Biden says Florida economy 'still getting killed"

Vice President Joe Biden was in Boca Raton this afternoon for a fundraiser held at the house of Mark and Nancy Gilbert. He defended the Obama administration's handling of the economy but said Florida still has a way to go, having been hurt badly when the housing bubble burst.

"You're still getting killed," he said, according to the pool report.

On the economy he said, "I don't know of any president who inherited a more complicated set of data and complicated circumstances." He said things are improving. "Everybody's forgotten" how bad it was eight months ago. "We're getting to the end of this toboggan run."

"We inherited a Godawful mess."

Florida health care costs soar, report says

Health care premiums in Florida went up 121 percent in the past decade while wage growth increased by only 43 percent, according to a study released today by the White House.

The report is part of an increasingly aggressive campaign by the Obama administration to get political support for health care reform. "The status quo of rising premiums is simply unsustainable," said Vice President Joe Biden, "for families, for businesses, for state budgets, and for our national economy."

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VP Biden pours on charm for LeMieux and co.

Vice President Joe Biden administered the oath of office to Sen. George LeMieux on Thursday afternoon then, like a man with nothing to do, hung around and around, making small talk, offering advice and cracking jokes. And just as he was leaving, he spotted former Sen. Connie Mack.

Biden at side, Grayson rips on Cheney, Palin

Pool report at the fundraiser in Orlando for Rep. Alan Grayson:

In introducing the vice president, Grayson killed the Democratic-friendly audience by reeling off a series of jokes about former Vice President Dick Cheney having given Biden a tour of the White House "dungeon" and its torture rack.

Grayson also riffed on how Cheney made Biden nervous because the former veep "liked to shoot old men in the face" and invited Biden to "go water boarding" with him.

Grayson joked that Biden decided to take the vice presidential slot "because he could see Philadelphia from his front porch," a knock on Republican Sarah Palin's claim she had foreign policy experience because she could see Russia from her home state of Alaska.

Inside the Kosmas-Biden $1,000-per-person fundraiser

Vice President Joe Biden helped raise money today for Orlando-area U.S. Reps. Suzanne Kosmas and Alan Grayson. Here's the press pool report from Kosmas' event:

The nation's second-in-command praised "moderate" U.S. Rep. Suzanne Kosmas for her independence and courage to vote for the Recovery Act, which he said helped America come back from the precipice of a depression.

"She played a pivotal role," Biden said, "and the payoff was real." Later, he added, "We are no longer looking over the precipice."

Biden in Orlando Wednesday to talk stimulus

Vice President Joe Biden will appear at Jackson Milddle School in Orlando to discuss the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, commonly known as the federal stimulus plan.

Biden, also in town for fundraisers for U.S. Reps. Alan Grayson and Suzanne Kosmas, will be joined by Education Secretary Arne Duncan for the 10 a.m. event.

Gov. Charlie Crist, who has been hammered in some GOP circles for taking the federal money, has said it was vital to Florida's schools. And today, Jeb Bush's Foundation for Excellence in Education said the state was "well positioned" to get additional funds that are tied to a proposal using student test scores to evaluate teachers -- a plan that has rankled some educators and Democrats who opposed President George W. Bush's No Child Left Behind act.

"Whether you supported the stimulus package or railed against it, we can all agree the new “Race to the Top Fund” has the potential to turn our schools into world-class centers of learning," the foundation's executive director, Patricia Levesque, wrote in an e-mail.

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V.P. Biden raising cash for Grayson, Kosmas

Vice President Joe Biden will be in Orlando Wednesday to help congressman Alan Grayson raise cash.

Biden is also attending a fundraiser for Rep. Suzanne Kosmas, D-New Smyrna Beach, at the same hotel on the same day. But it seems a stealth mission compared with Grayson's exuberant promotion on his Web site. "Don't miss the event of the year!" reads a headline.

Grayson's event,  however, has turned into a bit of a PR disaster because one of the hosts is a federal lobbyist. Florida hospital lobbyist Dick Batchelor stepped down after questions were raised but first engaged in e-mail war with Andy Sere, regional press secretary for the National Republican Congressional Committee. (see the exchange below)

Nelson friend gets White House gig

The media consultant for Bill Nelson's 2006 re-election bid against Katherine Harris has landed a job in the White House. Mike Donilon, a longtime adviser to Joe Biden, will serve as counselor to the vice president, according to the presidential transition team.

Biden talks about jobs, economy

"Ladies and gentlemen, it's more than an economic stress," Biden said in Tallahassee.

Biden talked about the "longest walk a parent can take" being the walk up the flight of stairs in to their child's bedroom to tell them they're going to have change schools because the parent has lost his or her job.
"Folks if we can help Wall Street, we should be able to help Monroe Street," said Sen. Biden, referring to one of Tallahassee's main commercial arteries.

Biden also knocked the McCain campaign for taking up "Karl Rove divisive campaign tactics."

Jill, baby, Jill?

Sen. Bill Nelson introduced Jill Biden by saying the new chant in response to the "Drill, baby drill," should be "Jill, baby, Jill," which is exactly what the crowd chanted when she took the stage.

There's roughly 1,000 people here to hear Sen. Joe Biden at Langford Green at Florida State University in Tallahassee. (The campaign is quoting FSU as saying there are 2,000 people here.) There's also a couple of dozen McCain supporters about 100 yards away chanting "John McCain, John McCain" and making siren noises.