President Biden Proposes a New Course for America in His First Address to Congress

 This is a moment Joe Biden has waited 48 years for.

For the first time in over 44 years of government service, he sat at the speaker's podium in the House of Representatives to deliver comments to the nation as the President of the United States.

Please click here to read the full transcript of the Address.

With Vice President Kamala Harris and Speaker Nancy Pelosi presiding, the President said it is "good to be back."  He then became the first President to say "Madam Vice President" and "Second Gentleman" from that podium, telling the American People "no president has ever said those words from this podium and it's about time."

Mr. Biden focused his address on proposing a new course for the country by discussing:

• The events of the first 100 days of the Biden/Harris Administration.
• The American Jobs Plan.
• The American Families Plan.
• Law Enforcement Reform.
• Immigration Reform.
• American leadership in the World.
• Protecting American Democracy and defeating Autocracy.

Introductory Remarks on the First Hundred Days

Mr. Biden's first comments centered on the events of the first 100 days of his Administration. His introductory remarks revolved around American Resolve.

"Tonight, I come to talk about crisis — and opportunity. About rebuilding our nation — and revitalizing our democracy. And winning the future for America. As I stand here tonight — just one day shy of the 100th day of my administration. 100 days since I took the oath of office, lifted my hand off our family Bible, and inherited a nation in crisis. The worst pandemic in a century. The worst economic crisis since the Great Depression. The worst attack on our democracy since the Civil War. Now, after just 100 days, I can report to the nation: America is on the move again."

"...But in America, we never stay down. In America, we always get up. And today, that’s what we’re doing: America is rising anew. Choosing hope over fear. Truth over lies. Light over darkness. After 100 days of rescue and renewal, America is ready for takeoff. We are working again. Dreaming again. Discovering again. Leading the world again. We have shown each other and the world: There is no quit in America."

The President then extolled the merits of the American Rescue Plan, highlighting:

• The production and distribution of vaccines to over to the tune of over 200 million shots in the first 100 days. The President reminded the American People that anyone aged 16 or over could get the vaccination and implored them to do so.
• The sending of $1400 relief checks to 85 percent of the American People.
• Helping people put food on the table.
• Rental assistance.
• 800,000 people enrolling in the Affordable Care Act Marketplaces during the special enrollment period.
• Improved health care for Veterans.
• Reducing child poverty in half.

Proposing a New Course for the United States with the American Jobs and Families Plans.

Citing growing competition with China, historical proof that trickle-down economics (tax cuts for the rich) does not work, and the fact that the United States Government has not invested in the future like it used to, President Biden proposed a new course for America that would "grow the economy from the bottom up and middle out" by detailing his American Jobs and Families Plan.

The American Jobs Plan, as Biden reminded the people would focus on revitalizing and rebuilding United States infrastructure like:

• Replacing dirty lead water pipes in ten million homes and 400,000 schools.
• Upgrade transportation infrastructures like roads, rail, bridges, transit lines, waterways, and airports.
• Expanding broadband including 35 percent of Rural America that lacks it.
• Constructing a modern and clean electric grid.
• Home care for the elderly and disabled. There is currently an 800,000 person waiting list on Medicare for home care.
• Building energy-efficient homes.
• Constructing 500,000 electric charging stations for electric vehicles.
• Farmers producing cover crops.
• The biggest increase in nondefense research like advanced batteries, biotechnology, computer chips, and clean energy.
• Combatting cancer.

The American Jobs Plan, according to President Biden, would be:

• "A once-in-a-generation investment in America itself."
• "The largest jobs plan since World War II."
• "Based on the motto "buy American." Mr. Biden said there was no reason wind turbine parts could not be produced in Pittsburgh instead of China.
• "A blue-collar blueprint to build America where 90 percent of the jobs in the American Jobs plan do not require a college degree and 75 percent do not need an Associates."

Mr. Biden advised the American People that the time to act is now because "the rest of the world isn’t waiting for us. Doing nothing is not an option."

The President then transitioned and discussed the components of the American Families Plan which was released earlier in the day. These components included:

• Adding two years of free pre-school.
• Adding two years of free community college.
• Increasing Pell Grants and investing in Black, Tribal, and Minority Serving Colleges.
• Increasing access to quality and affordable child care.
• Providing paid family and medical leave.
• Expanding tax credits for children and child care.
• Making the health care tax credits permanent.

