Biden To Wall-Street-Friendly Democrats: The Middle Class Comes First

[laughingliberal]

Vice President Biden today challenged a gathering of Wall-Street-friendly Democrats to join President Obama in making sure that this economic recovery, unlike the last one, actually benefits the middle class.

"I have one question. I have one challenge to you all. What policy steps will once again link productivity growth and middle-class incomes?" Biden asked the audience. "I hope collectively we can find an answer.

"The middle class needs to get its fair share again," Biden said. "It sounds like a trite political slogan, but, folks, the system is not going to work if they do not believe they're getting a fair share commensurate with the effort they put in."

Biden was speaking at the relaunch of the Hamilton Project, a think tank founded by ultimate Wall Street Democrat Robert Rubin to publicly despair about the deficit and other things bankers worry about the most.

So his speech was something of a shot across the bow. <snip>

More and the full text of speech at link: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/04/20/biden-to-wall-street-frie_n_544753.html


Really happy to see this. It's high time we talked about all these 'recoveries' we see that leave the working and middle classes right back in the same spot or slightly further behind than the last crash. And he did it in Rubin's lair!!! Yay, Joe!

[Warpy]

1. Anybody actually voting their proxies this year

knows that's not the only shot across the bow. Shareholders are also starting to rebel against upper management looting the companies and reducing their earnings.

[Political Heretic]

2. Actually the poor come first. But you're never going to say that, Joe.

Politicians pretend as though the poor don't exist.

[laughingliberal]

3. True. But I was happy to see him standing up to the banksters in our party

The full text of his speech is at the link and worth reading. He made the case that policies decided at the start of the expansion would determine who sees the benefits and how Bush's policies made sure no one except the top saw the benefits.

[CTyankee]

4. That's a little unfair. Biden was right about the middle class being crucial to our

democracy. Because democracy is a way up for lots of poor people, if you ensure that racism and sexism doesn't permanently keep some out. And that is a constant struggle, as it should be. But Joe's point was absolutely on target.

We need a fairer economic system and a better education system in order to solve the problem of poverty in this country. But a strong and secure middle class is an absolute necessity for us to have a democracy...

[laughingliberal]

7. He also talked about how anti-union stances prevented the middle class from advancing

I think his speech hit the nail on the head and hope we start seeing movement in this direction. He told them Americans don't feel GDP growth or sit around their table talking about how the NASDAQ is climbing.

[Political Heretic]

9. True. I am just so tired of the fact that no politician will speak of they who shall not be named.

:(

[CTyankee]

15. The political reality is that everybody aspires to be rich but nobody aspires to be poor.

Those who speak for the poor are reviled because there is a fear out there among people, esp. those with a fragile hold on the lower rungs of the middle class, that they could fall back into poverty. Repukes exploit that fear and sadly, it works.

If you truly make the middle class work you will lift up the poor, with the caveat that prejudice against minorities must be strongly rejected. The Democratic Party has historically been a help to do that lifting. Look at Social Security, the GI Bill following WWII and its effect on the education and the home ownership of formerly poor individuals, Medicare, the EITC, and now Obama's stimulus measures.

I see this as Biden's aim here...he doesn't attack the poor, he is trying to make them have a better shot at NOT being poor...

[laughingliberal]

16. Understood.

But it is the first I've seen of anyone in the administration talking about how the anti-union stance of the bankster dems increased the inequality and funneled all the gains of the 2000's to the top. I'm no longer middle class but I was for a long time. This crisis has made us poor. I'm hoping there can be some policies to stop the shrinkage of the middle class and put some people on the road towards it who are not now on that road. Union membership is certainly one thing that could help. Another is to get the regulations in place so Wall Street and the banks can't keep stealing all the gains.

[Odin2005]

5. I'm sick of politicians talking about the "Middle Class" all the time and ignoring the poor.

It only perpetuates anti-poor bigotry. "Middle Class" is a euphemism for "good, hardworking, morally upright folks" that think of themselves as above the "lazy poor".

there are only 2 classes in our society, the Investor Class and The Working Class, there is no "middle class".

[Political Heretic]

11. Beat ya.

Kidding :)

Abso-frackin-lutely. Well said.

[LiberalAndProud]

13. A lot of poor folks classify themselves as middle class.

So when Joe talks about the middle class, the language may be more inclusive than it would appear at first glance.

Furthermore, if a rising tide lifts all boats, it won't harm those who live in poverty.

And I would argue that it is the middle class who pay the lion's share of the tax burden, and there should be some ying to go with the yang.

[Hekate]

6. You tell'em, Joe. Americans are allegedly the most productive workers in the world -- and for what?

Love that guy.

Hekate

[laughingliberal]

18. For what has been to make a bunch of fat cats fatter past 30 years

I hope this signals a commitment to a change in the trajectory.

[Romulox]

8. Ol' Bankruptcy bill Biden has a bit of a credibility gap with the middle class...nt

[Political Heretic]

10. Seriously. I felt the pain of that bill directly.

[Fumesucker]

12. Talk is cheap..

I'll believe it when the politicians walk the walk..

[laughingliberal]

14. I understand your point but I will say this is the first I've seen where anyone

talked about the whole ball of wax in one speech-the fact that middle America saw no gains from the last recovery and the role that anti-union, anti-regulatory zeal played in all this. Yes, I want to see all this backed up with action but it's the first speech I've seen by anyone in our party that really named the problems. For that reason, I was encouraged by it.

[Nikki Stone1]

17. Hamilton Project

Nuff said.

[saracat]

19. K+R this IS encouraging.Maybe I just want to believe in something again!