Vice President Joe Biden said congressional Republicans do not share middle-class values with the rest of the country. Biden accuses congressional Republicans of rejecting middle-class values

Vice President Joe Biden on Thursday railed against congressional Republicans for thwarting much of President Barack Obama's agenda, while accusing them more broadly of rejecting middle-class values that are the “single distinguishing feature of our democracy."

Biden, speaking at the Center for American Progress, outlined the fundamental differences between Democrats and congressional Republicans on key policy issues like health care, taxes and jobs.


“Look, our Republican friends, they’re not bad guys. I’m one of those Democrats who actually likes a lot of them,” Biden said before tearing into Republicans in Congress under House Speaker Paul Ryan’s leadership. “They say they’re for growing the middle class, but they have a different value-set than we do.”

The vice president, often dubbed as “middle-class Joe,” said the term “middle class” is not a specific income number, but rather a shared value-set among working Americans, recalling his father’s expression: “Show me your budget, I’ll tell you what you value.”

He lambasted Ryan (R-Wis.) for overseeing wide-ranging policies that he suggested have helped erode the standard of living for working-class people.

“They want to privatize Social Security. Cut Social Security,” he said about congressional Republicans. “They voucherize Medicare. What does that do? Lower the standard of living for middle-income people. They want to make sure that women are in the workforce. They oppose fair pay legislation,” he continued.

“They’re not bad guys, but they don’t understand,” he said. “They don’t understand how extraordinary ordinary Americans are and what their value-set is.”

Biden went on to criticize the GOP on tax and stimulus policies, pointing to $100 billion in funding generated in the Recovery Act under the Obama administration. “Republicans talked about stimulus like it was a dirty word,” he said.

“I love my Republican friends when they start talking about they’re for productivity,” he quipped, referencing the cost to raise children while working. “We should invest in a larger tax credit for child care across the board. What do these guys say? No. But they continue to keep tax credits in the code that have no relevance to growth.”

On health care, the vice president touted the successes of Obamacare, noting that 20 million previously uninsured people now have coverage under the Affordable Care Act, while emphasizing that “Republicans believed if we moved on a federal system for health care that it would bankrupt America.”

Biden also noted the importance of creating jobs in sectors Republicans suggested were undesirable for investment, such as the auto industry.

“Republicans accepted that the U.S. auto industry was going to wither,” he said. “Auto workers made incredible sacrifices to make that recovery work …These are middle-class jobs. You can raise a family on these jobs.”

“There’s nothing you can give an individual or family more than piece of mind,” he said.