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United States Vice-President Joe Biden has criticised Republican presidential hopeful Mitt Romney, who won the New Hampshire primary, alleging that the latter knows how to hand over pink slips.
"He (Romney) thinks it's more important for the stockholders and the shareholders and the investors and the venture capital guys to do well for those employees to be part of the bargain," Biden told his Democratic supporters of New Hampshire through a video conference.
Biden said a recent gaffe by Romney "I like being able to fire people" was probably taken out of context. But, he added, Romney's basic point was not.
The US Vice-President said the US inherited a broken bargain.
"A deal that our parents didn't have to face. Middle class folks, if you gave them an even chance, they got to share in the benefits they helped to produce for this country. That bargain was broken during the Bush years and we were determined to fix it," he said.
A campaign official said the event was broadcast to more than 25 house parties in 24 cities across the State. According to a pool report, at one point Biden appeared to suggest that Republicans are like "brush" that Democrats need to clear aside before they can move the country forward.
"These guys are not immoral bad guys," Biden said of Republican presidential candidates. "They have a fundamentally different view of this country and what will make it great," he said.
Biden went out to list Obama's accomplishments: stabilising the financial system, passing stimulus legislation, creating three million jobs, passing health care reform and rescuing the auto industry.
And nearly all of these initiatives were passed in Congress "with not a single Republican vote," he said. The Vice-Pesident said Obama will continue putting his focus on the middle class and making sure people "who work hard" get "a fighting chance" as prospering.
By contrast, House Republicans want to create "more tax cuts for the wealthy" and "voucherise Medicare," he said. "The country is ready to move. We've just got to clear the brush out of the way," he said.