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Subscribe to RSSVice President Joe Biden has tapped a former top Clinton aide to be his new chief of staff.
Bruce Reed, who most recently headed up President Barack Obama's deficit commission, was a top domestic policy advisor during the Clinton administration. The Idaho native also previously worked as the director of the Democratic Leadership Council and as an aide to Sen. Al Gore.
Reed will succeed outgoing chief of staff Ron Klain.
From the Vice President's statement:
“I’ve known and admired Bruce for over 20 years,” said Vice President Biden. “We worked closely together to pass the crime bill in the 1990s and I’ve frequently sought his advice and counsel in the years since. He brings a unique blend of experience and perspective to this position and his leadership will be a tremendous asset to my office, and to the entire White House."
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Not much to say about this, except, I like Joe Biden.
Why did we have an election ? Obama ran on CHANGE, seems to me that all we have done is to put a new face on the CLINTON ADMINISTRATION. NO REAL CHANGE, NO new faces, NO new reforms, NO real hard choices on the Federal Governments Size, Spending Habits, Pensions & Salaries, No End to Special Interest or Lobbyists, No Elimination of Government Waste, ect... Maybe someday America can get past having the Bush and Clinton Families and their followers run America into the ground. I guess it won't matter soon as Big Business will have shipped ALL Good Paying Jobs Overseas and we will be OWNED by China. Between the Bush and Clinton families and the Federal Reserve America is just about DONE.
Yep, absolutely no change. No student loan reform, no healthcare reform, no financial reform. No end of DADT. No START. Nope, he's done absolutely nothing that McCain-Palin wouldn't have done. Might as well have voted them in.
Binky---well put
?
Not to worry BiNKY the inept liar in the white house will pay for that, severely, in 2012.
Binky blue, perfect.
Change. During the campaign if 1000 people were asked what that meant, you would likely have gotten 900 different answers because to each of us the word likely had a different meaning.
Lots of people wonder why so many Clinton people. A company looks for the person with experience in the business. It stands to reason that today's WH looks to the most recent democratic administration for people who know the ropes. We forget there are also many new to DC second tier staffers who are learning the ropes--they will be the choices to lead in the future. Seems unfair but to be successful, you need people with experience at the top.
Change does not refer only to people but to the direction we want to head, it meant change from the mindset of the previous administration, change of ideas, change toward more civility and less partisanship, change for the future. Change means many things, it is not a narrow concept.
Reply to Joe Californian: If the present administration is going to resemble any past administration, I would much rather it be Clinton's than either of the Bushes. But the fact is, the present adminstration does not need to resemble anything from the past. President Obama is smarter than all of the Bushes and Clintons combined.
Crybaby? That would be John Boehner! Every time I see him on tv he is boohooing!
Another Clinton Administration Recycle ??....Does this count as a "Green Job" ??
You can thank the Republican party for a lot of the changes that didn't happen.
No wonder we're having deficit problems. Obama appointed a guy with a masters in English Literature to chair the deficit commission??? What's next on his master plan? To appoint the head of the UAW union as the surgeon general?
Good to see Biden contributing by keeping another of the aristocracy employed. It's good to be the son of a senator huh? You can get government jobs without any credentials.
Hey Sarah "Bloody" Palin
Its been three days now since the aniversary of Haitis earthquake.
Werent you the one to tell us not to forget?
Did I miss your tweet reminding us?
Divisive self serving airhead is what you are
I think Sarah ,was distracted by Hanoi Jane.
Talk about a lesson in hypocrisy ,The anti aircraft ,Traitor commie ,flapping her "It's sarah palins fault" lips!
Just another example of 75 years ...of PROGRESS !
"tapped" as in Monica?
We're not suppose to say 'Monica' any more.
If Joe Biden likes him ok with me.
I don't know this person so I cannot say if I agree with his politics, and I like Joe Biden.
The only problem I have is why does washington recycle the same people over and over.
cheney and rumsfeld served in the nixon, and both bush administrations and I am sure the dems do the same as the article suggests. Are these the people that are really running the country?
Maybe this is why nothing changes and our vote is really only for a new talking head while the same people run the country behind the scenes. too bad there is no way to vote about that.
In our engineering business we have relationships (a circle, if you will) of trusted subconsultants that we typically team with on our multi-faceted projects.
They're known to us. We trust them and the product they will deliver on our behalf.
As a support person myself (I have worked directly for several owners in my career) one of the most important things I do is to make sure they can always trust how I represent them and their interests.
All that said, rather than seeing it as recycling, I see it as using a tested and trusted support person.
Right on point, Vermontgirl.
All industries have people who are known quantities, who show up in one company or another.
Politics is no different.
Vermont Girl. I posted a similar thought in the section above this one. Yours was better.
