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THE WHITE HOUSE

Office of the Vice President

For Immediate Release September 9, 2012


REMARKS BY THE VICE PRESIDENT
TO SUPPORTERS

Milford High School
Milford, Ohio


4:10 P.M. EDT


THE VICE PRESIDENT: Hello, hello, hello! I tell you what
--

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

THE VICE PRESIDENT: Thank you.

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

THE VICE PRESIDENT: I tell you what, folks. If I had Gabby teaching me high school, I would have wanted to stay four more years. (Laughter.)

Gabby, thank you -- thank you very much, Gabby. I want to tell you something -- and I've got four granddaughters. I've got one granddaughter in particular who is an incredible little basketball player, and I want to tell you, any of you guys worried about Title IX, man -- don't worry about it, man. These women are just as good as we are. I tell you what, that Gabby -- (applause) -- state championship, basketball. I tell you what.

My granddaughter is the one you always see when the President is talking basketball -- he says Maisy Biden, she's going D1, she's going Division 1. (Laughter.) I don't know, man, I tell you.

It's so great to see you all. It's great to be here in Ohio. I love this state. It reminds me -- I proudly represented the state of Delaware for years in the Senate, but I come from a state not so unlike you all -- I come from Pennsylvania. I come from Scranton. And the same things in Pennsylvania basically happened here in Ohio, and I tell you what, both -- both are coming back. (Applause.)

But, folks, look, it's great to be with Ted Strickland. He's one of my best buddies. (Applause.) Travels all over -- all over the state with me the last time and this time. And wasn't his speech at the convention incredible? (Applause.)

I didn't know until he spoke what was going to happen to Santa Clause if Romney got elected, but -- (laughter.)

Look, as the Governor pointed out very directly and poignantly in his convention speech, this country literally -- not figuratively, literally -- faces one of the starkest choices in the choice for President at least in my memory. And for all their talk, Governor Romney and Congressman Ryan, they didn't have the courage to actually tell you -- actually tell you what their policies are for the nation. They talked about a lot of things, but it might not surprise you, I've got the courage to tell you what their policies are. (Laughter.) Because they've written them down, they've written them down. They passed some of them in the House of Representatives.

Look folks, they talk about how much they care about Medicare. If you listen to that convention you would have thought they were the party that came up with the idea of Medicare. (Laughter.) You would have thought that they weren't the ones trying to chip away at it for the last 50 years. It just surprised me, man. And there's nothing like the converted. (Laughter.) But it was just amazing.

And they talked about how much they wanted to preserve it, make it financially sound for a long time, make it stronger and protect all those benefits for people who are on Medicare now, and guaranteeing that their benefits wouldn't be hurt at all. But, folks, very seriously, what they didn't tell you, what they didn't tell you that I want to tell you is they didn't tell you
they didn't tell you their plan. They have an actual plan. It's laid out there that their plan would immediately cut benefits to the more than 30 million seniors on Medicare today. I mean, literally, immediately cut their benefits on prescription drugs, wellness visits, everything from breast cancer exam to colonoscopies -- all those things which you don't have to pay any out-of-pocket thing for now you'd have to dip in your pocket and pay for.

What they didn't tell you -- what they didn't tell you is what they're proposing actually would cause the Medicare trust fund -- that's what you pay into, every one of your paychecks -- and that Medicare trust fund, that that trust fund under their proposal would run out of money in 2016. It will not be able to cover Medicare. Seriously. I'm not making this up. This is real.

And most important -- most important, what they didn't tell you is they're not actually for Medicare. They're not actually for preserving it. I'm not giving the old stuff you heard in campaigns the last 30 years -- they're against this. It's their plan. Here's what their plan does.

They have a new plan -- I call it Vouchercare because that's what it is. What they do is they're going to give your mom or your dad who's eligible for Medicare, they're going to give them a coupon -- they call it a voucher -- a coupon. It's going to be worth X amount of dollars. And they're going to say, Mom, you go out there in the market -- the market takes care of everything, you know with Romney. (Laughter.) You go out there in the market and you bargain for the best health coverage you can get -- I mean, this is literally how it works, now. This is literally how it's going to work if they were to have their way.

And you bargain for it, and if the benefits you're getting now under Medicare cost you more than the voucher you have and you're bargaining with companies, then you dip into your own pocket and you pay for it.

