Palin's speach

[fishbones]

Originally Posted by spence

Big difference between "poor" and "poorest". The point being that he's made out to be the "elite" when in fact compared to his peers he's quite modest in means and has never been super rich. 200K might seem like a lot to you and me, but it's not a ton of money for a sales professional, and we're talking about someone trusted with helping to lead the Legislative branch of our government of 300 million people.

And the 30% figure is a red herring. By this measure alone John McCain stands at 64% votes missed! When you look at "votes cast" Joe Biden is higher than many Senators who have missed less than 10%.

-spence

Spence, I appreciate your argument, but maybe saying that Biden has "one of the lowest income levels among his peers" would have been a better choice of words. "poorest" is different than "poor", but it's a derivation af the same word and using it to decribe Biden is a little over the top. Not many people are going to feel sorry for a guy making around $200K and who has many more "freebies" and "perks" handed to him than them. Remember that he writes off a lot of things that most people can't. Oh, and don't forget the income derived from his book. I'm sure he got something for that.

And he has a lot more time off than the salepeople you mentioned. Remember, the Senate is not in session all year and he gets paid whether he is there or not. Salespeople who make the big bucks are usually on commission and work long hours with only a few weeks of vacation a year. They only get paid for the sales they make. Don't diminish how hard it is to support a family when you income is directly tied to you being successful in making sales. If they don't sell, they don't get paid.

As for the voting in the Senate, I counted him as having missed the 5th most votes, behind McCain (#1), Obama (#3) and Clinton (#4). I would think that preparing to run for President and campaigning might explain why those 3 may have missed some of their votes. And I actually looked up "votes cast" and Biden only has more than 3 other Senators with less than 10% missed. Unless you want to count Craig Thomas who died last year.

And to your earlier point about him taking the train home to Delaware each day for his family. That is admirable, but he's not the only person to make great sacrifices for his family. A lot of people have suffered through terrible personal tragedies and have had to go on living. Kudos to Biden for doing what should be expected of him, because there are other people out there who wouldn't have done what he did.

[spence]

Originally Posted by fishbones

Spence, I appreciate your argument, but maybe saying that Biden has "one of the lowest income levels among his peers" would have been a better choice of words. "poorest" is different than "poor", but it's a derivation af the same word and using it to decribe Biden is a little over the top.

I think most people would get the context. To say the usage is improper is bordering on pedantic isn't it?

And regarding his family. I'm not saying he's a super hero, but that the man has some fiber.

-spence

[Joe]

I think using "pedantic," is somewhat pedantic. I gotta go, my tee shirt machine is pre-heated now.

[RIJIMMY]

Originally Posted by Joe

I think using "pedantic," is somewhat pedantic. I gotta go, my tee shirt machine is pre-heated now.

Vote Hard, Die Young!

[Joe]

Hey, there ya go.
I was thinking about doing "01.20.17 Obama's Last Day"

[RIJIMMY]

Originally Posted by Joe

Hey, there ya go.
I was thinking about doing "01.20.17 Obama's Last Day"

You'd need to change that to 09.03.08, his last day was Palin's speech

[RIROCKHOUND]

Originally Posted by RIJIMMY

You'd need to change that to 09.03.08, his last day was Palin's speech

Jim I know your not one to parrot, but you have no I dea that you could not sound anymore like John "I'm a Tool who inflates his own ratings' Dipetro on WPRO...
he has been (figuratively) ball washing Palin for 3 days.

[fishbones]

Originally Posted by spence

I think most people would get the context. To say the usage is improper is bordering on pedantic isn't it?

And regarding his family. I'm not saying he's a super hero, but that the man has some fiber.

-spence

Pedantic, shmedantic. $200K + is a lot of money no matter how you slice it. He's rich. He may not be Ted Kennedy rich, but he will not be standing in line at the soup kitchen when he retires. And he's a lot better off than the guy unloading freight from trucks or the woman who cleans houses for a living.

I agree about taking care of his family. Unfortunately, some people wouldn't have done what he did. That just speaks to where we've gone as a society.

I know you like him and are playing devil's advocate, but you have to at least agree that he is a lot more privleged than most people. And although he has a tough job, he works a lot less than most of us who work for a living.

I will admit that he's a sharp dresser. And his hair is beyond reproach. Could that be the real reason you like him? Maybe there is an unspoken bond there?

[spence]

Originally Posted by fishbones

Pedantic, shmedantic. $200K + is a lot of money no matter how you slice it. He's rich. He may not be Ted Kennedy rich, but he will not be standing in line at the soup kitchen when he retires. And he's a lot better off than the guy unloading freight from trucks or the woman who cleans houses for a living.

I agree about taking care of his family. Unfortunately, some people wouldn't have done what he did. That just speaks to where we've gone as a society.

I know you like him and are playing devil's advocate, but you have to at least agree that he is a lot more privleged than most people. And although he has a tough job, he works a lot less than most of us who work for a living.

I will admit that he's a sharp dresser. And his hair is beyond reproach. Could that be the real reason you like him? Maybe there is an unspoken bond there?

I've heard he has hair plugs, don't know if it's true though...

And I wouldn't say that Senators simply because they're not in session aren't working pretty hard most of the time.

From what I know of his life, Biden has made it pretty much on his own. This may astound you, but according a review the Washington Post did last year Joe Biden's net worth stands at about 100-150,000

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn...400305_pf.html

Quite a few people on this site with a higher net-worth than that. I guess he's not been engaging in much profiteering over his status and has outlayed a ton of cash for his kids educations.

200K might be a nice paycheck, but this hardly is deserving of the labels "rich" or "privilaged".

When you put him in context of the McCains, Clintons or even Obama there's a HUGE gap.

-spence