Romney camp seizes on Biden comment on ‘chains’

Vice President Joe Biden pays the George Washington High School football team a surprise visit Monday in Danville, Va. Danville is one of Biden’s stops while campaigning in Southside Virginia and will be speaking at The Institute for Advanced Learning and Research on Tuesday.

Wednesday, August 15, 2012

DANVILLE, Va. (AP) — Vice President Joe Biden sparked a campaign commotion Tuesday, telling an audience in southern Virginia that included hundreds of black voters that Republican Mitt Romney wanted to put them "back in chains" by deregulating Wall Street. He later mocked Republican criticism over the remark while conceding he meant to use different words.

Campaigning in Danville, Biden said the Republican ticket wanted to "unchain Wall Street" by getting rid of regulations Obama signed into law two years ago. He added: "They're going to put y'all back in chains."

Romney later criticized Biden, saying the remarks were part of pattern of "reckless" comments by Obama's campaign and his surrogates "that disgrace the office of the presidency."

In Chillicothe, Ohio, as he ended his bus tour Tuesday night, Romney called Biden's comment "another outrageous charge" and added: "The White House sinks a little bit lower. This is what an angry and desperate presidency looks like."

Biden, speaking in Wytheville, Va., said he had meant to use the term "unshackled." But he did not apologize and mocked the Romney campaign for showing outrage.

"If you want to know what's outrageous, it's their policies, and the effects of their policies on middle-class Americans," he said.

Obama's campaign stood by Biden, saying the comments were a variation on remarks he makes often about the need to "unshackle" the middle class. The campaign said the metaphor was meant to counter Republican calls to unshackle the private sector from Obama-backed regulations.

But the remark still proved to be a distraction, prompting Obama deputy campaign manager Stephanie Cutter to issue a statement calling the Romney campaign's outrage "hypocritical."

"Let's return to that 'substantive' debate Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan promised 72 hours ago, but quickly abandoned," she said in a statement.

The flurry over Biden's remarks underscored what the Obama team knows is a constant risk with the vice president — that his penchant for speaking off the cuff can sometimes result in inartful or off-color comments.

In a less-noticed gaffe Tuesday, Biden told the crowd he was confident their support would help the Obama-Biden ticket carry North Carolina. He was speaking in Virginia at the time.

Still, Obama's campaign sees Biden as one of its most valuable assets. The Scranton, Pa., native has a more natural appeal to working-class voters in battleground states like Ohio and Pennsylvania. He also has willingly embraced the traditional vice presidential attack-dog role, often launching the campaign's most vigorous criticisms of Romney, and now Romney's running mate, Paul Ryan.

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RobHunterJohnson 9 months, 1 week ago

VP BIDEN, Told them the Truth. Rob

newone 9 months, 1 week ago

Romeny isn't sure what the "truth" is anymore with all of his lies, so I can understand how he would be confused.

newone 9 months, 1 week ago

The only disgrace I see is a want to be president who is hiding money, not paying what he owes in taxes, getting a paycheck from a company that he claims he is not working for who ships thousands of jobs overseas while people in the America are struggling to find a job themselves. Romeny is the disgrace!

Gabrielle 9 months, 1 week ago

Newone: these are very serious allegations you are making. It isn't clear to me why you say them. If, for example, we look at your first claim 'hiding money'. It sounds like you are referring to off shore bank accounts. Well, lets say for a moment he does have these accounts and he has them to decrease the amount of taxes he pays. How is this different from anyone who uses tax deductions and 'loopholes' when filing their taxes? Are these ways of avoiding paying taxes too? Are off shore bank accounts illegal? I not heard they are. If they are show me. So, maybe everyone should just fill out the EZ form come tax time. We would certainly pay less to fund the IRS!