If we remember correctly, at the end of the Clinton administration we were in a much better financial picture and then Bush came in and decided to give away the "surplus" to the RICH in tax reductions, which has now been extended to put us even further in debt. The wealthy are only interested in their own bottom line, even if it bankrupts the United States.
I am okay with having people who served under Clinton serve again because they did a much better job than the folks who followed from 2000-2008. Bush couldn't stand to have a surplus that might have been used to help pay down the deficit, instead he "raided the cookie jar" for himself and his friends. After years of deficit spending, running an "unbudgeted war" so those numbers didn't appear in the budget, but they are the "spend and no tax" folks, who for the first time in the history of the country CUT TAXES in a time of war when we were having huge outlays of money, but just drive the country into deeper debt rather than RAISE TAXES to help pay for it.
The Clinton administration did a much better job of guarding our finances than the Bush/Cheney administration.
Grandma, do I have to tell you that CONGRESS approves the spending that the President asks for? They are responsible for the current and past spending orgy!!
Clinton did not have a surplus ...He simply took numbers from Al Bores Lock Box (social security) to make the budget APPEAR in the red
How in the world , did Mr.Bush GIVE ,something ,that was theirs in the first place ? (taxes)
For those of you ,waiting for Rapists (Clinton) to provide you your "Utopia " , I'd like to point out ,after 65 years of old Hanoi Janes, screeching , It would appear as if only john F F F F Kerry , has a hidden yacht !
In light of current events Grandma, I'll make this as "civil" as possible.
How about the Obama administration?
Are you satisfied with quadrupling the debt?
How about we talk about THE HERE AND NOW?
Recycle? Just like the corporate world...experience.
Fair is fair
I'm sure Clinton "tapped" several of Biden's aides over the years.
 Why does VP Biden even need a so called chief of staff, when the Constitution does not provide the VP with any job duties except to take over as president in the event of the president's death, etc., and be the ceremonial president of the senate. I'm surprised real fiscal conservatives have not attacked the spending on the VP's extra curricular activities....btw, I'm being sarcastic here, as this post really does not need commenting. Although, I will point out that it is typical for an administration to include members of a former administration of the same party.Â
The same thing can be said of Michelle Obama and her staff. Why does she need so much?
Today's VP isn't sitting on a chair in his office just in case the unthinkable happens. Biden is very involved in day-to-day activities; Pres Obama relies on him for advice and to do things the Pres simply does not have time to do. He is a working VP just as was Al Gore and Dick Cheney. Times have changed. As for the remark about First Lady Michelle Obama--Laura Bush, Barbara Bush, Hillary Clinton, Betty Ford, Jacqueline Kennedy took on causes that were/are important--I do not begrudge the VP or FLOTUS the staffs necessary. First ladies do not receive salaries yet they are expected to attend events, to meet and greet, asked to speak at various organizations.
Curious. Do you suppose that the Obama administration (and more President Obama himself) is trying to model itself after the Clinton administration? I recall in 2007 Obama and Clinton (Hillary mostly but Bill threw in his 2 cents worth on occasion) were at each other's throats. I do believe that theythink they can fool the people as did Clinton back in '96 when he won re-election with less than 50% of the popular vote. Blame for Dole's loss was placed squarely on the head of Ross Perot but so-be-it, it's history. Don't believe it folks. Obama is still the swamp rat disguised as a pet rat.
Frankly it appears that Obama is attempting to model his administration after that of The Kaiser.
It's 2011.... time for you to move on, everyone has even Sen. Dole.
They should have run Clinton for WH...
Barry and Joe are another monkey see monkey do..act..ha
I have sensible? As I said, it's history. The funny thing about history (and I paraphrase George Santayana) "Those who don't remember history are doomed to repeat it." I'm sure that once you burned your hand on the stove as a child you were more careful around stoves. The same thing applies to politics. Of course, if you've had a bad experience you may not want to remember it. Oh well.
bboomer -
Ross Perot ran because "true republicans" thought Sen. Dole was wwaayy too centrist...even Rush Limbaugh constantly complained about Dole being the wrong nominee and a pathetic campaigner, deju vu, like John McCain... those two, and those two elections, have a lot in common...
Try reading some post mortems on the Dole campaign. Dole actually scaled back public campaign appearances and spent money on TV instead, hoping sound bites sounded better than HAVING NO IDEAS....AND NO LEADERSHIP QUALITIES...something that came across very clearly in person....
So don't blame some fluke on why Clinton won in 96 - Dole lost all on his own and Perot was there because there was a vacuum of support for him within Republican ranks...
And just to be fair, I think Dole was a decent senator for many years and was an inspiration as a WWII veteran who served his county. But by the time he ran for President, well, it just wasn't his time...
