Transcript - Speech: Joe Biden Discusses His Economic Agenda and Plans in Maryland - September 14, 2023 | Factba.se

Joe Biden

00:00:00 - 00:00:20 ()

Hello, hello, hello. [Applause] As my mother would instruct me to say, please excuse my back. I apologize. [Laughter]

Joe Biden

00:00:20 - 00:00:37 ()

Sadé -- I just told her, when she walked off the stage, when she's President and they say, "Joe Biden is out in the waiting room," she promised me she won't say, "Joe who?" [Laughter]

Joe Biden

00:00:37 - 00:00:48 ()

Please -- do you have seats? Oh, okay. I once said that, early on in my tenure, Gov. And I said, "Everybody take a seat." None of them had seats. [Laughter]

Joe Biden

00:00:48 - 00:00:59 ()

Well, I tell you what, you guys are impressive. And the three of you are really close, close friends, and one is about to become a close friend.

Joe Biden

00:00:59 - 00:01:08 ()

Gov, my problem is your biceps are a little small. [Laughter] I mean, you're not in very good shape. But I -- maybe -- I'll work with you and see what we can do.

Joe Biden

00:01:08 - 00:01:14 ()

No, but really and truly, thank you, thank you, thank you. And I appreciate it very much.

Joe Biden

00:01:14 - 00:01:20 ()

Senator Ben Cardin is one of the great -- I hate the phrase "public servants," but it is true.

Joe Biden

00:01:20 - 00:01:36 ()

You know, I judged my colleagues over the years based on not just their intellectual capacity and their decency but their integrity. The men you have here have incredible integrity. Integrity. And it's just amazing.

Joe Biden

00:01:36 - 00:01:45 ()

Chris Van Hollen is one of the reasons why I got elected vice president. He's the guy that did my debate prep for me. [Laughter] And without it, I'd have been in real trouble.

Joe Biden

00:01:45 - 00:02:00 ()

And Steny Hoyer -- he and I share the Eastern Shore of Delaware and the western shore of Maryland. You know that whole area in there? I keep telling him that it really is part of Delaware, but he doesn't -- [laughter] --

Joe Biden

00:02:00 - 00:02:07 ()

And, David, thank you for being such a great partner. You've been great as well. I really do appreciate it.

Joe Biden

00:02:07 - 00:02:23 ()

Prince George's Community College, thanks for welcoming us here today. As many of you know, my wife is a professor at a community college. [Applause] As a matter of fact, she's teaching today.

Joe Biden

00:02:23 - 00:02:33 ()

She has an expression. And I -- this is the God's truth. She said, "Any country that out-educates us will outcompete us." "Any country that out-educates us will outcompete us."

Joe Biden

00:02:33 - 00:02:38 ()

The work you do here in preparing students to compete in the economy of the future is real. It matters.

Joe Biden

00:02:38 - 00:02:59 ()

This summer, I traveled to Chicago, where I spoke about a fundamentally changing American economy -- from an economy that for decades rewarded those who were at the very top and left everyone behind who -- just on their own, basically. One that gives working people a -- in this nation not only a fighting chance they didn't do.

Joe Biden

00:02:59 - 00:03:14 ()

You know, wh- -- that trickle-down economy, not a whole lot -- I grew up in a -- I wasn't -- we weren't poor, but we had a three-bedroom, split-level house with four kids and a grandpop living with us. And -- and I didn't see a whole lot trickle down on my dad's kitchen table. [Laughter]

Joe Biden

00:03:14 - 00:03:21 ()

But, you know, everybody deserves a shot at building the lives they deserve for their families. And we've done that.

Joe Biden

00:03:21 - 00:03:30 ()

For the first time in a long time, we've climbed out of our great economic crisis. It's beginning to work for working people.

Joe Biden

00:03:30 - 00:03:40 ()

Na- -- this nation is very rich. We have -- and who have benefitted the most has been the very rich, though. Not everybody. And that's how -- that's not how it should be.

Joe Biden

00:03:40 - 00:03:51 ()

The new economic vision has been labeled by those at the Wall Street Journal and the London Economist and some of the more conservative press as "Bidenomics."

Joe Biden

00:03:51 - 00:03:57 ()

Well, they didn't mean it as a compliment at first. [Laughter] But now they're getting it. [Laughter]

Joe Biden

00:03:57 - 00:04:11 ()

What's Bidenomics? It's about investing in -- and I feel like I'm going to -- I'm going to try not to repeat some of what my colleagues have already said, but it's about investing in America -- investing in America and investing in Americans -- American people.

Joe Biden

00:04:11 - 00:04:21 ()

It's about growing the economy from the middle out and bottom up instead of the top down. Because when the middle class does well, the poor have a ladder up and the wealthy still do very well.

