Candidates

Joseph Robinette Biden, Jr., was born on November 20th, 1942, in Scranton, Pennsylvania. The oldest of four siblings, Biden graduated from the University of Delaware and Syracuse Law School. He served on the New Castle County Council before becoming one of the youngest people ever elected to the United States Senate at the age of 29.

Biden served in the Senate for 36 years, working across domestic and international issues. He was the Chairman or senior Democrat of the Senate Judiciary Committee for 17 years, where his work on criminal justice issues included the landmark 1994 Crime Bill and the Violence Against Women Act. In his role as the Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, he helped shape U.S. foreign policy on counterterrorism and curbing the spread of weapons of mass destruction. In addition, Senator Biden played an instrumental role in strengthening America’s relationship with post-Cold War Europe, the Middle East, and Southwest Asia.

Since being sworn into office as the 47th vice president of the United States on January 20th, 2009, his work has been key to many of the Obama administration’s major foreign and domestic policy initiatives, including the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, support for the middle class, college affordability, and revitalizing America’s manufacturing base.

Drawing on his years of foreign policy experience, the Vice President advises the President on a range of international issues. In 2010, he worked with Senate leaders to secure their approval of the New START nuclear arms reduction treaty with Russia. Vice President Biden played a key role in bringing about a responsible end to the war in Iraq, traveling to the country eight times since 2009—most recently in December 2011 to mark the end of U.S. combat operations.

Over the past three years, the Vice President has represented our country in every region of the world:

• Advancing U.S. support for Israel’s security
• Securing European support for the Obama administration’s approach to missile defense
• Working with Latin American leaders to combat drug trafficking and international crime
• Building relationships with key leaders in Africa
• Reestablishing our leadership in the Asia-Pacific region

On the 2012 campaign trail, the Vice President is traveling across the country making the case for the President’s re-election. He has delivered a series of speeches about the choice Americans will face in November and the major issues at the core of this election:

• Supporting America’s manufacturing and auto industries
• Protecting retirement security for America’s seniors
• Making sure millionaires and billionaires shouldn’t pay a smaller share of their income in taxes than middle-class families
• Keeping Americans safe and our nation secure

Tammy Baldwin is devoted to fighting for Wisconsin families and has been her whole life.

Tammy was born and raised in the Badger State. She has a reputation for taking on corporate special interests and has made fighting for the middle class her top priority. She believes we can restore economic security to Wisconsin’s middle class families by making sure that everyone pays their fair share. Tammy is the lead sponsor in the House of Representatives of the Buffett Rule to ensure that millionaires and billionaires pay their fair share. People with million dollar incomes shouldn’t pay a lower tax rate than hard working middle class families.

Tammy, raised by her grandparents, learned the value Medicare and Social Security hold at a young age. She understands America’s seniors expect nothing more than to retire with dignity and security. That’s why she opposes Republican plans to fund tax cuts for the wealthy by cutting Social Security and Medicare. When it comes to Social Security benefits, Tammy is committed to protecting them — not privatizing them — just as she is committed to preserving and strengthening Medicare, not ending it as we know it.

Throughout her career in public service — from the Dane County Board of Supervisors, Wisconsin State Assembly, now in Congress — Tammy has never forgotten who she works for and that every voice matters.  It’s through hard work and determination that one voice can make a difference, it always does.

In 1998, Wisconsin’s 2nd Congressional District shattered the state’s glass ceiling and elected Tammy Baldwin as the state’s first female member of Congress and the nation’s first openly gay challenger sent to Congress.

Shortly after she was first elected to Congress, at a time when both parties were supporting de-regulation of the financial industry, Tammy stood up for Wisconsin taxpayers. She voted against letting Wall Street and the big banks write their own rules — one of only a handful of members of Congress who voted no on repealing the Glass-Steagall Act. The Glass-Steagall Act had been place since the Great Depression and kept banks from engaging in many of the risky practices that later led to 2008 economic collapse, our nation’s worst recession since the Great Depression. Recently, Tammy stood up for Wisconsin homeowners in stopping the Justice Department from cutting a sweetheart deal for the 5 biggest mortgage banks. She fought against giving them immunity from prosecution for the fraud they’d committed. She won, the banks did not get immunity, and were forced to pay billions of dollars to the victims.

Always looking out for Wisconsin’s middle class, Tammy has fought unfair trade deals and she knows that when China cheats on trade and manipulates its currency, it costs us jobs. That is why she’s leading the fight, working with Republicans, to impose strong tariffs on China starting now. Tariffs that will protect Wisconsin’s manufacturing jobs. She has consistently fought against unfair trade deals including those with China and Central and South America because Tammy understands that they encourage outsourcing and job losses in Wisconsin. Tammy has shown a strong commitment to restoring American manufacturing through targeted tax cuts for companies that keep jobs here in the United States.

In Congress, Tammy has a strong record of working hard for Wisconsin’s veterans — making sure their service and sacrifice is honored by ensuring adequate funding for veterans’ health, mental health, education, and job-training programs. Tammy opposed the costly war in Iraq — one of just a few members of Congress who stood up to their own party and said it is time to bring our troops home from Afghanistan to focus on nation building here at home. The billions it costs our country are better spent reducing the federal debt and lowering taxes for middle class families and small businesses.

Access to affordable health care is vital to middle class security and for too long big health insurance companies have paid billions annually to game the system. That is why Tammy has fought to give patients more control over their care and continues to fight to make health insurance more affordable for Wisconsin’s families and small businesses. She authored a provision included in the Affordable Care Act which allows young adults to stay on their parent’s insurance until age 26, which has helped insure 2.5 million young people throughout the country.

Tammy graduated from Madison West High School and went on to double-major in political science and mathematics at Smith College. In 1989, she received her law degree from UW-Madison. Throughout her career in public service, Tammy has made education a top priority — fighting to make higher education more affordable for all of Wisconsin’s students. In Congress, she has supported student loan reform to make college financing more accessible and affordable. To succeed in the future’s global economy, students from working and middle class families need access to college and technical schools.

In the proud tradition of Wisconsin’s state motto, “Forward,” Tammy holds a strong commitment to innovation, research and development. Through investments in clean energy technology, we can strengthen Wisconsin’s economy and lower energy costs for families and businesses. Dedicated to Wisconsin’s progressive traditions and values, Tammy has a long record of fighting for family farms, for clean air and water, working to protect Wisconsin’s environment and preserve our agricultural heritage for future generations.

In the Senate, Baldwin will put the middle class first and fight for a fairer economy where hard work is rewarded. She is committed to working with both parties to strengthen Wisconsin’s manufacturing and reduce the tax burden on small businesses so that they can continue to create jobs and drive our economy forward.