The Final State of the Union
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(Vice President Joe Biden holds a Middle Class Task Force meeting on the Economy in the Roosevelt room, Friday, October 2, 2009. Also in attendance were Christy Romer, Larry Summers, Peter Orzag, Terrell McSweeny and Jared Bernstein. Official White House Photo by David Lienemann)This morning, the Vice President discussed the latest unemployment figures, making clear that although things are not on the catastrophic path they were on when the President took office, there will be no rest or celebration until we are creating jobs at a pace to recover what we've lost. In a short address to the press, Vice President Biden outlined the steps the administration is taking to ensure economic stability for Americans:
We are working hard on every front to turn this economy around. And as bad as things are, they would be far worse without the recovery plan, or these other efforts. That's why we've worked hard to accelerate the recovery spending, getting money out the door on schedule; and that's why we announced yesterday nine ambitious goals for the Recovery Act to perform between now and December 31st.
Today's tough news is a reminder though that -- as if anybody would need it -- how critical this work is in making the Recovery Act work and why. As I told the Cabinet assembled yesterday, those efforts need to be redoubled in the weeks ahead. Let me be clear about one thing: Today's bad news does not change my confidence in the fact that we are going to recover. We will be producing jobs. The American economy and the job engine is going to be created and moving once again.
