Biden on Obama's middle-class efforts

by Frank James

The Obama Administration announces its Middle Class Working Families Task Force at a White House event today and the man who will be in charge of it, Vice President Joe Biden, has an op-ed in USA Today explaining the overarching reasons for it.

One of the things that makes this task force distinctive is it brings together -- in one place -- those agencies that have the most impact on the well-being of the middle class in our country. We'll be looking at everything from access to college and training with the Department of Education, to business development with the Department of Commerce, to child care reform with Health and Human Services, to labor law with the Department of Labor. With this task force, we'll have a single, high-visibility group with one goal: to raise the living standards of middle-class families.

Over the upcoming months, we will focus on answering those concerns that matter most to families. What can we do to make retirement more secure? How can we make child and elder care more affordable? How do we improve workplace safety? How are we going to get the cost of college within reach? What can we do to help weary parents juggle work and family? And, above all else, what are the jobs of the future? Here, we'll be looking at green jobs, better-paying jobs, better-quality jobs.

At the end of the day, it will be our responsibility to offer clear, specific steps we can take to meet these concerns and others.

Unlike some previous government task forces, our task force will operate in a fully transparent manner. We will consult openly and publicly with outside groups that have thought long and hard about these issues and can help us bring the most far-reaching and imaginative solutions to these problems. All the materials from our meetings, and any report we produce, will be up on our public website. None of this will happen behind closed doors.