Joe Biden

00:04:21 - 00:04:34 ()

I'm a capitalist. If you guys go out here and you can make a billion dollars, go get it. Just pay a little more in taxes. [Laughter and applause]

Joe Biden

00:04:34 - 00:04:40 ()

But, look -- but our friends -- our friends on the other team, on the other side of the aisle, they have a very different vision for America.

Joe Biden

00:04:40 - 00:04:52 ()

And, by the way, you have this -- I think you have this book on your table, on your chairs. Maybe not. I thought they -- did -- did you all -- did my staff hand this out? You just have the little one.

Joe Biden

00:04:52 - 00:05:00 ()

But I'm the only -- I'm the only president who hands out the opposition's economic plan. [Laughter] Oh, you think I'm kidding?

Joe Biden

00:05:00 - 00:05:12 ()

"Protecting America's Economic Security. Fiscal Year 2024 Budget. The Study Committee of Kevin Hern budgets... " -- and it goes on. This is the MAGA bu- -- the MAGA budget.

Joe Biden

00:05:12 - 00:05:17 ()

You know, I -- I want you to take a look at it. I think we have other copies of it. If we don't, we'll get you some.

Joe Biden

00:05:17 - 00:05:32 ()

So, since I've come to office, all they've really done is attack me and my economic plan -- there hadn't been much else -- even though we've created, as has been pointed out, over 13 million jobs -- more jobs in two years than any president has created in a four-year term.

Joe Biden

00:05:32 - 00:05:44 ()

Even though -- [applause] -- no, I'm not looking -- even though we've had 19 straight months of unemployment under 4 percent for the first time in American history.

Joe Biden

00:05:44 - 00:05:57 ()

Even though we have the lowest inflation rate of any major economy in the world, with core inflation rate the last three months at 2.4 percent. We got more to do, even though we've created 800,000 manufacturing jobs and a manufacturing boom we haven't seen in decades.

Joe Biden

00:05:57 - 00:06:09 ()

Even though America, as we met here -- meet here today, has the strongest economy in the world. Let me say that again: America has the strongest economy in the world of all the major economics.

Joe Biden

00:06:09 - 00:06:24 ()

And -- but -- all they do is attack it. But, you know, you've noticed something. For all the time they spend attacking me and my plan, here's what they never do: They never talk about what they want to do. [Laughter] No, no, think about it.

Joe Biden

00:06:24 - 00:06:29 ()

They tell you what they're against. What are they for?

Joe Biden

00:06:29 - 00:06:32 ()

It's like they want to keep it a secret. I don't blame them. [Laughter]

Joe Biden

00:06:32 - 00:06:41 ()

Well, today, I'm going to -- I'm going to talk about their plan. Look, we're going to talk about the MAGA Republican economic plan.

Joe Biden

00:06:41 - 00:06:45 ()

And, by the way, this is not your father's Republican Party. This is a different deal.

Joe Biden

00:06:45 - 00:07:01 ()

All kidding aside, we've all worked with Republicans on the other side. Over our careers, we've become good friends: honest, decent people. Disagree like hell with them, but they were -- but they were in the deal. They thought the institutions mattered. They thought it mattered.

Joe Biden

00:07:01 - 00:07:05 ()

Well, guess what? Our democracy is at risk because I don't think they do think it matters anymore.

Joe Biden

00:07:05 - 00:07:22 ()

Because the country should know the facts. They should know the choice between Bidenomics and MAGAnomics: American growth and hope that we're building or American los- -- lost jobs, raising fears, MAGA Republicans give us a few -- they gave us a few short years ago.

Joe Biden

00:07:22 - 00:07:28 ()

Look, their plan -- MAGAnomics -- is more extreme than anything America has ever seen before.

Joe Biden

00:07:28 - 00:07:44 ()

Just months ago, they went further than anyone has ever gone, threatening to default on the debt that's over 220 years old -- default -- unless we gave them everything they wanted. We gave them nothing they wanted. We gave them nothing they wanted. And we got a deal.

Joe Biden

00:07:44 - 00:07:49 ()

But up to now, Republican have given us a failed plan of trickle-down economics that didn't work.

Joe Biden

00:07:49 - 00:07:55 ()

My guess is, your story is just like mine: Not much trickled down that ended up helping y'all.

Joe Biden

00:07:55 - 00:08:08 ()

Instead, there's what trickle-down economics did. It ship- -- it shipped jobs overseas. There's a basic thing: Find the cheapest place in the world for labor, send the jobs there and the product there, and then import the product home.

