Bill Clinton rebuts Rachel Maddow, critics on left

[WI_DEM]

Bill Clinton flashed irritation at MSNBC host Rachel Maddow and other liberals Monday for failing to appreciate the successes of his presidency.

“One of the leading television commentators on one of our liberal cable channels said I was the best Republican president the country ever produced, which would come quite a surprise to the Republicans, half of whom still think I’m a closet communist,” Clinton said during an appearance with former British Prime Minister Tony Blair at the National Constitution Center in Philadelphia.

Clinton didn’t mention Maddow by name, but she made that comment on her March 31 show.

“What she meant by that was I didn’t necessarily follow their ‘conventional wisdom,’” he said. “I said, ‘What do you mean?!’”

Clinton said he accomplished more for the poor and middle class than traditional, New Deal-era liberalism ever could have. He touted his welfare-to-work program, which he said cut the rolls by 60 percent.

“We had 100 times as many people move out of poverty during those eight years than the previous 12 years because we had an earned income tax credit, not because we had another traditional anti-poverty program hiring people,” he said.

In a mostly subdued and statesman-like performance, Clinton vigorously defended his pursuit of pragmatism



Read more: http://www.politico.com/news/stories/0910/42108.html#ixzz0zWGtyPzf

[marmar]

1. I remember being so excited to work for the first Clinton campaign when I was in college......

.....No good deed goes unpunished.

[Canuckistanian]

2. NAFTA n/t

[dennis4868]

3. The Big Dog...

makes a good point....most everyone benefited from Clinton's economic policies of the 90s.....

[zipplewrath]

13. In the short term

The economy of the times favored him. And he was smart enough to "stay out of the way". But towards the end, his efforts at deregulation, and the dismantling of the social safety net, set up the disasters to come. EITC was nice and helpful, but his participation in free trade continued, and accelerated, policies that have undermined the middle class, especially the lower middle class.

Then there id DADT and DOMA.

[hfojvt]

23. Clinton did not create the EIC he only increased it

But, as such it was less than the tax breaks he gave to the wealthy in the 1996 tax cuts. For example, when Clinton came into office, the average rate for the Fab 400 (the 400 richest taxpayers in America) was 26.38. He bumped that up to 29.35 but by 1998, thanks to tax cuts that he signed, it was back down to just 22.02. Effectively giving 2.18 billion in tax cuts to the top 400.

Here's some of the things the CBPP said about Clinton

http://journals.democraticunderground.com/hfojvt/71

"Analyses by the Treasury Department indicate that when fully in effect, the Clinton plan would give the 20 percent of Americans with the highest incomes about the same amount in tax cuts as the bottom 60 percent combined. This is an unusual characteristic for a tax plan proposed by a Democratic President. "

"The Clinton plan would provide the child credit to at least 10 million fewer children than would receive it under the House Democratic tax bill, offered by Rep. Charles Rangel. ""

...

"The (Clinton) Administration's proposal is essentially a centrist to moderately conservative one that should not be described as a "big government" plan with large amounts of new spending."

[baldguy]

17. Just shows what a benefit truly conservative policies can be.

And how for from that conservative ideal the GOP has strayed.

How much better would it be if Clinton was brave enough to have real liberal policies then? Or Obama now?

[xchrom]

4. i love ya Big Dog -- but you're wrong.

and it was hard to see that reality -- and you should be confronted with it more often.

you're a brilliant guy -- come into the light.

you were right about repukes hating you -- that i'll give you.

[geek tragedy]

5. FMLA and the EITC are by far the two best pieces of legislation

passed during the Clinton administration.

[L0oniX]

6. "accomplished more for the poor" ...tell that to Haiti!

What a piece of shit he is. I hated him then for NAFTA and I still hate him ...and his family (what a joke that is) sucks.

