What would you have proposed to Bill Clinton in 1993 if you foresaw a Bush2 presidency?

[blm]

And put yourself in the position of a powerful advisor. This is 1993 with ALL the serious outstanding issues of the day you need to deal with as a new president.

No future scandals or events - just the national landscape and serious problems of the day that existed WHEN he took office.

[Demeter]

1. Prosecute Iran/Contra

that would have put a stick in the Monica Impeachment, too.

[trotsky]

23. Yup. First response is the best.

Fully investigate and follow thru - you eliminate ALL the Buscho players, since they were the "brains" behind that scam. Poppy is disgraced instead of just dismissed, and junior doesn't have the name to run on - in fact, it would have turned people off.

[ThomWV]

2. Put The FBI On Bush's Military Service Trail

That would have knocked him out of any chance of the Presidency.

[Kber]

3. Support Ann Richard's reelection like your lfe depended on it

[blm]

13. Too late, already very unpopular by 1994. What SHOULD he have done early 1993?

.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

4. For the sake of the nation, don't let Monica blow you

And don't let them off the hook on Iran-Contra

[blm]

10. 1993 issues and national landscape. Nothing future. Just what he had to deal with

when he took office.

Basically, this should guide what Dems do now with their power.

[Lone_Star_Dem]

11. Then I stick with my part two

And, yes, we can't let them off the hook this time either, lest we have to relive this nightmare again.

[Lautremont]

5. Emergency Tactics.

[Kelly Rupert]

6. Five things.

1. Bump the minimum wage and tie it to the Cost of Living Index.
2. Do not make "regime change" official US policy towards Iraq. Watch out for the neoconservatives.
3. Increase Corporate Average Fuel Economy standards to 40 mpg by 2000 and 60 mpg by 2010.
4. Don't get blowjobs from your subordinates.
5. Don't let Gore tell you not to campaign for him.

[Auggie]

7. Keep your zipper up

[Writer]

8. Bill, if you don't repeal the 22nd Amendment...

with your Democratic Congress then everything you do for the next eight years will be for naught. Don't let Bush II happen at all.

[AngryOldDem]

33. My thought 'zakly.

It would have been well worth the constitutional crisis.

[Democrats_win]

9. Appoint W. to a commission on terrorist threats.

[fadedrose]

12. The Media

The right wing has had ownership over radio especially, and TV too, and I'd tell him to break the monopoly.

[sasha031]

16. Definitely agree

and published and distributed a must read "Economics for Dummies" to all Americans so that Newt couldn't start his War on America.

[blm]

22. Newt couldn't get traction on anything if the books were opened on BushInc

back when the opportunity was there to do it.

GOPs would have been shamed for at least a generation to know how close Poppy and his fascist friends had come to New World Order.

[Guaranteed]

19. Absolutely. That was what happened.

He spent 8 years smiling and having people love him while the Rush Limbaughs were building up power and shaping our culture.

[blm]

28. The power was IN the media - and they used it against him.

He never could have been impeached without full complicity from the corporate media.

[newyawker99]

35. Hi fadedrose!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[Warpy]

14. I'd have proposed that he delay NAFTA and GATT

as long as he could and pass programs for US instead. I'd have proposed a much higher tax increase on the wealthiest, but graduated from the financially secure up to the insanely rich. I'd have suggested he do something about reining corporate executive pay packages in and I'd have suggested strongly that he make sure antitrust laws were strengthened and enforced, starting with banking, insurance and mass media. I'd also have suggested he hurry and pass a new Fairness Doctrine ASAP, since that's the only way the American people would hear anything but corporate propaganda.

I would have suggested he do all this before 1994.

I'd also have suggested strongly that his health care planning sessions NOT include the insurance companies. That was a huge miscalculation.

Once Newtie and the gang had come in, I'd have suggested strongly that he hold NAFTA and GATT hostage to get some of his own programs passed.

Alas, he did none of that and it's no wonder people wanted a change. They fell for that lower taxes line again since nobody was raising their wages back to 1970 levels of purchasing power. Then they got pennies while the richest 0.5% got millions when a modest wage hike would have satisfied them enough to forgive Clinton for being a rat of a husband.

The truth is that Clinton squandered a few golden opportunities by governing as a corporatist after he'd campaigned as an economic populist. He was as much in favor of supply side economics (which don't work, if you haven't yet noticed) as most pubbies.

He could have done better. We need someone who will do better.

