Biden Blasts Ryan, Romney On ’47 Percent’ Riff

Start your day with TPM.
Sign up for the Morning Memo newsletter

 

Vice President Biden touted the administration’s efforts to stabilize the economy after the economic crash in 2008 — and slammed Mitt Romney’s economic proposals at the time, particularly his secretly taped statement about “47 percent” of Americans wanting government to provide for them.

“What did Gov. Romney do? He said, no, let Detroit go bankrupt,” Biden said, at the vice presidential debate Thursday night. “We helped people refinance their homes. Gov. Romney said, no, let foreclosures hit the bottom. It shouldn’t be surprising for a guy who says 47 percent of the American people are unwilling to take responsibility for their own lives.

He then turned to Ryan: “My friend, recently in a speech for washington said 30% of the American people are takers. These people are my mom and dad, the people I grew up with, my neighbors. They pay more effective tax than Gov. Romney pays in federal income tax. They are elderly people living on Social Security, veterans, and people fighting in Afghanistan right now who are, quote, ‘not paying any taxes.’

“I have had it up to here with that notion of 47 percent. It’s about time to take responsibility. Instead of signing pledges to Grover Norquist, not to ask the wealthiest among us to contribute to bring back the middle class, they should be signing a pledge to the middle class saying, ‘We are going to level the playing field and give you a fair shot again.'”

Watch:

 

Latest Livewire
Comments
Masthead Masthead
Founder & Editor-in-Chief:
Executive Editor:
Managing Editor:
Associate Editor:
Editor at Large:
General Counsel:
Publisher:
Head of Product:
Director of Technology:
Associate Publisher:
Front End Developer:
Senior Designer: