English subtitles for clip: File:2011-11-05 President Obama's Weekly Address (Joe Biden).ogv

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The Vice President:
Hi, this is Joe Biden.

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I'm speaking to you from the
University of Pittsburgh,

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where I just spoke to students
here about what we've done to

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help ease the burden on them
when it comes to the rising cost

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of tuition and the accumulating
student debt and what we're

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going to do to help create
jobs when they graduate.

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You know, today we found out
we've had the 20th month in a

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row where we've increased
private sector jobs --

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104,000 this month, 104,000
private sector jobs.

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And as all you know,
that's not nearly enough.

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We have to increase the pace.

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We have to act now to do
everything in our power to keep

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this economy moving
and to grow jobs.

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President Obama is on his way
back from France where he just

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met with the leaders of the 20
largest economies in the world,

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where he urged our European
friends to step up and stabilize

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their own economies
because if they fail,

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it will affect the whole world.

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Too many Americans
are still struggling.

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Too many college students here
at the University of Pittsburgh

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and elsewhere are worrying
about the rising cost of their

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tuition, and the increasing
accumulation of debt.

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And too many of their parents
are in stagnant jobs or out of

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work, wondering if they're going
to be able to send their child

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back to college next semester.

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My dad used to have a saying.

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He said, a job is about a
lot more than a paycheck.

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It's about dignity.

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It's about respect.

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And too many Americans have
been stripped of their dignity

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through no fault of their own.

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So we can't wait to help them.

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The President and I
believe we have to act now.

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That's why we've introduced
the jobs bill which independent

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validators said would
create 2 million new jobs.

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Although 51 senators
voted for that jobs bill,

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our Republican colleagues in
the Senate used a procedural

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requirement that requires it
to have 60 votes, so it failed.

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And since then we've taken every
important piece of the jobs bill

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and demanded that we
have a separate vote.

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But our Republican colleagues
in the Senate have voted

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unanimously to vote down
each and every part so far:

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to restore 400,000 jobs for
teachers, police officers,

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firefighters, putting
them back in classrooms,

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on the streets and
in the fire houses.

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And then on Thursday, they
unanimously voted down the

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second part of our program: to
rebuild our crumbling roads and

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bridges, which would have
created more than 400,000

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good-paying jobs.

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These are all programs that the
Republicans in the past have

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supported, but once again,
every Republican voted no --

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blocking the majority will to
put these folks back to work.

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I think the assumption is
they're voting no because of the

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way we would pay for these
jobs, and they are paid for.

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Well, we think everybody
should pay their fair share,

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and that's why we added a small
surtax on the first dollar after

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a person makes his first
$1 million -- to pay for it.

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That seems fair to us.

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It's a small price to pay to put
hundreds of thousands of people

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back to work.

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So, look, we can't wait.

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We can't wait for the Congress
to start acting responsibly,

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and that's why the President
has begun to use his executive

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power and making announcements
like one that will put hundreds

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of thousands of people -- will
be able to go and refinance

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their homes from a 6%
interest they're paying to 4%,

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which what the rate is now.

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That would save
them $2,000 a year.

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That's why the President
announced that beginning next

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year, no student will have to
pay back more than 10% of their

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discretionary income
toward their student debt.

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He also announced new
regulations regarding

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prescription drugs to
prevent price gouging.

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And there's more to come.

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If the Republican
Congress won't join us,

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we're going to continue to act
on our own to make the changes

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that we can to bring relief to
middle-class families and those

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aspiring to get in
the middle class.

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Look, it's simple: We refuse
to take no for an answer.

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We know these steps taken alone
are not going to solve all of

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our problems, but they will make
a difference in the lives of

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millions of American families
struggling to hold on.

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And you know and I know if the
Republicans would just let the

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Congress do its job, let
it step up and meet its

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responsibilities, we
could do so much more,

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and we could do it immediately.

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That's why the President and
I need your help to tell your

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Republican congressmen
and senators to step up.

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Tell them to stop worrying about
their jobs and start worrying

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about yours because we're
all in this together,

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and together is the way we're
going to bring America back even

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stronger than it was before.

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Thank you.