DETROIT - Vice President Biden joined the chorus of Democrats declaring that America is better off today than four years ago.

"Folks let me make something clear, and say it to the press: America is better off today than they left us when they left," Biden said referring to the Bush administration. A crowd of 3,500 at a Labor Day rally in downtown Detroit applauded.

"Let me just sum it up this way folks, you want to know why we're better off? I got a little bumper sticker for you. Osama Bin Laden is dead and General Motors is alive," Biden continued.

A number of Obama campaign officials hit the airwaves today enthusiastically saying the country is better off than when President Obama first assumed office after some Democrats hedged their answers on the Sunday shows.

Speaking at the Labor Day rally sponsored by the AFL-CIO, Biden praised blue collar workers and voiced the administration's desire to ensure jobs are kept in America and not outsourced overseas.

"The president and I are determined to replace the word outsourcing for our children's generation for the word insourcing," Biden said. "Companies are coming home to America and they are coming home for one stark reason: steel workers, iron workers, electricians, machinists, mechanics. You are the most productive workers in the world."

The vice president told the crowd Republicans viewed "working women and men of America as the problem. We view you as the solution."

"Look folks, we know who built this country and we know who is going to rebuild it. It's you. Instead of vilifying you, we should be thanking you. We owe you," Biden said.

Mitt Romney's campaign challenged Biden today.

"The truth is that the middle class has been crushed in the Obama economy. Unemployment remains high, incomes have fallen, and gas prices have doubled. Americans aren't better off than they were four years ago, and they deserve a president who recognizes that," Romney campaign spokeswoman Amanda Henneberg said.