Joe Biden update: No 'private meetings,' just meetings closed to the press

Possibly a very important policy change quietly emerged in the daily schedule of Vice President Joe Biden today.

Loyal Ticket readers know that, as a patriotic duty, we monitor the longtime senator's schedule with a close eye for detail because, after all, this man is only a heartbeat away from having to give a toast at a G-8 summit. We've especially noted Biden's innumerable  "private meetings" that are closed to the press because, well, they're private.

And we've wondered aloud how this Democratic VP's private meetings with unnamed people on unnamed subjects differs from the private meetings with unnamed people that his evil predecessor had that got so many Democratic senators and representatives worried about nefarious secrets.

On one recent long weekend, the man who became a Delaware senator when his future boss, Barack Obama, was an inexperienced fundraiser of only 11, devoted an entire Monday to "private meetings" that are closed press in his Delaware home.

If that isn't dedication for the $208,000 salary.

Well, today's schedule, unlike many at the end of Biden's work weeks, contains no "private meetings." Not one.

Having spent Thursday traveling and successfully selling the nation on the so far hard-to-detect effects of the $787-billion Obama administration economic stimulus spending plan that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi gave them, Biden will show up for work around 11 today.

He'll join Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in a roundtable to discuss only the rising costs of healthcare for people who own or work for small businesses. One suspects the absent president's ambitious plan to spend billions more to impose his healthcare reforms might also be mentioned.

OK, so figure an hour for the roundtable, maybe 75 minutes max. You can only talk about that stuff so long before requiring healthcare yourself. Fifteen minutes for handshaking, cellphone photos and congratulations on the excellent roundtable. The VP should be outta there by 12:30.

That leaves -- what? -- five, maybe six hours to make it a seven-hour workday.

According to the White House schedule, Biden will not spend the remainder of the workday in private meetings that are closed press.

Instead: "The Vice President will spend the remainder of the day in meetings that are closed press."

You get the difference, right?

(Friday UPDATE 7 p.m.: According to the VP's weekend schedule, if you need to reach him about the stimulus plan or something, both days he will be in Delaware where "There are no public events scheduled." No public mention of private meetings.)

-- Andrew Malcolm

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Photo: Getty Images

Comments

[amtr]

Serioulsy, would anyone leave him alone with their kids!

[kithara]

Obama's energy policy is being debated before congress. President Bush's energy policy was discussed in a private meeting and then implemented. That's the difference. Does anyone get any work accomplished if they have meetings all day? Why do you insinuate that the VP is working only 1 hour a day because he has one meeting? This article is full of not-so-very-subtle but not-very-well-thought-out cynicisms.

[Angel]

Democratic VP? *eeeiiihhh* you are the weakest link... "johnny tell him what he could have won* you could have won the opportunity to be smarter than a 5th grader if you had said 'Democrat' V.P..

'Democrat' means 'Communist' versus the political philosophy of Democracy. Also, the U.S. is a Republic which is a political philosophy distinguished from the Democratic political philosophy. While the two are similar, more so they are very distinguished from each other.

'Democrats' also have abandoned their once vaunted 'Liberal' title as well, as 'Liberal' suggested 'Libertarian' values. Instead, Democrats AND Republicrats have both decided that an authoritarian {Communist} government is where they wanna be. Which, I think, recent polls may have shown is the exact opposite of where the super majority of the American Citizen 'is'. I feel that this is why the Libertarian party may pwn the incumbent parties in the 2010 elections nation wide..

[steve]

The OBAMAs are not good for the AMERICAN people........

[Jim]

Joe Biden, doublespeak champion of the day!

[russ]

Obama and Biden = Dumb and Dumber

[El rey]

This is the result from the "goverment media" to make America a communist country. Everything the Democrats are doing is exactly the recepy from a communist country. The goverment media critized Mr. Chavez, well, the Democrats and the journalism are doing exactly the same.

[Charles Cain]

This guy is Dan Qualye times 10, what an idiot!

[drjohn]

He shoots, he scores! Thank you, Andrew.

[Mikey]

Yeah thanks for clearing that up Joe...

[Ohio_Laughs_At_You]

This is what you get when you vote for m.o.r.o.n.s.

[eagle35]

Cheney was vilified for holding "secret meetings." With Biden it's a punchline. There is no press in America anymore. Just a bunch of fawning and fainting lemmings.

[KMc]

Wow, now aren't we glad we voted them in for the openess and transparency. Now that is change we can believe in!

