Biden goes on the road to defend stimulus

CINCINNATI, July 10 (UPI) -- Vice President Joseph Biden used a derelict factory in Ohio as a backdrop for a defense of President Barack Obama's stimulus plan.

Biden traveled to Cincinnati to ask U.S. residents to be patient and give the administration's economic programs time to work, The Washington Post reported. He asked over and over what critics would do or say when confronted with teachers or police officers whose jobs are at risk.

The setting was an American Can factory that has been closed and is scheduled for renovation.

House Minority Leader John Boehner, R-Ohio, talked to reporters on a conference call before Biden arrived. He said the administration would destroy jobs by raising taxes and plunging the United States into debt.

Recent polls have indicated declining public confidence in Obama's economic policies, particularly in Ohio.

A Quinnipiac poll in Ohio last week found 48 percent saying they disapprove of Obama's handling of the economy while his approval rating on economic issues dropped to 46 percent from 57 percent two months ago.