Politics. On Point.

The President, just returning from a several-days overseas trip to the Middle East , has tested positive for COVID-19. The White House has confirmed that the president, vaxxed and twice boosted, has "very mild symptoms" and is expected to continue working during isolation. The president has taken the anti-viral drug Paxlovid  to guard against serious COVID illness. The president's symptoms have included runny nose and dry cough. READ : Remembering  President Trump's COVID illness. The White House has decided to get out front of the news, being transparent in the moment. The president's wife, First Lady Jill Biden, speaking to reporters in Detroit after a visit to a  Horizons National summer learning program held at Albertus Magnus College in New Haven, CT said of her husband's condition, "He's fine." The president, age 79, co-signed his wife's comments shortly thereafter tweeting in Joe Biden fashion, "I'm fine, folks." Presiden...

President Biden 'clears up' infrastructure misunderstanding.  Last week Congress, seemingly, came together in support of a massive infrastructure bill that could potentially repair America's bridges, roads, bridge the digital divide and provide hundreds of jobs. While both Democrats and Republicans revealed neither side got what they wanted, (including the amount of spending needed to move the country forward in an attempt to 'compete with China), several provisions of the proposed bill seem palpable. READ: DC bridge collapses during rush hour However, the president made a statement that he would veto the bill if his request for other needed services (such as education and child care) under the American Families Plan were not included. His words set off a firestorm of opposition for both parties, mainly Republicans who felt they were not getting (mainly spending cuts) what was initially agreed upon. This prompted Biden to walk back, and  'make plain', his initia...

A truly peaceful transfer of power In an inaugural ceremony that seemed as normal as possible, in not-so-normal times, Joseph R. Biden has become the 46 th president of the United States. ADVERTISEMENT CMB BUSINESS SOLUTIONS   Kamala Harris became the country’s first female vice president.  Harris also become several other ‘firsts’ on Tuesday, January   20, 2021 becoming the first African-American; the first Asian-American; the first graduate of Washington, D.C.’s Howard University, a Historically Black College and University (HBCU), to become a United States vice president. It was just two weeks prior that insurrectionists stormed the very place where both were sworn in as servants to “all people” of this country. Said President Biden, "From now, on this hallowed ground, where just a few days ago, violence sought to shake the Capitol’s very foundation, we come together as one nation, under God, indivisible, to carry out the peaceful transfer of power, as we h...

“Look at what they [Republicans] value, and look at their budget. And look what they're proposing. [Romney] said in the first 100 days, he's going to let the big banks write their own rules -- unchain Wall Street. They're going to put y'all back in chains." - Vice President Joe Biden, August 14, 2012 White House Press Secretary Jay Carney was asked about Vice President Biden's remarks where he told a crowd of African American, Democratic supporters in Danville, VA earlier this week that Romney plans to put African Americans "back in chains". Obviously, when you read about this story, or watch the Vice President's speech, an immediate reference to Africans and slavery came to mind. Carney defended that reference saying "no one thought that." We did. Here's the exchange that took place during yesterday's press briefing. Reporter's question :   What are you saying to Republicans who say that the Vice Pr...

President Obama appointed Vice President Biden to look into areas of "unacceptable" government spending. In an email that went out to supporters yesterday titled, There's A New Sheriff In Town , Vice President Biden writes... Did you know that the government spends millions to maintain buildings that have sat vacant for years? Or that your tax dollars pay to needlessly ship copies of the Federal Register to thousands of government offices across the country even though the same information is available online? And I bet you didn't know that your tax dollars pay for a website dedicated to the Desert Tortoise. I'm sure it's a wonderful species, but we can't afford to have a standalone site devoted to every member of the animal kingdom. It's just one of hundreds of government websites that should be consolidated or eliminated. This kind of waste is just unacceptable. Particularly at a time when we’re facing tough decisions about reducing our defic...

Vice President Biden, attending an event for Senator Bill Nelson , made the following remarks at a lunchtime fundraiser for U.S. Sen. Bill Nelson’s 2012 re-election campaign. Items he spoke on include updating and renewing our infrastructure. “No business is going to build its own ports, its own runways, its own broadband networks. None are able to that,” Biden said. “The government provides seed money. That’s how we built the transcontinental railroad. That’s how we got the Internet", said Biden. "That’s why Sen. Nelson and I both thought the high-speed rail made sense.” As you know, not everyone is in agreement of the Obama Administration's vision of creating modern, faster rail options.  The state's republican governor, Rick Scott rejected the $2.4b in federal funds offered to Florida for such use, saying the project would lose money and become a state liability. Biden said the administration’s strategy is to address the national debt long-term, and s...