Now, look, everybody talked -- there have been studies done on the original so-called Ryan plan, which said it would cost $7,600 a year. I think that was the number -- $7,400 more for seniors to keep the very services they have now under Medicare. Then they changed the plan and made it a little bit different. Well, there's a new study out from Harvard -- from a Harvard professor that recently came out, and here's what it says, studying the plan. He said, if you're 48 years old today, by the time you qualify for Medicare, it's going to cost you another $125,000 over the term of having Medicare than it would cost seniors today without their plan.

If you're 55 -- actually 54, I think it is, it's going to cost you $60,000 out-of-pocket for the same benefits that you have today under Medicare. And if you're 65 on Medicare today, and the plan were to go into effect as they proposed next year, it would cost you $11,000 out of your pocket.

AUDIENCE: No!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: It's not going to happen. No, no, no, it's not going to happen. It's not going to happen. And it's not just me. There's a Congress and Democrats -- they're not going to let it happen, no matter what. But, guys, that's what they're proposing. That's what's in the balance. And $11,000, if you're 65, or when you're 55, another 60 grand, and all -- that's real money in my neighborhood. That's real money where I come from. (Applause.)

And, ladies and gentlemen -- folks, and speaking of a lot of money, the other part of that study points out that the corollary to these additional costs to people on Medicare is that the insurance companies under their plan will make a minimum of $16 billion to a maximum of $26 billion in the next 10 years, beyond what they're already making.

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE PRESIDENT: No, I'm not making this stuff up. And so, folks, look, you're going to be paying more while they make a lot more. And they talk so much. They talk so much about the national debt. They talk so much about the national debt, the great urgency to get it under control, the need to act now.

We could not agree more. That's why when we came in, we offered a major plan. But look, what they didn't tell you is not once -- not one single time did they mention to you that they rejected every effort -- Romney, Ryan, and the Republican Congress rejected every effort, every plan put forward -- bipartisan plan, our plan, outside plans, rejected every single plan to bring down the national debt. Why?

Because they were not prepared -- literally, they were not prepared to support one additional dollar, one additional dime in taxes for people making more than a million dollars.

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE PRESIDENT: They're the facts. They're the facts. And, folks, the two men seeking to lead this country over the next four years, they're both decent -- good fathers, they're loving husbands. But that's where the similarity ends. (Laughter.) They have fundamentally different visions for America. Excuse my back, I apologize for my back. (Laughter.) They have fundamentally different visions and they have a very different value set.

It's really kind of basic, folks. Look, a couple of examples. We do live in a global economy. Governor Romney believes that global economy we live in, it doesn't matter much where American companies build their plants or invest their money. It doesn't matter much in a global economy, from his ideological perspective, where jobs are created. It's a global economy.

And over the past few days that I've been in Ohio, I have seen now every time I've gotten -- gone to bed and gotten up in my hotel room in two different cities, I've seen this ad, this black and white ad with a nice picture of our President there. And it's saying, and he wants to ship jobs to China and he wants to leave. He is not going to create jobs in Ohio -- incredible, incredible.

Ladies and gentlemen, this coming from a governor, the man whose company was referred to as the pioneer in outsourcing -- the man who said it was okay the title of the article of the editorial he wrote, Let Detroit Go Bankrupt.

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: This is the man who criticized the President and me as "protectionists," when we stood up to China dumping tires on the American market, so we could protect the American tire industry under the law, provide more jobs. (Applause.) Literally, as my little granddaughter says, Google it -- Google it, go check. (Laughter.)

He called the President a protectionist. And now, this guy is accusing the President of sending jobs to China? And, by the way, another thing the Governor didn't tell you about. He didn't tell you about a new corporate tax proposal he has. And he's put it forward for business groups. It's on paper. He's put it forward. It's called the territorial tax. It's not some wacko idea. It's a fundamentally different view than we have.

A territorial tax simply means this, if you are an American company and you go out -- and, by the way, he won't let you see his taxes. (Laughter.) But if you are an American company and you go build a new facility in China or just about anywhere else in the world, under the territorial tax system, it means you pay whatever tax that country charges and you pay no tax in the United States of America, none.

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE PRESIDENT: Now, look, here's the deal. Here's the deal. The experts say that will create 800,000 new jobs in China, India, Vietnam, Singapore -- all of them overseas, none of them at home here -- 800,000 jobs overseas.

And, folks, you know what I found the most fascinating thing about their convention was the Governor's acceptance speech. And it was a good speech. He made an absolutely firm commitment to you all like he was -- I'm going to end poverty in our time or something. He made a firm commitment. Here's what he said. He said, as President, I will take a jobs tour. (Laughter.) Well, ladies and gentlemen, with all his supporting for outsourcing in the new tax policy, it's going to have to be a foreign trip. (Applause.) That's his jobs tour.

