Today, as I do my income taxes, I think upon on the changes Bill Clinton made.

[hedgehog]

Back in 1992, I supported Harkin and was disappointed Bill took the nomination. But then he promised a child tax credit AND a way for my kids to work their way through college doing volunteer work, so I permitted myself to get a little enthusiastic.

I have six kids, and by the time the full child tax credit took hold, the older kids were no longer eligible.


I'm up to my wazoo in the loans I've taken out to send my kids to the state universities.

Meantime, I used to do my taxes in an hour with a pencil and calculator. Now I use a purchased computer program. The reason? Bill loaded up the tax code with dozens of credits and deductions, but each one comes with a separate worksheet to determine if I should take credit A or deduction B or whether I'm even eligible at all because this kid turned 17 last year or my husband got a bonus....



Thanks a lot for nothing, Bill.

[onehandle]

1. Yeah, those eight years of peace and prosperity really sucked.

Too bad George H. W. Bush wasn't re-elected. Then we could have had a President Quayle to follow.

Ah, what could have been.

[blm]

2. Bush1 would've been impeached after BCCI report was released in Dec 1992.

The Dem running in 96 would've won anyway and NO GOP takeover could possibly occur after the public heard about the extent of the crimes and coverups that BushInc engaged in that put our country and its democracy in such peril.

There never would've been a Bush2 possible, no 9-11 event, no current Iraq war, and no future war with Iran if the honest Dems in Congress and Senate had their clear shot in 1993 and 1994 at fully revealing Poppy Bush and his cronies on the many outstanding matters of IranContra, Iraqgate, BCCI and CIA Drugrunning operations.

[charlie]

8. Yep

Even if he wasn't keen on handling point, Clinton could've spared us this mess with little effort -- turn Walsh loose. That's all. Dumbass wouldn't do it and was rewarded with a decade of vilification and tumult for being a good "bipartisan." And like a whipped dog, he's still ingratiating himself to the lowlifes who thrashed him.

[blm]

10. BCCI didn't even GET a Special Prosecutor because Clinton deep-sixed that report so fast.

And THAT protection of BushInc by Clinton is what led to nearly everything tragic we have been living thru as a nation since 1993.

[charlie]

19. True, but SPs are free-ranging

and Walsh was thoroughly pissed off by what he was already sitting on. If Bill hadn't let his investigation lapse, who knows where Walsh would've gone? Bill could've let him carry on and credibly claimed respect for the prosecutor's independence. But of course, he didn't.

I'm with you, a decade and a half of Clinton's bizarre solicitous behavior doesn't leave me much room to think he can be anything other than complicit. I'm just noting how damning it was for him to let Walsh's investigation peter out. There are no provisions in the law for bygones for high crimes. Also, if Clinton's the smooth, savvy player he's reputed to be, he wouldn't have folded so quickly and left himself vulnerable. Like I said, he's a dumbass. And dirty as hell.

[blm]

20. Clinton took office and openly CRITICIZED Walsh as a 'zealous' prosecutor

and Clinton didn't think IranContra operation deserved prosecution. Of course, now we also know that Mena Airport was the hub Poppy Bush used for the part of IranContra operation where they were running all that cheap IranContra cocaine they were dumping by the TONS into black communities, which triggered the crack epidemic of the 80s and 90s.

No small wonder the governor of Arkansas at the time wouldn't be keen on those matters of GHWBush's criminal operations being more fully revealed.

[charlie]

23. Yep

I agree. His cheery exhortations to "move on" made my jaw drop back then and were tired schtick by the time he was doing the same for Dubya's 16 Words in the SOTU. I'm just flummoxed by what a freakin' rube he is. Walsh was his last chance at insurance and he didn't take it. Those who regard Bill's desperate "triangulations" to fend off the Republican onslaught as some sort of progressive high water mark don't know what they really could've had. He's a timid lackey, and his wife is clearly the same, accomodating rightwing freakshows and only kicking leftward.

[karynnj]

11. In fact, the OP mentioned one 1992 contender far more likely to have

done this - Tom Harkin.

He also would never have signed NAFTA unless it had the type of STRONG worker protections and environmental protections that could have made it a positive - setting a floor on how cheap labor could be - rather than - as they were - something that hurt workers on both ends. (Globalization already made the labor market global, diminishing the power of labor unions, because employers could move the work elsewhere. It may be that GOOD fair trade agreements could be part of the solution by fighting to raise the standard for workers everywhere - to avoid the race to the bottom.)

He would have likely changed US foreign policy. It was Harkin, who with Kerry in 1985, when both were brand new Senators, tried to get Reagan to not engage in his covert Central American actions to help the Contras defeat the elected Sandinista government. (Bill Clinton supported funding the Contras.)

Not to mention - we would never have heard of Monica!

GHWB was below 40% and Perot would have been less competitive had the Democrats had a progressive like Harkin. There is no way he would not have won. It's too bad that Americans didn't reject the very charming Clinton, after it was clear even in the primaries that he was very prone to lying and scapegoating.

