Dave Wiegel has a great roundup of positives and negatives regarding Biden’s selection, two of which particularly interest me: Biden’s close ties to the credit card industry, as reflected by his vote for the 2005 bankruptcy bill, and his lukewarm appreciation of civil liberties. Many credit card companies are based in Biden’s home state of Delaware, because of weak laws governing the raising of interest rates.
Obama has proposed aggressive reform of credit card laws, eliminating unilateral changes, interest on fees, universal default, and establishing a rating system so that consumers can get a better idea of what they’re getting into when they sign up for a card with a particular company. Because of various economic factors, including the sub-prime mortage crisis, many Americans are watching their interest rates rise to even as they’re being crushed by debt. So it should raise an eyebrow that someone who has in the past, been so close to the credit card industry, will now be close to the presidency should Obama win. (For the record, McCain has proposed nothing. When you are so wealthy that you can rack up hundreds of thousands of credit card debt and forget about it, it makes sense that you wouldn’t think debt would be a problem for most people.)
That said, Biden’s utility the credit card companies, and their significance to him will be diminished if he becomes Vice President and no longer represents Delaware in the Senate.
The other thing is that as Wiegel points out, Biden was proposing reforms similar to what was in the Patriot Act before 9/11. I don’t believe they were justified even after 9/11, but the mind-state of the country was such that I can imagine someone making the mistake of supporting the Act in the immediate aftermath of the attacks. The fact of Obama’s vote (a reluctant, vote, but a vote nonetheless) to renew the Patriot Act, and his capitulation on FISA have eliminated much of the optimism I had regarding his positions on civil liberties. Despite Obama’s statement that he wants a veep who Biden does not add a skeptical voice on these matters.
— A. Serwer
