MILWAUKEE, Wis. (WTAQ) - Vice President Joe Biden said in Milwaukee Tuesday that Wall Street reform is about the entire middle class – and not just about the big banks. Biden and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner spoke to UWM business students and local leaders, lobbying for the financial industry reform package that’s now before Congress.

The measure would tighten the regulation of securities, and provide a host of consumer protections. Geithner says it won’t satisfy everyone, and it won’t solve every problem – but it will fix what caused the financial meltdown of 2008, and make future crises “less damaging.”

Biden called Wall Street houses “private casinos” where banks and investors lost bets that Americans are now paying for. The vice president said taxpayers have paid the price for what he called Wall Street greed that got the wrong people rich.

Biden also said the federal bailout of the banking industry only cost Americans just over half the $700 billion originally expected – and more than half of what was allocated to banks has been paid back.

Listen to News Talk WTAQ's Jeff Flynt report on Vice President Joe Biden and Treasury Secretary Tim Geithner's visit to Milwaukee.