Joe Biden

00:08:08 - 00:08:24 ()

Well, you know, they hollowed out the main streets of America, and they did the same for the middle class. They blew up the deficit. It produced an anemic economic growth, if any growth at all. And it stripped the dignity and pride and hope out of a community, one after another.

Joe Biden

00:08:24 - 00:08:43 ()

You know, when you have those communities where there's that -- been that factory employing 250 people in a small community for years and years, and then it closes down, you don't just lose a job. You lose a sense of belonging. People lose hope. They lose their pride. They lose their sense of pride.

Joe Biden

00:08:43 - 00:08:56 ()

And now these MAGA Republicans have taken a plan I have never worked and de- -- you know, it's -- look, the plan they're proposing has never worked, but they've decided to make it much, much worse.

Joe Biden

00:08:56 - 00:09:00 ()

Now Republicans in Congress are doubling down with a plan that does three things.

Joe Biden

00:09:00 - 00:09:03 ()

One, it cuts taxes even more for the very wealthy and big corporations.

Joe Biden

00:09:03 - 00:09:08 ()

Two, it cuts Social Security and Medicare and Medicaid.

Joe Biden

00:09:08 - 00:09:14 ()

Three, it raises costs for families, gutting investments in the middle class.

Joe Biden

00:09:14 - 00:09:28 ()

Under their plan, the top one percent -- one tenth of one percent of the households that make over $4 million a year are going to get another tax cut worth more than two times what the typical American family makes in a single year.

Joe Biden

00:09:28 - 00:09:38 ()

Let me say that again: Two times what the average family makes a year is going to be the tax cut they're proposing to give to the very wealthy.

Joe Biden

00:09:38 - 00:10:13 ()

MAGA Republicans in the Congress are also trying to undo the progress we've made to make it -- make getting a -- you know, look, what -- what I was able to do in the -- what they call the G7, among the NATO countries and European countries -- I was able to get them to all agree -- and then around the world; all the democracies -- agree that we were going to have a global minimum tax on corporates -- on corporations. Meaning that you couldn't have a -- offering a tax to build or make something in another country that's a considerably lower than what the tax would be in that country where if -- it in fact comes from.

Joe Biden

00:10:13 - 00:10:28 ()

And that global minimum tax was finally agreed. It took me a better part of a year to get it done. And guess what? They wa- -- they want to get rid of it, let corporations go back to shifting jobs and profits overseas, and avoiding paying taxes at home.

Joe Biden

00:10:28 - 00:10:39 ()

And who is going to pay for that? Well, now we know because the MAGA Republicans in Congress has finally released the budget I just referenced. And the answer is: Seniors and hardworking Americans are going to pay for it.

Joe Biden

00:10:39 - 00:10:48 ()

They don't talk much about -- but I -- but I got the budget. I should -- I mean, literally, it's here, and it's all in black and white.

Joe Biden

00:10:48 - 00:10:56 ()

And just for our -- your -- your convenience, I left -- I thought I left it -- my staff told me they left a copy on your seats, but I guess they didn't. [Laughter]

Joe Biden

00:10:56 - 00:11:17 ()

So here is what it does: Their budget gives one-point -- $5.1 trillion in additional tax cuts skewed to the wealthy people and big corporations while cutting $700 billion from Social Security -- you hear me now? -- $700 billion dollars from Social Security and a trillion dollars from Medicare.

Joe Biden

00:11:17 - 00:11:24 ()

Let me say that again: cut Social Security by $700 billion and Medicare by $1 trillion.

Joe Biden

00:11:24 - 00:11:33 ()

They want to raise the Social Security retirement age, which means a 13 percent cut in benefits for seniors who retires at age 67.

Joe Biden

00:11:33 - 00:11:42 ()

Imagine. You work your whole life. Every single paycheck you've had, you've paid into that system. You thought you'd be able to retire with a little bit of dignity.

Joe Biden

00:11:42 - 00:11:50 ()

Our MAGA Republicans in Congress -- all they -- also want to take Medicare away from more than 1 million Americans with disabilities.

Joe Biden

00:11:50 - 00:11:58 ()

Now, if they hadn't done what they've done the last two years, you might not believe me. But I promise you, I give you my word: That's what they're proposing.

Joe Biden

00:11:58 - 00:12:05 ()

They want to cut Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act and the Children's Insurance Program by more than half.

Joe Biden

00:12:05 - 00:12:26 ()

What does it mean? Under MAGA- -- under MAGAnomics, as I've called it, tens of millions of Americans could lose their insurance. Waiting lists would skyrocket for seniors who need home- or community-based care because they have nowhere else to go; they can't -- have no family to take of them. Children would not get adequate healthcare.

