Vice President Biden gave a major speech today on the progress of the stimulus act, which he said pulled the economy back from “the verge of failure,” but added the road ahead is still “very, very bumpy.”
“Today, there’s a growing consensus: The recovery act is, in fact, working,” he said. “Instead of talking about the beginning of a depression, we’re talking about the end of the recession, eight months after taking office.”
In his speech, given at the Brookings Institute to mark the 200th-day anniversary of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, Biden set out to prove the stimulus staved off a second Great Depression and set the U.S. on the right road to a stronger economy.
He recounted the first days of the Obama administration, when economists were talking about a possible depression, a total credit freeze or a bank holiday. He talked about the bank bailout, stressing that the government has made a $4 billion profit on the investment so far, and the attempts to stabilize the housing market.
“Are we there yet? No. But we’re moving,” he said about housing.
Biden then implored the audience, “Don’t take my word for it,” and quoted economist Mark Zandi, who recently told the Washington Post, “It’s no coincidence that the recession is ending just when the stimulus is providing its maximum economic benefit.”
He defended the stimulus against detractors that say it tries to do too much.
“A silver bullet wouldn’t work. This is silver buckshot, as opposed to a single bullet,” he said.
In a shot against Republicans who opposed the bill, Biden said the stimulus was designed to “bring relief to the hardest hit … Maybe that’s the difference between being a Democrat and being a Republican. I’m not being facetious.”
“I believe this was the right thing to do morally,” he said. “It was also the smart thing to do economically.”
He also lauded the work of Cabinet members and others working on the stimulus, calling people like Education Secretary Arne Duncan “innovative” and “excited.” He described his work bringing together Cabinet members, governors and mayors from across the country. He said he encouraged governors and other officials to work together and be imaginative when applying for stimulus grants.
In a true Biden moment, he said, “I have not bent the law, but I have let imagination take hold in some places where I think it’s consistent with the spirit of the law. Is that the best way to say that? I should stop.”
All in all, it was an optimistic speech, but one with caveats.
“We’re at the nine-mile mark of this marathon,” he said. “Thanks to the recovery act, where we are today is a much better place than where we could possibly be without it. What’s even more exciting is where we’re going.”
Progress will be “three steps forward, one step back,” he said, but “We are confident we are on the right road to recovery.”
His speech was one of several today, with Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack, Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar all giving speeches on some branch of the recovery act.
Biden also spoke briefly about health care reform, saying he believes the administration will get something “substantial” out of Congress.
After his speech, the Republican National Committee released a statement calling the stimulus a “failed economic experiment.”
