Joe Biden update: To Ohio and back in one day

A few folks may recall we've once or twice mentioned Vice President Joe Biden's less-than-crammed, less-than-transparent official schedule. So it's only fair to mention when he's publicly a busy Biden.

That would be today.

First, despite the H1N1 swine flu national emergency the president declared Saturday, the vice president is off this morning aboard Air Force Two to politic in Columbus, Ohio, for Rep. Mary Jo Kilroy. And then it's up to beleaguered Cleveland for more Democratic politics, on behalf of Reps. John Boccieri and Zack Space.

And then, to split the expenses of the day, he'll do an official VP event at Cleveland's airport with Sen. Sherrod Brown and Mayor Frank G. Jackson to point out how the Obama administration's $787-billion economic....

...stimulus plan is working, though Ohio's unemployment rate remains 10.1%. The national unemployment rate last month inched up to 9.8%, from 9.7%. (See this news video for more detail.)

From Cleveland the VP will join via video-conference the president's strategy session on Afghanistan and Pakistan. The latest U.S. commander there, Gen. Stanley A. McChrystal, appointed by the current administration, submitted a report to the Pentagon and president at the end of August reportedly saying, among other things, that allies had one year to turn the war around toward victory.

Nearly two months later the president continues his strategy meetings on the report, which is either deliberate, as his political allies maintain, or dithering, as Republicans are starting to suggest more loudly. Either way, U.S. casualties so far this year have already exceeded all of 2008. One soldier dies about every 16 hours.

Late Monday afternoon Biden will be back from Ohio to attend and speak at a National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund ceremony at the Capitol and receive a service award.

-- Andrew Malcolm

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Photo: Getty Images

Dennis Kucinich's online birthday party

Democrat Dennis Kucinich celebrated his birthday this week with a "news item" posted to the congressman's website.

You don't often see a politician's birthday making the front page of a news site, but the users of Reddit voted the "story" to their home page. He turned 63 Thursday.

The post Happy Birthday, Dennis Kucinich! inexplicably garnered 1,460 positive votes -- and 748 people who thought it was stupid.

The top-voted comment on the post read, "Happy birthday to the only Congressman with a spine."

As if that weren't ridiculous enough, Kucinich blew out the virtual candles in a follow-up post on his site today. The item succinctly read, "Thanks for the birthday wishes, Reddit!"

The circular love fest continues, as "Thanks, Reddit," Kuncinich pulls in 2,850 up-votes on Reddit -- and, of course, 878 people who think it's really stupid.

-- Mark Milian

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Photo credit: Associated Press

Shut the Oval Office, Obama's out campaigning again today

Now that he's reportedly called Kanye West a "jackass" -- unofficially, of course -- President Obama forsakes the sedentary business of governing again today to head back out on the campaign trail, which is more fun anyway in his profession.

On Monday the president flew to New York City to straighten out the financial mess one year after it blew up and to issue new warnings and announce new regulatory efforts.

Today he's on the road again. He'll make three stops -- one in Ohio and two in Pennsylvania, including his newly adopted favorite city of Pittsburgh. In Ohio, the president will talk economy with auto workers and, as he did Monday in New York, likely profess that he sees more signs the hard times are truly ending.

Not an easy argument for anyone to make, even if they are eloquent, with unemployment still above 9%. And the anxiety and fears almost palpable among many.

This morning the new Washington Post-ABC News Poll reveals that Americans aren't buying Obama's assertion of economic improvement, at least not yet. The results show only 51% approve of the....

Prison political primer: Traficant's out, but other pols headed behind bars

Sometimes it’s hard to keep track of all the politicians who have run afoul of the law. In the spirit of clarity, The Ticket offers this handy guide to recent events:

Headed out: Former Ohio congressman James A. Traficant Jr. walked out of a federal prison today in Minnesota. The colorful Democrat — “colorful” being polite journalese for the excessively eccentric —served seven years in prison for corruption. He was convicted in 2002 of bribery and racketeering for accepting bribes from businessmen and taking kickbacks from staff members.

