Biden by the Numbers

There's going to be a ton of ink--virtual and otherwise--spilled over the next 24 hours about Barack Obama's new running mate, Sen. Joe Biden, from his speaking gaffes to a losing his wife in a car accident in 1972 to his geopolitical prowess.

But he is trying to win the vice president's job as the nation goes through a wrenching financial retrenchment, so a quick look at his views on the economy is in order.

During a late November interview on PBS' NewsHour, Biden points to eliminating the Bush tax cuts, pushing for transparency in the hedge fund world, and ending the war in Iraq to fix what ails the U.S. economy.

He points out to Judy Woodruff that he thinks the the nation's debt problem is deep, and having a profound impact on any recovery (Granted this was nine months ago, but only the level of pain has changed, and for the worse). "The problem we have here is that we owe China a trillion dollars. We're $2 trillion in debt to the world. The value of the dollar is falling. And why are we so much in debt? The war and tax cuts for the wealthy."

That's not much different from what Obama has been pushing, but Biden's clout on the Hill and his worldliness may help the Dems pack a little more power into the punch.

There's more of his economic voting record here, showing a bias toward balancing the budget.

Personally, Biden is "not super wealthy" and "may actually be the least wealthy member of the U.S. Senate," according to mydd.com.

Biden's fundraising efforts show big donors coming from the nation's biggest law firms and real estate developers but nothing scandalous. Only around 2 percent of his campaign contributions came from PACs, according to opensecrets.org, which gives a nice rundown of the money behind his political life.