Pool report from Politico's Abby Phillip. Vice President Joe Biden arrived at the Japanese Embassy in Washington at 11:14 am for an unannounced visit.   Biden was greeted at the door by Japan's Ambassador to the U.S. Ichiro Fujisaki and other embassy personnel. He signed the book of condolences in the Old Residence of the Embassy at a small table in the center of the room next to a single Japanese flag. The book is the same one President Obama signed when he visited last week. The room is otherwise empty save for a handful of flower bouquets and cards delivered to the embassy from a group of local children. One reads "There is hope," and others have hand drawn images of flowers. Biden sat writing his message at the table for three minutes before getting to inspect the cards. He picked up one that read “We are thinking of you.” “Mr. Vice President, this is from a nearby school,” Fujisaki told Biden as he inspected the flowers and cards. Biden turned to th...

Vice President Biden Scheduled to Celebrate The One-Year Anniversary With Visit To Delaware High School On Monday, March 21st, nearly a year after the U.S. Department of Education announced that Delaware was awarded over $100 million in Race to the Top funding, Vice President Biden will visit Howard High School of Technology in Wilmington, Delaware, with Secretary of Education Arne Duncan. As one of the first four schools in Delaware to receive Race to the Top assistance, Howard High School has made significant progress, launching a transformation plan that will be fully implemented in the 2011-2012 school year. The Vice President and Secretary Duncan will highlight key areas of Race to the Top achievement at Howard High School and across the state, as well as the success of teacher collaboration in Delaware. They will also discuss how winning the future in education will continue to require investments that promote a shared responsibility among everyone involved; reform at the ...

As we reported earlier , the Bidens are traveling to Helsinki, Finland, Monrovia and Russia this week. Here's an account of their first day in Helsinki by White House press pool team member Jonathan Weisman: At 6:35 pm, motorcade rolled from the Hilton to the Esplanade in the center of Helsinki, where VPOTUS, Dr. Jill Biden and Finnegan made a beeline for Marimekko, the famous Finnish design store. Finnegan (the Biden's grandchild) and Dr. Jill were drawn to black Converse basketball shoes covered in tear-dropped shaped, interlocking white loops. The VPOTUS wandered aimlessly like most men do in such shopping occasions, but he did express some skepticism about said shoes."These are Cons," he told your pooler with a shrug. He used to play basketball in the same canvas shoe, not with such a design. "I'm not sure if she wants to go on the court in that but", said Vice President Biden.  Finnegan appeared to be going for the low-tops, but no word ...

Moldova, part of Vice President Biden's planned trip to Europe. Vice President Joe Biden and Dr. Jill Biden will depart for Finland, Russia, and Moldova this coming week.  In each country, the Vice President will meet with key leaders to discuss the full range of bilateral and regional issues.  In Helsinki Finland, he looks forward to consulting with U.S. Finnish partners to discuss regional and global priorities. In Moscow, he will seek to build on the reset in U.S.-Russian relations, with a focus on ways to further the prosperity of the two countries.  In Chisinau, he will signal our support for ongoing democratic and economic reforms and for Moldova's aspirations for European integration.

We missed this event, but was given a very noteworthy account of the evening by White House press pooler, Sophia Nelson.   Sophia writes: Vice President Biden [talked] about the importance of black history month as he reflected on everything from his recent meeting with young pre-teen African American football players at Ft. Campbell (who are the offspring of deployed Afghanistan and Iraq military warriors), to his becoming an attorney in 1968 just after the death of Dr. King (and the subsequent riots), and finally to his train ride with President-elect Barack H. Obama in January 2009 as the newly elected Vice President-elect to the nation's first ever black President. In prepared remarks that lasted approximately 8 minutes Vice President Biden stayed mostly clear of the politics of the day, except for noting at the outset that many of his friends in the Congressional Black Caucus could not attend because they were preparing for votes on the Continuing Resolution to...

Gets The Tie Seen Around The World The events in Egypt may have given the press corp something to talk about at yesterday's 250th press briefing of one Robert Lane Gibbs, perhaps overshadowing his exit, but it was an emotional  last White House briefing , nonetheless. From sounds of "aawww" coming from the press as Gibbs announced that one of his "week ahead" items would include taking his two year-old son, Ethan, to the bus stop - to the applause given after President Obama gave (or perhaps, returned) to his Press Secretary of two and some odd years, a good-bye present encased in a glass picture frame - it was press briefing to remember. Entering the James Brady briefing room moments before Gibbs was about to end his last briefing of the 2010 Obama Administration, the man himself walks in with a gift for his trusty friend, and confidant. President Obama returned to Gibbs a tie, or perhaps 'the' tie that helped launch a presidential campai...