How to pay for all of this?

By making the ultra-wealthy individuals, families, and businesses pay their fair share.

Discussing the fairness of asking the ultra-wealthy to pay more in taxes, the President reminded the American People:

• "Wall Street didn’t build this country. The middle class built this country. And unions build the middle class."
• "55 of the nation’s biggest corporations paid zero in federal income tax last year. No federal taxes on more than $40 billion in profits."
• "The pay gap between CEOs and their workers is now among the largest in history. According to one study, CEOs make 320 times what their average workers make."
• "While 20 million Americans lost their jobs in the pandemic – working- and middle-class Americans, the roughly 650 Billionaires in America saw their net worth increase by more than $one trillion."
• Taxes on those making over $400,000 would go up to the level they were when George W. Bush first became President (39.6 percent.)
• Any Capital Gains increase would be on three-tenths of one percent of the wealthiest Americans.

Mr. Biden said he would not ask the Middle or Lower Classes to pay more in taxes, relaying that "they’re already paying enough."

Other measures the President called on Congress to Pass

• Protecting the Right to Organize Act.
• A $15.00 an hour Minimum Wage.
• Paycheck Fairness Act.
• Lower deductibles for people with health insurance plans on the Affordable Care Act marketplaces.
• Lowering the costs of prescription drugs.
• The George Floyd Law Enforcement Reform Act.
• Immigration Reform that provides border security and a pathway to citizenship for Dreamers and others people that qualify for it.
• Equality Act that would protect the LGBTQ Community.
• The reauthorization of the Violence Against Women Act and do away with the loophole that allows violent partners to keep their weapons.
• An assault weapons ban and close gun show background check loopholes. I liked the ad-lipped line about deers.
• HR 1 and the John Lewis Acts to protect and expand Voting Rights.

For all these measures, the President said "let's argue over it. Let's debate it. Let's act."

 

America's Place in the World.

Mr. Biden relayed that in conversations with other World Leaders that "America is back."

Unfortunately, those same global leaders have questioned how long America would be back.

Biden told the American People that it was important "to show not just that we are back, but that we are here to stay" especially on issues like combatting climate change.

He also reaffirmed that the United States would be tough on bad actors like China, Russia, Iran, North Korea, and terrorist organizations.

He also said that after every American gets access to the COVID 19 vaccine, the United States would become "an arsenal for vaccines" for the rest of the world.

The President also said he was glad he was ending the "forever war" in Afghanistan where people are now serving who were born after 9/11 and children are stationed in the same country their parents were.

Protecting American Democracy

In his closing remarks, President Biden passionately spoke about the need to protect and expand American Democracy, asking the questions:

• "Can our democracy deliver on its promise that all of us – created equal in the image of God – have a chance to lead lives of dignity, respect, and possibility?
• Can our democracy deliver on the most pressing needs of our people?
• Can our democracy overcome the lies, anger, hate, and fears that have pulled us apart?"

Biden told the audience that the autocrats around the world were betting against American Democracy.

He then closed his address by saying:

"They (the autocrats) are wrong. And we have to prove them wrong. We have to prove democracy still works. That our government still works – and can deliver for the people. In our first 100 days together, we have acted to restore the people’s faith in our democracy to deliver. We’re vaccinating the nation. We’re creating hundreds of thousands of jobs. We’re delivering real results people can see and feel in their own lives. Opening the doors of opportunity. Guaranteeing fairness and justice. That’s the essence of America. That’s democracy in action. Our Constitution opens with the words, “We the People”. It’s time we remembered that We the People are the government. You and I. Not some force in a distant capital. Not some powerful force we have no control over. It’s us. It’s “We the people.” In another era when our democracy was tested, Franklin Roosevelt reminded us—In America: we do our part. That’s all I’m asking. That we all do our part. And if we do, then we will meet the central challenge of the age by proving that democracy is durable and strong. The autocrats will not win the future. America will. The future will belong to America. I stand here tonight before you in a new and vital hour in the life of our democracy and our nation. And I can say with absolute confidence: I have never been more confident or more optimistic about America. We have stared into an abyss of insurrection and autocracy — of pandemic and pain — and “We the People” did not flinch. At the very moment, our adversaries were certain we would pull apart and fail. We came together. United. With light and hope, we summoned new strength and new resolve. To position us to win the competition for the 21st Century. On our way forward to a Union more perfect. More prosperous. More just. As one people. One nation. One America. It’s never been a good bet to bet against America. And it still isn’t. We are the United States of America. There is nothing – nothing – beyond our capacity – nothing we can’t do – if we do it together. May God bless you all.  May God protect our troops."

