Biden gets veep role wrong

No, Mg, you are wrong, and Joe was wrong. He also was over-botoxed which left him devoid of expression. His huge forehead was smooth as a baby's derriere, whle his eyes were age appropriately a bit droopy, and the only thing on his face that moved was his mouth. He'd look more credible/statesmanike if he had some character. His fake teeth, fake hairplugs, and frozen face added up to a bizarre image. Politicians need to learn that they don't need to look like movie stars, and lay off the plastic surery Pelosi's the scariest example, and Hillary's bug eyes and multiple alterations, and now Biden's forehead. Joe Lieberman, who spoke afterward, looked fabulous, with his natural and graceful and earned character showing through.

Actually Joe Biden was right. According to the text of the US Constitution (http://www.usconstitution.net/const.html#A1Sec3), Article 1 describes the VP's role in the Senate as follows: "The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided."

Joe was impressive, polite and showed sensitivity and class. He was a good choice. He is a value add to the ticket and would make a great president down the road.

This article is completely false. Article 1, Section 3 is the *ONLY* part of the Constitution that defines the role of the Vice President. Nowhere else in the Constitution does it mention any of the duties of the Vice President, instead merely mentioning the order of succession, VP term limits, reasons for removing the VP from office, who replaces the VP in his/her absence, etc. You said: 'Mr. Biden said the vice president's only role is to support the president and to preside over the Senate "only in a time when in fact there's a tie vote. The Constitution is explicit."' Which is false. Biden said the Vice President only gets a VOTE when there's a tie. And the Constitution is INDEED explicit: "The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided." The only time the Constitution allows the VP a vote is as a tiebreaker. You simply cannot get any clearer than that.

jcmtyler is confused. The language in our constitution is precise. Article I says "The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no vote, unless they be equally divided." It does NOT say that the VP shall be President of the Senate ONLY on the occasions that there's a tie vote and he is called upon to break the tie. It says "shall be": The Vice President SHALL BE President of the Senate..." That means AT ALL TIMES. It does not constrain the power of the VP to only breaking tie votes. And by the way, Article I deals with the legislature. Article II deals with the executive. I suggest jcmtyler actually read the constitution, rather than merely cherry-pick a few lines here and there that seem to support an incorrect notion.

From Article I, Section 3: The Vice President of the United States shall be President of the Senate, but shall have no Vote, unless they be equally divided. The Senate shall chuse their other Officers, and also a President pro tempore, in the absence of the Vice President, or when he shall exercise the Office of President of the United States. So, the VP presides over the Senate - all the time, except when absent - and the VP can vote, but only if there is a tie. As usual, Joe was not all there on this answer, but this was typical of his performance throughout the debate. He has the gift of gab, but that just isn't enough. Mr. Dinan is correct.

Palin is Alaska's and America's Shock and Awe! She hit it dead on! BIDEN was the one who said all of those durogatory/but truthful things about his running mate,,and then he sold his soul and changed his tune for the price of the VP candidacy. Gov Palin took Biden to the woodshed and spanked him good!! She's rocking the election now!!

"As usual, Joe was not all there on this answer" Dinan misrepresented Biden's answer, period. Biden only said that the VP only gets a vote when there's a tie. He didn't say anything about not always presiding over the senate. As for this: "jcmtyler is confused. The language in our constitution is precise." I think it's funny you can say something like that, then follow it up with "It does NOT say that the VP shall be President of the Senate ONLY on the occasions that there's a tie vote and he is called upon to break the tie." If we're going to stick with what the Constitution explicitly DOES say, ALL it says is that the VP presides over the senate and only gets a vote in a tiebreaker. Anything else would require flexing the definition in the Constitution beyond what the document says. So yes, it IS precise, and it says exactly what Biden said.

"Gov Palin took Biden to the woodshed and spanked him good!! She's rocking the election now!!" Let me know when she answers the questions they asked her last night, because she sure didn't do it then. "Madame Vice President, what is your tiebreaker vote on this bill?" "Well, I think we should have chili tonight."

Not only was Biden completely wrong on this issue, he was preachy and condescending about it. This was one of the few times in the debate Biden went into attack mode. Did you also notice that this issue was set up by Ifill as a softball to Biden inviting comment on Cheney's new & expansive stance on the role of the VP? Theres nothing new, expansive or Cheney-related to the Constitution. Its only 220+ years old. This was also one of the relatively few times where Ifill showed her bias.

Here is the text of what Biden said: "And the primary role of the vice president of the United States of America is to support the president of the United States of America, give that president his or her best judgment when sought, and as vice president, to preside over the Senate, only in a time when in fact there's a tie vote." That's what he said. He is wrong.

Don't expect the major media outlets to report that Biden, after decades of involvement in the governance of the people, still doesn't know the constitutionally defined role of VP. Joe also says that Obama's highest tax rate of 39% will be lower than the 28% highest tax rate we had under Reagan. Must be new math Obama learned in Harvard. Joe says everyone of us who earns under $250,000 will pay no taxes but doesn't explain how Obama/Biden will fund all their new costly proposals; magic dust from Hollywood? Question: Anyone wonder what we taxpayer's layout so Joe can take the train back and forth between home in Delaware and the office in DC everyday? I suspect he doesn't go coach along with the rest of us small fries. The vultures from the media went after Palin's use of per diem and travel when she commuted to Juneau (there is no outside road access to the capitol in Juneau)but they have avoided any inquiry into what and how the DEMS regularly spend our money.

Joe biden was dead wrong on at least 10 things he stated that McCain did or did not vote on. For a man that has been in the Senate for over 3 decades you would think he could get facts straight. Sarah Palin was fantastic! She spoke to the people very direct and she let Joe Biden have it a few times! I was very proud of her. Like she said, she prefers this type of forum where the liberal media isn't editing what you say.

Of course Biden was wrong, he doesn't want VP Palin setting in the Senate and actively working to influence the legeslative body. After all this might take away some of the Democrats power and they can't have that, they will lie about what the Constitution says forever attempting to prevent that.

Biden sounded more polished and seemed to have "facts and figures" at hand, but I don't think people want a polished socialist, who has not changed a thing for thirty-five years. It's easy to cite these facts and figures -- he has been doing this for years -- when you can just make them up. Half of what he said was half-truth, and the other half lies cut from whole cloth. If any middle class Americans think the Community Organizer will make their lives better, they might want to ask themselves what he has done to this point: - Taken largess from Fannie Mae to keep oversight off their executive bonuses. - Opposed the very tactic that has turned the war in Iraq around: the Surge. This was, by the way, the Maverick's plan. He pushed it against President Bush's will until the president had no choice but accept it. - Worked with ACORN and Rezko to build unsafe houses for low income citizens. What a resume. John McCain will not be more of the same. Only more of what works.