All Joe B needs now is a cigar and an intern.
We need experience in the support roles, thats why the same old people. We need change in the leadership roles, that's why we elected Obama. He has changed and tried to change alot. The obstructionism for pure politics have slowed that down, its the worst its ever been the past 2 years.
First piece of advice should be, keep your mouth shut...
You libbies just, keep running into that nasty old constitution, don't you.
If i weren't for that. you an the OBamas of the world could takes our weapons and shut us up , once and for all, eh?
jerry194283 - "take our weapons and shut us up, once and for all' - what a stupid comment, actually both of them. On second thought, All of your comments.
This is off topic but curious minds would like to know. Joe Biden releases his tax return each year, if you look at the last few years he has reported almost no interest or dividend income. He has had a successful career, nice home and lifestyle, are we to believe he is living paycheck to paycheck? Were are all of his investments and cash? Obama and the IRS have cracked down on offshore investments, perhaps they need to look a little closer to home.
Everything he has is in gold and buried in his back yard, he and the Fed know 10% inflation is on the way.
How come they were not picked for the first two years?
Hillary didn't win the primary or VP spot so now we have the Clinton support staff??
Same old clowns, just different make-up. I voted for Obama and am now sorry. He is no different from both Bush gangs, Clinton gangs, etc. etc. Why not get some NEW blood into government. These same people are the same ones who have screwed the system up to begin with...
Politicians -- the US version of Englands Royal Family
Traffic-fanatic, why are you sorry you voted for Obama? Could it be because his approval rating is no longer high? Next time make sure you believe in someone/cause before you cast your vote, that way you will not be sorry afterwards when they deliver on their campaign promises.
I guess you are one of those uneducated, uninformed out there...what a pity for you
I guess you are one of those uneducated, uninformed out there...what a pity for you
All this talk about Obama losing in 2012. Not gonna happen. If some of you folks haven't noticed, lately, the mood of the nation has soured on the GOp and the Teabaggers. Say I'm wrong. I don't care. It won't change anything. Sure, hurl a few imbecilic insults my way. You'll only prove my point.
As for Biden and his new CoS. Eh!
Can't this administration find anybody but Clinton retreads? Or was this a promise to Hilliary to get her to drop out and throw her support behind the Chosen One oops I mean President Obama. And as to why the Court Jester oops I mean VP Biden needs a staff is to let us know what he really meant to say when he said something entirely different. I have been a registered dem since 1971 but have absolutely no use for the far left wing uber liberals that have hijacked the dem party.
Isn't VP Biden's Chief of Staff in charge of changing the duct tape on his mouth? He's truly the most sequestered (that's "hidden", for those of you in Rio Linda) VP ever!
One would think he sits at home in Delaware most days until the Prez needs a smile behind him while he signs a massive spending bill into law.
Actually, Joe Biden pretty much does live paycheck tp paycheck. He's never traded upon his position in the Senate to rake in big bucks on the lecture/consulting/corporate director circuit. Most of his evenings are spent with his family (how 'bout those values?) Most of his free income has gone into his home, of which he is rightfully very proud. I hope that he has savings in tax-deferred retirement accounts. Even a vice-president's pension is not all that great.
the change obama was talking about was bring america down to a 3rd world country.u have to read inbetween the lines with theses crooks
(answer to the 1st question 1.1)
Tell me oh wise one, what does you crystal ball tell us now?
And what do the tarot cards say oh wise one.
You've been reading to many tea leaves. Baggers do that.
your gonna see more government stage bombings,more pressure to take your free speech away and guns.and alot more homeland security.cause the public is waking up and theses crooks are scared.and once the public relize that clintion bush and yes even obama and palian and rush limbauge and others are related.well u can only imagine whats gonna happen.(there cousions SHHHH! dont tell nobody)LOL
bite me, if you will give out your home town, I'm sure there are some compassionate readers nearby who can recommend some good mental health professionals for you.
cue "Twilight Zone" theme
I've said all along ,all Obama is ....is (pun intended) "Bill blow job 2" the sequel ,without a dot.com bubble !
u hit that right on the head.opps more pun intended
Biden spends most of his time in Iraq. He must have something local going on.
Yep, the Irish guy is going to be a one term Prez. Voted for him because I hated the corrupt lying Bush Administration and to make a one vote statement to my Repub. Party. However Obama doesn't stand for much of anything and will lose big time in 12. Whomever runs against him will get my vote. (OK, as long as it's not Palin that is.) Heck even Hillary would have been a better choice then Obama seems to have been and I'm biting my tongue just saying that Hillary would be better. I don't think Obama has it in him to make up his deficit in time for 2012.
Wow, another Clinton re-tread. So much for CHANGE.