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VP Biden's Visit
RICHMOND, VA -
(AP) - Vice President Joe Biden was headed to the backyard of the House's No. 2 Republican to ask critics of the economic stimulus package to explain how they would help the struggling economy.
Biden was defending the Obama administration's $787 billion recovery package at a community college in the affluent Richmond suburbs that House Republican Whip Eric Cantor calls home.
Cantor pre-emptively renewed the Republican attack, telling reporters in a conference call that the plan will destroy small businesses and deepen unemployment.
In prepared remarks, Biden continued the Obama administration's aggressive defense of the recovery act, repeatedly referring to the worst economic collapse in decades as something inherited from Republicans six months ago.
Without mentioning Cantor by name, his prepared remarks challenged GOP critics of the stimulus plan to say why they wouldn't provide health care and unemployment benefits for the jobless and avert thousands of layoffs of teachers, firefighters and police. Cantor is among the most outspoken congressional critics of the package.
Biden said he asks those critics "would they not provide help to the states to maintain health care for the unemployed? Would they not extend unemployment benefits to the victims of this recession we inherited? Would they not help the states prevent lay off thousands of teachers, firefighters, cops? Would they not give a tax cut to 95 percent of the American people? Would they sit back and do nothing as our economy collapsed. What would they do?"
Biden was delivering the remarks at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College in Henrico County.
Cantor, who grew up in Henrico County and lives only a few miles from the site of Thursday's event, said President Barack Obama has to accept responsibility now for unemployment rates that have continued to soar since President George W. Bush left office.
"The unemployment rate is skyrocketing. The stimulus has not succeeded," Cantor said. "Why it is that they want to go and continue to tout success when the reality is people are losing their jobs, families are going into economic free
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
Biden was defending the Obama administration's $787 billion recovery package at a community college in the affluent Richmond suburbs that House Republican Whip Eric Cantor calls home.
Cantor pre-emptively renewed the Republican attack, telling reporters in a conference call that the plan will destroy small businesses and deepen unemployment.
In prepared remarks, Biden continued the Obama administration's aggressive defense of the recovery act, repeatedly referring to the worst economic collapse in decades as something inherited from Republicans six months ago.
Without mentioning Cantor by name, his prepared remarks challenged GOP critics of the stimulus plan to say why they wouldn't provide health care and unemployment benefits for the jobless and avert thousands of layoffs of teachers, firefighters and police. Cantor is among the most outspoken congressional critics of the package.
Biden said he asks those critics "would they not provide help to the states to maintain health care for the unemployed? Would they not extend unemployment benefits to the victims of this recession we inherited? Would they not help the states prevent lay off thousands of teachers, firefighters, cops? Would they not give a tax cut to 95 percent of the American people? Would they sit back and do nothing as our economy collapsed. What would they do?"
Biden was delivering the remarks at J. Sargeant Reynolds Community College in Henrico County.
Cantor, who grew up in Henrico County and lives only a few miles from the site of Thursday's event, said President Barack Obama has to accept responsibility now for unemployment rates that have continued to soar since President George W. Bush left office.
"The unemployment rate is skyrocketing. The stimulus has not succeeded," Cantor said. "Why it is that they want to go and continue to tout success when the reality is people are losing their jobs, families are going into economic free
(Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.)
