VP hopeful’s wife: End Iraq war
By Jessica VanderKolk, jvanderkolk@altoonamirror.comEnding the war in Iraq and taking care of the nation's veterans is important to Jill Biden, especially as her son, Beau, deployed to Iraq this month and serves as a captain in the Delaware National Guard.
Biden, wife of Democratic vice presidential candidate Joe Biden, spoke to the Mirror Sunday by phone after a Scranton rally with her husband, former President Bill Clinton and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y.
Democratic presidential hopeful Barack Obama's campaign offered the interviews to reporters in each Pennsylvania media market.
"Near and dear to my heart, since I have a son who is deployed, we need to end this war in Iraq," Jill Biden said during the eight-minute interview.
Biden said she encourages local families with loved ones in the military to consider the Obama-Biden ticket.
"One of the things I've heard Barack say, and I've heard Joe say, is that we have a sacred obligation to our veterans, that education and their health care needs will be taken care of," she said. "This is a really important issue for all of our military."
Biden, a teacher at Delaware Technical and Community College for 15 years, wrote her doctoral dissertation about how to retain students at community colleges, such as Pennsylvania Highlands in Johnstown.
She said she would continue her focus on education should the Democratic ticket make it to the White House.
"I wrote about student retention because I find in the community college where we teach we actually lose about one-third of our students," Jill Biden said. "I know my students are working, raising their children and going to school. When times get tough, the first thing that has to go is education.
"I had a student, a nurse, a straight-A student; his father was dying of cancer, and he knows he's not going to be able to afford next semester."
The Pennsylvania Department of Education's most recent community college annual report shows a drop in those students from the fall 2005 semester to spring 2006.
About 20 percent of students ages 18 to 21 dropped from fall to spring. The number increased to 24 percent for ages 22 to 34 and was about 19 percent for students older than 35.
In statistics divided by race, 25 percent of black students did not return for spring semester, compared with 23 percent of Hispanic students and 20 percent of white students.
During a recent family emergency, Biden telephoned the students in her 8:30 a.m. class to let them know she couldn't attend, hoping to save them the gas required to drive to campus.
"A lot of my students can't afford books," she said. "It's the little things making it so difficult for students to stay in school."
Biden cited her husband's experience on various issues as reasons he would succeed as vice president. Joe Biden has served in the U.S. Senate for more than three decades.
"I think he's a strong leader," Jill Biden said. "He has so much legislation that has helped women, especially his Violence Against Women Act, which criminalizes domestic violence."
Jill Biden also pointed to her husband's foreign policy expertise.
He has served as a ranking Democrat on the Senate Foreign Relations Committee since 1997.
On the Republican ticket, Todd Palin, husband of vice presidential candidate and Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin, also has traveled on behalf of his wife and presidential hopeful John McCain.
Spokesman Peter Feldman said Todd Palin may speak with the media before the Nov. 4 election.
"Todd Palin is campaigning for us, and we are excited to have him on the trail," Feldman said. "Like Gov. Palin, Alaska's 'first dude' brings a lot of energy to the campaign - and we're going to make good use of it in the final stretch."
Feldman said Todd Palin appeared in Maine Saturday as his wife traveled in central Pennsylvania, holding a rally in Johnstown and stopping in Altoona and near State College before attending a Philadelphia Flyers hockey game.
Mirror Staff Writer Jessica VanderKolk is at 946-7465.
|
lambs1
|
|
|---|---|
|
10-15-08 9:21 AM
|
While everyone is screaming for alternative energy sources, every time Gamesa proposes a site for wind tech. the public, wildlife game comm ect... all have a reason to oppose it.
|
|
TimmyH
|
|
|
10-14-08 11:18 PM
|
The U.N. agreed that yellow cake, which is used to make nukes, was considered a WMD before the invasion. Guess what? We found some. 550 metric tons of it to be exact. ***********msnbc.msn****/id/25546334/ "The last major remnant of Saddam Hussein's nuclear program — a huge stockpile of concentrated natural uranium — reached a Canadian port Saturday to complete a secret U.S. operation that included a two-week airlift from Baghdad and a ship voyage crossing two oceans. The removal of 550 metric tons of "yellowcake" — the seed material for higher-grade nuclear enrichment — was a significant step toward closing the books on Saddam's nuclear legacy. It also brought relief to U.S. and Iraqi authorities who had worried the cache would reach insurgents or smugglers crossing to Iran to aid its nuclear ambitions." Yeah, Michelle, what a waste of money this war has been.