 

 

The Biden/Harris Administration Unveils the American Families Plan

Photo from Slow Boring 

Ahead of President Biden's first address before a Joint Session of Congress as President, the Administration unveiled the second part of its Build Back Better Program: The American Families Plan. The American Jobs Plan was released last month.

In a statement released by the White House, the Administration said:

"The American Jobs Plan and the American Families Plan are once-in-a-generation investments in our nation’s future. The American Jobs Plan will create millions of good jobs, rebuild our country’s physical infrastructure and workforce, and spark innovation and manufacturing here at home. The American Families Plan is an investment in our children and our families—helping families cover the basic expenses that so many struggles with now, lowering health insurance premiums, and continuing the American Rescue Plan’s historic reductions in child poverty. Together, these plans reinvest in the future of the American economy and American workers and will help us out-compete China and other countries around the world."

What is in the Plan?

The American Families Plan provides for:

• Free Quality Pre-school for three and four-year-olds.
• Two years of free community college.
• Making college more affordable for low and middle-income families through increased Pell Grant allotments.
• Invests in teachers and their training.
• Child Care Assistance so families spend no more than seven percent of their income on child care.
• A national comprehensive paid family and medical leave program.
• Nutrition assistance such as expanding access to healthy meals for children in school and summer meal programs.
• Extending tax cuts and credits that were included in the American Rescue Plan including the Child Tax Credit, the Earned Income Tax Credit, the Child and Dependent Care Tax Credit, and the expanded health insurance tax credits that have reduced health insurance rates. Paid

The Biden/Harris Administration contends that investing in these human-centered programs will:

"...yield significant economic returns – boosting productivity and economic growth, producing a larger, more productive, and healthier workforce on a sustained basis, and generating savings to states and the federal government. Evidence shows that a dollar invested in high-quality early childhood programs for low-income children will result in up to $7.30 in benefits, including increased wages, improved health, and reduced crime. Parental paid leave has been shown to keep mothers in the workforce, increasing labor force participation and boosting economic growth. And, sustained tax credits for families with children have been found to yield a lifetime of benefits, ranging from higher educational attainment to higher lifetime earnings."

How to Pay for the American Families Plan.

The Biden/Harris Administration has proposed paying for the American Families Plan by:

• Reversing the 2017 Trump Tax Cuts on those making $400,000 or higher at 39.6 percent.
• Boosting the I.R.S. enforcement budget to investigate upper-income earners.
• Elimination of tax loopholes like reforming the estate tax for those values at one million for individuals and $2.5 for married couples.
• Increasing the Capital Gains Tax.

The White House, in their statement, wrote:

"President Biden’s plan uses the resulting revenue to rebuild the middle class, investing in education and boosting wages. It will also give tax relief to middle-class families, dramatically reducing child poverty and cutting the cost of child care in half for many families. The result of the President’s individual tax reforms will be a tax code with fewer loopholes for the wealthy and more opportunity for low- and middle-income Americans."

"Altogether, these tax reforms focused on the highest-income Americans would raise about $1.5 trillion across the decade. In combination with the American Jobs Plan, which produces long-term deficit reduction through corporate tax reform, all of the investments would be fully paid for over the next 15 years."

The American Jobs and Families Plans in the Biden/Harris Build Back Better Plan are ambitious and bold.

They will truly move the country and the American People forward.

Now the hard part of negotiating with Congress will begin.

IF you are Fully Vaccinated, you No Longer Need to Wear a Mask Outside at Most Events

 The Director of the Center for Disease Control, Dr. Rochelle Walensky articulated new CDC guidelines on mask-wearing today (April 27, 2021) for people who are fully vaccinated from the Coronavirus.

Fully Vaccinated People (as shown in the below CDC chart) can now participate in most outdoor activities without wearing a mask. The one exception is large outdoor gatherings like outside music performances or sporting events.

[caption id="attachment_108383" align="alignnone" width="500"] Photo from NBC News[/caption]

People who are not yet fully vaccinated will still need to wear masks at:

• Small outdoor events where other unvaccinated people are.
• Outside dining.
• Large outdoor crowded events.