Joe Biden

00:12:26 - 00:12:44 ()

MAGA Republicans don't think we should be investing in education, and that's not an exaggeration. Students here at Prince George's Community College should know: MAGA Republicans in Congress want to slash Pell Grants. More than 6 million students who count on these grants to be able to afford to go to college would lose them. That's what their pressing for.

Joe Biden

00:12:44 - 00:12:50 ()

You saw how they took on my attempt to eliminate student debt. Well, we're still going to eliminate a hell of a lot of student debt. [Applause]

Joe Biden

00:12:50 - 00:13:17 ()

And, by the way, they actually want to cut 1,800 food safety inspectors. No, I'm serious. If -- if -- I mean, unless I was in, I don't know, Russia, you wouldn't think these would've made any sense. But here --

Joe Biden

00:13:17 - 00:13:24 ()

So, they want to slash research on cures for cancer and Alzheimer's by nearly $4 billion.

Joe Biden

00:13:24 - 00:13:53 ()

I got my team over here to go along with -- when President Obama allowed me to set up the -- the -- a whole -- a whole effort to deal with cancer, allowing me to use any office -- any adminis- -- any administration facility, and we've invested billions of dollars. We're on the cusp of changing cancer as we know it. We made a commitment: cut cancer in half -- in half in 25 years -- and extend life to Americans suffering from cancer by significant numbers.

Joe Biden

00:13:53 - 00:13:59 ()

That's happening, but they want to cut the funding -- cut the funding.

Joe Biden

00:13:59 - 00:14:04 ()

They want to cut funding that guarantees the clean air and clean water. They don't want those inspectors out there.

Joe Biden

00:14:04 - 00:14:27 ()

The new Republican MAGAnomics would mean 82,000 children would lose access to Head Start for low-income students and affordable preschool. Not only are they not willing to support our joint effort among your -- your delegation and me -- to make sure that we're in a situation where we provide for -- we provide for early education.

Joe Biden

00:14:27 - 00:14:51 ()

You know, if you send a child to school, no matter what the background is -- not to daycare but to school, where they teach reading, writing, arithmetic -- at age three, the cost is [inaudible] and you increase by 56 percent the chance that that child, no matter what background they come from, will go through 12 years of school and on to community college if they choose and be able to do that. Fifty-six percent.

Joe Biden

00:14:51 - 00:15:02 ()

Look, folks, they want to cut 226,000 teachers and staff -- could lose their jobs under it at Title I schools that serve the most vulnerable.

Joe Biden

00:15:02 - 00:15:20 ()

And now they're turning their backs on the bipartisan budget deal Senator -- Speaker McCarthy made me -- made with me just a few months ago after threatening to do something no one -- and came very close to do it: shutting down and reneging on our national debt, which would've caused an international economic crisis.

Joe Biden

00:15:20 - 00:15:29 ()

Well, they're back at it again: breaking their commitment, threatening -- threatening more cuts, and threatening to shut the government again this month.

Joe Biden

00:15:29 - 00:15:35 ()

Now, what they do talk about is claiming all these cuts are going to reduce the deficit.

Joe Biden

00:15:35 - 00:15:53 ()

When it comes to reducing the deficit, let's compare the records a little bit. Under my predecessor -- you remember the self-professed King of Debt? Well, it turned out he was. He's actually the Emperor of Debt. [Laughter] He created more debt than any other president did in one year. No, I'm serious.

Joe Biden

00:15:53 - 00:16:11 ()

For starters, when he passed that $2 trillion tax cut skewed to the wealthy and big corporations, they didn't pay for a penny of it. The end result was that it has ballooned the national debt by nearly 40 percent -- over a 200-year accumulated debt, he ballooned it by 40 percent.

Joe Biden

00:16:11 - 00:16:28 ()

Well, I've taken a different approach with the help of your delegation. And I'm not being solicitous when I say that. You have the best delegation in the country. [Applause] And that's not just because my whole family is from Baltimore. [Laughter]

Joe Biden

00:16:28 - 00:16:50 ()

But, look, we just cut the budget deficit by a hundred -- we -- they helped me cut the deficit by $160 billion. A hundred and sixty billion. You know how we did it? By giving Medicare the power to negotiate for lower prescription drug costs. [Applause]

Joe Biden

00:16:50 - 00:17:03 ()

I, along with your senators in Congress, have been trying for our whole careers to take on Big Pharma. Well, they've intimidated. They spent $200 million on having their -- their lobbyists make sure that didn't happen.

Joe Biden

00:17:03 - 00:17:06 ()

But guess what? It happened. We finally won. [Applause]

Joe Biden

00:17:06 - 00:17:14 ()

Not a single solitary Republican voted for that. And now -- and now they want to repeal it.