[hedgehog]

15. I've long felt that Clinton's bimbo eruptions were the reason he was nominated.

They put his name out front above the rest of the pack and netted him priceless exposure on 60 Minutes. Most Americans considered his private life private, so little harm was done. In exchange, he received name recognition.

[blm]

27. easier to control....imo. I'll bet the Bushes have the same leverage with McCain.

.

[karynnj]

28. That is interesting - it did give him a huge amount of visiibility

[blm]

17. If I had known how close Clintons were to Bush and his powerful cronies like Jackson Stephens, I'd

have worked HARDER for another Dem nominee like Harkin and Tsongas. Neither would have let BushInc off the hook after the release of the BCCI report. And Walsh's NEW evidence of GHWBush's involvement in IranContra would also have had a fuller examination and revealed to the American people.

[onehandle]

21. mmm...maybe. nt

[blm]

22. Most certainly. You think he ran the worst campaign in history unintentionally?

You think the guy who was actually running the CIA for decades didn't KNOW how to run for re-election and win against a small state governor with MANY sexual encounters with women not his wife? Poppy was known for being the chief blackmailer of other Republicans to enforce 'party unity' under Nixon. You think he didn't KNOW about Bill's vulnerable areas, especially when he knew Bill pretty darn well as Poppy had been accessing Mena for his CIA drugrunning operations for years?

Arrangements like that just don't happen in a vacuum. Someone has to be told to look the other way.

[GoneOffShore]

25. Just a couple of things to add to that

NAFTA, DOMA, Welfare Reform, Telecommunications Act (Here's a present for you Rupert. Now go off and rape and pillage the airwaves with our blessing), DLC and more welfare for corporations with Bill's blessing.

It is increasingly evident that The Big Dog was more of a Lap Dog.

[Selatius]

3. I prefer France's approach to college costs. They pay for their students. We don't.

In America, you have to pay for it yourself, usually by taking on interest-bearing loans. If you are really smart, you can get a scholarship, but if you weren't the smartest, well, good luck.

Tuition for college students is paid for through the government's budget, which is funded by France's income taxes and so on. I look on France's method of dealing with tuition costs with sheer envy.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Education_in_France#Tuition_Costs

Another characteristic is the low tuition costs. Since higher education is funded by the state, the fees are very low: the tuition varies from 150€ to 700€ depending on the university and the different levels of education. (licence, master, doctorat). One can therefore get a Master's degree (in 5 years) for about 750-3,500€. Additionally, students from low-income families can apply for scholarships, paying nominal sums for tuition or textbooks, and even getting a monthly stipend up to 450€/month.

[hedgehog]

4. That's not too different from what my husband and I paid to go to

the state university back in the mid-70's. It was possible then to live at home, work a summer job and pay for books and tuition.

[Selatius]

7. Yeah, but because of the massive military build-up in the 1980s, they cut education to the bone

And inflation also ate up the value of whatever aid was still being offered. In the 1960s they were ramping up spending on health care and education and infrastructure as apart of Johnson's "War On Poverty," but it ended when he destroyed himself with Viêt Nam. Then the country turned to shit, and the younger generation voted for Reagan and his dumb "supply-side economics" rubbish.

[mtnsnake]

5. Thanks to Bill Clinton's Hope Credit & Lifetime Learning Credit we saved a ton of money

when my kids were going to college. We will always be grateful to him for his educational programs and you should try be grateful, too, instead of being vindicative for all the wrong reasons.

[CrispyQ]

6. You would enjoy the beginning of chapter 10 of "Stupid White Men."

The entire chapter is good, but the beginning is especially entertaining. If you're ever at the library, take a few minutes & read it. You'll know when to stop.

[ZombieHorde]

9. Child tax credit is super awesome!

[hedgehog]

12. I love the part where it drops out when the kid turns 17.

Like, do I send the kid out to work for a living? Stop feeding him?

[ZombieHorde]

18. Sell them and make more when they are ripe.

[Captain Hilts]

13. It's ALL Bill Clinton's fault!!! Tectonic drift is too! nt

[jillan]

14. Turbo Tax is your friend.

[hedgehog]

16. It is now!

[OzarkDem]

24. Its Clinton's fault your kids were too old to qualify?

How?

And if you want to blame someone for having to document the deductions, start with the GOP Congress who imposed those forms and tests to keep all the low and middle income workers from "exploiting" the tax code. Start with Newt Gingrich.

[blm]

26. How about start with WHY Gingrich COULD become Speaker of the House in 1995.

.

[Maddy McCall]

29. And this is Bill's fault how?

Ridiculous OP.

[rodeodance]

31. Didn't you know the Clintons are to blame for everything?--at least on DU they are.

[rodeodance]

30. Bill made it possible for the Tax credits and you are whining about the

paperwork?

I hope you are joking.

[hedgehog]

32. The point is that after doing all kinds of paperwork and jumping through

all the hoops, the tax credit or deduction either doesn't amount ot much or else I'm ineligible entirely. I realize I'm in a wierd demographic, but still...