All people (vaccinated or otherwise) are still expected to wear masks in most indoor settings.

[caption id="attachment_108384" align="alignnone" width="500"] Photo from NBC News[/caption]

President Biden, in comments after the CDC announcement, thanked the American People who did their "patriotic duty" in getting vaccinated and urged those that had not scheduled an appointment to immediately do so, stressing "it's easy and free,"  and emphasizing that "yes vaccines are about saving your life but also the lives of the people around you."

It is very important to follow CDC guidelines to protect yourself and those around you.

Follow the guidance of the experts and not the idiocy of commentators on Fox Island (looking at you Tucker Carlson.)

If you have not already, schedule an appointment to receive the COVID 19 vaccination.

The country and the American People can not fully return to normal until the great majority of the country is vaccinated.

Do your part.

Anti Trump-Fascist Republicans give Arizona Congressional Republicans Bad Grades

Photo from the Republican Accountability Project

Which Republican Members of Congress Support Democracy?

Not many.

The Republican Accountability Project, a group of expatriate Anti Trump Republicans (people like Elizabeth Neumann, Olivia Troye, and Bill Kristol) that have become regular contributors on CNN and MSNBC, has released a report (called the GOP Report Card on Democracy) giving 136 Congressional Republicans failing grades for their behavior toward American Democracy following the November elections.

Arizona Republicans Debbie Lesko, Andy Biggs, and Paul Gosar received F's.

David Schweikert earned a D minus.

The grading rubric consisted of four items. They were:

• "Did he or she sign on to the amicus brief filed along with Texas’ lawsuit to the Supreme Court that sought to nullify votes cast in Michigan, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania and Georgia? 
• Did he or she object to the certification of Electoral College votes from at least one state? 
• Did he or she make public statements that cast doubt on the legitimacy of the 2020 election? 
• Did he or she vote to hold Trump accountable via impeachment or conviction?"

Lesko and Biggs who did all four received an F.

Gosar who did everything but sign on to the Texas Amicus brief also received an F.

Schweikert performed the same as Gosar but still earned a D minus. That is probably because the Congressional District Six Representative did not have a direct hand in organizing the January 6, 2021, Domestic Terrorist Attack on the Nation's Capitol.

Among the other usual loathsome suspects from the former Party of Lincoln that received failing grades were:

• Lauren Boebert
• Mo Brooks.
• Ted Cruz
• Matt Gaetz.
• Louie Gohmert.
• Marjorie Taylor Greene.
• Josh Hawley.
• Cindy Hyde Smith.
• Darrell Issa.
• Jim Jordan.
• Kevin McCarthy (House Minority Leader who only yesterday (April 25, 2021) was trying to rewrite history on Donald Trump's involvement with the attempted coup on January 6, 2021.
• Devin Nunes.
• Steve Scalise (the number two member of Republican House Leadership.)
• Rick Scott

Enemy of the People Mitch McConnell received a C minus.

Several Republicans from the dwindling sane pro-Democracy branch of the party received A's.

• Richard Burr.
• Bill Cassidy.
• Liz Cheney.
• Susan Collins.
• Anthony Gonzalez.
• Jaime Herrera Butler.
• John Katko.
• Adam Kinzinger.
• Peter Meijer
• Lisa Murkowski.
• Dan Newhouse.
• Mitt Romney.
• Ben Sasse.
• Pat Toomey.
• Fred Upton.
• David Valadao.

Please click here to see the full Republican Congressional roster and the grades they received.

Only 16 members of the former Party of Lincoln fully supported Democracy after the November 2020 Elections.

136 failed to do so when the opportunity presented itself on four occasions.

It is a sad commentary on the condition of the Republican Party that its number one and two "leaders" in the House (McCarthy and Scalise) failed so miserably when the time to lead came and they chose to put Demagogue over Country.

If California does indeed lose Congressional seats after the 2020 census, Democrats should ensure that one of those lost seats should be Kevin McCarthy's.

These people who failed the American Ideal and the others that received a C or D grade have forgotten what Republican (for the public) and Democracy (rule by the many) means.

They represent a festering cancer on the American political system and they need to be primaried and defeated in the 2022 and 2024 Elections.

There is never any room for autocratic, fascist, white nationalist, and traitorous individuals in public office.

It is time for them to go.

