Wednesday, January 13, 2016

President Obama offered Joe Biden financial help to pay for his son's medical bills.

Courtesy of CNN:

 As his eldest son faced the prospect of resigning as Delaware's attorney general amid health concerns, Vice President Joe Biden received an offer that floored him: financial support from his boss, President Barack Obama. 

In the never been told before story, Biden recalled how concerned Obama had been. 

Describing in an interview with CNN chief political analyst Gloria Borger one of his weekly lunches with Obama, Biden said he told the President he was worried about caring for Beau's family without his son's salary. 

"I said, 'But I worked it out.'" Biden recalled telling Obama. "I said, 'But -- Jill and I will sell the house and be in good shape.'" 

Obama, Biden remembered, pushed back vehemently on the thought of Biden and his wife selling their home in Wilmington, Delaware. 

"He got up and he said, 'Don't sell that house. Promise me you won't sell the house,'" Biden continued, speculating Obama would be "mad" he was retelling the story. 

"He said, 'I'll give you the money. Whatever you need, I'll give you the money. Don't, Joe -- promise me. Promise me.' I said, 'I don't think we're going to have to anyway.' He said, 'promise me,'" Biden recalled.

That is one of the kindest things I have ever heard.

In fact it made me a little emotional. 

And it just makes me respect our President all the more. 

48 comments:

  1. Anonymous4:06 AM

    "And it just makes me respect our President all the more."
    Yes, and it makes so angry that people are so hateful and unfair to him primarily because he is black. On the other hand, it has brought the rampant racism in this country out into the light where it cannot be denied. It is ironic that President Obama is so despised by conservative, Christian racists when he exemplifies so many "Christian" values.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Connie6:57 AM

      One (and the only I found so far) benefit to all the racism and hatred being exposed is sunlight is the best disinfectant.

      Delete
  2. Anonymous4:09 AM

    I so love this man!
    He truly walks his talk.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Anonymous4:11 AM

    Two amazing men.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Anonymous4:45 AM

    What a decent human being our President Obama is, and what a great man Joe Biden is. We were lucky to have had both of them.

    ReplyDelete
  5. Anonymous4:48 AM

    HAS SARAH PALIN EVER EVER OFFERED TO PAY A RELATIVE'S OR STRANGER'S MEDICAL BILLS?

    Yet Sarah Palin condemns President Obama!

    Shame on Sarah Palin

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous5:26 AM

      I doubt she gave her own parents a penny to pay for their surgeries.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous5:42 AM

      Pay? Heck, she didn't even show UP!

      Delete
    3. Anonymous7:32 AM

      Hell, she doesn't even pay her OWN medical bills. Through Todd, the whole family is eligible for Native American health care, free.

      Sarah is just another government mooch. (Not that I think there's anything wrong with having this health care--it's deserved, in my opinion, for those who need it--but the HYPOCRISY.

      Dear God, the hypocrisy. Bristol, as the most recent case in point.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous11:05 AM

      Bristle will be 26 soon - does that mean she has to get her own insurance? No more government paid-for illegitimate babies delivered? What's it been 4? 6? or?

      Delete
  6. Anonymous5:17 AM

    Off Topic, but very interesting. RAM works for Brietbart now. Here's the link:

    http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/01/13/breitbart-news-announces-addition-of-rebecca-mansour/

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous5:58 AM

      Oooops, I didn't see your post here and just posted this same link.

      Sorry Gryph!

      Delete
    2. Balzafiar6:28 AM

      So The Penguin got herself a full-time job, eh? I guess Sarah had to cut some costs. Sorry about that, RAM.

      That's the most recent pic I've seen of her; looks a lot like a butch Kim Davis.

      Delete
  7. Anonymous5:23 AM

    I agree...what a wonderful gesture.
    Watching Biden at the SOTU last night
    there seemed to be a different Joe than usual. My opinion, he appeared tired.
    However, he will always have my deepest
    respect.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous6:15 AM

      I didn't take him as being tired. I thought he was somber out of love and respect for his commander and his words to the American people.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:01 PM

      I think both men keenly felt the reality of that being the last SOTU of their administration. It must have been a bittersweet experience for both of them.

      Delete
  8. I understand that a candidate for VP is chosen because of the hoped for value to the ticket, party, and country (in that order).

    The presidential and VP candidates do not need to be friends or even like each other. Indeed, they may be bitter rivals. However, their personal feelings need not be a barrier to an effective, productive administration.

