Barack and Joe’s Secret Code - POLITICO Magazine: "Biden’s most significant domestic assignment was supervising the 2009 Recovery Act, which was larger than anything FDR tried during his fabled First Hundred Days. In contrast to the New Deal, where the word “boondoggle” originated, Obama’s nearly $1 trillion stimulus package was surprisingly scandal-free. Even Republicans like Sen. Pat Roberts, who hated the whole idea of a stimulus were impressed by an accountability structure that fixed problems quickly. “Sheriff Joe,” as Obama called him, rode herd on tens of thousands of projects to make sure they weren’t stupid ideas that would discredit recovery efforts. Ron Klain, Biden’s first chief of staff, remembered a prominent senator calling to ask for a skate park in his state. “The vice president was, ‘No, no, no!’,” Klain said. “It showed everything about him in the executive branch — his common sense mentality turned out to be better judgment than all the slide rules together.”"
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