Look, President Obama and Governor Romney have very different views on the importance of where you create jobs. President Obama knows that creating jobs in America, keeping jobs in America, bringing jobs back to America, that's the President of the United States' job. That's the job. (Applause.)

And I found it absolutely fascinating how the new Republican Party discovered the middle class at their convention. (Laughter.) Wasn't it amazing? Wasn't it amazing how they started talking about the middle class? I mean, it was like, eureka, we found it! (Laughter.) I mean, I'm serious it amazed me how every speech was about the American middle class.

And, ladies and gentlemen, look, he also talked about middle-class values. He talked about how they wanted to protect middle-class values. My dad used to have an expression. His name was Joe. When someone would say, Joe, let me tell you what I value, all kidding aside, my dad -- and my sister is with me here today -- our dad would say to us, say to the person, don't tell me your values, show me your budget, I will tell you what you value. (Applause.) Don't tell me what you value. Show me your budget, I'll tell you what you value. (Applause.)

And, by any test, that's a fair way to do it. So let's take a look at their budget to find out what they value -- massive cuts in Medicaid, throwing 19 million people off of health care, including millions of children disabled and 1 million senior citizens. And, by the way, 70 percent of the seniors who are in nursing homes as we speak are only able to be there because of Medicaid, a lot of folks. (Applause.) They're from a lot of middle-class families. They're our moms and our dads.

And there's also some there that have no one and have no place to go. What's going to happen to those people? Where are they going to go? What will become of them?

Massive cuts in Social Security for future generations. If you're in your 40s, the plan laid out, you'll get 2,400 bucks a year less than you get now in Social Security. If you're in your 20s, you get 4,700 bucks less.

Massive cuts in education -- early education, elementary and secondary education -- eliminating the $2,500 tax credit that helped middle-class families keep their kids in college, cutting Pell grants 1,000 bucks a year for over 9 million families, working-class families. God only knows how many will have to drop out of college.

And why are they doing all this? I could go on with the rest of the budget, but why are they doing this? Well, they're doing this, because they have to. Here's why they have go: They need to do it to pay for the massive additional tax cuts they want to give to the very wealthy among us.

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE PRESIDENT: And I might add, the very wealthy aren't even asking for these tax cuts. They're not even asking for these tax cuts.

Let me give you an example, of the -- so you hear all this debate about the Bush tax cuts for the top brackets, the Bush tax cuts will cost -- continuing them will cost a trillion dollars for the next 10 years. But of that, $500 billion of that goes to 120,000 families in America -- one-half trillion dollars. Imagine how many worthy kids that could keep in school. Imagine how many people that could help. Imagine -- imagine how many roads that could build, bridges that could build, how much trade that could promote. (Applause.)

And on top of that -- on top of that, they have a new proposal; they want to add another $250,000-a-year tax cut for the same 120,000 families. If this wasn't written down, you'd think I'm making this up. But this is really, really the plan. And Romney now -- now claims he's going to -- he said on "Meet the Press" today -- I didn't see it, I was told -- he said that he's going to pay for all these tax cuts by closing the loopholes. But when asked by Mr. Gregory what loopholes he'd close, he couldn't name one. (Laughter.) He didn't name one.

Ladies and gentlemen, look, all this has a giant price tag, and it's not going to come from closing loopholes for millionaires. It's not going to get rid of their continued insistence on a $4.5 billion tax break for oil companies to encourage them to drill for oil, as if they're not doing that already, right? As if they don't have billions of dollars in profits. That's good they have profits, but they don't need a tax break any more than the super wealthy do.

Folks, when you give these kinds of tax breaks out to the very, very wealthy, the money has got to come from somewhere. And guess who. You. You. The nonpartisan organization called the Tax Policy Center that a group of academics examines all these plans we put forward and they put forward. They said the Romney tax plan would have the following result: Taxes for middle-class families with children would go up $2,000 a year.

Ladies and gentlemen, again, the neighborhoods I grew up and come from, $2,000 a year is whether your automobile insurance is paid, whether your homeowner's -- I mean this -- it matters. This is real money. This is real money for normal people just to give an additional tax break to families, who, by the way, are patriotic Americans. I'm not in any way criticizing those 120,000 families, but one thing they don't need, for Lord's sake, is another tax break. And they're not even asking for one. (Applause.)

