Biden: Obama Team 'Misread' the Economy

Joe Biden conceded today that the Obama administration “misread” how bad the economy actually was and that now the unemployment rate is “much too high,” The Hill reports. In an interview taped in Iraq with This Week, the vice president also said the US doesn’t intend to slow its withdrawal plans from Iraq even if violence surges after American forces leave.

Washington saved some fireworks for the Sunday talk shows today:

• “Concerned” by the level of President Obama’s spending, Colin Powell urged him to slow down his ambitious agenda on State of the Union, saying, “We can’t pay for it all.”
• On Fox News Sunday, Karl Rove said he was “perplexed” by Sarah Palin’s decision to resign—a strategy Mike Huckabee called “risky.”
• Sen. Chuck Grassley said he was “astounded” by Palin’s move, but Bill Kristol maintained that Palin’s experience equals Obama’s, since he failed to finish one Senate term before being elected president.
• On Face the Nation, Chuck Schumer said, “Make no mistake about it, there will be a public option” in Washington’s final health care reform bill.
• In sharp contrast to Biden, Adm. Mike Mullen said he was concerned about any possible Israeli military strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities.

(More Joe Biden stories.)