Traficant was famous for a rambling speaking style. During his nine-week trial in Cleveland, he sparred with the judge, used profanity, dropped boxes on the floor and threatened physical harm to the prosecutors.

Traficant was expelled from the House of Representatives, the first congressmen tossed out of the chamber since the Civil War.

In the video above, taken at a congressional hearing on his expulsion, he verbally attacks the allegations — and the prosecutors — in his distinctively earthy style.

Headed in: One wonders if there’s some cosmic rule in the universe that states that as one crooked congressman leaves prison another must replace him to maintain a balance.

Former Rep. William J. Jefferson faces more than 20 years behind bars when he’s scheduled to be sentenced Oct. 30. Jefferson, who may be best remembered as the guy who had $90,000 in cash in his freezer, was found guilty in August of 11 of 16 criminal counts including bribery, racketeering, money laundering and wire fraud.

The Associated Press reports that the Louisiana Democrat filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation last week.

Already in: A former Democratic state senator in Pennsylvania, Vincent Fumo, reported Monday to a low-security prison in Ashland, Ky. He too has been convicted on corruption charges.

Already in: Another former Democratic lawmaker convicted of fraud, onetime New Jersey state Sen. Wayne Bryant, reported in late August to a federal prison in West Virginia.

Turning himself in: Hartford Mayor Eddie Perez surrendered today to Connecticut State Police — for the second time this year — amid allegations of corruption at City Hall. Perez, who was already charged in January with taking a bribe, denies any wrongdoing. So does former state Rep. Abraham Giles, who also turned himself in to authorities today.

Now, getting back to Traficant ....

Hello, Cleveland! Obama's healthcare town hall -- the full transcript

In case you haven't heard enough about the ongoing healthcare reform debate in Washington, President Obama took his town hall roadshow to Cleveland today.

And as The Ticket usually does with such affairs, we have the full transcript here for those Americans who couldn't make it into Shaker Heights High School but want to follow the unfolding discussions in the participants' own words.

The Ohio event comes as congressional leaders confirmed what Obama administration folks had begun signaling last weekend with their sudden talk about the fall: The healthcare reform legislation will not be solved before Congress goes back to visit its home districts and states or wanders off on a foreign junket for the month of August.

So as his parting line to the enthusiastic crowd, the president told them to keep the heat on their members of Congress.

-- Andrew Malcolm

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Remarks and responses by President Obama at Shaker Heights healthcare town hall, July 23, 2009
(The following is an unedited transcript.)

THE PRESIDENT: Hello, everybody.  Thank you. Thank you.  Thank, please, everybody have a seat.  Thank you.  Hello!  (Applause.)  Hello, Shaker Heights!  Hello, Ohio!  It is great to be here.  There are a couple of quick acknowledgments I want to make.  First of all, please give Rick a big round of applause for his introduction.  (Applause.) 

Some special guests that we've got.  First of all, the governor of the great state of Ohio, Ted Strickland, is in the house.  (Applause.)  There he is right there.  Your State Treasurer Kevin Boyce is here.  (Applause.)  Your Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner is here.  (Applause.)  The mayor of the great city of Cleveland, Frank Jackson, is here.  (Applause.)  Shaker Heights Mayor Earl Leiken is here.  (Applause.)  The Shaker Heights school superintendent Mark Freeman is here.  (Applause.) 

Not here, but a couple of my favorite people:  Congresswoman Marcia Fudge and Sherrod Brown couldn't be here today. They've got work to do in Washington. (Applause.)

It is good to be back in the great state of Ohio. (Applause.) Now, I know there are those who like to report on the back-and-forth in Washington. But my only concern is the people who sent us to Washington -- the families feeling the pain of this recession; the folks I've met across this country who....

John McCain apologizes for using Jackson Browne song clip that hardly anyone heard or saw in the first place

Remember last year during the presidential campaign when the Ohio Republican Party ran a web ad online in support of Sen. John McCain and used a musical clip from Jackson Browne's "Running on Empty"?

