Joe Biden in 8th Democratic Primary Debate
On Families & Children:
Focus on our children, to address child poverty
As the debate wound down, the candidates faced questions on what to do about young children in poverty and what it says about the country. Biden's answer--much like his candidacy--was heavy on biographical details.
"I come from a family where a dad said, 'We've got to move; don't have a job. We've got to move to a different city,' " he said. Biden concluded that "We must focus on our children."
Source: Washington Post excerpts of 8th Democrat 2020 primary debate
Feb 8, 2020
On Health Care:
Of course Medicare-for-All will require raising taxes
Health care policy, and specifically Medicare for All, has been a major point of contention in each of the previous debates. "Bernie says that you have to bring people together and you have to have Medicare for All--[he] says he wrote the damn thing,"
Biden said, referring to Bernie Sanders' universal health care bill in the Senate. "But he's unwilling to tell us what the damn thing's going to cost," Biden said. "How much is it going to cost? Who's going to pay for it?""The idea [that] middle class
taxes aren't going to go up is just crazy," Biden added.
Sanders responded that the "status quo" offered by Biden will cost even more. "We are spending twice as much per capita as the people of any other country," Sanders told Biden, who was vice
president during the passage of the Affordable Care Act championed by President Barack Obama. "Maybe it has something to do with the fact that the health care industry last year made $100 billion in profit."
Source: CNBC.com excerpts of 8th Democrat 2020 primary debate
Feb 8, 2020
On War & Peace:
FactCheck: removed troops from Iraq, but they went back
Biden spun his role in bringing troops home from Iraq when he was vice president. Biden said, "The president [Obama] turned to me with the entire security apparatus and said, 'Joe, I want you to organize getting 156,000 troops out of Iraq.' I did that."
It's true that in 2009 Biden chaired a committee that oversaw the troop withdrawal, while also keeping an eye on economic and political issues in Iraq. The Biden committee included representatives from the Defense Department, the Joint Chiefs of
Staff, the Treasury Department and other agencies.
But what Biden fails to mention is that later--in Obama's second term, with Biden still vice president--the U.S. sent troops back into Iraq to combat the Islamic State
fighters who had occupied much of the country. Near the end of the Obama administration, in late September 2016, the number of U.S. troops deployed exceeded 5,000.
Source: FactCheck.org on 8th Democrat 2020 primary debate
Feb 8, 2020
On Abortion:
Has guarded right to choose for years with SCOTUS votes
I was part of the reason why Elena Kagan got onto the Supreme Court. I was part of the reason why Ruth Bader Ginsburg is on the Court. I was part of the reason why Sotomayor is on the Court. I'm the reason this right wasn't taken away because
I almost single handedly made sure that Robert Bork did not get on the Court because he did not think there should be enumerated rights. Litmus test on abortion relates to the fundamental value of the Constitution. A woman does have a right to choose.
Source: 8th Democrat 2020 primary debate, St. Anselm College in NH
Feb 7, 2020
On Drugs:
I got drug courts signed into law
I'm the guy that set up drug courts. I wrote it into law and it never got funded. On opioids, I'm the guy who's already begun to make a down payment.
In the Cures Act, I put in $1 billion to fight opioid addiction. Here's the deal. Those Chief Executive Officer of drug companies, they should not only be fined, they should go to jail.
Source: 8th Democrat 2020 primary debate, St. Anselm College in NH
Feb 7, 2020
On Families & Children:
Kids are our future and health of US depends on them
These aren't someone else's children. They're all our children. They're the kite strings that lift our national ambitions, they really are. They lift our national ambitions aloft. We have an overwhelming interest, overwhelming interest in seeing
to it they do well. You know, 24 out of every 100 students in school today, from grade school to high school, are Latino. What are we going to do? Walk away from that?
Source: 8th Democrat 2020 primary debate, St. Anselm College in NH
Feb 7, 2020
On Foreign Policy:
NATO will crumble if Trump wins a second term
NATO is going to crumble if we don't beat Trump. NATO is in real trouble. We need NATO for more reasons than just physical security. We need NATO to make sure that we do not allow Russia to continue to have its influence in Eastern Europe in ways that
it had before. It wasn't just to stop the Soviet Union from coming into the United States, coming into Europe. It was to make sure that we did not have a kleptocracy taking over that part of the world, to unite Europe in our behalf.
Source: 8th Democrat 2020 primary debate, St. Anselm College in NH
Feb 7, 2020
On Foreign Policy:
We must keep our commitments when we make them, like NATO
I was part of putting together the Paris Climate Accord. I brought in the Chinese. I've been part of every major initiative we've had relative to diplomacy. I have not argued for the placement of major numbers of US combat troops. I have said we
have to strengthen NATO to make it clear that we keep our commitments when we make them. Like we don't keep our commitments to the Kurds. We must keep our commitments when we make them.
