There's a name that has been absent from recent discussions on the debt ceiling crisis. Joe Biden. You know, the Vice-President? Used to head up the Judiciary and Foreign Affairs Committees back in the day? Seems like he would be our go-to guy when congressional weirdness spins out of control and scares the holy crap of everybody from the BBC to Italian bankers.
Has anybody seen Joe lately? And by seeing, I don't mean seeing him photoshopped into Letterman's piece last night while wandering through Obama's nationwide address in his bathrobe. Hey, Joe? You okay?
It seems like only yesterday (well, like last month) that Joe Biden was all over the news and hip-deep in the debt ceiling debate (if debate really means slow-motion fiscal car wreck). I got a little curious and did the most cursory google search imaginable for recent news hits about the VP and the debt ceiling debacle (debacle being a word more applicable than debate and also starting with a "D").
Here's some recent Joe and the Giant Peach Deficit sightings that da google offers us:
Back on April 29, 2001- we see how 'Iron Pants" Biden seeks a Deficit Deal
“It’s amazing how these Republicans, the right wing of this party – whose philosophy threw us into this Godawful hole we’re in, gave us the tremendous deficits we’ve inherited. They’re now attempting to use the very economic condition they have created to blame the victim – whether it’s organized labor or ordinary middle-class working men and women. It’s bizarre. It’s bizarre.”
In early May, Diplomatic Joe was "seeking to bridge a cavernous partisan divide over taxes and spending before the federal government slams into its debt ceiling this summer
By late May, Responsible Joe was "lead negotiator for the administration on legislation combining the debt limit increase with spending cuts demanded by Republicans.
Hopeful Joe made a cameo in mid-June:
Speaking to reporters on Capitol Hill, Biden said the bipartisan deficit reduction group is now tackling "the really hard stuff" and "making real progress." He predicted well over a trillion dollars in spending cuts and said he expects a "serious downpayment" on the goal of cutting 4 trillion over 10-12 years
Hopeful Joe kept plugging away:
Biden declined to discuss the details surrounding the negotiations, but he said, "if I do, every lawyer from K Street will be down here,” reports CBS News.
"The only reason this is still working is because I haven't told you any of those things," he told reporters.
Obi-Wan Biden was our "last hope for debt ceiling deal", but then Cantor stomped off in a huff.
Finally in late June, Very Serious Joe issued a statement "declaring the talks in a state of "abeyance" after Republican negotiators abandoned the talks in a dispute with Democrats over higher taxes.
Counterfeit Joe is the most recent googly hit:
If you can’t say something constructive, don’t say anything at all.
‘I don’t know’ is not an answer.
I hope someday you become a Vice President. Then we’ll see how smart you are.
Now go back out and come back in without slamming the door this time.
Leaving the talks? Is that a threat or a promise?
While there was a rare sighting of Joe way back in 2008 as the "blunt-speaking provocateur to Mr. Obama", has anybody seen Joe lately? Senator Reid? Anybody?