[CousinEddie]

His meetings are closed to the press because of how gaffe-prone he is. He is a treasure trove of verbal boondoggles.

[Cheryl]

Of course he doesn't want the press in there, he'll just make another stupid comment to embarras the US!

[Johnny Cash]

Change you can believe in!

[Marco]

Its probably gaff control. He sticks his foot in his mouth more than anyone in history.

[distanceviewer]

Great! We have Forrest Gump as our Vice President..

[Concerned in OH]

"Having spent Thursday traveling and successfully selling the nation on the so far hard-to-detect effects of the $787 billion Obama administration economic stimulus spending plan that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi gave them"

False and false.

And shouldn't you be dead by now so you don't vote the wrong way? You disgusting hack.

[StephenRex]

This is because Joe Biden, simply, is an idiot. And for Barack Obama to choose Biden -- whose idiocy is no secret in DC -- as a running-mate, speaks volumes about the Chosen One's alleged intelligence.

[Oldgeez]

You have to remember, it doesn't matter what they do, it only matters what they say they do. "I didn't have sex with that woman" (she had sex with me), "the minute I take the oath of office is the minute the troops start coming home", "we will watch every penny of the stimulus bill", "we don't want to own any car companies", "it's not a private meeting, it's just not public".

Hope there's something left 3 years from now.

[KYinAZ]

I don't think you can prove the existence of Joe Biden.

[flanman]

Third paragraph... his "evil predecessor"

Really? Now there is some quality reporting. What's wrong with just calling him Cheney? Everyone knows who he is and what he did, no need to stoop to those levels. Andrew Malcolm, you are a weak and irresponsible writer.

[Karl Quick]

Sure... "Closed to press but not private" means every participant is now FREE to spin the meeting to fit their personal desires! ...go to it self agrandizers!

You won't read about this meeting because it was closed to the press, but the VP asked me yesterday to please, please help him to learn how to read. It has been a secret he's been hiding for years (and explains why so many politicians don't bother to read the bills they vote on). Now that he is in the executive branch, he has to spend hours being read to by aids.... it consumes MOST of his day, every day. The really slow part is when the aids have to explain the meaning of difficult words like "truth", "honor", "free press" and for that matter, "freedom" in general.

Of course, he'll deny he has a problem, but without allowing the press in, HOW CAN WE BELIEVE HIM?

....oh, that was a spoof. He actually was meeting with the oil execs to see how best to raise the profits of the oil companies and stomp out the "green revolution" before it begins to hurt his rich friends.

What? You don't believe me? Why not? The meeting was closed to the press!!!!

[billbrady]

Biden can keep meetings secret but he can't keep the emergency bunker secret? ?

[Ed Taylor]

"Having spent Thursday traveling and successfully selling the nation on the so far hard-to-detect effects of the $787 billion Obama administration economic stimulus spending plan that House Speaker Nancy Pelosi gave them,".

What a joke. He has not 'sold' us anything but a bunch of snake oil.

Where are the promised jobs? Maybe the stimulus funds would have been better spent if they were actually used as advertised, to "stimulate" the economy, instead of advancing the administrations social programs.

Absolutely no second stimulus after they lied about the first.

Not sure I will vote for this team a second time. I do not appreciate being played.

[Jerry _ Virginia Independent]

If this was Dick Cheney, the media would be protesting from the highest rooftops demanding access. The media continues to check their journalistic credentials at the door when dealing with this administration.

[DTOM]

The Vice-Doofus is challenging Gore for the title of Tap Dancing Politicain with the lowest IQ. And to think, we are only a heartbeat away from a looney-toon-fritter-brain with an IQ about three grades below bean-dip being our fearless leader. OYI !!!!!!

DTOM

[kate]

What a complete idiot and embarassment. This administration truly believes the public is stupid.

[Jeff]

Typical hypocrite!
Typical democrat.

[GunnyG]

What happened to transparency libs?

[MissButterfly]

Thank goodness we've got that smart Joe Biden serving as our VP, a heartbeat away from the big office, instead of dummies like old 'can't spell potatoes Quayle' or that nincompoop woman from Alaska!
I mean, if it weren't for him, I'd never know that FDR got on the TV in 1929 to discuss the crash - I always thought that was another POTUS, and they only had radio then.
Or that paralyzed people in wheel chairs can rise up, I tell you!
I'm sure Joe will continue to educate us!

[Joe Schmuckateli]

Yeah, but WHERE'S THE BIRTH CERTIFICATE?

[Schratboy]

Gafftastic Joe has figured out how to keep out of the news. Don't say anything in public.