[blm]

17. The whole point is that Dem Congress needs to do what's right instead of what will appease

Republicans and the corporate mediawhores. If Clinton had done what was RIGHT for the country instead of cutting deals to get along with the Republicans and his predecessor, there would have been no takeover of Congress, no impeachment, no Bush2 presidency and no 9-11 or Iraq war.


That is why today's Dems need to do what is right for the country overall and in the long run, than any short=term kudos from the corporate media that won't last long by any means.

[devilgrrl]

15. Reinstate the Fairness Doctrine, beware of media consolidation...

eom

[MrSlayer]

18. I'm tempted to say "let her finish the job".

And leave no evidence on a certain dress but I think the important thing would have been to prosecute Iran/Contra and prevent the neo-cons from doing anything later by making sure they were in prison. Not clearing out the criminals allowed them to strike later and cause serious damage.

[slackmaster]

20. Blow up the WTC and Pentagon and make it look like a terrorist attack

:hide:

[Wiley50]

21. My First Born Daughter in exchange for Poppy's Head n/t

[LSdemocrat]

24. Pass the economic plan, shelve gun control until later, humane welfare reform, then health care

[LSdemocrat]

25. Also don't appoint James Woolsey to CIA or Louis Freeh to FBI

[blm]

29. That was allowing the "politicization" of the CIA and FBI to continue as Poppy had set it up.

Biggest mistakes Clinton made because it set up the eventual tearing down and dismantling of every good thing he DID accomplish during his terms.

[benEzra]

26. Ditch the stupid Scary Rifle "Ban", since rifles weren't a crime problem

and never have been. He should have seen that coming, but he got sucked into the whole bait-and-switch--the pro-ban rhetoric was flying thick and heavy, and facts on the issue were much harder to find then than now.

[SouthernBelle82]

27. Oh that's easy

Don't stop Iran/Contra investigation's. Let John Kerry finish his job on investigating. So many of the people involved now were involved than including Donny Rumsfeld.

[blm]

30. Here's the list of outstanding questions on BCCI that Clinton turned his back on.

Reposted from a Plame/BCCI thread in 2005.


BCCI/Plame: JK's list of outstanding questions with names/corporations

This can help all those looking further into the entire connection. The global aspect of this is astounding and is undoubtedly the key to unlock every damn crime of the BFEE and their international cabal of fascists, financiers and terrorists.

The press in this country has done an amazingly poor job of educating the citizens.



Here is Kerry's list - FROM 1992 - of things which warrant further investigation:

There have been a number of matters which the Subcommittee has received some information on, but has not been able to investigate adequately, due such factors as lack of resources, lack of time, documents being withheld by foreign governments, and limited evidentiary sources or witnesses. Some of the main areas which deserve further investigation include:

1. The extent of BCCI's involvement in Pakistan's nuclear program. As set forth in the chapter on BCCI in foreign countries, there is good reason to conclude that BCCI did finance Pakistan's nuclear program through the BCCI Foundation in Pakistan, as well as through BCCI-Canada in the Parvez case. However, details on BCCI's involvement remain unavailable. Further investigation is needed to understand the extent to which BCCI and Pakistan were able to evade U.S. and international nuclear non-proliferation regimes to acquire nuclear technologies.

2. BCCI's manipulation of commodities and securities markets in Europe and Canada. The Subcommittee has received information that remains not fully substantiated that BCCI defrauded investors, as well as some major U.S. and European financial firms, through manipulating commodities and securities markets, especially in Canada, the Netherlands, and Luxembourg. This alleged fraud requires further investigation in those countries.

3. BCCI's activities in India, including its relationship with the business empire of the Hinduja family. The Subcommittee has not had access to BCCI records regarding India. The substantial lending by BCCI to the Indian industrialist family, the Hindujas, reported in press accounts, deserves further scrutiny, as do the press reports concerning alleged kick-backs and bribes to Indian officials.

4. BCCI's relationships with convicted Iraqi arms dealer Sarkis Soghanalian, Syrian drug trafficker, terrorist, and arms trafficker Monzer Al-Kassar, and other major arms dealers. Sarkenalian was a principal seller of arms to Iraq. Monzer Al- Kassar has been implicated in terrorist bombings in connection with terrorist organizations such as the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine. Other arms dealers, including some who provided machine guns and trained Medellin cartel death squads, also used BCCI. Tracing their assets through the bank would likely lead to important information concerning international terrorist and arms trafficker networks.

