Politics- Democratic presidential candidate and former vice president
Joe Biden called corporate America "greedy as hell" in an interview with Politico. - He said of large companies and banks that "this is the second time we've bailed their asses out."
- He also said states and cities need more funding from future stimulus legislation.
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Democratic presidential candidate and former vice president Joe Biden called corporate America "greedy as hell" in an interview with Politico's Michael Grunwald.
He criticized big companies and banks, saying that "this is the second time we've bailed their asses out."
The comments from Biden echo his former competitors in the Democratic primary, Sens. Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, who made criticisms of large banks and corporations a central part of their campaigns. His punchy criticisms signal a more progressive tone as Biden tries to appeal to those voters who likely backed Sanders or Warren.
Big banks are "only alive because of the American taxpayer," Biden said, adding that "we knew from the beginning that the big banks don't like lending to small businesses." Larger companies seeking loans from banks to help recover from the coronavirus received special treatment from banks, while smaller businesses were left with fewer resources to get their loans.
As vice president in the Obama administration, Biden was part of the last major bailout from the federal government during the Great Recession, which spurred the Occupy Wall Street movement criticizing the handouts of taxpayer money to big banks.
But, Biden defended the Obama administration's oversight of its bailout, and said that of the Trump administration's stimulus, "there's no oversight. [Trump] made it real clear he doesn't have any damn interest in being checked. The last thing he wants is anyone watching that $500 billion going to corporate America, for God's sake."
Earlier this month, Trump fired the inspector general set to oversee the $2 trillion CARES Act.
Biden told Politico that he thinks state and local governments should have received more money in the stimulus packages and should receive more in upcoming legislation. He said he is in "in constant conversation" with House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer about his priorities for coronavirus relief.
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