Biden to Head Middle-Class Task Force

Obama calls it an 'American moment'
By Kevin Spak,  Newser Staff
Posted Jan 30, 2009 1:38 PM CST

President Obama today announced a new task force on the middle class, to be led by none other than onetime "working class kid from Scranton" Joe Biden, the Chicago Tribune reports. “This is a difficult moment,” Obama said, referring in part to the day’s dire GDP numbers. But “if we act swiftly it can be an American moment.” The president also signed executive orders aimed at strengthening labor unions.

Obama explained that he was focused not just on the existing middle class, “but also folks who are aspiring to be in the middle class. You cannot have a strong middle class without a strong labor union.” The task force will meet monthly, each time addressing a different issue, and Biden promised it would be fully transparent—even though it came from the vice president’s office. The audience chortled at the not-so-veiled shot at Dick Cheney. (More Joe Biden stories.)

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