[zipplewrath]

7. Kinda says it all Bill

"What gave birth to the Third Way in America was that the Democrats kept getting beat because people saw us as the party of big government, and our own political base very often was more concerned with means than ends,” he said. “I think the people on the right that say that, ‘government is the enemy, we don’t need it,’ are wrong, particularly in this economic time. And I think people on the left that say, ‘the only way to deliver services or solve problems is with a bigger state,’ are not always right and are more often wrong than not.”

You should be able to understand why someone might call you the most successful republican president the GOP ever had, when you basically claim that the fundamental tenent of the GOP is "right more often than not".

[malaise]

8. Let the debatee between the Rhodes scholars

begin. I'm backing Rachel. :evilgrin:

[northoftheborder]

25. Your turn, Rachael. I'm behind you.

[Johonny]

9. We had a middle class because of New Deal-era liberalism

now we are losing it because of pursuit of pragmatism

[fasttense]

10. Don't look now but that 60% he cut from the Welfare rolls are back.

It's easy to destroy welfare, I mean reduce welfare, when you keep those bubbles inflating and the full impact of the NAFTA sucking sound are yet to come.

But try it now and see how many homeless and starving American citizens you create.

[marmar]

12. Yep. In all the romanticizing about the Clinton years......

...... people tend to overlook the fact that a lot of the prosperity was a chimera, fueled by credit and speculative bubbles.

[soleft]

11. He called her a leading television commentor

Cool!

First Obama gets pissed at her, now Clinton - she's a force to be reckoned with!

[EFerrari]

14. That description has been around a lot longer than Rachel. n/t

[gratuitous]

15. Oh, well, if the Republicans think he's a communist, he must be all right

Wrong, Mr. Clinton. By the way, how are those side agreements on NAFTA coming along? You remember, the ones that would enforce labor rights and environmental laws? How are the maquiladora areas looking to you these days? Would you send Chelsea to work in one of those factories along the border?

And, despite all of your accomplishments, you handed the Republicans who were out for blood a perfect opportunity to cripple your administration by getting mixed up with an intern. Dumbass.

[kenny blankenship]

16. NAFTA Clinton? DADT Clinton? The same Bill Clinton who signed the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act ?

the one that abolished Glass-Steagall, allowing the bank that holds your mortgage and against which your paychecks are drawn to play in high risk speculative investments? The same Clinton who signed the Commodities Futures Modernization Act that made derivatives an unregulated iceberg in the path of the US economy? Defense of Marriage Act Clinton? The same "defender of marriage" who put the country through ordeals about whether he sexually harassed state employees into having sex with him? The one who "did not have sex with that woman", a young intern in the White House, except that he did, even though he knew Republican witch hunters were trying to nail him for sexually harassing an Arkansas state employee? And the insane fury over what he did with his penis was the only thing that saved us from partial privatization of Social Security under his paralyzed administration? That Bill Clinton?
Fuck him. If that's the one you mean, fuck him.

[Bragi]

18. Maybe shilling for Bush the war criminal caught up with him

No-one has done more to try to rehabilitate GW Bush's reputation than Bill Clinton. He even participated in Bush's early public appearances just to keep people from booing W off the stage.

See <http://www.calgaryherald.com/news/Bush+Clinton+talk+Afghanistan/1644777/story.html>

He lost me when he did that.

[robdogbucky]

19. Paging Pres. Clinton, paging Pres. Clinton....

GHW Bush is waiting for you at the first tee.


rdb

[joeybee12]

20. I'm un-reccing, mainly while Clinton may be partly right, I'm sick of him and all the DLC Dems

always yealling at the "Professional Left" while the real enemy is the repukes.

[TheWraith]

22. And by doing so you're falling for more Politico divide and conquer bullshit.

Check the article source.

[Lilith Velkor]

35. How exactly is unreccing Politico bullshit the same as falling for it?

[TheWraith]

21. If he actually said this, then he's way overstating his case.

"Clinton said he accomplished more for the poor and middle class than traditional, New Deal-era liberalism ever could have."

However, this is Politico, so I'm going to operate under the assumption that they're just spinning more bullshit to divide Democrats.

