EMAIL DETAILS

THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Vice President
For Immediate Release September 3, 2012


REMARKS BY VICE PRESIDENT JOE BIDEN
TO AFL-CIO LABOR DAY RALLY

Westin Book Cadillac
Detroit, Michigan


11:50 A.M. EDT


THE VICE PRESIDENT: This is my son Beau and my grandson Hunter. They wanted to come and see real labor. (Applause.)

It's great to be with so many friends here. Ladies and gentlemen, it's also great to be with the biggest defenders of organized labor in the United States of America, Debbie Stabenow, Carl Levin, Sandy Levin, John Dingell, Gary Peters. (Applause.)

Folks, before I begin, I'd like to pay tribute to all of you who have put on the uniform. I want to pay tribute to all of you who've had a son or a daughter, like I have, deployed to Afghanistan and Iraq; and all of you who have waited -- waited -- while they sacrificed on our behalf. Ladies and gentlemen, I'd like to ask for a moment of silence for the 6,468 Fallen Angels; 49,609 who have been wounded. I ask for a moment of silence for them and for their families.

(A moment of silence is observed.)

Thank you. These are -- the greatest group of warriors this nation has ever -- (applause).

Ladies and gentlemen, this country faces the starkest choice in my memory. Governor Romney and Congressman Ryan --

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Folks, as the President says, we don't need your boos, we need your votes and get people out. (Applause.) Folks --

AUDIENCE: Four more years! Four more years! Four more years!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Thank you. Well, now that Romney and Ryan have been officially nominated, those stark differences are even more clear. We have no doubt about what they're for. Folks, you know and I know, much of what they told you at their convention is simply, as they say in my old neighborhood, not on the level.

You heard Congressman Ryan on Wednesday night blame the GM plant closing in Janesville, his hometown on President Obama. Well, folks, let's take a look at the facts. Congressman Ryan was right about only one thing, the closure of a plant, as I know in my state and you know in yours, is devastating. It's devastating on a community, and it is a depression for all those who lost their jobs. But, ladies and gentlemen, what he didn't tell you -- what he didn't tell you was the plant in Janesville actually closed on President Bush's watch, while he was President. (Applause.)

What he didn't say -- what he didn't say is before the sacrifices you made, UAW members made, before those sacrifices and the courage of the President, but for that, all the GM plants would have been closed.

Ladies and gentlemen, these guys are amazing. Folks, you're the reason -- you're the reason why the automobile industry is back. (Applause.) Whether it was the plant closures or the wage freezes and the cuts you took, the elimination of dental and vision that you had to undertake, your sacrifices -- you sacrificed -- you sacrificed to keep your companies open. You took a hit. And because of you, Chrysler's Jefferson North plant here in Detroit just added another 1,100 jobs in November -- last November. (Applause.) Nine hundred jobs have already been added at the Sterling Heights assembly plant. (Applause.) I was just in Lordstown, where I was on Friday, General Motors added two -- two -- shifts and is investing 200 million bucks in that plant. (Applause.)

And because of you and your productivity, the combined auto companies, the combined auto companies have committed to invest another $23 billion in expansion in America. (Applause.)

Not the Bain way -- not in Mexico, not in China, not in Vietnam, but in Detroit, Toledo, Cleveland and the United States of America. That's where we'll build. (Applause.)

Look, you didn't hear Governor Romney at the convention as he waxed eloquently about the needs of the middle class -- isn't it amazing how they discovered the middle class, Carl? (Laughter.) I mean it's just kind of amazing. It sort of came upon them in the night, the plight of the middle class.

Well, what you didn't hear him talk about was his position to "let Detroit go bankrupt."

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: You didn't hear him repeat that if we stepped in, "General Motors would be the living dead." You didn't hear him say that last week.

Folks, you can't say you're going to create jobs in the United States of America when you're willing to let 1 million jobs go under by the liquidation of the automobile plants that he suggested; wouldn't lift a finger to change.

And by the way, the man -- the man who The Washington Post called the pioneer of outsourcing, he's got a new idea for you all, as they say in Southern Delaware. He's got a new idea for you. It's called a territorial tax. Now, he didn't mention that. Let me tell you what that is. It says -- he says it's unfair for American corporations who invest abroad and make profits abroad to have to pay taxes at home here. Oh, no, man.

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: He's worried about you all. (Laughter.) He says this new territorial tax will create jobs. It will -- 800,000 jobs in China, Vietnam, Singapore. That's where it will create jobs.

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: And by the way, if this wasn't so serious, you'd think I'm making this up. This is real stuff. The guy actually believes this. Not in Detroit, not here in America. He and Paul Ryan are fighting for tax breaks for companies who want to unbolt machinery from the plant floors here in the United States of America and continue to give them a tax break for the cost of moving those facilities overseas.