|
|
TimmyH
|
|
|
10-14-08 6:28 PM
|
Michelle: you're right, Wal-Mart has no union. That is my point. If by shamelessly you mean that they give me a good wage for the area, good health and dental coverage for my whole family along with 401k, paid incentives on every pay check, quarterly incentive checks every 3 months, and basically put almost no limit on how much money I can make, than yes they're shameless.
|
|
Michele731
|
|
|
10-14-08 5:13 PM
|
I don't think Wal Mart has a union. Aren't they notorious for treating their employees shamelessly.
|
|
TimmyH
|
|
|
10-14-08 1:31 PM
|
Klaus: yes, you did. You stated that Wal-Mart would have no good benefits if it weren't for unions. I asked for proof, and you said to both me and gutter you don't have too. That is called making a baseless argument and refusing to support it. Next.
|
|
ArtHUR
|
|
|
10-14-08 8:14 AM
|
Klaus, It was more of a general statement of the uneducated types on this site (166, Blair), I wasnt necessarily referring to you.
|
|
homerbeep
|
|
|
10-14-08 3:38 AM
|
klaus, move, et al: So...Obama already won? McCain died? Who's the prophet here? BTW, if Obama's already elected, why is ACORN so desperate for votes?
|
|
KlausVR
|
|
|
10-14-08 1:17 AM
|
I DO question and criticize our president ... if you consider that berating / name-calling, well ... sorry that YOU don't see the distinction. I have made no baseless allegations / refused to back them up. And, more importantly, I have questioned NO ONE'S patriotism because they have differed from me ... that's what Americans do ... differ from each other.
|
|
ArtHUR
|
|
|
10-14-08 12:35 AM
|
Klaus, There's a fine distinction between questioning/criticizing and BERATING/NAME-CALLING the President. Learn the difference.
|
|
TimmyH
|
|
|
10-13-08 11:53 PM
|
Klaus: making baseless allegations and baseless arguments and then refusing to back them up with verifiable evidence is not patriotic. Get over yourself.
|
|
KlausVR
|
|
|
10-13-08 11:50 PM
|
MY uniform should have a swastika on it? I think not. I do not walk lock-step with whatever my president has to say. I am too American to do that. MY nation was built on the belief in MY right to criticize it - and to be considered a PATRIOT to do so! To announce that there must be no criticism of the President, or that we are to stand by the President, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the American public. (Teddy Roosevelt) Therefore ... thwfffffffft!
|
|
TimmyH
|
|
|
10-13-08 11:41 PM
|
Too true Arthur. Its why they continue to dodge the deregulation bill from 1999 with Biden's voting YES for more deregulation while McCain didn't vote at all. They obviously don't know what to say to this and are too dishonest to admit that Obama's accusations toward McCain's voting record are a lie.
|
|
ArtHUR
|
|
|
10-13-08 11:35 PM
|
Is McMelanoma really the best you can come up with? WATCH OUT! I figure the best way I can get you to shut up is to prevent facts, which you will just run from.
|
|
drophammer
|
|
|
10-13-08 10:39 PM
|
TimmyH 10-13-08 10:20 PM "In that case drophammer I guess Michael Moore, Randi Rhodes, and Jane Fonda are all terrorists." ....Are they married to a V.P. candidate who is likely to become president when McMelanoma dies? Here's part of his 1,700 page medical records. ***********huffingtonpost****/2008/09/30/new-urgency-over-mccain-m_n_130298.html "what more important information is needed to elect a president other than his fitness for office? "I don't see anything wrong with opening up the discussion," said Ronald Bronow, former chief of dermatology at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. "What we want to know is, what stage is this melanoma? Particularly with the prospect of the vice president becoming the president... If you are an objective physician, you have to be concerned about this."
|
|
TimmyH
|
|
|
10-13-08 10:20 PM
|
In that case drophammer I guess Michael Moore, Randi Rhodes, and Jane Fonda are all terrorists.