Not even the title of Vice President can prevent one from getting out of jury duty. Vice President Biden was called to his home town of Wilmington Delaware where he participated as a private citizen in a jury selection at the Superior Court of Delaware at the New Castle County Courthouse. President Biden outside a Delaware court house today. President Obama was called to duty last year, but did not participate.  Coincidently, Biden who said he didn't "consider myself different than any other person" , said he hopes the president will participate this year. "I hope the president serves in Chicago if he is called", said Biden. Biden and the other selected jurymen and women, actually ended up being dismissed. --- In other VPOTUS news, Vice President Biden, Chair of the White House Middle Class Task Force, will travel to Greenfield, Indiana on Wednesday of this week where he will visit  Ener1 , Inc., a leading manufacturer of advanced lithium-ion batt...

Elizabeth Edwards endured a lot while dealing with her diagnoses with breast cancer.  Just Monday we learned that the cancer spread to her liver and that doctors had advised against seeking further treatment. She was resting comfortably at her home in North Carolina with family, and former husband John Edwards by her side earlier this week. Edwards helped propel her husband into the spotlight during his second bid - this time during the 2008 presidential campaign, only to find out that the man she revered had an affair with a campaign worker. The details were painted out in a book written by former Edwards campaign manager, Andrew Young titled, The Politician. Mrs. Edwards was also a writer, having authored two books:  Saving Graces: Finding Solace and Strength from Friends and Strangers, and Resilience: Reflections on the Burdens and Gifts of Facing Life's Adversities.  She also shared   her story with this year's Kennedy Center...

Photo/CBS. Vice President Joe Biden wrote an op-ed piece for the New York Times, published this weekend.   The piece discusses what Congress and the current administration must do to ensure a stabe, self-reliant nation for Iraq. Biden writes that in the six visits he's made the country's police and soldiers have made progress. "Iraq today is far safer and more stable than at any time since the outbreak of war in 2003", writes Biden. "In recent months, using their own intelligence, Iraqi forces have killed or captured dozens of senior leaders of Al Qaeda in Iraq and other terrorist groups. The weekly tally of violent incidents throughout Iraq has dropped to about 160, from nearly 1,600 in 2007." Notwithstanding those accomplishments Biden notes that more needs to be done and calls on Congress to  "fulfill the budget requests to support America’s continued engagement, including our broader diplomatic presence, a modernization plan for the Iraqi s...

This Friday, November 19th, at 10:30 AM, Vice President Biden will hold a Middle Class Task Force event to announce new initiatives to help middle class and low income families secure their legal rights. Following the Vice President’s remarks, there will be a series of panel discussions on these initiatives. Panel participants will include Secretary of Labor Hilda Solis; Larry Tribe, Senior Counselor for Access to Justice at the Department of Justice; senior administration officials from the Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Housing and Urban Development; and representatives from the legal advocacy community. Attorney General Eric Holder will make remarks at the conclusion of the program. The event will also be streamed live on www.whitehouse.gov/live .

At a Middle Class Task Force event today, Vice President Biden announced a series of federal actions designed to lay the groundwork for a strong, self-sustaining home energy efficiency retrofit industry. These actions include a new Home Energy Score program that will help homeowners make cost-effective decisions about home energy improvements and a new retrofit financing program called PowerSaver. The Vice President was joined by Nancy Sutley , Chair of the White House Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ); Steven Chu , Secretary of Energy (DOE); Hilda Solis , Secretary of Labor (DOL); and Shaun Donovan , Secretary of Housing and Urban Development (HUD). “The initiatives announced today are putting the Recovery Through Retrofit report’s recommendations into action – giving American families the tools they need to invest in home energy upgrades,” said Vice President Biden. “Together, these programs will grow the home retrofit industry and help middle class families save money and ener...

New Transportation Projects Announced  (But We Just Want Our DC Area Potholes Fixed, Please!) Vice President Joe Biden today announced that 10,000 transportation projects are now under way in all 50 states and the District of Columbia thanks to the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA). Projects are considered under way when a contractor has been hired, the project has received official notice to proceed, and work has begun. This milestone comes just over a year after the Recovery Act was signed into law and as the spring construction season is getting into full swing. “The 10,000 transportation projects under way are already helping put us on the road to economic recovery, but there is even more to come,” said Vice President Biden. “This spring, Recovery Act projects will pick up the pace across the country, providing even more jobs improving America’s roads, highways and bridges.” Other major Recovery Act-funded projects under construction include I-4/Selmon Expres...