RobHunterJohnson 9 months, 1 week ago

Let Romeny be the first by setting the example. Rob

BubbaD 9 months, 1 week ago

You can choose legality as your soul criteria. That's fine for you. Don't presume you choose for anyone else. I find it un-Presidential for someone to shield income from taxes by sending it out of the country. It's my choice. I'll decide what is significant in my evaluation of the candidates.

newone 9 months, 1 week ago

Well if they are so "false" then why doesn't he show the people they proof they are asking for? That is right because it would confirm how much of a lier he is!

clingingredneck 9 months, 1 week ago

Due to t#e filter on t#is site, all H’s #ave been replaced wit# t#e # sign so it will go t#roug#. Because you know as well as I do t#ey will pick out t#e taxes #e pays on #is investments, w#ic# is at 14%, not on #is income taxes, w#ic# is probably around 30%. Most people are not CPA's and don't understand t#e difference. #e's paying 14% on everyt#ing #e earns t#ats sitting in savings. #e's paying a muc# #ig#er rate on #is payc#eck. But Obama won't enlig#ten t#em on t#at. So w#y s#ould Romney #and Obama a baseball bat to beat #im up wit#? Let's see Obamas offs#ore accounts. #e #as t#em, w#ere are #is statements? #ow about t#e DNC c#air womans offs#ore accounts? T#ey all #a ve t#em, because anyone wit# #alf a brain does everyt#ing t#ey can to keep w#at t#ey earned instead of turning it over to ungrateful lazy liberals w#o are not#ing more t#an spoiled brats!

Seriously? #--e is not allowed? Everyt#ing #ere wit# a #as# mark are all four letter words?

newone 9 months, 1 week ago

And the only one in denial is you Graceful, he IS a liar and is hiding a lot but you are too blind or just don't want to admit how horrible this guy is. I would be willing to vote Republican had the Republican party picked someone who isn't a liar and a thief!

newone 9 months, 1 week ago

I will say it once again, if they are "false charges" then thier is a way to prove he is not lying, all he has to do it show us the proof.

RobHunterJohnson 9 months, 1 week ago

One has to think that something must look bad on his Tax Returns, or he would have shown them by now? Rob

tonto_goldberg 9 months, 1 week ago

Honest folk with integrity have their paperwork in order, and they are glad to show it to the people who need it. It's part of having integrity, and it's how things works in the real world. Just a reminder - hkchas keeps posting that link to the tax returns for Obama and Biden. It's your turn to post the one for Romney and Ryan. It really is time to come clean.

connor 9 months, 1 week ago

More like American citizens getting foreign student grants ala Obama. These progressives know all about hiding stuff so they assume Romney is doing it as well.

Obama claimed to be Kenyan to get through school and after he affirmative actioned to graduation he claimed to be Kenyan to get published.

Now he has to hide it.

connor 9 months, 1 week ago

NO Chucky. Obama can't pretend to be a woman, only a Kenyan (or maybe he wasn't pretending that time) But other Progressive women love to pretend to be American Indians to get the AA bonus don't they?

Progressive like you have the corner market on falsifying personal histories and documents. I am sure your OK with that though.

newone 9 months, 1 week ago

I don't think you even know what your point is anymore.

BubbaD 9 months, 1 week ago

Prime example of Graceful attempting to belittle and diminish those who disagree, categorically, with name calling.

tonto_goldberg 9 months, 1 week ago

If the truth was to come out, lots of us white folks would be in chains with the black folks after that. The banking/housing/insurance/finance meltdown of 2008 is nothing compared to the looting and pillaging that would come from Wall Street deregulation.

tonto_goldberg 9 months, 1 week ago

Fear mongering, right. Everything would be fine if we just got those pesky regulators out of the way of businesses. Isn't that the spiel?

Why, then, do you supppose Bank of America, Citigroup, the former GMAC (now known as Ally Financial), JPMorgan Chase, and Wells Fargo paid a total of $26 billion to settle fraud charges related to lending and foreclosure practices during the housing/banking/insurance crisis? It was a pittance compared to what they stole, and all of the managers got to keep their huge salaries, and all of the salespeople got to keep their huge commissions.

The pathetically small settlement was to keep them from going under again and needing another bailout, and you think relaxing a few regulations would make everything hunky-dory? If you say yes, would you be interested in a really nice bridge with a huge potential for toll collections, or perhaps some beach property? You could claim to be an Indian and build a casino.

tonto_goldberg 9 months, 1 week ago

You don't know a thing about thuggery. Do some research, don't just spout slogans. There's a lot of information out there, and you could do a lot better than name-calling. You could even construct a rational comment!

The consequences - like going to court and losing would have been far worse for the banks, and the fraud revelations would have led to stockholder suits against officers and board members. That is why they were so quick to settle. They got off cheap. This way they can keep their perks and their big salaries and their corner offices.

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