Joe Biden

00:17:14 - 00:17:18 ()

I hope American seniors are listening, because we've made enormous progress here.

Joe Biden

00:17:18 - 00:17:45 ()

Let's be clear: We pay more for drug prices -- for prescription drugs than any nation in the world. And let me be precise with you. If you go in and have a prescription and you go into a drugstore here in Maryland or in anywhere in the United States, and you give out the same prescription in Toronto, Canada; or in London, England; or in Paris, France; or Madrid, Spain, you're going to pay somewhere between 20 and 40 percent less in those other countries.

Joe Biden

00:17:45 - 00:17:59 ()

Same exact drug made by the same exact company. It's wrong. And guess what? We're changing it, and we're not going back. [Applause]

Joe Biden

00:17:59 - 00:18:09 ()

I don't get it, man.

Joe Biden

00:18:09 - 00:18:26 ()

Up until now, seniors have been paying up to 400 bucks a month for their insulin. We've reduced that to $35. And at $35, the drug company is still making 350 percent profit. Because the guy who invented the insulin for diabetes didn't patent it because it wanted it available to everybody.

Joe Biden

00:18:26 - 00:18:36 ()

To make it and to package it costs $13 to $14, and they're paying $35 now for it. Thirty-five dollars.

Joe Biden

00:18:36 - 00:18:39 ()

Democrats just got -- and Republicans are trying to take that away.

Joe Biden

00:18:39 - 00:18:43 ()

We did something else, too, you should be aware of.

Joe Biden

00:18:43 - 00:18:53 ()

Just a few years ago, as was pointed out, 55 percent of the -- 55 of the largest corporations in the Fortune 500 paid zero in income tax, and they made $40 billion.

Joe Biden

00:18:53 - 00:19:05 ()

I said I was going to do everything I could to make sure they start paying their fair share. Well, we changed that. Now the biggest corporations have to pay a minimum tax of 15 percent, so they don't get away with paying nothing.

Joe Biden

00:19:05 - 00:19:12 ()

As a matter of fact, they're supposed to be paying a minimum of 21 percent. Twenty-one percent. That's what the tax law says.

Joe Biden

00:19:12 - 00:19:24 ()

You know, big corporations are co- -- by the way, I know a little bit about big corporations; I'm from Delaware. [Laughter] More corporations are incorporated in Delaware than every other state in the United States of American combined.

Joe Biden

00:19:24 - 00:19:43 ()

And look, it -- I want them to do well, but pay your taxes. But they're complaining. So, MAGA Republicans are carrying their water. They want to go back to telling them -- pay nothing again, and you have pick up the tab instead -- you pick up the tab.

Joe Biden

00:19:43 - 00:20:04 ()

Not only are they refusing to take corporations -- make them pay their fair share -- earlier this week, it was reported that MAGA Republicans are planning to give an additional -- this is not -- again, this is all public -- an additional $1 trillion tax cut -- $1 trillion tax cut for big corporations. They're doing very well, I might add.

Joe Biden

00:20:04 - 00:20:12 ()

Apparently, they think corporations, which made record profits in recent years, pay too much in taxes. It's unbelievable.

Joe Biden

00:20:12 - 00:20:25 ()

To hear MAGA Republicans in Congress tell it, the only way to reduce the deficit is to cut Medicare, Social Security that you've paid for your whole life. From the time you've had your first job, you had to pay the Social Security out of every paycheck.

Joe Biden

00:20:25 - 00:20:31 ()

Give me a break. These guys are just plain wrong. And they've proved it.

Joe Biden

00:20:31 - 00:20:41 ()

On my watch, the deficit has -- already has fallen by over $1 trillion -- $1 trillion so far. I signed legislation to reduce the deficit by another trillion dollars over the next decade.

Joe Biden

00:20:41 - 00:20:55 ()

And the budget I'm putting forward this year would cut the deficit by another 2.5 billion dol- -- trillion dollars on top of that. And we're doing it by making the wealthy and big corporations begin to pay their fair share.

Joe Biden

00:20:55 - 00:21:01 ()

I'm not talking about 70 percent taxes, I'm talking about 36 percent taxes, 24 percent taxes.

Joe Biden

00:21:01 - 00:21:08 ()

How many of you think the tax code is fair? Raise your hand. [Laughter] Even if you're making it. No, I'm serious, even if you're making a lot of money.

Joe Biden

00:21:08 - 00:21:27 ()

You know, we've gone, in the pandemic, from about 740 billionaires in the America to a thousand. Well, guess what? These billionaires pay an average of -- guess what? -- less than 8 percent in federal taxes -- less than 8 percent on a yearly basis.

