Vice President Joe Biden says President Barack Obama was only “stating the obvious” when he told the Russian president he’d have more “flexibility” to negotiate missile defense after the election – a private conservation that was picked up by a hot microphone. 
 
 “The idea that in this election year we're going to be able to deal with an agreement with the Russians on further reducing our nuclear arsenals in the environment that we have in the United [States] Congress now is difficult. … And what the president was doing is stating the obvious. That it's going to be difficult,” Biden said in an interview aired Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation,” noting that he’s had his fair share of public gaffes. 
 
 “We're not going to have the flexibility to sit down and talk with people in this Congress that are going to be able to listen and be able to work with us, probably between now and Election Day,” Biden added. 
 
 Republicans seized on Obama’s hot-mic moment with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, warning that he would compromise national security if he wins reelection. 
 
 Read more about: Barack Obama, Joe Biden 

 Vice President Joe Biden predicts the Supreme Court will uphold the new health care law, despite the blundering defense of the administration’s signature accomplishment by Solicitor General Donald Verrilli. 
 
 “No one has made any money betting on [the] outcome of cases based on oral arguments and the questions asked,” Biden said in an interview aired Sunday on CBS’s “Face the Nation.” “We think the mandate and the law is constitutional, and we think the court will rule that way.” 
 
 The Supreme Court heard three days of arguments last week over the health care law, with Verrilli sometimes stumbling as he spoke Tuesday about the constitutionality of the government requiring people to buy health insurance. 
 
 Press by host Bob Schieffer about the consequences of the court overturning the law, Biden said, “I’m not going to speculate about something I don’t believe will happen. We should focus on what the law is doing for people now and what would happen if the Republicans were able to repeal it.” 
 
 Read more about: Joe Biden, Supreme Court, Vice President 

 Vice President Joe Biden doesn’t concede that Mitt Romney has wrapped up the Republican presidential nomination, nonetheless knocking the former Massachusetts governor for being “out of touch” with the middle class. 
 
 “I think Governor Romney is a little out of touch,” Biden said during his 55th appearance on CBS’s “Face the Nation, adding that Romney opposed the auto bailouts and wanted to “let Detroit go bankrupt.” 
 
 “This is about the middle class, and what affects middle class people? Their jobs, being able to have a home, living in a safe neighborhood, being able to send their kid to college. It’s about their dignity,” Biden said. “This is about the middle class and none of what [Romney’s] offering does anything – it’s just returning to old policies.” 
 
 Biden's remarks came in response to Romney' suggestion that President Obama has lost touch with the American people. 
 
 "I can't remember a presidential candidate in the recent past who seems not to understand, by what he says, what ordinary middle class people are thinking about and are concerned about. ... " Biden continued. 
 
 "Here's what I don't think that Governor Romney seems to understand. It's not just about the kid that doesn't get to go to college because we're not willing to help him. It's about that parent, that proud parent looks at his kid and knows, 'There's nothing I can do to help this kid.' ... I don't know that he understands that there are people like my dad who felt ashamed that he wasn't able to borrow the money and apologizing to me. The worst thing in the world for a parent is to know they can't help their child, whether they're sick because they can't get insurance for them because they have a preexisting condition, or they can't help get them to college." 
 
 Read more about: Joe Biden, Mitt Romney, 2012 

 Biden says contraception debate "remarkable" 
 
 Schieffer: Being a senator -- it's nice work if you can get it 
 
 (CBS News) On "Face the Nation," Vice President Joe Biden told host Bob Schieffer that the recent debate over contraception coverage is "remarkable," and that opponents to contraception coverage are "totally out of touch with reality." 
 
 "I just find it remarkable that the argument is even taking place," Biden said. "I think it's totally out of touch with reality and totally out of touch with what the Independents." The vice president also said it violates "the right of women to decide for themselves, whether or not they want to use contraception." 
 
 The nation became embroiled in a debate over contraception after the president announced a rule requiring employees of religious institutions have access to contraception coverage. Republicans in Congress and GOP presidential candidates decried the move, saying it violates religious freedom. 
 
 President Obama modified the rule slightly, and Biden told Schieffer that the president is pleased with the final decision. 
 
 "The President ended up exactly where he intended and where he began, which was that... every woman in America should be able to have insurance coverage for birth control if she so chooses," Biden said. 
 
 In response to a question by Schieffer about reports that he advised the president against making the rule, Biden said the reports are true but that the president's final rule, which takes the onus off the employer and places it on the insurance company to provide contraception coverage, took into account Biden's consideration. 
 
 "That's exactly where this thing ended up," Biden said.
– President Obama wasn't caving to the Russians or engaging in back-door politics in last week's "hot mic" moment with Dimitry Medvedev, he was just "stating the obvious," the veep charged this morning on Face the Nation. “The idea that in this election year we're going to be able to deal with the Russians on further reducing our nuclear arsenals in the environment that we have in the United States Congress now is difficult," Biden said, according to Politico. “We're not going to have the flexibility to sit down and talk with people in this Congress that are going to be able to listen and be able to work with us, probably between now and Election Day.” Other highlights from the Biden interview: On the contraception debate (as per ABC News): "I just find it remarkable that the argument is even taking place. I think it's totally out of touch with reality" and violates "the right of women to decide for themselves whether or not they want to use contraception." On the Supreme Court's ObamaCare decision: “No one has made any money betting on [the] outcome of cases based on oral arguments and the questions asked. We think the mandate and the law is constitutional, and we think the court will rule that way.” On Mitt Romney: “I think Governor Romney is a little out of touch. This is about the middle class, and what affects middle class people? Their jobs, being able to have a home, living in a safe neighborhood, being able to send their kid to college. It’s about their dignity. This is about the middle class and none of what [Romney’s] offering does anything—it’s just returning to old policies.”