[Scooby]

Of course they are trying to mitigate any damage from anything that may come out of Biden's mouth, but this is NOT the TRANSPARENCY that Obama promised the American people!

Judging from Obama's buddies, he is just another wanna-be dictator and if the press continues to give Obama a pass and doesn't do their job, he may just succeed.

[exObamasupporter]

So what is different then what Dick Cheney was accused of? There has been no transparency. In fact less.

[Jim]

Comment? yea right.

[IraqWarVet]

While it is true that Bush and company were a bunch of global elitists/fascists looking for a good time at our expense, I am trying to figure out what makes Obama, his foot in mouth VP, his 30 plus Czars, and a CON-gress intent on bankrupting our nation...better.

The answer of course is that it is only a waning perception, because as the veil rises on this administration, people are beginning to notice that this is not Change but rather Chains we can believe in.

So what do we have for theses Chains people voted for:
Continued bailouts of banks, the nationalization of the auto makers, an expansion of war in Af/Pak, a Cap and Tax program that was never read that will impoverish all who have not been exempted by its loopholes, national health care for all expet CON-gress who is quite happy with their gold plated medical plan paid for by the taxpayers, trillions more debt to try to buy our way out of debt and a continued assault on our civil liberties.
So, I ask you, what is the difference between Bush the neo fascist and Obama the neo progressive?

[AnimalFarmUSA]

Sounds like Orwell's Newspeak. From Wikipedia: The basic idea behind Newspeak is to remove all shades of meaning from language, leaving simple dichotomies (pleasure and pain, happiness and sadness, goodthink and crimethink) which reinforce the total dominance of the State.

Look for NObowma (reinforces the idea that Obama didn't bow to the Saudi king) and NObumma (reinforces the idea that Obama didn't check out that 16 year old's butt at the G8 summit.

[Michael]

You can not believe one word that a democrat says. They are out of touch with America. The democrats ALL have their heads up their ASSES!

[ljphoto]

lol...that's more evidence of the transparency we were promised. Or it could be as simple as he needs to keep the press out because every time he opens his mouth he embarrasses his boss.

[Joker Joe]

Joke Biden strikes again.

[Todd]

Fail.

[Kepmeister]

Don't you get it? When Dems do it then it's okay. If Republicans do it, it's evil. Welcome to the new fascism.

[Ashleigh]

Joe Biden really is stupider than I thought. The only person who can claim to be stupider is the one who chose him as a running mate. 2012....when we can get the "Mistake of '08" out of office and get Hilliary in.

[astralweeks]

But wait, they promised an open government like no other, and we all know the new administration is above reproach---right? Right?

[Mickey]

Really, what is wrong with these fools? The thought of this regime in charge of my country scares the hell out of me.
Could we get some adult supervision!

[Funny article]

Biden's nickname should be "Bluto" from National Lampoon's Animal House.

His gaffe list may reach historical levels before his term is up.

[Big Dog]

I'm sure Biden was one of the most vocal critics of Cheney's so-called private meetings with energy leaders. Why the double standard? Why isn't this front page news the way it was when it was Cheney? I don't begrudge Biden the opportunity to meet privately with anyone. Just shut the hell up about Cheney when he did exactly the same thing.

[for parity]

"private meetings" that are closed to the press because, well, they're private. ??

How about the private meetings - parties at the White
House that are open to the press?

I you folks were watching carefully, and doing your job that and this would be a front page story - and we'd all be talking about it. From 'Gawker:'

Well, he wasn't alone. Gawker has learned that the White House gave tickets to virtually every major news organization that covers the president—the New York Times, Washington Post, Newsweek, Time, ABC News, NBC News, CNN, CBS News, and so on, about 30 in all. The reporters were invited to attend on the following condition:

"You are being invited to attend this event as a guest. Blogging, Twittering or otherwise reporting on this event is not permitted. If you feel that you cannot agree to abide by these ground rules, please don't claim a ticket."

That's right: Much of the White House press corps spent the Fourth schmoozing with White House staffers, catching performances by the Foo Fighters and Jimmy Fallon, and watching the fireworks from the most exclusive vantage point in the D.C. metro area, all off the record—not to mention off-the-Facebook and off-the-Twitter.

These are the same people who just a week ago were whining in the press briefing about Obama's malicious and dastardly attempts to "control the press." (Well, not the self-same people—we're not sure if Chip Reid and Helen Thomas, the primary antagonists in that exchange, were in attendance.)...