Biden rips Republicans for budget-cutting plans

Vice President Joe Biden blasted Republicans on Wednesday night for their budget-slashing proposals, and warned a New Hampshire crowd that "this Republican party is not even your father's Republican party."

Speaking at a dinner in Nashua hosted by New Hampshire Democrats, the vice president praised President Obama's leadership, and criticized GOP budget proposals that he argued were gutting programs necessary for boosting the economy for middle class Americans.

"This is a different breed of cat," Biden said of contemporary Republicans.

"It's not just about the fact that they end Medicare and turn it into a voucher system for folks," Biden said, of his problems with the Republican budget plan. "It's not just that they keep a trillion dollars worth of tax cuts for the very wealthy - they add another hundred billion on top of it... It's not just that they voted to retain a $40 billion tax cut for the oil industry - an industry that made $25 billion in profits in the first quarter of this year."

"It's that they pay for all of this by eviscerating and eliminating all the initiatives middle class needs to grow," he continued.

Referencing presidential candidate Newt Gingrich's recent criticism of Rep. Paul Ryan's Medicare plan - which the former House speaker quickly walked back - Biden quipped that "even Newt has seen the Lord" and accepted the plan he once called"right-wing social engineering."

Biden also praised Mr. Obama for his decisive action in carrying out the operation that led to the death of Osama bin Laden, which he called "the boldest decision ... any president has undertaken on a single event in modern history."

"The American people no longer confuse being contemplative with having courage," Biden said. "We have a leader with the backbone of a ramrod, and now, now, the real Barack Obama ... is coming into sharp focus."

"I said 'wait another seven days for [more] information," he added. "[Obama] said 'go.' ...The American people now have a crystal clear picture of how strong and decisive this president is, and that's the last piece of the puzzle that had to be put in place."

Despite his harsh words for Republicans on their budget proposals, the vice president will meet today with a bipartisan group of lawmakers to try to work out a plan to reduce the deficit. Republican leadership has said they will withhold approval on an increase to the debt limit without such a compromise. Biden is aiming to reach a goal of $1 trillion in cuts.