Skip to content
News
Link copied to clipboard

Biden defends Obama policies in Committee of 70 talk

Vice President Biden offered an impassioned defense of the Obama administration's policies on the economy, health care, and energy this morning during a fundraising breakfast in Center City for the government-watchdog group Committee of 70.

"We believe strongly in what we are doing," Biden said. "We may be wrong – I understand why people are skeptical of our approach – but our country has never been in this position before."

He chastised administration opponents for not offering alternatives to solve the problems of the nation. "Just saying 'no' will not get us there," Biden told an audience of about 500 civic and business leaders in a ballroom at the Park Hyatt Philadelphia at the Bellevue.

The economy is better than it would have been without the federal stimulus, Biden said, pointing to a decline in the rate of job loss and an uptick in the gross-domestic product over the last quarter.

He said that health-care reform, passed by the Senate on Saturday, would control the costs of medical care, and, along with weaning the U.S. from fossil fuels, is essential to the nation's future economic competitiveness in the world.

"I don't want to hang around to be buried by a freight train coming out of the Far East, because they were willing to change the status quo," Biden said, referring to China and other Asian powers.

The event was expected to raise $350,000 to $400,000 for the operations of the Committee of 70, president Zack Stalberg said. The committee advocates greater transparency in Philadelphia government, and was one of the forces that pushed through limits on campaign contributions before the 2007 mayoral race.