Vice President Joe Biden on Wednesday jabbed back at his predecessor, Dick Cheney, for accusing the White House of cutting defense spending for food stamps and infrastructure.
“I don't take a back seat to anyone, including Vice President Cheney, on the issue of our military,” Biden told progressives at the Generation Progress summit. “I know what it’s like to have a son stationed in Iraq for a year.”
The comments came in response to Cheney’s remarks Monday that defense spending needs "to be our top priority for spending. Not food stamps, not highways or anything else.”
The two vice presidents have publicly sparred over Cheney’s criticism of the Obama administration’s handling of wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Biden said Wednesday that he fundamentally disagreed with Cheney’s assessment that defense spending should take precedence over other programs.
“This idea of it is somehow inherently more important to spend money on the military than on our domestic needs is a policy I reject,” Biden said.
-- Andrew Rafferty