    That said, the obvious deep friendship between not only President Obama and VP Biden, but also between our First and Second Ladies, has been a refreshing delight over the past seven years.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous5:53 AM

      The relationship between Obama and Biden is quite rare in American history. Even Clinton and Gore weren't always on friendly terms.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous6:17 AM

      5:53, you can bet we never would have heard a story about the love between two families if President McCain and Vice President Palin were finishing up their 8 years in office.

      Wouldn't you love to know what Senator McCain really thinks about his running mate?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous7:32 AM

      Reagan invited VP Geo. H.W. Bush either one or no times to the White House for social occasions in eight years.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous12:04 PM

      When President Obama first chose Joe Biden as his running mate, I thought it seemed to be an odd choice. However, it has become an effective partnership of two men who clearly respect each other and complement each other's strengths.

      Delete
  9. Anonymous5:44 AM

    Hillary would have offered to buy it (the house)for ten cents on the dollar. Look for coverage about the Clintons took big $$$ to help Haiti and did nothing. (positive)

    Biden may have the lowest net worth of anyone in Congress. He's Pres. of Senate - because he is honest.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous6:35 AM

      This is not a story about Hillary. Give it a rest.

      Delete
  10. Anonymous5:51 AM

    OT ~ You might wanna look into this. Well done.

    http://crooksandliars.com/2016/01/its-official-republican-party-has-finally

    We need look no further than the 2008 nomination of Sarah Palin for vice president to understand when the Republican Party left the rails.

    ...

    "It's hard to feel much sympathy. The Republican establishment's 2008 embrace of Palin set an irresponsibly low bar. Coincidence or not, a batch of nonsense-spewing, hard-right candidates quickly followed, often to disastrous effect."

    Daley may seem to be belaboring the obvious, but the deeply toxic effect that this narcissistic, power abusing kook and liar (who now threatens to take on Alaska Senator Lisa Murkowski out of sheer spite) has had on the GOP still is not fully appreciated, and only barely so by historians as well as Republicans who mourn the destruction of the GOP Big Tent and the party's descent into pooch screwing.

    ReplyDelete
  11. Anonymous5:57 AM

    OT - Sorry, I can't email this to you so am posting it here:

    http://www.breitbart.com/big-government/2016/01/13/breitbart-news-announces-addition-of-rebecca-mansour/

    Apparently RAM is leaving Sarah for Breitbart.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous6:25 AM

      No, it just means she isn't allowing Palin to take credit for her work anymore? Chances are, most of Palins commentaries were ghostwritten by RAM?

      Delete
    2. Anonymous6:40 AM

      I'm just waiting for that FEC filing..... :)

      Delete
    3. Anonymous7:24 AM

      I know! I check daily!

      Delete
  12. Anonymous6:25 AM

    I love our President, Vice President, and their families.

    HeidiWY

    ReplyDelete
  13. Anonymous6:28 AM

    How ironic.
    Joe Biden’s greatest betrayal: The one Senate vote that makes it hard to support a Biden run

    Joe Biden got a taste of his own cruel medicine. And no, I'm not gloating. I was heartbroken for him when his son died. But I still think everyone needs to realize that the reality is he was ready, willing and able to put the "welfare" of filthy rich and profitable banks way above the welfare of financially hurting Americans. When the chips are down for people on the verge of losing everything, even through no fault of their own, Joe Biden showed what he really cared about - the credit card industry.

    That in no way diminishes the President's kind offer, but it does highlight the vast difference between his healthy bank account, and most of the rest of us who would not be in a position to save someone else's house. And yet President Obama is pushing hard for the TPP, a trade deal that big corporations are drooling over that will make workers ever more vulnerable, keep wages low, look the other way on slave labor, keep drug prices high, etc., etc. So while Obama wants to help his friend, and speaks eloquently of inequality, he is -- inexplicably, to me -- working hard to insure that economic inequality becomes ever more entrenched and insidious. It's so bad that even Wall Street loving Hillary Clinton knows better than to publicly admit she's in favor of the TPP.

    So let's not go overboard about a generous gesture one wealthy man made to a man in the pocket of the credit card industry. Well, you can if you want. I can't.


    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous7:30 AM

      The biggest industry in Delaware, Sen. Biden's home state, after chemicals is the credit card industry, lured there in the 1970s by GOP Gov. Peter DuPont. Can't argue against your point, but Biden was representing the employers of thousands and thousands of Delawarians who work in the credit card industry. They've transformed the state in the last 40 years.

      Delete
    2. Anonymous7:36 AM

      "Going overboard about a generous gesture"?

      Feel good about your shriveled little black heart?