We don't either.

Anyway, as often seems to happen in political campaigns, the Republican candidate, who along with 99.999% of Americans never saw the Web ad, got sued for copyright infringement by liberal activist Browne. Because they didn't have a license to use the artistic presentation.

Big-name targets on lawsuits help garner publicity for the suing party who never seem to mind news coverage of the music involved which, who knows, might help sell a few copies of something to somebody.

So again anyway Browne's lawyers sued the Ohio party, and the Republican National Committee and, of course, McCain, no doubt a huge lifelong fan of what's-his-name.

Well, just to wrap up one more loose end from the billion-dollar-plus '08 presidential campaign, we are delighted to announce here that the aforesaid parties have reached an agreement.

According to legal tradition, the financial terms of the settlement are confidential.

However -- and here's the big news, forget healthcare -- the state party, national party and McCain himself issued a historic statement which will forever protect artistic rights from evil pols. Here it is in full:

We apologize that a portion of the Jackson Browne song 'Running On Empty' was used without permission.

Although Sen. McCain had no knowledge of, or involvement in, the creation or distribution of the Web campaign video, Sen. McCain does not support or condone any actions taken by anyone involved in his 2008 presidential election campaign that were inconsistent with artists' rights or the various legal protections afforded to intellectual property.

The ORP, RNC and Sen. McCain pledge in future election campaigns to respect and uphold the rights of artists and to obtain permissions and/or licenses for copyrighted works where appropriate.

In other words, Browne, an Obama contributor who said he was merely defending artistic rights, got nothing, zippo, nada, de rien, $00.00 out of the 11-month legal tussle. Except for the publicity. Hence, the financial agreement, which is confidential because it's empty. And the offending parties really sincerely apologized.

The people who got the real $$$$$ out of this suit were the lawyers for everybody, who bill by the hour and can now easily make their August BMW payments. Or, heck, even buy a brand new one out of the agreement. And help stimulate that German economy, which isn't running on empty.

-- Andrew Malcolm

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Photo: WireImage

Wonder where all those stimulus $$$ are going? Maybe Joe Biden knows

Vice President Biden traveled to Ohio today, trying to salvage public support for President Obama's $787-billion stimulus package. (Details from the vice president's office below.)

With the president in Italy for the G8 summit meetings, it falls to his vice president to try to staunch the fall in public opinion. And with more and more Americans questioning the effectiveness of the massive government bailout, a new Quinnipiac Poll shows that Obama's approval rating has dropped 13 points in the last two months in Ohio, a bellwether state for presidential elections for more than a century. The plunge: from 62% approval in May to 49% now.

"The economy in Ohio is as bad as anywhere in America," said Peter Brown, who runs the Quinnipiac Poll. "These numbers indicate that for the first time, voters have decided that President Barack Obama bears some responsibility for their problems."

Adding to the administration's woes is news that state legislatures are -- imagine! -- playing politics with decisions on where to spend the stimulus dollars. Tracing the first monies dispersed by the....

9 of 10 Americans worry about Obama's spending deficits: Poll

Most of today's news attention will focus on the White House Rose Garden and President Obama's news conference (live blogging starts here, latimes.com/ticket, at 9:30 a.m. Pacific, 12:30 p.m. Eastern, 4:30 p.m. GMT).

Meanwhile, Vice President Joe Biden flies way out West to Ohio today to talk about helping the middle class and the nation's economy.

But just a few months after congressional passage of the administration's whopping $787-billion economic stimulus plan, a new national poll shows Americans' confidence in its efficacy fading, especially in the Midwest, where Biden is heading.

Just about half (52%) believe the much-touted stimulus plan will or has had any impact restoring the economy, down from 59% in April. The Washington Post-ABC Poll found Obama's personal popularity remains high, in part because his Republican opposition remains in such disarray unable to offer a coherent political alternative.

