I’m on a different side of the fence.
First of all, I believe Biden to be one of the dumbest people ever elected to high office. Its not just his gaffes, but he is consistently on the wrong side of every important issue (think Alaskan pipeline vote in 1973). He really is plain dumb.
But fast forward to his debate against Palin. I was amazed at his ability to lie with absolute conviction. One example - he claimed McCain had voted just like Obama on a tax bill. It turns out McCain had not been present for that vote...but Palin wasn’t prepared to defend against a complete fantasy. She had to let it slide...she pushed a little, but Biden was just so darned confident...and she relented.
Other small things like the restaurant he frequented...but had been closed for 15 years, and the misplaced Home Depot he hung out in...its very hard to defend complete fabrications.
So, no, I don’t ‘respect’ Biden. I recognize that he is an accomplished politician...mostly because he is an unabashed liar (remember how he plagerized campaign speeches during one presidential run).
I think Biden will do better than Obama...and he will be very well rehearsed. But nothing ‘stellar’.
Hey Plugs, were you asleep at the Wheel when the Checks were cut for Solyndra, Big Bird, Monkeys on cocaine. New windows for a closed visitor's center. Modern dance as a tool for software development. Tennessee Electrified Truck Terminal.
Solyndra
•Received $535 million in DOE Loan Guarantee Program6 •Filed for bankruptcy September 2011
Abound Solar
Received $70 million of $400 million commitment from DOE Loan Guarantee Program before funding stopped in August 2011 •Filed for bankruptcy July 20121
Beacon Power
•Received $43 million in DOE Loan Guarantee Program12 •Filed for bankruptcy October 20111
Watch List
The Wall Street Journal reported that as of February 29, there were 10 out of 32 total projects on the Department of Energy’s internal watch list because of “breaching loan terms, falling behind on agreed-upon performance milestones and being part of ‘an industry or market sector experiencing challenging market conditions’.”14 Although the Department of Energy declined to name the ten, the challenges for some of the following companies are not private knowledge.
Nevada Geothermal
•Received partial loan guarantee of $98.5 million in September 201015 •Encountered problems at its only operating plant resulting in financial problems16 •Auditor reported in October 2011 “significant doubt about the company’s ability to continue as a going concern”
NRG Solar
•Received $1.2 billion in DOE Loan Guarantee Program18 •NRG Energy acquired SunPower (the company originally granted the loan) in Sept. 20111
•SunPower reported $520 million in losses for the year ended Jan. 1 and reported in Nov. 2011 it would lay off 85 employees