      Delete
    3. Anonymous7:56 AM

      Tell it to the people who lost everything without anyone helping them out, 7:36.

      Delete
    4. Anonymous8:01 AM

      7:30, Biden didn't care about their "workers." He was looking out for the interests of the 1%.

      Delete
  14. Anonymous6:41 AM

    We have two wonderful men running our country and I am so proud to have voted for them both times! Plus, love their wives.

    They are going to be so hard to replace!

    Eager to see what President Obama does with his life after his second term has been completed.

    ReplyDelete
  15. Anonymous7:29 AM

    What a man, what a man, what man, what a mighty good man, President Obama is. I am SO proud that I voted for him both times.

    ReplyDelete
  16. Anonymous8:51 AM

    Obama’s State Of The Union Dominance Leaves Trump Whining And Whimpering To Fox News

    A weak and broken Donald Trump could only whine and whimper to Fox News after the rationale for his entire campaign was destroyed by President Obama at the State Of The Union.

    Video:

    http://www.politicususa.com/2016/01/13/obamas-state-union-dominance-leaves-trump-whining-whimpering-fox-news.html

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous9:26 AM

      11 times Obama perfectly slammed Donald Trump and the GOP in his State of the Union address

      http://www.rawstory.com/2016/01/11-times-obama-perfectly-slammed-donald-trump-and-the-gop-in-his-state-of-the-union-address/

      Delete
    2. Anonymous12:00 PM

      Trump and his slogan is disrespectful of our country. He says make America great again. I say that is BS, because America IS great, our greatness has not gone anywhere.

      Delete
  17. Anonymous10:11 AM

    Biden almost sold his house to cover cancer treatment for his son. I imagine the Bidens, relative to the vast majority of Americans, are very wealthy. I also imagine that Beau Biden, relative to most Americans, subscribed to one of the best medical insurance plans available to Americans. And you're telling me the cost of treatment nearly caused the Vice President of the United States to sell his house to cover what, evidently, the fucking insurance company wouldn't? Jesus H. Christ, why have medical insurance companies if they can't cover treatment for an act-of-God occurrence of brain cancer? Again, the Vice President (!) and his son could barely afford health care. For the vast majority of Americans, the financial prognosis of the same cancer treatment would have been bankruptcy! Only in America does the health prognosis for cancer (or any disease requiring treatment) become secondary to the financial prognosis. This is bullshit, people. Uncivilized. Get pissed off and unite against Big Insurance and Big Pharma. Let's make a government that gets profit out of the health equation and regulates the hell out of insurance and drug companies. Stop this fucking madness.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:11 AM

      Well said! We are the most backward developed country. Everyday we fund Israel so ALL their citizens can have guaranteed free health care - every one of them - with our dollars!!

      Delete
  18. Our president is fully aware of the cost of medical care, especially in the case of severe medical conditions such as cancer.

    He is also a Father and understands the pressure of protecting your children, no matter what age they are. Once you are a Father, you are a Father until you die.

    This doesn't surprise me at all.

    What surprises me is that it would even come up. Didn't Beau have insurance?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Anonymous11:59 AM

      Even in cadillac plans, there are certain things which are not covered.

      Delete
  19. Anonymous12:10 PM

    Barack Obama is one of the most compassionate Presidents we have ever had.

    While this story certainly touches me, it does not surprise me in the least that the President would make that kind of offer.

    ReplyDelete
  20. Anonymous3:18 PM

    My what lovely people, our US President and VP and their families. Sure going to miss them as such.

    ReplyDelete
  21. I definitely cried. It is such a compassionate, human act. It's true friendship and respect.

    ReplyDelete
  22. Anita Winecooler4:27 PM

    This, along with President Obama's "Joe, you are my brother" in Beau's eulogy blew me away. This is one cause that's extremely close to my heart, I can't believe we've been fighting this disease for years with a few strides but no end in sight. What an honor Vice President Biden has been given, and what a friend he has in our President. What a caring, open hearted and loving man.

    ReplyDelete
  23. physicsmom9:09 PM

    I was also very touched by the President's offer, and I'm glad VP Biden shared the story.

    There are a bunch of people here asking why he didn't have enough insurance. Didn't you dolts read the whole story? He said that Beau was looking at having to quit his job, at which time he would lose his insurance. Thanks to Obamacare, arrangements could have been made to start a new policy through the exchanges. However, that can take some time, while treatment needs to continue. Plus, the Pres. may have felt that if he could spare the family the hassle of finding new insurance in the middle of this crisis, he was willing to do so.

    Sorry. The sour grapes in this thread are making me crabby.

    ReplyDelete

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