Friday Open Thread [4.18.14]

1 Comment
Good news on the deficit on this Good Friday:
The U.S. government’s deficit will fall to $492 billion this year, according to the Congressional Budget Office, a steeper drop than originally predicted from $680 billion in fiscal year 2013. The 2014 deficit will be 2.8 percent of the economy, according to CBO, almost 32 percent below fiscal year 2013, when it was 4.1 percent. The deficit will shrink again in fiscal 2015 to $469 billion.... “This will be the fifth consecutive year in which the deficit has declined as a share of GDP since peaking at 9.8 percent in 2009,” CBO said in a report released today. The 2.8 figure as a percentage of gross domestic product is lower than the 3.1 percent average of the last 40 years, CBO said.
And we have some polling goodness inside...
Biden to remain silent until January 2015.

Biden to remain silent until January 2015.

21 Comments
Alan Loudell:
Molly Magarik told me Beau Biden would not be available to further discuss his political intentions as long as he remains Attorney General (No surprise!). But we have a circular loop, because - as noted earlier on this blog - the Attorney General has been noticeably unavailable for media interviews ever since his hospitalization in Texas.
Loudell also wonders if Biden can simply not campaign and not make any appearances and just rely on the Biden name to get elected. The answer to that is a resounding no. And Biden and his people need to understand that. Because I am sure it has crossed some mind somewhere in the Biden camp. I will vote Republican if that is his plan, and I will work tirelessly for that Republican, and encourage everyone I know to vote Republican. Even if that Republican is Christine O'Donnell. Even if Sarah Palin herself moves to Delaware to hunt foxes and decides "you betcha this state is small enough for me to be Governor in." I would place "Evil (R) for Governor" bumperstickers all over my car. And the reason is that if Biden follows the Loudell hypothetical, it will be a sign of such disrespect for all Delawareans that the shower of that disrespect will need to be destroyed, in the figurative sense of course. He cannot run for public executive office and keep his medical condition a secret, all the while using that medical condition as a reason to not make public appearances. Running for public office involves sacrifice. Sacrifice of time away from your family. Sacrifice of long hours you rather spend watching baseball instead of another rubber chicken dinner at another RD fundraiser. And you sacrifice some of your privacy. And I am not even talking about full disclosure. I don't need every medical record, every prescription, every boo boo Biden has ever had. No, we are entitled to know what procedure Biden underwent. What the diagnosis was. What the prognosis is. All Biden would have to say to satisfy me is....