|
|
drophammer
|
|
|
10-13-08 10:11 PM
|
Here's the head of the Alaska Succession Party, Joe Vogler, that Todd Palin belonged to and at whose convention she delivered a speech as Governor: "The fires of*****are frozen glaciers compared to my hatred of the American government, and I won't be buried under their*****flag." He also said, "I'm an Alaskan, not an American. I've no use for America or her*******institutions." I would say that Governor Palin is consorting with terrorists. Here's the story: ***********huffingtonpost****/2008/10/06/olbermann-special-comment_n_132456.html
|
|
drophammer
|
|
|
10-13-08 10:10 PM
|
Keating's Lincoln S&L collapsed two years after McCain and the Keating 5 pressured regulators to delay an investigation. As a result of the collapse, taxpayers were on the hook for $3.4 billion bailout, which stood as a record for the most expensive bank failure — until the current mortgage crisis. In addition, 20,000 investors who had bought junk bonds from Keating, thinking they were federally insured, had their savings wiped out. McCain had hundreds of thousands of dollars of money in Keating investments, and Keating was McCain's most generous benefactor and a personal friend. This is a fundamentally different relationship than Obama had with Ayers, which is thin at best. Ayer's group (though not Ayers) gained publicity for their incompetence - 3 bomb makers died while building a bomb. McCain and Keating had a far more substantial negative impact on the country, not to mention a fundamentally deeper connection
|
|
drophammer
|
|
|
10-13-08 10:08 PM
|
She's right. McCain: "Obama's Middle Class relief is too expensive..." Iraq will cost us THREE TRILLION DOLLARS when medical and interest costs are added up. (Joseph Stieglietz-Nobel Prize in Economics). This warmonger will bring our boys home in a box for what? Why are we there again? "Fighting for freedom" What freedom? The freedom of his "friends" to parasitize our economy? Here's one:***********financialweek****/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20081008/REG/810089997/1036 George Walker is the kingpin in the newly reincarnated asset management firm that’s emerging from the collapse of Lehman Brothers. When Mr. Walker, the President’s cousin, assumed the role of managing director and global head of the investment management unit of the i-bank late in 2006, an investment banker said: "Everyone in the universe is watching what George Walker will do at Lehman." The same is true now that Mr. Walker has managed to negotiate a deal to sell the $230 bil
|
|
TimmyH
|
|
|
10-13-08 10:03 PM
|
Klaus: only gay people would comment on the goat being out of style.
|
|
TimmyH
|
|
|
10-13-08 9:58 PM
|
moveon: I didn't ask you who Obama tells you his heroes are, nor do I care. Bottom line: he too, is a proven liar. It is documented. He said McCain has voted every time for deregulation. McCain didn't vote at all, and Biden voted FOR it. I've posted this numerous times. You don't care that your hero is a liar, which proves this isn't anything more to you than a********contest with the opposing side. So you'll continue to ignore VERIFIABLE facts and stick your fingers in your ears while yelling "Obama's winning Obama's winning!" Good for you. Except this isn't a football game, its reality, and when all of his trillions he's going to tack on to the already outrageous debt finally collapses us, when all of the socialist policies and dependence on the government comes back to bite us as it already has, you'll be in the same bread line. You've won nothing.
|
|
KlausVR
|
|
|
10-13-08 8:09 PM
|
As for dear Sarah … she has been protected from the liberal attack dogs since day one … not ONE press conference. The interviews with Couric and Ifill don’t count … but she couldn’t come across with a straight answer there either. KC: what do you read to keep up on current affairs. SP: everything! LOL The Tina Fey skits have been based on Palin’s verbatim answers. If it’s literally a joke on SNL when Fey reads the lines, it’s not just because Fey is funny. It’s because the lines are funny in the sense of pitiful. If she can’t face Katie and Gwen, how is she going to face Putin if she becomes president? And Todd’s goatee … so 70’s and out of style … unless you’re gay.
|
|
marasmom28
|
|
|
10-13-08 8:04 PM
|
While this has been extremely entertaining, I'm kinda glad I stayed out of this one. lol.
|
|
KlausVR
|
|
|
10-13-08 8:00 PM
|
("`-'-/").___..--'"`-._ `6_ 6 ) `-. ( ).`-.__.`) WE ARE ... (_Y_.)' ._ ) `._ `. ``-..-' PENN STATE! _ ..`--'_..-_/ /--'_.' ,' (il),-' (li),' ((!.-' Hoping that Texas and Penn State meet for the championship ... JoePa has never lost a bowl game to ANY team from the State of Texas. Just a little relief from the stress of today's comment stream.
|
|
TimmyH
|
|
|
10-13-08 7:33 PM
|
moveon: yes what a shocker. But the difference is, McCain isn't my hero. I didn't vote for the guy, nor do I think he'll make a good president. He's dishonest. You on the other hand of a hard time accepting that your hero candidate is a proven liar. That's what I don't get. A liar is a liar without or without the D or the R. Are you really this partisan?
|
|
TimmyH
|
|
|
10-13-08 7:31 PM
|
See the problem there is that admitting that you're wrong in screwing around on your wife doesn't help if you're still remarried to someone else. I guess I'm just too old fashioned especially for someone at my young age. Its easy to be gracious when you get what you want in the end.
|