Sandy Levine tried in the House and the Senate, these guys tried to go out there and say, hey, look, instead of giving a tax break to those guys who unbolt machinery and send them over to Vietnam, let's give any company a tax break if they unbolt the machinery in Vietnam and send it to Detroit. (Applause.)

But these guys said no. They voted no. Look, he called -- he called the President of the United States out of touch because we were -- remember when the President made that comment, John Dingell, he said, young people should look to manufacturing, high-tech manufacturing. And he said the President is so out of touch. Out of touch? How many of you all have a Swiss bank account? (Laughter.) How much you got invested in the Cayman Islands? (Laughter.) Out of touch? Whoa, man. Ladies and gentlemen, talk about out of touch. This guy won't even let you see his tax returns. He wants you to show your papers, but not your tax returns. (Applause.)

Folks, the President and I are determined to replace the word outsourcing for our children's generation with the word insourcing. (Applause.) Companies are coming home to America, and they're coming home for one stark reason. Steel workers, iron workers, electricians, machinists, mechanics -- you are the most productive workers in the world. (Applause.)

And that's not just us saying it, it's a fact. There's an outfit called the Boston Consulting Group. They did this big study for the Fortune 50 companies -- some of them out there -- and they said American workers are three times as productive as Chinese workers. That's why they're coming home. (Applause.)

Romney and Ryan don't seem to think so much of you all -- of you guys.

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Listen, though, I'm not making this up. Listen to what Romney said about our efforts -- the President, mine, and the delegation -- our efforts to put cops back on the street, put teachers back in the classroom, put people back on those ladders in the firehouses. Here's what he had to say when we were pushing that. We had a proposal to do just that. He said, "Guaranteeing the government will keep its fire, police and teachers intact is not an effective way to get the economy going."

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: He also said -- and I'm paraphrasing. He said, this is the time to cut back on firemen, police and teachers.

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: You can say that if you don't live in my neighborhood. (Laughter.) You can say that if you don't live in your neighborhood. You can say that if your kid is not going to public school. But you can't say that -- you can't say that if you're an average American struggling to get by and want to be safe. (Applause.)

But, folks, it's not just cops and firefighters and teachers. It's deeper than that. They don't believe in your very right to bargain. Listen to what Romney had to say, and I quote, "My own view" -- this is him speaking -- He said, "My own view is that the right to work is the way to go." He's going on to say, "I'd like to see it on a national level as well."

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: We will not have the right to work for less. We are going to right to work -- folks, these guys don't get it, right to work means the right to work for less, not for what you deserve. Ladies and gentlemen, that's not going to happen as long as we're here. It will not happen. (Applause.)

But there's a lot of other things he didn't tell you at the convention. He talked, as I said about the middle class. The part he didn't tell you is that the experts point out -- and there's independent tax groups out there. They took his whole tax plan. They took a look, and they said that if you're going to go give -- continue to give these -- and add to these trillion dollar, outrageous tax cuts for the super wealthy, there's a simple price going to be paid: The deficit is going to go up, and every one of you with children is going to pay $2,000 a year more in your taxes.

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Seriously. How can that be right? How can that be right? Ladies and gentlemen, and they talk about how much they care about you all. They talk about how much they care about Medicare. Well, let me tell you what they didn't tell you, what the President and I are talking about is protecting Medicare. I've spent my whole adult life as a senator and as a Vice President fighting against their attempts to diminish Medicare.

Remember back in the days when the last run on Republicans with the former leader Gingrich said, we're going to let it wither on the vine, well, these guys got a new way of going about it, while we're talking -- this is serious. Deadly earnest because it's going to affect every one of your lives. It's affecting your mothers and fathers right now.

Ladies and gentlemen, while we're talking about making sure we protect Medicare, they're talking about creating an entire new system, voucher-care. Voucher-care -- that's what they're doing.

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: It's simple, folks. We're for Medicare; they're for voucher-care. And if they win, people are in trouble. Folks, this is not your father's Republican Party. They view you, the working women and men of America, as the problem. We view you and know you to be the solution in America. (Applause.)

Look, folks, we know who built this country, and we know who is going to rebuild it. (Applause.) It's you. And instead of vilifying you, we should be thanking you. We owe you. (Applause.) Ladies and gentlemen, you, organized labor, are one of the reasons why this country is coming back.

Folks, let me make something clear and say it to the press, America is better off today than they left us when they left. (Applause.)

And if it weren't so hot -- if it weren't so hot, I'd go into detail why I say that. But let me just sum it up this way, folks, you want to know whether we're better off, I got a little bumper sticker for you: Osama bin Laden is dead, and General Motors is alive. (Applause.) Osama bin Laden is dead, and General Motors is alive. Osama bin Laden is dead, and General Motors is alive. (Applause.)

Ladies and gentlemen, God bless you all. You're the reason we're coming back. We will not stop. We will stay with you. God bless you all and may God protect our troops. (Applause.)

Go get them. Thank you. (Applause.)

END 12:06 P.M. EDT