Here's to Bill Clinton

[bigtree]

The former president has been absolutely amazing in his campaigning and support for Democratic candidates around the country. I don't think any one politician can claim to have contributed more time and travel in support of a Democratic victory in this election. For better or worse, Bill Clinton's commitment to our party's success looks indefatigable. Hat's off to the cheerleader-in-chief! :toast:


Bill Clinton, Democratic Cheerleader-in-Chief, Rallies the Faithful, Raises the Cash

By his own count, former President Bill Clinton had already headlined some 80 events for embattled Democrats by the time he blew into New Mexico on Oct. 14 to stump for Lt. Gov. Diane Dinesh, who trails Republican prosecutor Susana Martinez in the governor's race.

And judging from all the speech-making, hand-shaking, fund-raising and photo-opping aimed at averting a Nov. 2 nationwide bloodbath, Clinton could easily break the 100-event mark by next weekend . . .


read more: http://www.politicsdaily.com/2010/10/18/bill-clinton-democratic-cheerleader-in-chief-rallies-the-faith/


(AP photos/Elaine Thompson)

[Historic NY]

1. I likes me the "Big Dawg"...he is a slim trim Democrat fighting machine

[bigtree]

2. he's phenomenal

Former President Bill Clinton speaks for Sen. Patty Murray at a campaign appearance Monday, Oct. 18, 2010, in Everett, Wash.
(AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

[lame54]

94. The Big Dawg Rules

[gateley]

3. I don't know how he does it! He's been a champ! nt

[Rageneau]

4. Best President of our lifetimes.

[marmar]

9. Let's not get carried away.

[TBF]

24. Which explains the predicament labor is in. nt

[AndrewP]

79. Absolutely n/t

[Donnachaidh]

91. really? Explain NAFTA to the unemployed.

FAR from the best. But hey, he plays golf with Poppy Bush - ain't life grand! :sarcasm:

[AtomicKitten]

100. He did the Republicans' dirty work -- NAFTA, DADT, DOMA, CHINA MFN, Glass-Steagall repeal, etc.

Michael Moore was right.

[leftstreet]

5. He pulled off crap no Republican ever could

NAFTA

Telecom bill

Welfare to Wage Slavery

Repeal of Glass Steagal



oh nevermind

[bigtree]

6. all those jobs

22.9 MILLION NEW JOBS were created during President Clinton’s term in office, the most jobs ever created under a single administration, and 4.4 million more jobs than were created in the preceding 12 years. 91 percent (21 million) of new jobs were created in the private sector, a percentage as high as under any other President in 50 years. The economy added an average of 238,000 jobs per month, the highest under any President. By comparison, 52,000 jobs per month were created under President George H.W. Bush and 167,000 per month under President Reagan.

During fiscal year 2000, the government reduced its publicly held debt by $223 billion - the largest one-year debt pay down in American history. FY 2001 was the fourth consecutive year of debt reduction, bringing the four-year total to $453 billion. The public debt was $2.9 trillion lower in 2001 than was projected in 1993. Debt reduction brings real benefits for the American people because less borrowing by the federal government means lower interest rates for other borrowers. Thanks to lower interest rates, in 1999, for example, a family with a home mortgage of $100,000 paid roughly $2,000 per year less in mortgage payments, as well as reduced payments on car loans and student loans. Under President Clinton’s plan, the U.S. was on track to eliminate the nation’s publicly held debt by 2012 for the first time since Andrew Jackson was President.

In 1992, the federal budget deficit was $290 billion. Thanks to the Economic Plan of 1993 and the Balanced Budget Act of 1997, by the year 2000, America had the largest ever federal surplus of $236 billion. President Clinton’s last four budgets marked the first four consecutive surpluses in a row in more than 70 years.

Unemployment dropped from 7.5 percent in 1992 to 4 percent in 2000, the lowest in more than three decades. The unemployment rate fell in all eight years in which President Clinton was in office. Unemployment rates for both African Americans and Hispanics fell to their lowest levels on record in 1998, then continued to decline over the next two years.

