Joe Biden = horrible at money management?

EDIT I forgot to note a few points

1 Biden as an American Baby Boomer ("40s baby" in rap slang terms)

has had an AWESOME stock market & real estate market return from the 1970s to 2000s. Most generations in Americans history have never had this type of return. All younger people alive today from the "1960s to the 2000s babies" will probably never see this return in their lifetime either.

This just makes Biden's inability to stack 150K on a great salary, look even poorer.

2 Biden's implication that "he's only been a senator" as if this is a crap thankless job, is extremely Out of Touch (c) Hall & Oates, with the American public. Almost all "real American people" I know, myself included, would love to have $165K jobs, with 6-yr at a time job security. It is true that many, perhaps most US Senators, cash-in after they leave the Senate to become lobbyists or C-level execs somewhere, & probably make way more $165K. It's honorable that Biden has declined his probable chances to do this. But OTOH to imply that a $165K job is a crap non-elite job is way out of touch with REALITY.

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I watched the Jul-23 Youtube Democratic Pres debate.

There was a question of "would you be willing to work as the President (or Senator/Governor/etc) for the minimum wage (just raised to $5.85/hr).

Sen Joe Biden said he didn't have money, in fact a net worth of 70-150K. He said since he's been in public service his whole life, being a US Senator since age 30, he hasn't had a chance to make much money.

I found out that a US Senator makes $165K/yr. That doesn't include additional sources of income such as speaking fees, writing books. Also, the knowledge & exposure to ideas & people, & networking via being a US Senator, would seem to increase one's investment ability. I say this even if one is totally ethical. For instance, one learns about a new trend or industry, & make an investment per this general knowledge. Also the best financial advisers might even offer to be your advisor for cheap, for the prestige factor of being able to claim a US Senator as a client.

But forget about these secondary sources. The salary alone $165K, is way more than most 30-yr olds make. I would guess in 2007 that far less than 1% of 30 yr olds are making $165K.

Biden is 64. What if back when he started at age 30, the inflation-adjusted pay was not equivalent to $165K. Well I would say that even 1 Senate term of 6 years of making $165K in the 2000s should be enough to have a net worth of over 150K.

Wiki says Biden won all his Senate reelection campaigns easily, so I don't see an "excuse" of Biden using his own money for his campaign. The only politicians I know of that fund their own campaign are billionaires anyways.

The only "excuse" I can think of, is that if there was a family emergency situation that nearly bankrupted him. For instance, a life-or-death health crisis that insurance didn't cover ala the movie Sicko. Other examples could be paying the bail for a family member to get out of jail, or being the victim of a fraud.

I doubt Biden has such an "excuse". If he doesn't, I'd hesitate to ever approve of Biden as a candidate. If you are a Senator for 34 years & can't stack more than 150K, you are poor at money management. If you can't adequately manage money at a family level (eg 5 people), I strongly doubt you can do it at a National level (eg 300 M people).

Malalai Joya

Most of our American politicians are douches, however the Afghan parliamentarian 28-yr old Malalai Joya is a real thorough, stand-up individual. I saw her interviewed on Democracy Now by Amy Goodman.

Joya tries to expose the corruption & murder of Afghan warlords, & it return gets many assassination attempts. Joya's bravery must be epic.

Recall that the World's WOAT person & douchebag candidate mAnn Coulter said "things are going swimmingly in Afghanistan".

Here's the youtube of the Democracy Now video

Pt 1


Pt 2


Now compare Joya with American politicians. There are a few, like Sen Feingold & Rep Kucinich who will take a principled stand.

However, most are what I call the BITCHMADE COALITION OF THE UNWILLING (BCU), include
Sen Clinton
Sen Obama
Sen Leader Red
House Leader Pelosi

Kucinich has a bill to impeach Cheney for repeatedly violating the Constitution, & another to defund the Iraq War. The BCU won't support these actions.

Joya has the face possible murder to speak the truth & rep her people that elected her. Meanwhile all the BCU has to fear is slander from the corporate right-wing media. Joya is half the age of these BCU lames, but she has 1 Million times the bravery that the BCU will ever have.

Democracy Now

Want to watch a good news show, that is free, non-corporate, & has both national & international news.

Hit the Democracy Now site. You can stream the video, or stream/dload the mp3 audio, at anytime. They have a 1 hr news show each weekday, updated at 12p ET. At the beginning they give the headlines, then they interview experts to give insight on the current events.

I watched a show, it was good & informative. I think I'm done with the corporate TV media. Of course, I'll still watch clips occasionally of say Olbermann Schiavoing mAnn Coulter.