 

 

 

The Biden/Harris Administration Pledges to Cut Carbon Emissions By Half and Increase Jobs in Sustainable-Clean Energy Sector

Hosting a two-day virtual global summit with 40 nations in attendance, the Biden/Harris Administration brought the United States back, after a four-year absence, as a leader in combatting climate change and promoting the creation of new clean energy jobs.

During the two day summit, Vice President Harris and President Biden, accompanied by their economic, energy, and environmental teams, pledged to:

• Cut carbon emission levels to half of their 2005 levels by 2030.
• Double the funding for climate-related projects in the developing world by 2024.
• Create millions of new jobs in clean energy and technology.

Vice President Harris opened the two-day event introducing President Biden and stating:

"As a global community, it is imperative that we act quickly and together to confront this crisis. And this will require innovation and collaboration around the world. It will require the use of renewable energy and new technologies. And it will give each of our nations the opportunity to build healthier communities and stronger economies.

Here, we believe tackling climate change, improving communities, and creating jobs can occur simultaneously. And we must recognize the importance, of course, of justice in the work that we do. The communities hardest hit by climate change are the same communities harmed by wealth and gender inequality, toxic air pollution, and so much more. This truth holds around the world.

So I urge all of us to focus on these communities, including indigenous communities and consider their insight and experience in our efforts moving forward. They are critical leaders in this fight."

President Biden reminded his fellow leaders and their teams of the need to keep global temperatures from rising more than 1.5 degrees Celsius, stating:

"You know, the world beyond 1.5 degrees means more frequent and intense fires, floods, droughts, heatwaves, and hurricanes tearing through communities, ripping away lives and livelihoods, increasingly dire impacts to our public health."

Speaking on the potential for millions of new jobs, President Biden said:

"...Today's final session is not about the threat of climate change poses; it's about the opportunity that addressing climate change provides. It's an opportunity to create millions of good-paying jobs around the world and innovate -- in innovative sectors -- you know, jobs that bring greater quality of life, greater dignity to the people performing those jobs in every nation.

For a line-worker, electricians, utility workers -- laying transmission lines, connecting battery storage, and making our electric grid more modern. For automotive workers -- building electric cars, trucks, and buses. Skilled workers installing and charge -- charging stations to accommodate them throughout our countries.

Construction workers, engineers, insulators -- upgrading our schools and commercial buildings, and constructing new energy-efficient homes. Manufacturing -- manufacturing workers building nuclear and carbon capture technologies, solar panels, and wind turbines.

And people working in the fields that we haven't even conceived of yet  on farms and on factories and in laboratories and universities with things we haven't even thought of so far..."

Virtually all the attending nations expressed similar goals for reducing emissions. According to a summary from reporters at the Washington Post, some like Britain and the European Union pledged to reduce emissions more than the United States. Canada and Japan said smaller targets. Russia would not commit to a number to cut emissions by 2050. The Chinese pledged to “strive to peak carbon dioxide emissions before 2030 and achieve carbon neutrality before 2060.” Strive is the keyword there. Brazil promised to stop illegal deforestation but it is under the current government that disaster has increased.

Moving Forward

If past is prologue, this summit may be nothing more than a 40 nation kumbayah gathering. Five years after the Paris Climate Agreement, many of the interim goals and trends have not been met.

There will be another Climate Summit in Glasgow, Scotland in November 2021.

By then, It will be time for all nations and political party's (looking at you reactionary anti-science Republicans) to get serious about combatting climate change and developing alternative and sustainable clean energy options.

Remember there is no Planet B and for all the conservatives that moan and groan about how Democratic energy policies will stifle American competitiveness, keep in mind:

• Republican talking points about the economy have virtually never been proven to be historically correct. Ask them what happened to the Clinton, Obama, and Biden recessions they all predicted or how the Reagan, Bush, and Trump tax cuts would pay for themselves.
• We will not have to worry about American competitiveness if no one can breathe the air anymore.

Clean Sustainable Energy is the future.

According to reporting by CBS News, there are already three million clean energy jobs in the United States and they will grow.

Solar and wind are the major clean energy job sectors and they are growing.

In contrast, the coal industry had its lowest recorded employment numbers last year. Currently, the same number of people who work at Panda Express work in the coal industry.

By this time next year, Panda Express, a growing restaurant chain, will probably have more employees.

