Vice President Joe Biden said Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, is to blame for Ohio’s fiscal woes.
“He’s not a bad guy but Portman wrote the budget … he was in charge of the Bush budget” that forced Ohio to dip into the national rainy day fund during the Great Recession, Biden charged at a campaign event in Ohio Thursday for Portman’s Democratic challenger, former Gov. Ted Strickland, Rep. Tim Ryan, D-Ohio, and Democratic presidential nominee Hillary Clinton.
Biden was referring to Portman’s role as President George W. Bush’s budget director from 2006-09.
“And as a congressman he voted for the Ryan budget” that would have privatized Social Security and made Medicare a voucher program, Biden charged, referring to House Speaker Paul Ryan’s proposal for the nation’s spending when he was chairman of the House Budget Committee.
“It didn’t pass the whole Congress, thank God,” he added.
The Portman campaign responded. “There is absolutely nothing that will change the fact that when Ted Strickland was governor, Ohio ranked 48th in job creation and lost more than 350,000 jobs … to other states,” Portman campaign spokesperson Michawn Rich said in response to Biden’s jabs.
“On the other hand, Rob is the only candidate in this race with a proven record of fighting every day for pro-growth policies that grow wages and create more jobs and opportunity for all Ohioans. Rob has never voted to privatize Social Security nor has he ever supported privatizing Social Security. He has a proven record of working across party lines to preserve Medicare and Social Security for current and future generations of Ohio seniors so they have safe and secure retirements.”