Joe Biden

00:21:27 - 00:21:35 ()

They pay a lower federal tax rate than a firefighter, a teacher, a cop. How can that be right? How can that possibly be right?

Joe Biden

00:21:35 - 00:21:47 ()

My friends came up with an answer. Do you have -- guess what? The Republicans -- last time out, when they were in change, when the president was -- the last president was there.

Joe Biden

00:21:47 - 00:21:56 ()

What they did was, they cut the number of tax examiners. They cut them. They -- well, everybody say, "Well, that's great. We want to get rid of those tax examiners."

Joe Biden

00:21:56 - 00:22:11 ()

Guess what? They cut all of the folks that are very sophisticated tax examiners that takes years to learn in how you go through a trillion-dollar income, how you determine what they pay. They cut them.

Joe Biden

00:22:11 - 00:22:19 ()

It's time billionaires began to pay at least a minimum tax of 25 percent, for God's sake. [Applause] They'll still be multibillions at that.

Joe Biden

00:22:19 - 00:22:37 ()

We ought to make the tax code more fair, not less fair. That's why I promised that no one making under $400,000 -- who had never seen that -- but no one making under $400,000 will see their federal taxes go up a single penny. [Applause]

Joe Biden

00:22:37 - 00:22:46 ()

I've kept that promise, and I will keep it. That's why I [DEL: expect :DEL] [expanded] the Child Care Tax Credit, helping millions of middle-class families.

Joe Biden

00:22:46 - 00:22:56 ()

It's a great benefit to those families. It increased econom- -- and, by the way, increases economic growth. All the things we do for middle-class and working-class families increases economic productivity.

Joe Biden

00:22:56 - 00:23:09 ()

When you have a Child [DEL: Tare Crax :DEL] [Care Tax] Credit and you're a middle- or lower-middle-class-income person, guess what? It means you can get help for your kid and you can go to work -- [applause] -- at the same time.

Joe Biden

00:23:09 - 00:23:22 ()

And now, MAGA Republicans in Congress did not support continuing that expended -- that extended tax cut. And this week, we learned what happened as a result of their position: About 3 million more kids are now living in poverty because we've cut that again.

Joe Biden

00:23:22 - 00:23:27 ()

I'm fighting to restore the Child Tax Credit and once again lift these kids out of poverty.

Joe Biden

00:23:27 - 00:23:39 ()

Folks, it wasn't that long ago we were losing jobs in this country. In fact, there are only two presidents in American history with fewer jobs the day they left office than when they started.

Joe Biden

00:23:39 - 00:23:50 ()

One was President Hoover, and the other was Donald "Hoover" Trump. [Laughter] Seriously, the only two presidents in American history.

Joe Biden

00:23:50 - 00:23:57 ()

And, look, you may remember my predecessor promised to be the greatest job president in history. Well, it didn't really work out that way. [Laughter]

Joe Biden

00:23:57 - 00:24:11 ()

He lost two million jobs over the course of his presidency. Two million. But we created 13 -- we've created 13.4 million new jobs. We not only recovered all the jobs we lost during the pandemic, we've added millions more.

Joe Biden

00:24:11 - 00:24:28 ()

We've seen record lows in unemployment, particularly -- and I've focused on this my whole career -- particularly for African Americans and Hispanic workers and veterans, you know, and the workers without high-school diplomas. The lowest unemployment rate in 70 years for women now.

Joe Biden

00:24:28 - 00:24:46 ()

You know, and, by the way, when I got elected, I promised that I wanted an administration that would look like America. I got more women in the Cabinet than any president has ever in history. [Applause] And I got more women -- more women than men in the Cabinet. [Applause]

Joe Biden

00:24:46 - 00:24:56 ()

And I put more Black women on the appellate court and the Supreme Court than every other president combined in American history. [Applause]

Joe Biden

00:24:56 - 00:25:01 ()

A higher share of working-age Americans are in the workforce now than any time in the past 20 years.

Joe Biden

00:25:01 - 00:25:06 ()

And job satisfaction is higher than has been 36 years ag- -- for 36 years.

Joe Biden

00:25:06 - 00:25:08 ()

And we're growing the economy.

Joe Biden

00:25:08 - 00:25:31 ()

You know, my dad used to have a saying -- and I give you my word, this is real. I'm not making this up. He'd say it all the time. He'd say, "Joey, a job is about a lot more than a paycheck. It's about your dignity. It's about respect. It's about being able to look your kid in the eye and say, 'Honey, it's going to be okay,' and mean it." That's Bidenomics. That's the -- that's the objective of it.

Joe Biden

00:25:31 - 00:25:41 ()

The prior administration promised to revive manufacturing; they failed. I'm not sure they even tried, to be honest with you. [Laughter] No, I'm serious, I'm not sure they tried.

