun by "the exaggerated shadow" of his past mistakes.
It was also discovered that, during his time as a law student at Syracuse, Biden had plagiarized a law review article.
No question who would win a Biden/Palin ethics debate.
Healthcare, The economy, Education, Lower taxes for Middle Class America, Corporate Control, Protecting our environment for our children and their children,
For over two decades -- for over two decades, he's (Mccain) subscribed to that old, discredited Republican philosophy: Give more and more to those with the most and hope that prosperity trickles down to everyone else.
You see, you see, we Democrats have a very different measure of what constitutes progress in this country.
We measure progress by how many people can find a job that pays the mortgage, whether you can put a little extra money away at the end of each month so you can someday watch your child receive her college diploma.
We measure progress in the 23 million new jobs that were created when Bill Clinton was president when the average American family saw its income go up $7,500 instead of go down $2,000, like it has under George Bush.