Family income rose by $7,562, or 17 percent, between 1993 and 2000, after adjusting for inflation. There were seven straight years of income growth during the Clinton years, leading to an all time high in 2000. The median income of African American families increased by a third – $8,629 – to a record $34,616 in 2000. Median family income among Hispanics grew by $6,868, or 24 percent, to $35,403, also an all-time high.

For the first time on record, more than 2/3 of households were homeowners. The homeownership rate reached 67.7 percent in 2000. Minority homeownership rates also reached new highs. By the end of 2000, there were almost 10 million more homeowners than there were in the beginning of 1993. In contrast, the homeownership rate fell from 65.6 percent in the first quarter of 1981 to 63.7 percent in the first quarter of 1993.

The President increased the Minimum Wage from $4.25 to $5.15 per hour, raising wages for 10 million workers.

Fifteen million additional working families received additional tax relief because of the President’s major expansion of the Earned Income Tax Credit. In 2000, the EITC lifted 4.1 million people out of poverty – more than twice the number lifted out of poverty by the EITC in 1993. In 2000, 26 million families benefited from the $500 per child tax credit in the Balance Budget Amendment of 1997.

Under President Clinton child poverty dropped by 28.6 percent to 16.2 percent in 2000, the lowest child poverty rate since 1978. While still far too high, the African American child poverty rate fell by a third from 46.1percent in 1993 to a new low of 31.2 percent in 2000, (data collected since 1959). The Hispanic child poverty rate also fell by close to a third between 1993 and 2000 – from 40.9 percent to 28.4 percent, lower than it had been since 1979.

The poverty rate declined from 15.1 percent in 1993 to 11.3 percent in 2000, the largest seven-year drop in over 25 years (1965-1972). The poverty rate in 2000 was the lowest since 1974. The African American poverty rate was the lowest on record, and the rate for Hispanics matched it’s record low. The number of people living in poverty fell by 7.7 million between 1993 and 2000, 100 times more than in the Reagan Administration, when poverty declined by only 77,000.

The United States had five consecutive years of real wage growth, after declining 4.3 percent during the two prior administrations. This represented the longest consecutive increase since a period in the 1960’s and early 1970’s.


more: http://www.clintonpresidentialcenter.org/the-administration/record-of-accomplishment


(Tony Avelar - AP)

[DemocratSinceBirth]

11. I'll Take That And The 28,000,000 New Jobs He Created

My unemployed best friend, my unemployed girlfriend, and my unemployed self wants one of them.

[Romulox]

Bill Clinton's deregulation and "free trade" policies lead us directly to this point.

What you're saying is like claiming that the beer you drank was responsible for the good time you had last night, but SOMETHING ELSE must be responsible for that horrible hangover you have today.

Bill Clinton spent our seed corn. :hi:

[bigtree]

18. those policies were for the succeeding administrations to manage

I believe a President Clinton would actually enforce the corrective and punitive provisions of those pacts, unlike the republican administration which followed him. Most of the problem with those trade agreements (I think) has been the unwillingness of our government to crack down on abuses and violations from China and others.

[Name removed]

92. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Romulox]

16. Bill Clinton's deregulation and "free trade" policies lead us directly to this point.

What you're saying is like claiming that the beer you drank was responsible for the good time you had last night, but SOMETHING ELSE must be responsible for that horrible hangover you have today.

Bill Clinton spent our seed corn. :hi:

[DemocratSinceBirth]

17. How Did Emphasizing Free Trade Cause The Housing And Construction Market To Collapse ?

You can not outsource building. It's not as if you can build a forty story building in Mexico and transport it to Florida.


As the United States enters what apperars to be its inexorable decline historians will look back at the 1990s as a golden age,


:hi:

[Romulox]

27. Google "clinton glass steagall repeal" and get back to me.

"You can not outsource building."

No, but you can clear the way for the principle funders of that construction to instead use the money to wildly speculate on the derivatives market, and then run to the taxpayers to guaranty their "too big to fail" losses. Any of that ring a bell? :hi:

"As the United States enters what apperars to be its inexorable decline historians will look back at the 1990s as a golden age"

LOL. Just like I look upon the moment the waitress brought me the trough of ice cream at Fuddrucker's as a "golden age". And in exactly the same way, the belly-ache that followed had NOTHING to do with that ice cream!