Two million people work in the energy-efficient arena with over a quarter-million laborers producing alternative fuel vehicles. Close to another half a million work on making the parts for these alternative fuel vehicles.

Recognizing the new reality, the United Mine Workers President Cecil Roberts presented West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin a document called "Preserving Coal Country"

This was not a document to propose options to only revitalize the coal industry. These were suggestions to:

• Retrain miners in the clean energy jobs of the future.
• Tax Credits to motivate manufacturers to purchase solar panels and wind turbines.
• Develop clean coal technology to capture escaping carbon and store it.

Parts of this could have been lifted from the Biden/Harris American Jobs Plan.

When the workers in the declining fossil fuel industry know the time is up, all of America's leaders should band together to create the clean energy infrastructure that will provide for millions of good-paying new jobs and restore/protect the environment.

Now is the time to act.

 

 

Walter Mondale ushered in the Modern Vice Presidency and Chose the first Woman Vice Presidential Nominee on a Major Party Ticket

 In case you missed it with the coverage of the Chauvin verdict, the Global Climate Summit, and the debate over the American Jobs Plan, former Minnesota Senator, Vice President, and 1984 Democratic Presidential Nominee Walter Mondale passed away this week at the age of 93.

President Jimmy Carter, for whom Mondale served from 1976 to 1981 stated:

"Today I mourn the passing of my dear friend Walter Mondale, who I consider the best vice president in our country's history. During our administration, Fritz used his political skill and personal integrity to transform the vice presidency into a dynamic, policy-driving force that had never been seen before and still exists today. He was an invaluable partner and an able servant of the people of Minnesota, the United States, and the world. Fritz Mondale provided us all with a model for public service and private behavior. Rosalynn and I join all Americans in giving thanks for his exemplary life, and we extend our deepest condolences to his family."

President Joe Biden issued a statement from the White House which said:

"It’s with great sadness that Jill and I learned of the passing of Vice President Walter Mondale, but great gratitude that we were able to call one of our nation’s most dedicated patriots and public servants a dear friend and mentor.

Jill and I had the opportunity to speak to Fritz and his family over the weekend, to reflect on the years of friendship we shared, and how much we learned from and leaned on each other.

When I arrived in the United States Senate in 1973, Walter Mondale was one of the first people to greet me. Through his work as a Senator, he showed me what was possible. He may have been modest and unassuming in manner, but he was unwavering in his pursuit of progress; instrumental in passing laws like the Fair Housing Act to prevent racial discrimination in housing, Title IX to provide more opportunities for women, and laws to protect our environment. There have been few senators, before or since, who commanded such universal respect.

When President Obama asked me to consider being his Vice President, Fritz was my first call and trusted guide. He not only took my call, he wrote me a memo. It was Walter Mondale who defined the vice presidency as a full partnership, and helped provide a model for my service.

And Joan did the same for Jill, helping her carve out a role for herself as our nation’s Second Lady.

He not only created a path for himself, he helped others do the same. Walter Mondale was the first presidential nominee of either party to select a woman as his running mate, and I know how pleased he was to be able to see Kamala Harris become Vice President.

In accepting the Democratic Party’s nomination for President, he described the values he was taught to live by: “to play by the rules; to tell the truth; to obey the law; to care for others; to love our country; to cherish our faith.”

As a Senator, an Ambassador, a Vice President, and a candidate for President, he lived and spread those values.

Our hearts go out to the Mondale family. And we take some comfort in the fact that he is with Joan and Eleanor now."

From Humphrey Protegee to Carter's Vice President. 

A protegee of Hubert Humphrey, another Minnesota Senator, Vice President, and Presidential Nominee (1968,) Mondale was a left-of-center Democrat who championed Civil Rights and progressive policies like fair housing and environmentalism.

After flirting with a run for the Democratic Presidential Nomination in 1976 (apparently he tired of spending endless nights in Holiday Inns,) he became Jimmy Carters Vice Presidential Nominee that year.

In the first-ever Vice Presidential Debate, Senator Mondale bested Senator (and 1996 Republican Presidential Nominee) Bob Dole, calling the Kansan a "hatchet man"  after the Republican accused Democrats of bringing on every war on the Twentieth Century (World War One, World War Two, Korea, and Vietnam.)

 

Changing the Vice Presidency.

After the Carter/Mondale Ticket won a close election in 1976 over the Ford/Dole one, President Carter, with a supporting Vice President Mondale reshaped the office of the Vice Presidency to what it is today.