Joe Biden

00:25:41 - 00:25:49 ()

As a matter of fact, they had a theory, and it shipped jobs overseas for cheaper labor markets and import the product.

Joe Biden

00:25:49 - 00:26:22 ()

Well, I -- I went back, and I -- I don't know, guys -- I didn't know this and I've been around a long time. I didn't know that Roosevelt passed in 1934 a piece of legislation that said that when the President is given money by the Congress to appro- -- gets money appropriated to spend for the American people, he should only hire American workers and only use American products. No president ever tried to really keep that going, but I have.

Joe Biden

00:26:22 - 00:26:35 ()

And here's the deal: That's why we've grown so rapidly. If we don't have the technique -- we don't have the -- the -- the particular req- -- skill required, you can make an exception and not spend it on an American worker.

Joe Biden

00:26:35 - 00:26:39 ()

But we got to invest in America. And we're making things in America again.

Joe Biden

00:26:39 - 00:27:00 ()

You know, folks, we -- it's just amazing how much has changed. We used to be -- we used to be -- have the largest economy in the world in terms of manufacturing. Under my presidency, America has surged to the front again. We're now on track of having the strongest economy in the world for decades to come.

Joe Biden

00:27:00 - 00:27:12 ()

The prior administration promised to rebuild our nation's infrastructure. Remember "Infrastructure Week"? Every week. And then "Infrastructure Month." Well, guess what? It never came.

Joe Biden

00:27:12 - 00:27:44 ()

Great real estate builder -- the former president. He didn't build a damn thing. [Laughter] No, I mean -- really, think about this. Can you believe we used to have the best infrastructure in the world. We had the best infras- -- not -- not a joke -- the best infrastructure in the world rated by all these international agencies. But guess what? We fell to -- and ranked number 13 in the world. Thirteen in the world. Twelve countries have better infrastructure -- bridges, roads -- across the board than we have.

Joe Biden

00:27:44 - 00:28:00 ()

Well, when I signed the bipartisan infrastructure bill these guys helped me get through, we're now investing in America again: our roads, our bridges, our ports, our airports, high-speed Internet, and removing lead pipes from everyone so they have access to clean water.

Joe Biden

00:28:00 - 00:28:14 ()

Look, folks, because you can't have the strongest economy in the world without the best infrastructure in the world. How can you do both? [Applause] I mean, you can't.

Joe Biden

00:28:14 - 00:28:18 ()

We're making sure we're growing the economy in a way that benefits all Americans.

Joe Biden

00:28:18 - 00:28:28 ()

We awarded a record $70 billion in federal [DEL: contacts :DEL] [contracts] to small, disadvantaged businesses, and more Black small businesses are starting up than at any time in American history.

Joe Biden

00:28:28 - 00:28:33 ()

Now we have the fastest economic growth from the pandemic of any world economy.

Joe Biden

00:28:33 - 00:28:37 ()

We have the lowest inflation rate among the major economies.

Joe Biden

00:28:37 - 00:28:49 ()

We -- and we have a lot more to do, though. And I'm going to get those gas prices down again. I promise you. [Applause]

Joe Biden

00:28:49 - 00:28:51 ()

But, seriously, we're living through one of the greatest

Joe Biden

00:28:51 - 00:28:56 ()

job-creation periods in our history. And, folks, it's not an accident. It's not an accident.

Joe Biden

00:28:56 - 00:29:00 ()

That literally is our economic plan in action -- Bidenomics in action.

Joe Biden

00:29:00 - 00:29:09 ()

Let me close with this. And there's a lot more I know we could talk about. I wish I had a chance to take all your questions, but I'm going to get in real trouble if I do that. [Laughter]

Joe Biden

00:29:09 - 00:29:12 ()

But all kidding aside, we've faced some pretty tough times

Joe Biden

00:29:12 - 00:29:19 ()

in recent years. But America didn't give up. America never gives up.

Joe Biden

00:29:19 - 00:29:24 ()

I've said it a thousand times: There's no quit in America -- no quit.

Joe Biden

00:29:24 - 00:29:32 ()

But you hear from our friends on the other side, the MAGA Republicans, what's wrong with America. Everything's wrong with America. They keep telling us America is failing.

Joe Biden

00:29:32 - 00:29:36 ()

Well, they're wrong. They're failing.

Joe Biden

00:29:36 - 00:29:45 ()

America is not failing. America is winning. And there's one reason for it: you. All you people get up every single morning and go out to try to do the right thing.

Joe Biden

00:29:45 - 00:29:53 ()

You, the American people -- you're the one with grit and determination. Not me or your elected officials. You.