[DemocratSinceBirth]

28. There Must Have Been A Lag In Policy And Results

The finance markets collapsed eight years after Clinton left office. Youtr analogy would be more apt if you got the "runs" the day after the Fuddruckers ice cream and not eight years later.

:hi:

[Romulox]

30. LOL. We entered into a recession as Billy was leaving office.

There's no speaking with someone who willfully ignores (recent!) history.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

33. Does That Nean I Win?

Thanks for absolving George Bush* of any responsibility for our current mess. Oh, a recession is defined as two quarters of negative growth, which didn't occur until Bush*'s second term

[Romulox]

38. Yep. You win one country, spiraling the drain due to Clinton's policies.

'Thanks for absolving George Bush* of any responsibility for our current mess'

Nonsense. The thread is about Bill Clinton--a man who has never repudiated his "Third Way" free trading and deregulation agenda to this day. You're running away from the policies that Bill Clinton made the centerpiece of his political career in an attempt to "honor him". It doesn't work.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

40. If The Third Way Results In 3.9% Unemployment And A 11.3% Poverty Rate

And the longest economic expansion in the history of the republic The Third Way is a great way to go.

[Romulox]

43. Right. If we could've just scored another 8-ball, the party could've gone ALL NIGHT LONG!

"And the longest economic expansion in the history of the republic The Third Way is a great way to go. "

This is a ridiculous conversation. This country is in a death spiral in no small part due to the logical consequences of the policies that Bill Clinton made the centerpiece of his administration. To whit, "free trade" and deregulation are repudiated in the minds of all but the political classes and their corporate backers.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

47. Your Logic Is Flawed

If you are going to blame Clinton for events that are occurring a decade after he left office you might as well blame that ice cream you ate ten years ago for the dyspepsia you are having now.

[Romulox]

48. You're not paying attention. NAFTA, Glass-Steagall repeal were signed by Clinton during his term

I am blaming Clinton for bills he signed while in office. It is a bizarre tack to suggest that such criticism is "out of bounds", or that it is somehow unfair to note the devastation NAFTA has wrought after Bill Clinton left office.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

50. How Did NAFTA Cause The Construction Market To Collapse?

I already pointed out to you that you can't export buildings. Maybe a shed but not a building.

[Romulox]

51. Google "clinton glass steagall repeal" and get back to me.

You can't limit the debate to a single subject simply because the other subjects make your argument look bad! :hi:

[bigtree]

53. Bush never used the enforcement mechanisms contained in the Acts

For eight years, he let other countries off the hook for their violations and abuses. I don't believe that either a Gore administration or a Clinton one would have allowed that.

You have to consider, also, the myriads of measures president Clinton enacted to help our working class and the disadvantaged to get an leg up and succeed. To blame him for what happened in the succeeding administration is to suggest that a Democratic one would have just stood still and let the bad stuff happen. His record in office doesn't suggest that at all.

[Romulox]

58. Enforcement of WHAT precisely (please be specific.) Cheap Labor is the point of NAFTA

Putting people out of work in Detroit and Cleveland and putting them to work in Mexico is the point of NAFTA. It's all based on the rightwing economics of "comparative advantage".

"You have to consider, also, the myriads of measures president Clinton enacted to help our working class and the disadvantaged to get an leg up and succeed."

I think most of them would've preferred to keep their good paying jobs to Bill Clinton's charity. And any way, woe unto the poor sap who lost his job due to NAFTA and then trained for IT in the '90s! :hi:

[bigtree]

61. those jobs were already being lost

The trade agreements contain enforcement provisions to deal with violations and imbalances which were ignored by his successors. (don't expect me to start digging up the specs for this argument. It's a remarkable hijacking of this thread - which I've enabled with my replies)

[Romulox]

63. I ask you to be *specific*. Cheap labor isn't a violation of NAFTA--it's the whole point.

"don't expect me to start digging up the specs for this argument. It's a remarkable hijacking of this thread - which I've enabled with my replies)"

LOL. Your bogus assertions about amorphous "side agreements" which you can't name with any specificity is the thread hijack, not me calling you out on it. :hi:

[bigtree]

64. bah

start your own Bill-bashing thread.