[caption id="attachment_108298" align="alignnone" width="500"] Walter Mondale being sworn in as Vice President with Joan Mondale, Jimmy Carter, and Nelson Rockefeller looking on. Photo from Minnesota Historical Society.[/caption]

Before the Carter/Mondale Administration, Vice Presidents served at the whim of the Presidents who chose them.

Comments surrounding the position went back to the first Vice President John Adams who said:

"I am Vice President. In this I am nothing, but I may be everything."

"My country has in its wisdom contrived for me the most insignificant office that ever the invention of man contrived or his imagination conceived."

Woodrow Wilson's Vice President, Thomas Marshall (who if there was the 25th Amendment in 1919 probably could have assumed the Presidency following Wilson's stroke) said:

"Once there were two brothers. One ran away to sea; the other was elected vice president of the United States. And nothing was heard of either of them again."

Franklin Roosevelt's first Vice President, John Nance Garner commented that "the vice presidency is not worth a bucket of warm piss.”

Roosevelts last Vice President Harry Truman (who had a short stay in the role becoming President after FDR's death in 1945) said:

"Look at all the Vice Presidents in history. Where are they? They were about as useful as a cow's fifth teat."

Jimmy Carter and Walter Mondale changed all that by:

• Making sure the Vice President received the same classified briefings as the President. Remember Harry Truman did not fully know about the atomic bomb until after he became President. That distancing of information to the Vice President lasted until Mondale.
• Making the Vice President a partner and consigliere to the President.
• Giving the Vice President an office in the West Wing.
• Putting the Vice President in the military chain of command.
• Having weekly lunches with the President.

According to journalist Jonathan Alter, Carter reportedly told staffers “If you get an order from Fritz, it’s as if it's an order from me.” Alter then wrote: "He (Carter)  added that if any of them followed the historical pattern and tried to sideline the veep, they would be fired."

While a good relationship that continued in friendship until Mondale's dying day, there were some disagreements. 

The Vice President thought President Carter erred when he gave the Crisis of Confidence Malassie Speech in 1979 (history proved him right there despite the initial support.) Mondale reportedly said to Carter “You have a style problem...You can’t uplift people” (ouch.)

Mondale also thought Carter should not have imposed a grain embargo on the Soviet Union.

Mondale erred by suggesting that Carter allow the Shah of Iran into the United States for medical treatment. This would be one of the causes of the 15-month Iranian Hostage Crisis from 1979 to 1981.

But as Mondale liked to say on many occasions when asked about the Carter/Mondale Administration:

From a historical perspective, former Vice President and 2000 Presidential Popular Vote Winner Al Gore said that you could divide the periods of Vice Presidents into two groups: "Before Walter Mondale and After Walter Mondale."

Running for President in his own right and making history with Geraldine Ferraro

Four years after the Carter/Mondale team lost to the Reagan/Bush ticket in 1980, the former Vice President ran and won the Democratic nomination for the Presidency in 1984.

Mondale immediately made history by choosing the first woman, New York Congresswoman Geraldine Ferraro, to be the Vice Presidential nominee on a major party ticket.

In his acceptance speech, Mondale committed the political cardinal sin of being honest with the American People by telling the American People that he or Reagan would raise their taxes.

Mondale was right. Reagan did raise taxes before and after the 1984 Presidential Elections.

Mondale performed very well in the two Presidential Debates against Reagan. Unfortunately, pundits only play Reagan's only good line of the debates when he said, with Mondale laughing, that he would not make the former Vice President's "youth and inexperience" a campaign issue.

Mondale, despite most people agreeing with him on many issues, would lose to Reagan in a massive landslide in 1984 carrying only his home state of Minnesota and Washington DC.

After 1984

Mondale retired to Minnesota and practiced law until President Bill Clinton nominated him to serve as the Ambassador to Japan in 1993. He would serve in that role until 1996.

Following the death of Senator Paul Wellstone in the ending phase of his reelection campaign in a plane crash in 2002, Mondale was put up as a replacement candidate.

Unfortunately, the celebration honoring Wellstone's life turned hyperpartisan, turning off some political independents and Mondale lost to Norm Coleman in what would be his last campaign.

Vice President Mondale is survived by two children. His wife, Joan, passed away in 2014. His daughter died from brain cancer in 2015.

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