Joe Biden said on Friday "the hard lifting" is done for the year and now it is time for Democrats to campaign

Vice President Joe Biden said on Friday “the hard lifting” is done for the year and now it is time for Democrats to campaign on their achievements ahead of November 2 congressional elections.Biden spoke at a fund-raising event in Columbia, South Carolina, for Democratic Representative John Spratt’s re-election campaign.

Democrats are trying to prevent Republicans from regaining control of Congress in the November 2 elections amid a weak U.S. economy and a stubbornly high 9.5 percent nationwide unemployment rate.Legislative achievements by President Barack Obama and the congressional Democrats so far have not led to a big vote of confidence from Americans in their leadership.A CNN-Opinion Research poll released on Friday said 42 percent of Americans approve of Obama’s handling of the U.S. economy, compared to 57 percent who disapprove.

Biden, who was a U.S. senator from Delaware for 36 years from 1973 to 2009 until he became vice president, said Democrats in the next three months need to emphasize the tough decisions they have had to make.Since taking office 18 months ago, Obama has pushed through Congress an $862 billion economic stimulus plan, bailed out banks and auto companies, and overhauled the U.S. healthcare system and financial regulations.

“Here’s the problem — we’ve been working so hard to get these major new building blocks laid down,” Biden said. “They are so big, so heavy, that the American people don’t understand what’s in it for them yet.””Now that the hard lifting is done, we’re going to spend the next 90 days going out explaining to people exactly what it means to them,” Biden said.

All 435 seats in the House of Representatives are up for grabs in the November elections and 37 Senate seats. Democrats control both chambers.Analysts believe enough House seats are in play that Republicans could conceivably win the House while falling short of controlling the Senate.

Biden said it is understandable that many Americans are angry about the economy. Once voters pay attention to Republican policies, he said, Democrats will see improved prospects.”They don’t want to think about anything other than what’s made them mad,” he said.Eventually Americans will “have to look at the alternatives and not just be generically angry,” said Biden.(Reuters)

All Star Game boycott sought to protest Arizona law

The only Latino in the Senate urged Major League Baseball players on Monday to boycott the 2011 All-Star game in Arizona to protest the state’s tough new immigration law.”The Arizona law is offensive to Hispanics and all Americans because it codifies racial profiling into law by requiring police to question anyone who appears to be in the country illegally,” New Jersey Senator Robert Menendez wrote Michael Weiner, executive director of the Major League Baseball Players Association.

Menendez, who chairs the Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, is the only Latino in the 100-member chamber. In his letter, he noted more than 1 in 4 players are Latinos.Signed into law last month by Arizona Republican Governor Jan Brewer, the law requires state and local police, after making “lawful contact,” to check the immigration status of anyone they reasonably suspect is in the country illegally.The measure has prompted a number of calls for boycotts of businesses in the state, amid charges that it is unconstitutional and a mandate for racial profiling.

Representative Jose Serrano, a New York Democrat, and some Latino organizations have called upon MLB Commissioner Bud Selig to move the All-Star game, which is scheduled to be played in July 2011 in Phoenix, Arizona’s state capital. A Major League Baseball spokesman could not be immediately reached for comment.Calls for a sporting boycott of Arizona began soon after Brewer signed the bill into law on April 23. A group of protesters turned out to picket the Diamondbacks, the state’s Major League baseball team, at a game in Chicago.

The new law has reignited calls for Congress to overhaul the U.S. immigration system, and Menendez joined two fellow Senate Democrats last month in unveiling a “draft” plan.But lawmakers from both parties appear reluctant to tackle the emotional issue months before November’s congressional elections.

‘HUMILIATION AND HARASSMENT’

Almost two-thirds of Arizona voters and a majority of voters nationwide support the law, which backers say is needed to curb violence and crime stemming from illegal immigration in the Mexico border state.

In late April, Brewer signed changes to the law that she said made it “crystal clear” racial profiling was illegal. However, a recent poll of Hispanic voters in Arizona found that 85 percent felt that Latinos who are legal immigrants or U.S. citizens were likely to be stopped or questioned by police.In his letter, Menendez wrote that Latino players come to the United States legally “and should not be subjected to the humiliation and harassment that (the new law) would inflict” on them during their visit to the state for the All-Star game.”Imagine if your players and their families were subjected to interrogation by law enforcement, simply because they look a certain way,” the senator added.

Menendez said, “the Arizona law is an embarrassment to our country and a call to action to our communities to stand up against injustice.””For these reasons, I ask that you consider boycotting the All-Star Game in Arizona until SB1070 (the new law) is repealed, or the League decides to move the game to an alternate location,” Menendez wrote.(Reuters)

President Barack Obama dared Republicans to try to repeal his new health care law

IOWA CITY, President Barack Obama dared Republicans to try to repeal his new health care law, telling them Thursday to “Go for it” and see how well they do with voters in November.”Be my guest,” Obama said in the first of many planned appearances to sell the revamp before fall congressional elections. “If they want to have that fight, we can have it. Because I don’t believe the American people are going to put the insurance industry back in the driver’s seat.”

With emotions raw around the nation over this week’s Democrats-only vote to approve the nearly $1 trillion redesign of the health care system, Obama took the opposition to task for “plenty of fear-mongering, plenty of overheated rhetoric.”

“If you turn on the news, you’ll see that those same folks are still shouting about how it’s going to be the end of the world because this bill passed,” said Obama, returning to the college town where, as a presidential candidate three years ago, he unveiled his plan to provide health care for all.

No Republican lawmakers voted for the 10-year, sweeping package that Obama signed Tuesday and will shape how almost every American will receive and pay for medical treatment. Many in the GOP are predicting it will prove devastating in November for the Democrats who voted for it.

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell of Kentucky said the GOP won’t give up “until this bill is repealed and replaced with common-sense ideas” that won’t dismantle the current system and increase the debt.

Some Democratic lawmakers have faced threats and vandalism because of their votes. Obama didn’t mention the incidents.

The president stressed the notion of a promise kept. As the crowd broke into a chant of “Yes we can!”, Obama corrected them: “Yes we did!”

Challenged by a young man in the audience who shouted several times, “What about the public option,” a liberal-backed proposal for the creation of a government-sponsored plan to compete with private insurers, Obama said: “We couldn’t get it through Congress.”

“This legislation is not perfect, as you just heard,” the president said. “But what this is, is a historic step to enshrine the principle that everybody gets health care coverage in this country, every single person.”

Afterward, Obama visited Prairie Lights Books – killing two birds with one stone. He had highlighted the store in his speech as a small business that has offered coverage to full-time employees for 20 years, but is struggling to continue to do so after its premiums rose last year by 35 percent. Obama also has frequently complained of his inability as president to do regular things – like browse a bookstore.

The White House suggests it has the upper hand on the issue politically, arguing the GOP risks a voter backlash because a repeal would take away many benefits. Among them are tax credits for small businesses to provide health care to their workers and $250 rebates for seniors to help pay for their presciption medications.Obama spoke as Democrats in Washington raced to complete the overhaul with a separate package of fixes to the main bill.

Senate leaders finished work Thursday on the fix-it legislation, already approved in the House. But Republican attempts to derail the bill resulted in minor changes, meaning the House must vote on it again before Obama can sign it. The House vote was expected by evening. (AP)