Biden Blasts BOA Bank Fee

Vice President Joe Biden called out Bank of America for imposing a new fee this month on customers with debit cards.

In an interview this morning with NBC News’ David Gregory, Biden said “at a minimum, they are incredibly tone deaf.”

The banking giant has blamed the new fee — a $5 monthly charge on customers who use debit cards — on Congress. A component inserted by Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) into last year’s Dodd-Frank financial reform law set a limit on fees that banks can charge retailers when customers pay with their cards.

The interview, like others conducted at this week’s Washington Ideas Forum, covered a number of areas. When Gregory pivoted to the economy, Biden blamed the slow pace of action in Congress on a fractured GOP.

“My view is that their party is not the Republican Party that we all know,” he said. “We need a Republican Party that’s united.”

Biden defended President Obama’s cross-country tour to promote his jobs package, arguing that it’s smarter strategy to directly engage the public than try to negotiate with a half-receptive Congress.

However, in a line that could come back to haunt the administration, Biden said he does not think that failure to pass the bill will bring the country back into recession.

Biden later blamed conservative rank-and-file Republicans for the debt limit standoff that caused a downgrade of the nation’s credit rating earlier this summer. The outspoken VP expressed confidence that if it were simply up to the White House and the top two Republicans in the House, Speaker John Boehner (R-Ohio) and Majority Leader Eric Cantor (R-Va.), a grand bargain on deficit reduction would have been struck.

“I think [President Obama] does have a partner in the bulk of the [Republican] leadership,” Biden said. “But they are seriously hamstrung.”

Federal Waste Initiative Would Save Taxpayers $2 Billion

New steps being taken by the Obama administration will save taxpayers more than $2 billion over the next five years, said Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday.

Biden, who was tapped by President Obama this past June to oversee a government-wide effort to cut down on waste, said the cuts would mainly target the public healthcare sector.

“Today’s announcements…show that we can make our government more efficient and responsible to the American people,” Biden said. “If we’re going to spur jobs and economic growth and restore long-term fiscal solvency, we need to make sure hard-earned tax dollars don’t go to waste.”

According to the White House, a provision within the Affordable Care Act known as the Medicaid Recovery Audit Contractor Program would limit fraud by $2.1 billion between now and 2016 by targeting improper payments to beneficiaries. $900 million worth of savings would be doled out to states.

“We simply can’t afford to see even one penny of our health care dollars wasted and expanding this program will help us reach that goal,” said Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

Biden, who summoned cabinet officials to the White House this morning to review anti-waste plans, also announced a new effort being spearheaded by the Labor Department to minimize wasteful spending on unemployment benefits. The agency, which launched a new website that tracks improper payments on a state-by-state basis, also awarded $192 million to 42 states to improve their way of handling and distributing benefits.

“States bear the responsibility of operating an efficient and effective benefits program, but as partners the federal government must be able to hold them accountable for doing so,” said Labor Secretary Hilda Solis.

Biden will hold additional meetings in the coming weeks with cabinet officials to monitor efforts to cut waste.

Meanwhile, House Oversight and Government Reform Committee Chairman Darrell Issa (R-Calf.) released a new report this morning showing that new regulations put in place by the administration will cost businesses up to $380 billion over the next decade.

The report details how federal regulatory agencies have increased payrolls by 13% during President Obama’s time in office, and shows that the number of full-time regulatory employees is expected to grow to over 290,000 by next year.

Issa, who has been pressuring the White House to roll back rules since he took over as head of his committee back in January, said the new regulations would stifle economic growth.

“The businesses owners and workers who bear the brunt of these regulations are not Fortune 500 executives, they are main street business owners and workers from around the country,” he said. “These firms, their families, suppliers, customers and employees all bear the cost of these new and proposed regulations.”

Though Issa applauded Obama’s decision earlier this month to ask the EPA to scrap a key air quality rule, he urged the president to go further.

“Thus far, the rhetoric we have seen from the Obama Administration on the issue of regulatory reform has not been matched in deed.”

Biden, Boehner Quarrel Over Economic Status

Vice President Joe Biden blasted House Minority Leader John Boehner’s morning economic address after the Ohio Republican urged President Barack Obama to fire the remaining members his economic team, including Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner.

Biden jokingly thanked Boehner for his suggestion saying it was “very constructive advice.”

In his statement, Boehner pushed for the extension of Bush tax cuts and the termination of Larry Summers and Geithner, a measure that Biden said will only result in a repeated debt crisis created by the last administration.

“After all this build up and hype, all we know is what John Boehner and his Republican colleagues are against,” he said. “I don’t know, other than a tax cut for [the wealthy], I don’t know what they are for.”

Biden conceded to the notion that the economy has not made the full recovery the administration is looking for, but said “there’s not any doubt we’re moving in the right direction.”

Some Stimulus Recipients To Face Increased Scrutiny

Vice President Joe Biden today announced the release of a Presidential memo calling for tighter oversight of recipients of Recovery Act (ARRA) funds.

According to government figures, agencies failed to file reports on 1,036 Recovery Act awards in the last fiscal quarter. Although spending reports were submitted for 65,429 other awards, Biden said the goal should be to have every single federal dollar accounted for.

“After more than a year implementing the Recovery Act, I can proudly say that we’re not only creating jobs across the country, but doing so responsibly and with a level of transparency never before seen in this town,” Biden said. “This Presidential Memorandum will continue to make sure that every dollar is accounted for and every official is held accountable.”

Earl Devaney, Chairman of the independent Recovery Accountability and Transparency Board, created by the ARRA, said cracking down on recipients that fail to report is the best way to ensure full accountability.

“I have been a strong advocate of compliance measures that would encourage recipients of Recovery funds to submit their spending reports to the Recovery Board, as required by the Recovery Act,” Devaney said. “The President’s decision to issue a memorandum to the senior officials of executive departments and agencies will go a long way toward helping the Board achieve our goal of 100 percent compliance.”

Biden Criticizes Israeli Decision To Build In East Jerusalem

Vice President Joe Biden issued a statement Tuesday criticizing the Israeli government for pursuing a plan to construct new housing units in East Jerusalem, a politically-fragile disputed region.

"I condemn the decision by the government of Israel to advance planning for new housing units in East Jerusalem,” Biden said. “It is precisely the kind of step that undermines the trust we need right now and runs counter to the constructive discussions that I’ve had here in Israel.”

“Unilateral action taken by either party cannot prejudge the outcome of negotiations on permanent status issues,” the statement goes on to read.

The Vice President is currently in Israel on a diplomatic trip. Biden traveled to the country partly in an attempt to revive peace talks between Israelis and the Palestinians.