FORMER VICE PRESIDENT TELL DEMOCRATS AND REPUBLICANS TO GET OFF THIER KNEES

BY BIANCA

Former Vice President Joe Biden says Democrats and Republicans need to get up off thier knees. In 2008, Biden was chosen as the running mate of Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama. After being elected vice president, Biden oversaw infrastructure spending aimed at counteracting the Great Recession and helped formulate U.S. policy toward Iraq up until the withdrawal of U.S. troops in 2011. His ability to negotiate with congressional Republicans helped the Obama administration pass legislation such as the Tax Relief, Unemployment Insurance Reauthorization, and Job Creation Act of 2010, which resolved a taxation deadlock, the Budget Control Act of 2011, which resolved that year's debt ceiling crisis; and the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, which addressed the impending fiscal cliff. Biden was reported to have advised President Obama against approving the 2011 military mission that resulted in the death of Osama bin Laden, though he has disputed this. Obama and Biden were re-elected in 2012, defeating Republican nominee Mitt Romney and his running mate, Paul Ryan. In October 2015, after months of speculation, Biden announced he would not seek the presidency in the 2016 elections. In one of the final acts of his term in January 2017, President Obama awarded Biden the Presidential Medal of Freedom with distinction.