Source: 8th Democrat 2020 primary debate, St. Anselm College in NH
Feb 7, 2020
On Government Reform:
Cannot allow laws restricting black voters to stand
There should be automatic registration, turning 18, you get a driver's license, you automatically are registered. There are 35 states that have come up with a total of 78 laws to restrict voting just in the last five years to try to keep
African Americans from voting, and brown as well, black and brown people from voting. And that will be an enormous priority in my administration as it was in ours.
Source: 8th Democrat 2020 primary debate, St. Anselm College in NH
Feb 7, 2020
On Gun Control:
I pushed Brady Bill when other Dems voted against it
I come from a state that's a major gun owning state. I introduced the first assault weapons ban. I in fact got it passed. I'm the only guy that beat the NRA twice.
While I was pushing the Brady Background Bill to check background checks, Bernie voted five times against that when he was in the House.
Source: 8th Democrat 2020 primary debate, St. Anselm College in NH
Feb 7, 2020
On Health Care:
My Medicare if you want it plan is affordable
My proposal gives you a choice. You're going to be covered. You have prescription prices, reduce copays, et cetera. And it cost a lot of money, it costs
$750 billion over 10 years. I tell you how I'm going to pay for it. I'm going to raise the capital gains rates
Source: 8th Democrat 2020 primary debate, St. Anselm College in NH
Feb 7, 2020
On Principles & Values:
Amend constitution to allow only public money in elections
I agree the way you deal with Citizens United is pass a constitutional amendment I introduced 25 years ago saying that only public money can be spent in elections. Period.
Not private money, not billionaires, not money from special interests. Period. That's the way to amend the Constitution to deal with that.
Source: 8th Democrat 2020 primary debate, St. Anselm College in NH
Feb 7, 2020
On War & Peace:
Assassinations in Iran make America stand alone
I wouldn't have ordered the strike, there is no evidence yet of imminent threat that was going to come from him. I cannot think of a time when NATO has said to the United States and to Iran, made a moral equivalence and said, both of you stand down.
We are alone now, alone in that region of the world, without friends, without support, without allies. 64 of our heroes were wounded. They had traumatic brain injury. What did the president say? He said, ""Headaches, that's all they are."
Source: 8th Democrat 2020 primary debate, St. Anselm College in NH
Feb 7, 2020
On War & Peace:
Only deal with terrorism in Afghanistan, not nation-building
And with regard Afghanistan, the only thing we should be doing is dealing with terrorism in that region. I've been in every part of Afghanistan. Here's what I saw, there is no possibility of uniting that country, no possibility at all of making it a
whole country. But it is possible to see to it that they're not able to launch more attacks from the region on the United States of America. That's a small footprint that we needed and I argued for that in the beginning.
Source: 8th Democrat 2020 primary debate, St. Anselm College in NH
Feb 7, 2020
On War & Peace:
I made a mistake; Bush said he wouldn't go into Iraq
I made a mistake and I said it 14 years ago. I trusted George Bush to keep his word. He said he was not going to go into Iraq. He said he was only using this to unite the United Nations to insist we get inspectors in to see what Saddam was doing.
When we got elected, the president turned to me with the entire security apparatus and said, "Joe, I want you to organize getting 156,000 troops out of Iraq." I did that. I did that.
Source: 8th Democrat 2020 primary debate, St. Anselm College in NH
Feb 7, 2020
On War & Peace:
I made a mistake; Bush said he wouldn't go into Iraq
I made a mistake and I said it 14 years ago. I trusted George Bush to keep his word. He said he was not going to go into Iraq. He said he was only using this to unite the United Nations to insist we get inspectors in to see what Saddam was doing.
When we got elected, the president turned to me with the entire security apparatus and said, "Joe, I want you to organize getting 156,000 troops out of Iraq." I did that. I did that.
Source: 8th Democrat 2020 primary debate, St. Anselm College in NH
Feb 7, 2020
On Welfare & Poverty:
I first got involved in politics to fight red-lining
If you own a house in an all black neighborhood, same exact house in all white neighborhood, exact same shape, the house valued in the black neighborhood would be valued as worth less,
making it difficult for you to accumulate wealth. That's what got me involved in politics, redlining, to stop it.
Source: 8th Democrat 2020 primary debate, St. Anselm College in NH
Feb 7, 2020
Page last updated: Mar 23, 2020