Joe Biden, Taxes and Foot in Mouth Disease

A little story about US Vice-President Joe Biden putting his foot squarely in his mouth in a frozen custard store:

Then it got really bad. Biden engaged the owner in conversation. "What do we owe you?" he asked, licking a cone. "Lower our taxes and we'll call it even," the owner replied.

Leave it there, Joe! Don't do it!

But no, Biden just had to answer back, for the benefit of the cable news channels. "Why don't you say something nice instead of being a smartass all the time? Say something nice," he snorted.

In fairness, Biden claimed that he was "just kidding" with the owner. Which he may well have been, but it is still a very stupid retort and one that is perhaps more revealing about Biden's thought process than he might like. There is nothing wrong with asking for lower taxes - it isn't a nasty comment, and it certainly isn't being a smartass (despite what The Guardian inevitably implies at the very end of the article). Biden appears to be demonstrating the arrogance that has become an epidemic among politicians on both sides of the Atlantic - that the tax we pay is their money to spend, rather than something they should be looking to minimise on behalf of those they claim to represent.

I suppose that America can at least be grateful that their Vice-President tries to engage with the public - even if it is in a patronising and dismissive way. It is certainly very different from the example set by... I don't know, Gordon Brown - who might disagree with a voter, but would say nothing to them or about them until he was safely in his car.