REMARKS OF THE VICE PRESIDENT AT THE FIRST MEETING OF THE MIDDLE CLASS TASK FORCE, PANEL ONE William B. Irvine Auditorium The University of Pennsylvania Philadelphia, Pennsylvania February 27, 2009 12:10 P.M. EST THE VICE PRESIDENT: I’d like the record to show it’s the first time in my life my Senate colleagues ever stood for me. I really do appreciate that — (laughter) — this was worth the job, worth the trip. (Laughter.) Ladies and gentleman, thank you for all being here today, and Senators Specter and Casey, and Congressman Fattah and Congressman Brady; Mayor Nutter and the governor will be here, as well; and many luminaries that are here in the audience: I see that Andy Stern of SEIU is out there, and Anna Burger of Change to Win, — (applause) — and as I understand it, that Jerry Sullivan is out there, representing the laborers that are going to get, God-willing and the creek not rising, a significant boost from what we’re about to do. And Congressman Patrick Murphy, I’m told, is in the audience, as well as — and I just got this list, I hope I’m not leaving anybody out — the mayor of Easton, Sal Panto is here, I’m told — Sal, welcome; the mayor of Bethlehem, John Callahan; the mayor of Harrisburg, Steve Reed; the mayor of Allentown, Ed — is it Pawlowski — (laughter) — did I get it right — you can call me "Bidden" if I got it wrong — (laughter) — the mayor of Wilkes-Barre, next to the — one of the second best towns in America after Wilmington, Delaware — Scranton, Pennsylvania, the mayor of Wilkes-Barre, Tom Leighton is here I’m told; and a good personal friend and a great public servant, Jim Florio, former governor of New Jersey I’m told is here. So welcome, Jim. (Applause.) I — after thanking my colleagues in the panel, I love being here today. But I’m continuing to pay tuition here — my son, Beau, was an undergraduate here — got a pay raise when he left and went off to Syracuse law school. My daughter is here in graduate school, and she is getting a master’s degree in social work. And so I’m really looking forward to this recovery act. (Laughter.) (Inaudible) Secretary Duncan — (laughter) — just I wish to heck three or four Presidents earlier, we did what we’re doing now. I’d have felt a lot better about it, and my net worth would be better off. But look, the signing of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act represents an incredibly strong first step in, at least in my view, along this long and difficult road to recovery. And I want to thank Senator Specter. I personally want to thank Senator Specter. (Applause.) I’ve been a senator for 36 years, and I think I can count on one hand when I’ve watched people cast a vote from the side of the aisle, Democrat or Republican, that they happen to sit on, that no one doubts cost them — cost them politically, but cast the vote because they truly believed it was in the best interest in the country. And so, Arlen, we would not — this legislation — it may not even help you my saying it, but this legislation would not exist were it not for you. I can tell you that personally, because two of your other Republican colleagues said — one in particular — if Senator Specter doesn’t vote for it, I don’t vote it; there were not enough votes. You’re responsible for this, and I thank you. (Applause.) The worst part for Senator Casey is I take him so much for granted, I always count on him doing the right thing, which he does. And thank you for being on the front end of this. And I thank my congressional colleagues, as well. Look, folks, we’re making an unprecedented investment in this country, in the recovery of this country, and an unprecedented investment in clean energy, clean energy that will be able to create tens of thousands, over time, of good, high-paying jobs, the vast majority of which are not exportable — they’re all American jobs. And how far — (applause) — how far and how fast we travel on that road is going to be determined by the actions we take, not only in implementing the recovery act, but also in continuing to make progress on energy, health care and education. That’s why President Obama asked me to lead our Middle Class Task Force as well as oversee the implementation of this recovery package, which is almost $800 billion. You know, when we were running for public office — excuse me — for the President and the Vice President, we said something repeatedly that I want to reinforce that we mean. And that is, when we measure the success or failure of this administration, at the end of the day, not merely whether the economy is technically recovering and the GDP is growing, but whether or not the middle class, at the end of the day, the middle class is growing, the middle class is in fact reaping its fair share of the economic growth, because over the course of the last economic expansion, the middle class participated in very few of the benefits. Between the year 2000 and 2007, American workers — American workers were highly productive — productivity increased significantly, yet the income of middle-class households fell $2,000 a year. We broke the bargain, the bargain that was made back in the middle of the last century — that workers producing a more productive economy would participate — participate in the benefits of that increased production. We want to make sure that does not happen again.
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Remarks of the Vice President at the First Meeting of the Middle Class Task Force, Panel One