The poll found:

The shift in public assessments of the stimulus package has clear political ramifications: At the 100-day mark of Obama's presidency, 63 percent of people in states that were decided by fewer than 10 percentage points in November said the stimulus act had or would boost the economy.

Today, in the telephone poll of 1,001 Americans conducted Thursday through Sunday, the number has plummeted to 50 percent in those closely contested states, with nearly as many now saying the stimulus program will not help the national economy.

The new poll confirms other surveys showing the president's popularity dipping slightly, his disapproval rating jumping about 5% and particular unhappiness focused on his handling of the automobile manufacturing crisis and the federal deficit. They add up to a serious warning signal, with unemployment lines (see photo) expected to increase even further.

Currently, 90% of Americans are worried to some degree about the exploding federal spending deficit, a galactic number certain to gain politicians' attention on both sides. And yet to come is the final bill for Obama's healthcare legislation.

-- Andrew Malcolm

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Photo: Associated Press

Joe Biden update: An empty Saturday. Also Sunday.

Wow, look at this. It's early Saturday morning, and the Ticket is looking out for all of its readers eager to plan their day around the doings of Vice President Joe Biden.

The harsh reality is, however, he's not doing anything again today. At least in public.

In fact, his official White House schedule says he's not doing anything all weekend. But he'll be not doing it in Washington this time instead of Delaware.

Not even any of his mysterious private meetings. Or maybe they're so very private now, they've become secret.

He's no doubt getting ready for his day-trip next week. On Tuesday, he'll go all the way out west to Perrysburg, Ohio, to attend another meeting of the White House Task Force on Middle Class Families.

So if you're a middle class single, don't even think about attempting to attend.

OK, now resume your normal Saturday activities.

-- Andrew Malcolm

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Photo: Getty Images

Poll: 4+ months into Obama, Republicans looking better to Americans

It's been seven long months since we've had an official presidential campaign going. Of course, in modern times the incumbent president in a first term is never not running. Hence, Nancy Reagan at the White House today with Barack Obama.

And so many other ongoing activities of the new Democratic administration that's taking its show to the Middle East overnight.

But a new CNN/Opinion Research poll out today takes a peek at the 2012 field of possible Republican candidates. Yeah, right. Don't make your bets now. The most important news from this poll perhaps is that as of May 14-17, no Americans didn't know of George W. Bush or John McCain.

Neither of whom could conceivably be a candidate in 2012.

However, 3% of the country still hasn't heard of this Dick Cheney fellow. Well, no one ever accused Americans of paying too much attention to the news of their democracy.

Anyway, here's what the telephone poll of 1,010 adult Americans reveals almost five months into Obama's term, all obviously designed by CNN to drive the competing talkers berserk over at the White House's favorite network:

Americans now are thinking more favorably of Bush, Cheney, McCain, Newt Gingrich, Mitt Romney, Mike Huckabee and someone named Rush Limbaugh. Their favorable numbers are all up, some significantly.

Their unfavorable ratings have all dropped, some significantly.

As The Ticket reported earlier today, Minnesota GOP Gov. Tim Pawlenty, who was not included in the poll, announced he would not seek a third term.

Which either means he's positioning himself for a 2012 run at the GOP nomination or he wants to have more time to attend his daughter's volleyball games. (Yeah, that's what we figure too.)

The only Republican polled who did not advance in popularity was Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin. Her unfavorables stayed constant at 43%. But her favorable rating slipped slightly from 49% right after the Nov. 4 election to 46% today.

No, wait now. Calm down. Even down 3 points, her 46% is still better than all the other Republicans polled except McCain.

Obama, of course, has a current popularity rating north of 60%. However, that's probably mostly due to VP Joe Biden's coattails, don't you think? He won't be on the Democratic ticket in 2012.

And this time next year, when unemployment rates are still high or growing as predicted and the midterm congressional campaigns are ramping up, we'll see where all these numbers stand.

-- Andrew Malcolm

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Photo: Charlie Neibergall / Associated Press