5. The use of BCCI by central figures in arms sales to Iran during the 1980's. The late Cyrus Hashemi, a key figure in allegations concerning an alleged deal involving the return of U.S. hostages from Iran in 1980, banked at BCCI London. His records have been withheld from disclosure to the Subcommittee by a British judge. Their release might aid in reaching judgments concerning Hashemi's activities in 1980, with the CIA under President Carter and allegedly with William Casey.

6. BCCI's activities with the Central Bank of Syria and with the Foreign Trade Mission of the Soviet Union in London. BCCI was used by both the Syrian and Soviet governments in the period in which each was involved in supporting activities hostile to the United States. Obtaining the records of those financial transactions would be critical to understanding what the Soviet Union under Brezhnev, Chernenko, and Andropov was doing in the West; and might document the nature and extent of Syria's support for international terrorism.

7. BCCI's involvement with foreign intelligence agencies. A British source has told the Bank of England and British
investigators that BCCI was used by numerous foreign intelligence agencies in the United Kingdom. The British intelligence service, the MI-5, has sealed documents from BCCI's records in the UK which could shed light on this allegation.

8. The financial dealings of BCCI directors with Charles Keating and several Keating affiliates and front-companies, including
the possibility that BCCI related entities may have laundered funds for Keating to move them outside the United States. The Subcommittee found numerous connections among Keating and BCCI-related persons and entities, such as BCCI director Alfred Hartman; CenTrust chief David Paul and CenTrust itself; Capcom front-man Lawrence Romrell; BCCI shipping affiliate, the Gokal group and the Gokal family; and possibly Ghaith Pharaon. The ties between BCCI and Keating's financial empire require further investigation.

9. BCCI's financing of commodities and other business dealings of international criminal financier Marc Rich. Marc Rich
remains the most important figure in the international commodities markets, and remains a fugitive from the United States following his indictment on securities fraud. BCCI lending to Rich in the 1980's amounted to tens of millions of dollars. Moreover, Rich's commodities firms were used by BCCI in connection with BCCI's involving in U.S. guarantee programs through the Department of Agriculture. The nature and extent of Rich's relationship with BCCI requires further investigation.

10. The nature, extent and meaning of the ownership of shares of other U.S. financial institutions by Middle Eastern political
figures. Political figures and members of the ruling family of various Middle Eastern countries have very substantial investments in the United States, in some cases, owning substantial shares of major U.S. banks. Given BCCI's routine use of nominees from the Middle East, and the pervasive practice of using nominees within the Middle East, further investigation may be warranted of Middle Eastern ownership of domestic U.S. financial institutions.

11. The nature, extent, and meaning of real estate and financial investments in the United States by major shareholders of BCCI. BCCI's shareholders and front-men have made substantial investments in real estate throughout the United States, owning major office buildings in such key cities as New York and Washington, D.C. Given BCCI's pervasiveness criminality, and the role of these shareholders and front-men in the BCCI affair, a complete review of their holdings in the United States is warranted.

12. BCCI's collusion in Savings & Loan fraud in the U.S. The Subcommittee found ties between BCCI and two failed Savings and Loan institutions, CenTrust, which BCCI came to have a controlling interest in, and Caprock Savings and Loan in Texas, and as noted above, the involvement of BCCI figures with Charles Keating and his business empire. In each case, BCCI's involvement cost the U. S. taxpayers money. A comprehensive review of BCCI's account holders in the U.S. and globally might well reveal additional such cases. In addition, the issue of whether David Paul and CenTrust's political relationships were used by Paul on behalf of BCCI merits further investigation.

13. The sale of BCCI affiliate Banque de Commerce et de Placements (BCP) in Geneva, to the Cukorova Group of Turkey, which owned an entity involved in the BNL Iraqi arms sales, among others. Given BNL's links to BCCI, and Cukorova Groups' involvement through its subsidiary, Entrade, with BNL in the sales to Iraq, the swift sale of BCP to Cukorova just weeks after BCCI's closure -- prior to due diligence being conducted -- raises questions as to whether a prior relationship existed between BCCI and Cukorova, and Cukorova's intentions in making the purchase. Within the past year, Cukorova also applied to purchase a New York bank. Cukorova's actions pertaining to BCP require further investigation in Switzerland by Swiss authorities, and by the Federal Reserve New York.

14. BCCI's role in China. As noted in the chapter on BCCI's activities in foreign countries, BCCI had extensive activity in China, and the Chinese government allegedly lost $500 million when BCCI closed, mostly from government accounts. While there have been allegations that bribes and pay-offs were involved, these allegations require further investigation and detail to determine what actually happened, and who was involved.

