Vice President Biden’s Ever-Changing ‘Depression Expression’

by Capitol Confidential

Vice President Biden keeps recycling his unemployment speeches – except he keeps confusing the suburbs of his hometown of Scranton:

Biden

1.  On October 19, 2009, he used Minooka:

My pop — my grandpop used to say — there was a suburb of Scranton called Minooka. He said, “When the guy in Minooka’s out of work, it’s an economic slowdown. When your brother- in-law’s out of work, it’s a recession. When you’re out of work, it’s a depression.”  Well, it’s a depression — it’s a depression for millions of Americans, through no fault of their own.

2.  On October 30, 2009, he used Dickson City:

My grandpop used to have an expression. We’re from Scranton. He’d say — and I mean this literally. It wasn’t viewed as a joke. He said, “Joey, when the guy in Dickson City,” a small town above Scranton, “is out of work, it’s an economic slowdown. When you’re brother-in-law is out of work, it’s a recession. When you’re out of work, it’s a depression.” And it’s a depression for millions of American people.

3.  On December 3, 2009, at the White House jobs summit, he used Throop:

There used to be an expression, and I’m not joking, my grandfather always used it. He was from Scranton, Pennsylvania. He said, “When the guy from Throop is out of work, it’s an economic slowdown. When your brother-in-law is out of work, it’s a recession. When you’re out of work, it’s a depression.” And it is a depression for over 10 million Americans…

4.  On February 22, 2010, speaking to Governors at the White House, he used Olyphant:

My grandpop used to have an expression — a couple of you heard me say — when the guy — he was from Scranton — when the guy in Olyphant’s is out of work it’s an economic slowdown — that’s a little town outside of Scranton. When your brother-in-law is out of work it’s a recession. When you’re out of work it’s a depression. It’s a depression for a lot of Americans.

For the record, Harry Truman is the apparent original author of this quote (minus any reference to Scranton suburbs):

“It’s a recession when your neighbor loses his job; it’s a depression when you lose yours.” Harry S Truman, in Observer, April 13, 1958


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Posted Feb 22nd 2010 at 12:51 pm in Economics, News | 115 Comments