VP Joe Biden: We Don't Need Socialism

[ericson00]

http://thehill.com/blogs/blog-briefing-room/news/266483-biden-we-dont-need-socialism

Vice President Biden on Wednesday offered criticism of "socialism" during a speech abroad, seemingly a shot at Bernie Sanders, a self-described democratic socialist and Democratic candidate for president.

Biden made the remark in a keynote address at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, where he called for "a more progressive tax code" and a strengthening of the middle class.

"We need a more progressive tax code -- not confiscatory policy. Not socialism. A tax code." -VP Biden

[arcane1]

1. Hear that, east coast? Gotta find, hire, and pay for your own road to be snowplowed now :)

[roguevalley]

21. biden sold us out on credit cards and the like. If you're paying through

the nose, thank old Uncle Joe from Scranton. If I never hear that bullshit again, it will be too soon. Sounds to me that he has warmed up to the idea that they will toss hillary and install him so he's softening up bernie he thinks.

[Autumn]

2. "confiscatory policy"? Go away Joe. Your time has come and gone

I can't wait till Colorado's caucus is done.

[question everything]

7. But you would have loved him had he jumped into the race

to "steal" votes from Hillary.

[Autumn]

8. What are the lottery numbers?

[Warren Stupidity]

3. So now Harry f'ing Truman's universal healthcare

is too commie for the corporate dems?

[Dawson Leery]

4. kick

[niyad]

5. that was ver disappointing, joe.

[nc4bo]

6. Something strange is in the air, to guess

I will not dare.

[m-lekktor]

9. He'll be gone soon. nt

[Binkie The Clown]

10. Positioning himself to elbow Bernie out if/when Hillary fails. n/t

[ecstatic]

11. Maybe he found out that Bernie really did try to primary Obama

(and him) back in 2012. Up until now, VP Biden seemed to like Bernie.

[SunSeeker]

12. Biden is reflecting mainstream Democrats' position. nt

[Doctor_J]

13. New Dems sound more like republicans every day

I won't be voting for either, any more, ever. A weight has been lifted.

Obviously the VP doesn't have to worry about affording healthcare, or having money to retire, or supporting a family on minimum wage.

[John Poet]

23. The 'new Dems' are NOW the Democratic Socialists !!!!

[Reter]

14. He's only saying it because Bernie will be his main competition if Hillary gets indicted

He's going to jump in if she were to drop out.

[Gothmog]

15. Joe Biden: U.S. doesn't need 'socialism'

In context, this comment does not appear to be an attack on Sanders http://www.cnn.com/2016/01/20/politics/joe-biden-davos-socialism/

Vice President Joe Biden disparaged socialism while addressing the World Economic Forum in Switzerland on Wednesday, as his own political party finds itself with a self-described "democratic socialist" leading in some state polls.

"We need -- not just in my country, but in other countries -- a more progressive tax code. Not confiscatory policy, not socialism, a tax code," Biden said. "Everybody pays proportionally a fair share. This is not meant to penalize everybody."

Vice President Biden ✔ @VP
"We need a more progressive tax code -- not confiscatory policy. Not socialism. A tax code." -VP Biden #wef16
11:42 AM - 20 Jan 2016

The phrase -- according to the vice president's office, not a specific reference to Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont senator who identifies as a democratic socialist but caucuses with Democrats -- was embedded in a larger speech that hit some of Biden's most frequently touted policies: economic fairness, boosting the middle class and encouraging corporate responsibility.

[ericson00]

16. just like the whole Warren meeting had NOTHING TO DO with running for Prez....

yeeuppp.

[Skwmom]

18. As the Democratic Establishment attacks Bernie on the same theme.

What a coincidence. rofl: :

[Skwmom]

17. So says "I am no populist" Establishment Joe. What a surprise.

[bigwillq]

19. I disagree.

But he's entitled to his opinion.

[AOR]

20. Hey Joe... Einstein disagrees...

Why Socialism ? ... by Albert Einstein

http://monthlyreview.org/2009/05/01/why-socialism

Albert Einstein is the world-famous physicist. This article was originally published in the first issue of Monthly Review (May 1949). It was subsequently published in May 1998 to commemorate the first issue of MR‘s fiftieth year.

(Snips)...

" Man is, at one and the same time, a solitary being and a social being. As a solitary being, he attempts to protect his own existence and that of those who are closest to him, to satisfy his personal desires, and to develop his innate abilities. As a social being, he seeks to gain the recognition and affection of his fellow human beings, to share in their pleasures, to comfort them in their sorrows, and to improve their conditions of life. Only the existence of these varied, frequently conflicting, strivings accounts for the special character of a man, and their specific combination determines the extent to which an individual can achieve an inner equilibrium and can contribute to the well-being of society. It is quite possible that the relative strength of these two drives is, in the main, fixed by inheritance. But the personality that finally emerges is largely formed by the environment in which a man happens to find himself during his development, by the structure of the society in which he grows up, by the tradition of that society, and by its appraisal of particular types of behavior. The abstract concept “society” means to the individual human being the sum total of his direct and indirect relations to his contemporaries and to all the people of earlier generations. The individual is able to think, feel, strive, and work by himself; but he depends so much upon society—in his physical, intellectual, and emotional existence—that it is impossible to think of him, or to understand him, outside the framework of society. It is “society” which provides man with food, clothing, a home, the tools of work, language, the forms of thought, and most of the content of thought; his life is made possible through the labor and the accomplishments of the many millions past and present who are all hidden behind the small word “society.”

" I have now reached the point where I may indicate briefly what to me constitutes the essence of the crisis of our time. It concerns the relationship of the individual to society. The individual has become more conscious than ever of his dependence upon society. But he does not experience this dependence as a positive asset, as an organic tie, as a protective force, but rather as a threat to his natural rights, or even to his economic existence. Moreover, his position in society is such that the egotistical drives of his make-up are constantly being accentuated, while his social drives, which are by nature weaker, progressively deteriorate. All human beings, whatever their position in society, are suffering from this process of deterioration. Unknowingly prisoners of their own egotism, they feel insecure, lonely, and deprived of the naive, simple, and unsophisticated enjoyment of life. Man can find meaning in life, short and perilous as it is, only through devoting himself to society. "

" The economic anarchy of capitalist society as it exists today is, in my opinion, the real source of the evil. We see before us a huge community of producers the members of which are unceasingly striving to deprive each other of the fruits of their collective labor—not by force, but on the whole in faithful compliance with legally established rules. In this respect, it is important to realize that the means of production—that is to say, the entire productive capacity that is needed for producing consumer goods as well as additional capital goods—may legally be, and for the most part are, the private property of individuals. "

" Private capital tends to become concentrated in few hands, partly because of competition among the capitalists, and partly because technological development and the increasing division of labor encourage the formation of larger units of production at the expense of smaller ones. The result of these developments is an oligarchy of private capital the enormous power of which cannot be effectively checked even by a democratically organized political society. This is true since the members of legislative bodies are selected by political parties, largely financed or otherwise influenced by private capitalists who, for all practical purposes, separate the electorate from the legislature. The consequence is that the representatives of the people do not in fact sufficiently protect the interests of the underprivileged sections of the population. Moreover, under existing conditions, private capitalists inevitably control, directly or indirectly, the main sources of information (press, radio, education). It is thus extremely difficult, and indeed in most cases quite impossible, for the individual citizen to come to objective conclusions and to make intelligent use of his political rights. "

[Live and Learn]

22. What we don't need Joe is 20% interest rates. nt