That said, Rachel's criticism of Clinton as being Republican like is bullshit, and she should know better. Compare Clinton's agenda with what the Republicans were trying to do at the same time.

[TheKentuckian]

24. Bill "deregulation, free trade, welfare deform" Clinton needs to report to the corner

put on the dunce cap, and use that processing power he possesses to pull his head out of rich pricks assholes and help poor and working Americans prosper rather than fueling a global underclass to serve at the mercy of the few our be crushed under.

Thanks for the most favored status with China and deregulation, Big Dog you fucking sellout, corporate boot licking ass. You fixed us all real good.

[WhiteTara]

26. well, I remember Welfare to Work and

Logging Without Laws

Let's not leave out the repeal of Glass/Steagall or NAFTA either.

Yep, his triangulation led to the strangulation of the middle class during the *co years.

But, he did some great things too. Remind me?

[another saigon]

27. "pragmatism" = a kinder gentler conservatism

I wish he did feel my fucking pain. What a fucking coward. He is not stupid, he knows what NAFTA, welfare reform and deregulating banks yielded for his corporate cronies. Yet he treats us like we are complete idiots.

[MadHound]

28. Sorry Bill, Maddow was correct, you are the best Republican president we've had since Nixon

You deregulated the financial sector more than any other administration, which is what gave us this current financial mess we're in. You gave us the '96 Telecom Act, which allowed further corporate control of our media. You gave us NAFTA, which took away our manufacturing sector. You gave China Most Favored Nation trading status, which continued the trend of jobs fleeing our shore. I could continue, but why bother.

You were and are nothing more than a corporatist in Dem clothing.

[Tierra_y_Libertad]

29. "..during an appearance with..Tony Blair" Pretty well says it all. Neo-lib losers.

[PBS Poll-435]

30. Clinton > Maddow

24/365

[SargeUNN]

31. Welcome to the Club Bill, we don't appreciate much

Our side is too involved in finding something negative to focus on and not interested in adding the good things that are done. If we don't have perfection then it doesn't count and then we wonder why. Well, that is why the Republicans keep regaining power, because we don't support our own. I saw it as a progressive talk show host to the point I wouldn't do it again for anything and fast getting to the point where I think we are just a bunch of losers who are happy being losers. I know we have many who are not in this class but our whiners seem to be the ones that make the most noise and feed the real enemy the needed food to regain power. We don't get it and I fear we don't want to.

[mod mom]

32. Repeal of Glass Steagall, Telecom Act of '96, MFN status for China, NAFTA

WTI Toxic waste Incinerator feet from an elementary school. Quite a legacy.

[kentuck]

33. He would have said more but...

he had a golf match with Poppy Bush that he had to get to. He's like a brother to Dubya, you know?

[provis99]

36. he's the son that Poppy Bush wishes he had.

[unapatriciated]

34. that's actually an old Michael Moore comment

[Dawson Leery]

37. Clinton was given a good hand of cards,

not great (the deficit and debt had to be dealt with) but a good hand and Bill played them very well.
If only he had not signed off of deregulating the media and financial industries. Those will always be red marks on his record.

[NJmaverick]

38. K & R!

[bvar22]

39. Gotta have some compassion for the Old Dog these days...

His undisputed title of "Best Republican President Ever!" is in jeopardy.

"2nd Best Republican President Ever" won't be near as much fun.
The Thrill Fuckers don't go after 2nd Place.

Time to start spending more time on the porch, Bill.

[gort]

40. You lost me Bill, when you called GEMSNBC a liberal channel.

The Sistah Souljah act doesn't play anymore, Bill.

I will always call you the only Republican I ever voted for and that was only for your re-election.

BTW, MSNBC is not a liberal station, it is the prison-porn channel. Whatever left-wing is represented on it is really just barely right of center.

Free Speech TV with Thom Hartmann, Amy Goodman and Laura Flanders is a real liberal channel and deserves our support.

http://www.freespeech.org/