February 25, 2009 12:18 PM

Analysis: Obama's Bounce, Biden's Stumble

By
Dan Farber
Topics
White House
(CBS)
Vice President Joe Biden may have received a brief, icy stare from his boss after his appearance on The Early Show on CBS this morning (watch below).

While President Obama was basking in the warm reception for his speech (80 percent of speech watchers approved of President Obama's plans for dealing with the economic crisis, compared to 63 percent prior to the speech) after his address to Congress, the vice president was telling a small business owner, Lisa Hendrickson, what she should do to get her questions answered regarding how the stimulus plan might help her.

"I recommend that woman call my office directly and I will be able to guide her as to what pieces of this package would be directly helpful to her," Biden told Early Show co-anchor Maggie Rodriguez.

Taking direct calls from distraught small business owners is a nice gesture on national TV, but highly unrealistic. With about 25 million small businesses in the U.S., Biden could be backed up fielding calls to his office for the rest of his life. Instead of a knee-jerk political response – "call me" – it would be much more practical to send those concerned citizens to the recovery.gov Web site, where all the information about the recovery would be available for the public to "follow the money," as Biden stated on The Early Show.

However, when Rodriguez asked Biden for the Web site address, he couldn't come up with it. He responded that he was embarrassed not to know the Web site address. "I should have it in front of me and I don't," he admitted. Someone off camera finally gave him the Web address to share with the viewers.



President Obama put Biden in charge of the White House's oversight taskforce on the distributing and tracking stimulus funds because, as the president said, "nobody messes with Joe." You would think he would know how to access the Web site, which is at the center of the Obama administration's effort to restore public trust with increased transparency and accountability. According to Peter Orszag, head of the Office of Management and Budget, the recovery.gov site is getting 3,000 hits, or accesses, per second.

Today, Biden gathered administration officials in the White House Roosevelt room to find out "exactly what each Cabinet member is doing, what resources available, how they will distribute those sources, how they will follow the money," as he said during The Early Show interview. At the meeting, Earl Devaney, who was recently named chairman of the new Recovery Act Transparency and Accountability Board, said he will ask each state to name a watchdog to oversee spending of stimulus package funds.

Biden, the entire Obama administration and Congress will be held accountable for making sure the funds are used to bring the economy back. "Follow the money," a phrase that was made famous in "All the President's Men," is being adapted for a 21st century money trail that ends at recovery.gov. It remains to be seen whether Biden's team will be able to effectively police the funds and if the content provided on the Web site will be as transparent and accurate as promised.

Daniel Farber is Editor-In-Chief of CBSNews.com.

Add a Comment See all 35 Comments
by dogbert17 March 2, 2009 3:52 PM EST
What is amazing here, is that everybody is commenting on Biden's typical stupid comment around a web number, and not knowing the web site!

However, what is missing is the advice he gave the caller for how the stimulus bill would help her. He suggested that maybe her problem is that her customers can't get to her because the bridge needs repairing over the creek!!!

How can anybody be that stupid, as a reason small businesses are having problems!!!

I recommend that they go ahead and build that bridge to nowhere, and all of them take a hike over it!!

God help us, if this is the help small businesses are going to get!
Reply to this comment
by zog1 March 1, 2009 12:45 PM EST
Biden's stumble is not what worries me, it is the fact that all the increased taxes on the wealthy will be passed back on to the rest of us. I agree that Obama's ideas for equal access to education and health care are wonderful concepts, but they are a pipe dream as a solution to get us out of a recession. It is good to think of ways to redistribute wealth in America, but don't we need to have some wealth to work with before we do that.? To use a metaphor: we are drowning, let's get out of the water first, then learn to swim before we get back in and try again. It is very risky to play with billions(and trillions) of money we do not have.

The best minds in all fields, not just economics, need to brainstorm a solution and I think the solution will have more to do with scrimping and saving than with spending trillions of dollars to establish programs for "a chicken in every pot".

If we continue down Obama's road, every man, woman and child will get their entitlement, but what will it be worth if we drive this country to the brink of financial disaster?

As a final note, it seems presumptuous of Obama to decide that a vote for his presidency was a vote to re-distribute wealth. If this is his clear direction, shouldn't we have a referendum, state-by-state to move towards Socialism?
Reply to this comment
by brainteaser2 February 25, 2009 7:23 PM EST
Oh my gosh. What a hideous remark. (Joke) He could have told her not to worry and smirked at her like the last 8 years.
Reply to this comment
by helendancer February 25, 2009 7:12 PM EST
Gasbag Biden: a plagiarizer, a liar (re: his tale of visiting a
folksy diner in Delaware that had been closed for years!! -
and visiting Home Depot stores, where no one could recall
ever seeing him) an ignoramus (talking down to Gov. Palin) -just a pathetic joke, and America should pray that the other
arrogant joke in the White House - BO - doesn't meet his
maker before 2012.
Reply to this comment
by hempy4 February 25, 2009 5:48 PM EST
It looks like borrowing-Joe-Biden, now foot-in-the-mouth-Biden, seems to have some disconnect. Wonder if his brain ist wired right -- or has come loose?

McCain had problems like that too. It may be an age-related disability.
Reply to this comment
by specialty8 February 25, 2009 5:19 PM EST
Everyone thought McCain was senile. Poor ole Joe should just go. Just think this country is being run by a community organizer, senile joe,Pelosi, and her side kick Reid.
Reply to this comment
by credibility2 February 25, 2009 4:55 PM EST
And to think that Biden actually felt he was qualified to be our president. He's not even qualified to be our vice-president.
Reply to this comment
by mommareenie February 25, 2009 4:54 PM EST
VP Biden will do what he has to do as President Obama's cabinet as well. I know one thing for sure, I'd trust Biden any day before I'd trust Chaney.
Reply to this comment
by swin5 February 25, 2009 4:48 PM EST
Just think about it - if we had a Republican vice-president when Bill Clinton was president, the deciding vote on NAFTA would not have been a 'Yea' cast by Al Gore but a 'Nay' cast by the VP. How interesting!
Reply to this comment
by swin5 February 25, 2009 4:43 PM EST
To Daniel Farber, author of this piece.

Nowhere in the Constitution of the United States where the offices of the Presidency and Vice-Presidency are established does it say that the president is the vice-president's 'Boss'. It is a separate office - granted the Constitution doesn't seem to give the vice-president any specific powers but it also doesn't say the VP needs to agree with, be of the same party as, or do the bidding of the president. Would it not be interesting if we did have the nerve to elect a president of one party and a VP of another party?
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