Folks, look -- folks, we've seen this movie before. We've seen this movie before, and we know how it ends. It ends in a catastrophe for the middle class. It ends in the Great Recession of 2008. Look, folks, the President and I have a different way -- a different way forward. We know the way to create jobs is the old-fashioned way, build from the middle out, not from the top down. That's always how it works. (Applause.)

So our plan focuses first and foremost on education: 100,000 new science and math teachers in 10 years -- (applause) -- 2 million workers learning new skills through community colleges to get good high-tech jobs; 1 million new manufacturing jobs in the next four years; cut oil imports in half by 2020; invest in clean, renewable energy -- wind and solar -- (applause) -- creating thousands and thousands of jobs; 60,000 new jobs from new technologies used to better get at our natural resources; real and fair enforcement of our trade laws; a level playing field so the people around the world can buy the products they want that are stamped: Made in America. (Applause.)

Cutting the deficit in the next 10 years by $4 trillion; ending the war in Afghanistan just like we did in Iraq. (Applause.) And repair the bridges, the roads, the schools here in America -- here in America. Invest at home. And, ladies and gentlemen, create tens of thousands -- in the process of doing that, create tens of thousands of new, good, middle-class jobs -- decent-paying jobs. Ladies and gentlemen, it's simple. Unlike this new Republican Party, and that's not an accident -- this is not your father's Republican Party.

AUDIENCE: Booo!

THE VICE PRESIDENT: No, really. These guys are very different. They're not bad, they're just very different. I worked for years in the Senate with a lot of really solid Republicans with whom we had disagreements but we always got along. Ladies and gentlemen, good, good, good men and women. But, ladies and gentlemen, this isn't even Mitt Romney's father's Republican Party. (Laughter.)

This is different. We see -- unlike them, we see a future where the rich and the poor -- everyone does their part, and everyone has a part in sharing in the growth of this economy. We see a future where my granddaughter I referred to, and the three other granddaughters and my daughter have every single, solitary opportunity my grandson and my sons have -- every single one -- (applause) -- where we're number one in the world again in college graduation; where Social Security is protected, Medicare is guaranteed. You paid for it -- where we promote the private sector, not the privileged sector. (Applause.)

Folks, we see an America where we continue to lead the world not only by the example of our power, but by the power of our example. (Applause.) A future where we fulfill the only truly sacred obligation the nation has, and that is to equip those we send to war and care for them when they come home. (Applause.)

How many of you in here have someone like my wife and I, a son or a daughter who went to fight in Iraq or Afghanistan? Raise your hand. How many of you have a relative who did it? How many of you know somebody who's out there doing it? (Applause.)

Well, let me tell you, you know what I know -- you know we owe not only you, but particularly them an incredible debt of gratitude. (Applause.)

Folks, we owe an enormous debt. We owe an enormous debt to the -- and everybody says to me, why, Joe, are you so precise on the numbers, we owe an enormous debt to the 6,473 fallen heroes -- as they say on the battlefield, Fallen Angels -- because every one of those lives lost deserves our recognition and our honor. That's why the number is important. (Applause.)

We owe an incredible debt of gratitude to the 49,746 wounded -- thousands critically wounded who will need our help and assistance medically for the rest of their lives. And, folks, we can never forget -- we can never forget the sacrifices they and their families have made. We have an obligation to keep them in our care, but maybe equally as important, we have an obligation to keep them in our prayers. And I mean that. There are so many people -- 1 percent of the population is fighting these wars, but 99 percent of the population owes them and owes them -- to embrace them. (Applause.)

Folks, you know you folks -- and you folks all over this country, you've all been through an awful lot these last four years. But the incredible thing about you is like Americans before us, you haven't lost faith. You fought back. You've never given up, you've just gotten up.

Folks, you know, as well as I do, there is no quit in America. There is no quit in America. (Applause.) And so when I hear -- when I hear Romney and Ryan and the new Republican Party in Congress talk about this thing they talk so much about, the culture of dependency, about the decline in America, I don't recognize the country they're talking about. I don't know where they live. It's not where I live. The American people have never -- look, I know one thing, they're absolutely dead wrong. They're dead wrong. America is not in decline. America is on the way back. We're going back. We're going to go forward. (Applause.)

Folks, and I've got news -- I've got news for Governor Romney and Congressman Ryan: Gentlemen, never, ever, ever think it's a good bet to bet against the American people. It's never a good bet to bet against the American people. (Applause.)

So God bless you all and may God protect our troops. Thank you all so very much.

END 4:35 P.M. EDT