Biden blames Bush, McCain for 'god-awful economic mess'
[cnn-photo-caption image= http://i2.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2008/images/09/16/art.bidenam.cnn.jpg caption="Biden appeared on CNN's American Morning Tuesday."](CNN) - Sen. Joe Biden, the Democratic vice presidential candidate, said Tuesday that "the middle class is dying" and Sen. Barack Obama's economic plan will reverse that trend by lowering their taxes and raising those of people making $250,000 or more.
Watch Biden on American Morning
"Create jobs, keep people in their homes and increase regulatory oversight of the very people John (McCain) has refused to regulate," Biden said, summing up Obama's plan for repairing the ailing economy.
Earlier: Biden hammers McCain over economy
"We're letting taxes expire for the very wealthy and giving the middle class a fighting chance," he said.
Asked if that amounted to income redistribution, Biden replied, "I don't care what you call it. The middle class is dying."
"The American worker's been left out in the cold," he said.
Biden squarely blamed the economic mess on President Bush's economic policies backed by McCain, including the failure to properly regulate Wall Street, which he said resulted in fewer jobs, increased foreign debt and skyrocketing oil prices.
Biden, like McCain, called for stronger government regulation of Wall Street. "Bottom line is if you come to the federal government to borrow money, we get to look at your books," he said. "That's my money. It's the taxpayers' money."
Biden further blamed Bush and McCain for the "god-awful economic mess at home and abroad." Referring to assertions by McCain that the U.S. economy was fundamentally strong, Biden said the economy was "sound if you're very wealthy."
"It's a disaster if you're a hard-working middle-class family who goes from paycheck to paycheck and worries about paying your mortgage," he said.
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Biden you have been in politics too long, if you really want to help your country, its time you took a job as a steel worker and joined the union you love so much..
Blaming McCain are you kidding me. If you blame McCain you blame yourself and BAMA. I am definitley not voting for you.
Get out of Iraq and save a couple billion dollars a month that middle america can use.
Mccain was a POW during the civil rights movement.
Can't wait for the VP debates! It's going to be the Best Comedy of the Year. Biden vs. the intellectual equivalent of a 12 year old.
biden is at the top of his game. too bad all he plays is the blame game. funny how the economy didn't tank until several years after the dems took over congress. i forget, when were all those bad loans written. that's right, over the last few years. i didn't hear about bush vetoing any legislation that would have prevented this. you can't blame the prez without blaming congress too.
Because Bush/McCain told companies to give bad loans and for people to lie on their applications. Because Bush/McCain preside over banks that make loans too confusing for many people and trick them in believing more than they can.
Sorry, NOT BUYING IT!
And what Biden have you done as a lawmaker to prevent this crisis too! I have worked in the financial industry for 10 years now and our laws are seriously outdated. And YOU, your fellow Senators – ALL your fellow senators have done little to update the laws around regulation.
And why in the world would anyone support raising capital gains tax at a time like this makes NO SENSE and will further retard economic growth! I encourage everyone to go to their local library/bookstore and read up on basic accounting and/or economics.
Bloomberg said YESTERDAY the fundamentals of the economy are strong. Is Bloomberg wrong? Don't think so. The do-NOTHING democratic controlled Congress holds the purse-strings to the American Economy. McCain warned of Fannie and Freddie OVER A YEAR AGO. The dems did NOTHING! Oh, wait Pelosi and her 18% approval rating, blames everyone else but them. Let these corrupt banks fail and let the strong banks that didn't get into the subprime mess come in and take over.
New York, and absolute must win state for dems. NY polls since summer, Obama up 23 points in May. Down to 18, down to 13, down to 8, down to a dismal 5 point lead in NEW YORK STATE YESTERDAY!!!!!!!
Biden goes out and answers questions about the economy on morning news shows today. McCain goes out and answers questions about the economy on morning news shows today. Where is Obama? Oh, he brought his teleprompter back out on the stump with him and he's hiding from the press. Interesting. 🙂
There has been the largest, most lopsided, unfair, criminal income redistribution during the past 8 years in the history of America. The rich have gotten exponentially richer without producing NADA. That's why our financial markets are imploding. Don't you think it's time for 95% of working families to get a crumb?
There is still more damage that can be done. Let the republicans finish destroying America!
Its nice to hear truth for a CHANGE
MCCAIN has NO PLAN, NO CLUE
Go Joe! You are my VP!
Thank you for stepping up and being my voice against ignorance!
Obama-Biden 08
Wow so Biden and his dem buddies in DC are 100% blameless in this mess...and it's interesting that his Son stopped pushing for his banks needs only after Biden ran out of lies to tell....interesting.
The Obama/ Biden ticket is not what is going to save American but it will be a start to improving our lives and getting back on track.
Thanks...Joe. Your doing a marelous job...let that other VP candidate keep reading from her notes and tele prompter.
Hear! Hear!
It was the laissez faire attitude of Coolidge and Hoover that led to the Great Depression.
It is the laissez faire attitude of Reagan and both Bushes that have led us to the mess we're in right now. If it were for regulations put in place at the end of the depression and some correction by Clinton, we'd be in an even bigger mess today. It's sad that the Republicans have worked to overturn many of those regulations and have made things worse than they need have been.
The Republicans like to tout themselves as the party of fiscal responsibility. Funny that America prospers better under Democrats than Republicans.
The Republicans ran congress until January of 2007, about 2 months before all of this started coming to a head. It was Bush's "ownership society" and Republican congress that allowed the loosest lending practices in decades, if not ever, to continue. That is what got us here.
It's more than Bush, it is the entire mindset of the GOP.
Don't swallow the lies that the GOP feeds you. Congress is NOT democratically controlled. The Senate is split cleanly down the middle because of the traitor Lieberman. Dick Cheney gets to cast tie-breaking votes. The Senate is still GOP controlled. Claims to the contrary are nothing more than the machinations of the propaganda machine of the Bush administration, attempts to try and divert blame from where it should fall. The Republican party is a joke and John McCain and Sarah Palin are the punchline.
More Doom and Gloom from the Liberal Left...you guys are going to put Chicken Little out of a job.
BJ – the mess started way longer than two years ago....we have just been experiencing the fallout in the past two years!
AMERICA, WAKE UP!
You have a choice to make. To move on and change the economic situation that you are currently in or be led into the same mess again.
The choice is truly yours
I see no reaso why you should NOT change for the better.
Its evident,
OBAMA 08
Typical lib. It is all Bush's fault. Nevermind Lehman Bros employees donated over $10 million to Obama's campaign. Nevermind Fannie/Freddie are in the pockets of the likes of Dodd, Biden, etc. Good call genius
BJ-
the dems have controlled the Congress for 2 years. Republicans have controlled it 12 years before that. Please don't try to say that this economic crisis which started in July 07 was b/c of a few months of the Dems.
Joe-you tell them!
I saw Sen. Biden on at least two news channels this morning explaining their economic plans and answering tough questions. He's very impressive and sensible. Where is the other VP nominee, Gov. Palin?