Joe Biden in OnTheIssues Fact Checking

On Crime: FactCheck: Endorsed by 175 law enforcement officials

Is that true, that no law enforcement has endorsed Biden? We found this article dated Sept. 4 on Fox News, headlined "More than 175 current, former law enforcement officials endorse Joe Biden, slam Trump as 'lawless' president." Excerpts:

"Fox News first obtained the list of the Biden-supporting law enforcement officials, which includes former sheriffs and former police chiefs who touted the former vice president's experience 'keeping communities safe.'

"The endorsements come after a number of high-profile law enforcement organizations threw their support behind Trump. In July, the National Association of Police Organizations endorsed Trump, praising his 'steadfast and very public support' for law enforcement. NAPO did not endorse a candidate in the 2016 election but endorsed Barack Obama and Biden in both the 2008 and 2012 elections."

On Education: FactCheck: Attended U.Delaware, not Delaware State HBCU

"No, Joe Biden did not say he attended Delaware State University, the only historically Black university (HBCU) in the state. Biden said he got his "start" at DSU, and what followed was a slew of media reports slamming Biden for claiming to have attended an HBCU. Trump's campaign has even cited the claim as one of the "17 questions Joe Biden must answer" in the first presidential debate.

"In the video, Biden was referring to the support he received from the school when he announced his bid for Senate on the DSU campus in 1972. In the decades since, Biden has maintained close ties with DSU, serving as commencement speaker in 2003. Biden has often referenced to his time as a student at the University of Delaware, where the Biden School of Public Policy bears his name."

On Energy & Oil: FactCheck:US rejoined world in GHG reduction, not vice-versa

Biden didn't persuade other countries to "join the US": In 2015, 191 countries signed the Paris Accord committing to GHG reductions. Trump withdrew the US entirely in 2017, reducing US commitment to zero.

Looking at the numbers, the US had committed in 2015 to a 26% domestic reduction in greenhouse gases by 2025 compared to 2005 levels. Biden committed to a 50% reduction by 2030--a comparable reduction rate. For comparison, the EU committed to a 40% domestic GHG reduction by 2030 compared to 1990 levels--a much lower base level. In summary, Biden's action restored the US to what the world is already doing--the US joined the other nations, not vice-versa!

On Free Trade: FactCheck: Yes, US has tried "Buy American" for 100 years

Yes, it's true. Some examples:

• 1933: The "Buy American Act" prefers US-made products in US government purchases.
• 1954: Pres. Eisenhower signed Executive Order 10582, "Prescribing Uniform Procedures for the Buy-American Act"
• 1983: The "Buy America Act" applies to mass-transit procurements.
• 2009: Heritage Foundation (right-wing) opposed stimulus bill's "Buy American," as limiting competition increases costs.
• 2017: Jacobin Magazine (left-wing) opposed "Buy American" as anti-immigrant, and was the same in the 1930s & 1980s.
• 2019: Pres. Trump signed Executive Order 13811, "Maximizing Use of American-Made Goods," enforcing the 1933 Act plus a "Hire American" rule.
  Biden is accurate, but "Buy American" has never been "fully done" because of opposition from both the right and the left. Source: OnTheIssues Fact-check on CNN Town Hall 2020 Sep 17, 2020

  On Government Reform: 30 years ago, I proposed campaign finance reform

  Bernie Sanders: If you want to make real changes in this country, you need to take on the drug companies, and the fossil fuel industry. You don't take campaign contributions from them.

  Biden: You want to do that? Do what I proposed over 30 years ago: federally fund all elections.

  FACT-CHECK: Did Biden propose campaign finance reform long ago? Yes, he proposed donation limits when there were no limits, in 1974, with federal matching funds:

  Biden on 1974 WGBH "Open Vault" (PBS interview): "The system does produce corruption; I think implicit in the system is corruption. If the only way you can raise any money to run for public office is to go to vested interest groups, then you prostitute the ideas you have about government. If you limit the amount that can be spent, you run the risk of the tyranny of the incumbent [against] a challenger. [I support] a bill that limits the amount that an individual can contribute [to] $3,000. And I support [a bill to federally] match donations up to $100.

  Source: OnTheIssues FactCheck on 11th Democratic 2020 primary debate Mar 15, 2020

  On Principles & Values: FactCheck: No, only 50% of recent presidents were Ivy league

  Joe Biden claimed that he would be the "first person without an Ivy League degree to be elected president," in the context of white privilege. Is that claim true?

  We checked, and no, it's not even close to true. Rasmussen College published "U.S. Presidents with College Education: From Learners to Leaders," on 4/24/2013, including the following list. Of recent presidents, the list is split evenly into 8 Ivy Leaguers and 8 not:

  • Donald Trump, U. Penn (Ivy League)
  • Obama, Columbia & Harvard (Ivy League)
  • W. Bush, Yale & Harvard (Ivy League)
  • Clinton, Yale (Ivy League)
  • H. W. Bush, Yale (Ivy League)
  • Reagan, Eureka College (not Ivy)
  • Carter, US Naval Academy (not Ivy)
  • Ford, Yale (Ivy League)
  • Nixon, Whittier (not Ivy)
  • Johnson, Texas State (not Ivy)
  • Kennedy, Harvard (Ivy League)
  • Eisenhower, US Military Academy (not Ivy)
  • Truman, U. Missouri (not Ivy)
  • Roosevelt, Harvard (Ivy League)
  • Hoover, Stanford (not Ivy)
  • Coolidge, Amherst (not Ivy)
  Source: OnTheIssues Fact-check on CNN Town Hall 2020 Sep 17, 2020

  On Tax Reform: Return top rate to 39.6% from 37%; cap itemized deductions

  TRUMP: If Joe Biden ever got in, I think you'd have a depression the likes of which we have never seen in this country. If you look at his policies, where he wants to raise everybody's taxes, you look at what he wants to do in terms of regulation, where he wants to put all of the regulations back on that I took off and then some--and in many cases, double it up.

  [OnTheIssues fact-check: Is that true? No]: Kiplinger.com analysis (9/18/20) of Biden's tax plan: He wants to raise the highest personal income rate back up to 39.6% (it was lowered to 37% by the 2017 tax reform law), cap itemized deductions for wealthier Americans, limit "like-kind exchanges" by real estate investors, and phase-out the 20% deduction for qualified business income for upper-income taxpayers. He won't raise taxes for anyone making less than $400,000, though.

  Source: OnTheIssues Fact-check on ABC This Week 2020 Town Hall Sep 15, 2020

  The above quotations are from Presidential Primary Fact Checking by OnTheIssues.org. Click here for main summary page. Click here for a profile of Joe Biden. Click here for Joe Biden on all issues.
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  Page last updated: Nov 03, 2024