V.P. Biden defends Obama’s handling of the economy

Vice President Joe Biden is defending the Obama Administration’s track record on the economy, saying the stimulus plan is working. Biden spoke Monday morning to the Committee of Seventy, a Philadelphia-based, government reform group.

Vice President Joe Biden is defending the Obama Administration’s track record on the economy, saying the stimulus plan is working. Biden spoke Monday morning to the Committee of Seventy, a Philadelphia-based, government reform group.

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[audio: 091123spvp.mp3]

Biden told a gathering of about 500 politicians, business people and civic leaders that an increase in the nation’s gross domestic product for the first time in two years is cause for optimism.

Biden: A net change of ten percent in ten months in the GDP. If I had offered you that on election day who among you would not have raised your hand and say, sign me one.

Biden says he expects a net creation of jobs in the U.S. by the first quarter of next year.

He says the world has changed so drastically in the last several years that equally dramatic policy changes are needed to lessen the country’s dependence on foreign oil, and reduce health care costs. He says Obama’s critics have offered no alternatives.