Democratic Nominee Barack Obama announced that Senator Joe Biden would join would join his campaign as the Vice Presidential candidate over a week ago. However, his views on important tax and economic issues are still relatively unknown. Earlier in the week, Roni Deutch blogged on her personal blog, The Tax Lady Blog, about Biden’s tax views and voting record. Below is a snippet from the article, but you can read the full version at Sen. Joe Biden: a Deeper Look at his Tax Views.
Ending the War
One of Biden’s most progressive tax views is his adamancy about ending the war. Biden feels the sooner we end the war, the sooner we can start saving money again and reducing our national debt. Currently, the war on Iraq is costing around $100 billion a year, and Biden wants use that money to invest in our own country.
Bush Tax Cuts
The Bush tax cuts have been a large subject of debate this election season. Biden opposes the tax cuts and has voted against them recently and voted against similar tax cuts in the past when Bush Sr. was president. Although the argument has been made that the “trickle down” effect will make sure the tax cuts benefit us all, Biden claims that this tactic has not worked. “Imagine what we could do if we had a president who had the nerve and the wisdom to understand that rich folks are just as patriotic as poor folks--you just have to ask them,” claimed Biden. “I spoke to a group of millionaires about taking away their tax cut, and when I explained how I'd use it, they gave me a standing ovation.”
Health Care
Joe Biden is known for his fight for an ethical and easy health care system for America. Working closely with Social Security as well as Medicare, he has been a big part of numerous changes that have already been made to health care in this country. If elected as Vice President, Biden has claimed that he would like to work alongside Obama to strengthen prescription drug programs and make them affordable and available to everyone.
Biden recognizes that Medicare has many flaws and that it requires improvement. He would like to open programs to promote wellness and disease prevention, waive co-payments, and advance technology within the medical industry. He hopes to fund these new programs by repealing the Bush tax cuts for the top 1% and withdrawing troops from Iraq. However, there are noticeable flaws in Biden's health plans such as his neglect to recognize youth needs. Most of his plans emphasize senior health, which is important but should not be the only part of his plan.
Gas Prices
Taking on the OPEC monopoly is one of the riskier moves Biden wants to make. Some critics think this will not help but hurt the problem, as OPEC is not the only cause of high gas prices. Biden’s other energy plans are to invest in new alternative energies will be pricey at first, but have the potential to save billions in the long-run.