Biden Lands In Iraq To Mark End Of War

By Andrea Salazar

Vice President Joe Biden arrived in Baghdad Tuesday in a surprise visit to mark the end of the war.

During his visit, Biden will meet with Iraqi officials to discuss the future of U.S.-Iraq relations. The Vice President will also speak at an event commemorating the sacrifices and accomplishments of U.S. and Iraqi troops.

As President Obama announced in October, all U.S. combat troops will leave Iraq by Dec. 31. 

This is Biden’s eighth trip to Iraq as Vice President.

Ohio Rejects Collective Bargaining Law

By Andrea Salazar 

Ohio voters Tuesday overturned a law limiting the collective bargaining rights of the state’s public workers.

In a statement, Vice President Joe Biden called the vote a “a gigantic victory for the middle class.”

“By standing with teachers and firefighters and cops, Ohio has sent a loud and clear message that will be heard all across the country: the middle class will no longer be trampled on,” Biden said.

Randi Weingarten, president of the American Federation of Teachers, said the vote sends a clear message to the rest of the country.

“Those who would dare try to strip collective bargaining rights away from hard-working citizens will now think twice,” Weingarten said in a statement. “Ohio voters made it clear to them that there is a price to pay for turning your back on the middle class.”

Biden: Media Overplaying Violence In Iraq

During a meeting in Baghdad this morning with Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, U.S. Vice President Joe Biden touted the security condition of the war-torn nation.

“Notwithstanding what the national press says about increased violence, the truth is things are still very much different,” he said. “Things are much safer.”

Biden referred to a series of attacks last Wednesday that killed 55 Iraqi civilians in different parts of the country as “dismal.”

The Vice President’s visit to Iraq, his fifth since taking office, purposely coincides with the withdrawal of the last U.S. combat brigade from there. The U.S. now has a total of 50,000 troops in Iraq…