15. The relationship between Capcom and BCCI, between Capcom and the intelligence community, and between Capcom's shareholders and U.S. telecommunications industry figures. The Subcommittee was able to interview people and review documents concerning Capcom that no other investigators had to date interviewed or reviewed. Much more needs to be done to understand what Capcom was doing in the United States, the United Kingdom, Egypt, Oman, and the Middle East, including whether the firm was, as has been alleged but not proven, used by the intelligence community to move funds for intelligence operations; and whether any person involved with Capcom was seeking secretly to acquire interests in the U.S. telecommunications industry.

16. The relationship of important BCCI figures and important intelligence figures to the collapse of the Hong Kong Deposit and Guaranty Bank and Tetra Finance (HK) in 1983. The circumstances surrounding the collpase of these two Hong Kong banks; the Hong Kong banks' practices of using nominees, front-companies, and back-to-back financial transactions; the Hong Banks' directors having included several important BCCI figures, including Ghanim Al Mazrui, and a close associate of then CIA director William Casey; all raise the question of whether there was a relationship between these two institutions and BCCI-Hong Kong, and whether the two Hong Kong institutions were used for domestic or foreign intelligence operations.

17. BCCI's activities in Atlanta and its acquisition of the National Bank of Georgia through First American. Although the Justice Department indictments of Clark Clifford and Robert Altman cover portions of how BCCI acquired National Bank of Georgia, other important allegations regarding the possible involvement of political figures in Georgia in BCCI's activities there remain outside the indictment. These allegations, as well as the underlying facts regarding BCCI's activities in Georgia, require further investigation.

18. The relationship between BCCI and the Banca Nazionale del Lavoro. BCCI and the Atlanta Branch of BNL had an extensive relationship in the United States, with the Atlanta Branch of BNL having a substantial number of accounts in BCCI's Miami offices. BNL was, according to federal indictments, a significant financial conduit for weapons to Iraq. BCCI also made loans to Iraq, although of a substantially smaller nature. Given the criminality of both institutions, and their interlocking activities, further investigation of the relationship could produce further understanding of Saddam Hussein's international network for acquiring weapons, and how Iraq evaded governmental restrictions on such weapons acquisitions.

19. The alleged relationship between the late CIA director William Casey and BCCI. As set forth in the chapter on intelligence, numerous trails lead from BCCI to Casey, and from Casey to BCCI, and the investigation has been unable to follow any of them to the end to determine whether there was indeed a relationship, and if there was, its nature and extent. If any such relationship existed, it could have a significant impact on the findings and conclusions concerning the CIA and BCCI's role in U.S. foreign policy and intelligence operations during the Casey era. The investigation's work detailing the ties of BCCI to the intelligence community generally also remains far from complete, and much about these ties remains obscure and in need of further investigation.

20. Money laundering by other major international banks. Numerous BCCI officials told the Subcommittee that BCCI's money laundering was no different from activities they observed at other international banks, and provided the names of a number of prominent U.S. and European banks which they alleged engaged in money laundering. There is no question that BCCI's laundering of drug money, while pervading the institution, constituted a small component of the total money laundering taking place in international banking. Further investigation to determine which international banks are soliciting and handling drug money should be undertaken.

[JHB]

31. Even more important than those already mentioned...

1) Get the Federal courts out of RW activist hands. You need to do this to do the rest, otherwise it'll all be dismissed on technicalities (say "thank you", Ollie). Lawrence Silberman, David Sentelle, and especially Rhenquist, all had to go one way or another. This is what allowed the Whitewater "probe" to wander all over the place while investigations of Republicans were short and narrowly focussed.

And then,

2) Full investigation of Iran/Contra, Contra drug trafficing, BCCI, etc.

3) Delay or severly revise NAFTA/GATT

4) Scrub the Telecomunications Act

[blm]

32. Difficult with Sentelle - iirc, didn't Carter appoint him?

.

[Armstead]

34. Simple. Be a godamn Liberal Populist and stick with it

Unfortunately, Clinton helped to bring about Bush 2 and the GOP Takeover by allowing the Corporate takeover of America to continue under his watch.

he was elected as a liberal populist. He would have made it much harder for the Repugs to re-sell their tired old "supply-side" agenda if Clinton had stuck with being a real liberal'progressive instead of taking the corporate line on things like "Free Trade," deregulation and privatization, media concentration and overall monopolization of the economy.