Joe Biden

00:29:53 - 00:29:57 ()

Whatever we've set our mind to as a country we've always accomplished. We've never failed.

Joe Biden

00:29:57 - 00:30:06 ()

Not a joke. Think about it. Name me one objective America has set that they haven't been able to accomplish to if we worked together. Name one.

Joe Biden

00:30:06 - 00:30:09 ()

And, folks, that's not going to change.

Joe Biden

00:30:09 - 00:30:16 ()

I've long said it's never been a good bet to bet against America. It's not a good bet today.

Joe Biden

00:30:16 - 00:30:19 ()

America's best days are ahead of us, not behind us.

Joe Biden

00:30:19 - 00:30:28 ()

And I can tell you: I know virtually every major world leader. I know most of them pretty well. Every one of them is looking to us. Every single one of them.

Joe Biden

00:30:28 - 00:30:30 ()

I can honestly say I've never been more optimistic about

Joe Biden

00:30:30 - 00:30:33 ()

America's future. Never, never, never.

Joe Biden

00:30:33 - 00:30:38 ()

We just have to remember who the hell we are: We're the United States Of America.

Joe Biden

00:30:38 - 00:30:48 ()

And there is -- this is for real. This isn't a campaign speech. This is for real. There's nothing, nothing, nothing beyond our capacity when we've worked together. Nothing, nothing, nothing. [Applause]

Joe Biden

00:30:48 - 00:31:03 ()

Folks, the little reason I'm so optimistic is we really are the most unique nation in the world.

Joe Biden

00:31:03 - 00:31:11 ()

You know, say, "Well, every nation says it." No, think about it -- I mean, in real terms. Think: We're the most unique nation in the whole world.

Joe Biden

00:31:11 - 00:31:38 ()

Every other country is based on ethnicity, geography, religion, race, or creed. We're the only nation -- and this is literal. Think about it. We're the only nation based on an idea -- an idea. We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men and women are created equal, endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights.

Joe Biden

00:31:38 - 00:31:42 ()

Look, we've never fully lived up to it. We've never walked away from it.

Joe Biden

00:31:42 - 00:31:45 ()

These other guys are trying to walk away from it.

Joe Biden

00:31:45 - 00:32:02 ()

I'm about to make a major speech. I made one back when I ran the last time in 2020 up at Independence Hall. Democracy is at stake, folks. Our democracy is under attack, and we got to fight for it.

Joe Biden

00:32:02 - 00:32:20 ()

I taught at the University of Pennsylvania for four years, and I used to teach political theory. And, folks, you always hear every generation has to fight for democracy. And I find myself -- it's automatic. We didn't have to believe it. But we do. We do.

Joe Biden

00:32:20 - 00:32:24 ()

And look, it's who we are.

Joe Biden

00:32:24 - 00:32:51 ()

I had a long talk with my counterpart, who I've known for 25 years, Vladimir Putin. And he started to -- he said to me -- this was early on when I first got elected and we were talking about strategic doctrine and keeping nuclear weapons out of space, et cetera, in Geneva.

Joe Biden

00:32:51 - 00:33:10 ()

And he sat there and -- when I was making the case, and he looked at me and he said that "the reason I'm reluctant to talk to you about this: You expect me to bring China along all the time." I said, "Oh, I don't expect you to bring China along."

Joe Biden

00:33:10 - 00:33:25 ()

I said, "You got essentially a 6,000-mile border with China. Your tundra is melting in the Arctic Circle. Methane is coming out. You got a lot of problems, and China doesn't respect you that much." And he looked at me; he kind of stood up.

Joe Biden

00:33:25 - 00:33:42 ()

I said, "We have Canada to our north, Mexico to our south, Atlantic and Pacific oceans. We got the most heterogeneous nation in the history of the world. And we're together. I'm not asking you to do anything except yourself."

Joe Biden

00:33:42 - 00:33:51 ()

It ended up with a very different ending, but the -- my point is the idea of who we are. There's nothing beyond -- I promise you.

Joe Biden

00:33:51 - 00:33:57 ()

Madeleine Albright was right, fellas. We are the essential nation.

Joe Biden

00:33:57 - 00:34:14 ()

There's not a single room I walk into -- not because of Joe Biden; I mean that sincerely - because I'm president of the United States -- not a single nation I walk into -- room I walk into, the rest of the world doesn't stop and said, basically, "What do you think?" Not a joke.

Joe Biden

00:34:14 - 00:34:22 ()

We've just got to be -- remember who we are. We are the United States of America. There is nothing beyond our capacity.

Joe Biden

00:34:22 - 00:34:28 ()

God bless you. Thank you. [Applause]