Not impressed
Biden, a good deal too late, is making a big show of being Mister Ethics.
Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden unveiled a plan Monday for how his administration would prioritize ethics should he be elected president in 2020, pledging to “ensure that no future president can ever again abuse the office for personal gain.”
In a rebuke of the Trump administration, Biden pledges to “restore” ethics in government, “rein in executive branch financial conflicts of interest,” and “return integrity” to decision making in his administration.
That’s nice, but it’s a great pity he didn’t tell his son that he (the son) couldn’t use his daddy’s job in the White House as a lever to extract highly-paid jobs from Ukrainian gas companies.
The ethics plan comes a day after the former vice president’s son, Hunter Biden, announced that he will resign at the end of the month from his board role in the management company of a private equity fund backed by Chinese state-owned entities.
Fascinating, but how did he have such a role in the first place? Because of who his daddy is.
CNN piously tells us “There is no evidence of wrongdoing by either Joe or Hunter Biden.” That’s very nice, but there is plenty of evidence (and self-declaration) of this creepy tacky ugly profiteering. It’s not criminal and it may not be exactly corrupt, but it’s a good deal too close.
On Sunday, Hunter Biden also pledged to not work for any foreign-owned companies or serve on their boards should his father be elected President, and his father told reporters that his family and associates would not work for foreign companies if he is elected president, saying he would have “build on the squeaky clean, transparent environment” in the White House reminiscent of former President Barack Obama’s administration.
Blah blah blah blah, but until now Hunter Biden apparently hasn’t hesitated to profit from his father’s resumé.
The Biden father/son relationship looks like a variation on “the revolving door”. Here in the United States, if Joe Biden wanted to leave the public sector to work in the private sector, he might have a 1-year waiting period on some activities. But if they work as a father/son team, they can do what they want concurrently.
https://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/revolving-door.asp
One wonders if Biden would have taken this step (coming out in support of “ethics & integrity”) if he was not running for president.
This is one of the problems with this scandal in my view. Yes, Trump and his cohort are objectively utterly criminal and corrupt and have been successfully getting away with this for decades. But at best, your son getting on the board of an energy company with no more experience of the energy sector than I do (i.e. zero) is not a good look if your message is that you’re the one to beat Trump because you’re all moral and ethical and he’s not.
I’ve never been a Biden fan, I’ll admit. More old white guys who are racist or sexist-adjacent just doesn’t cut it when there is a broad field of diverse, capable candidates. I was unimpressed with him as a VP (although I understand why Obama picked him).
I’m also getting tired of the crap being thrown at Warren for making a joke when asked about old-fashioned views and marriage equality. First of all, those people aren’t in any way either the base of the party or gettable votes. If they’re old-fashioned on marriage equality, they’re likely old-fashioned on other things too. Secondly, Trump can do any number of hideous, offensive things in public and everyone shrugs but Warren makes one joke (which was funny IMO) at the expense of a few old fossils and she’s the worst person in the world?
Meanwhile Biden son’s dubious but not illegal behavior in various definitely dodgy countries is somehow OK for the “presumptive nominee?” Biden’s carefully tiptoeing the moderate line which he interprets as being nice to assholes just in case they smile slightly at seeing his name on the ballot before pulling the lever for Trump and making nice across the aisle with a Republican party which has lost it’s fucking mind and is currently on the event horizon of full-on fascism.
Thanks but no thanks, Joe. Your time has passed.
I don’t! I’m quite confident he wouldn’t have.
Cronyism and nepotism are not new and many children of powerful people are given top paying jobs they are not qualified for in order to keep Daddy or Mommy sweet. Is it wrong? Yes. Is it odd that of all the kids who benefit from this practice it is only Hunter Biden being dragged for it? Yes.
This is where the Democrats show how weak they are. Trump has his daughter and son-in-law running part of the government and the Democrats have not been able to get much outrage going about that in the general public. Meanwhile, the Republicans are both shameless and fearless in hanging this charge around the necks of the Biden’s and making it stick because they know Dems will let Biden swing if they want somebody else to be the candidate for their party.
I may be seeing the first Presidential election that I will have to write-in a candidate because neither party is worth a vote.