[Romulox]

66. "Everything looks bad when you remember it!" - H. Simpson nt

[bigtree]

68. well, I do recall that he pushed for stronger enforcement mechanisms

. . . and continues to call for stronger enforcement levers.

What I don't understand is, why should he be expected to bear the blame for preceding administrations and Congress' inaction on enhancing or revising the agreements? It's clear to me that he would have continued to work for 'fair' trade agreements - as would a Gore administration or any Democratic one. Most of the turmoil surrounding 'free' trade has been under the acquiescence and encouragement of the republican administration (and Congress) that inherited responsibility for our nation's economy and trade. It's not an accident to find the present Democratic administration advocating enhancing the enforcement aspects of the agreement.

[bigtree]

34. that's the republican line

It's fun listening to them try and explain how they squandered the budget surplus President Clinton handed them. Just ignore the surplus and you can make like it was Clinton who ran our economy into the ground. Just ignore the eight years of prosperity during his term and you can blame him for Bush's fumbling and giveaway's to his wealthy benefactors.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

37. Tell Romulox If He Cares About The Poor The Poverty Rate Under Clinton Was Lowest In A Generation

I think it was 11.3% We will never see such a low figure again in our lifetimes.

[Romulox]

39. It was unsustainable due to "free trade" and deregulation. We had a feast--on our seed corn.

:hi:

[bigtree]

42. unsustainable

. . . from out of office, maybe. But, my family literally grew and grew strong, during his terms in office. That's true for millions and millions of Americans. That was after suffering through Reagan and Bush. It's the republican administrations before and aft who focused their capital on their wealthy benefactors that bear the blame for the economic downturns and turmoil.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

46. Maybe Romulox Just Didn't Like

Surpluses

Low unemployment

Low poverty rate

[Donnachaidh]

95. I'm sure those figures factor in all the people kicked off welfare with his *reform*

So those numbers are suspect, too.

[BlueDemKev]

71. Whatever....

The economy was slowing down as Clinton's term ended AFTER NEARLY SIX (6) STRAIGHT YEARS OF UNPRECEDENTED GROWTH AND PROSPERITY! A bird can't fly forever, it has to stop and rest sometime. No economy can stay soaring indefinitely...it's called the "business cycle."

[dsc]

89. that is actually untrue

the first month of recession was in Bush's term not Clinton's.

[Romulox]

90. Umm, read the statement again, and tell me which part of it you disagree with.

:hi:

[dsc]

96. you claimed the recession began as Bill was leaving office

it happened after he left.

[Romulox]

I'm not going to quibble with you about the timing of "was leaving"

My over-arching thesis is that Bill Clinton's so-called "economic miracle" was not even sustainable through his own Presidency.

[Romulox]

97. I'm not going to quibble with you about the timing of "was leaving"

My over-arching thesis is that Bill Clinton's so-called "economic miracle" was not even sustainable through his own Presidency.

[dsc]

98. and you are just flat out wrong

the recession started after Clinton left. There is no wiggle room or confusion. The recession started in April of 2001, which is after January on every single solitary calander I have ever seen.

[Romulox]

99. I think you make WAY too much of a few months time.

NAFTA is still with us. MFN/China is still destroying our middle class. We have yet to pay back (or be paid back) for all the money that was laid out to bail out banks which lost trillions in wanton speculation made possible by Clinton's financial deregulation.

Cause and effect is not a game of musical chairs; Bill Clinton is responsible for the continuing outcome of his policies, even after he left office. All of that said, it was clear as Clinton left office that the tech bubble had popped, and the economy was heading south. If we officially entered into a recession only four months after he left office, it was undoubtedly the consequence of events that spanned back much father, and, indeed, go to the very heart of the weakness of the Clinton expansion, built as it was on the tech bubble and mortgaging the future.

[dsc]

101. You may have meant to say that

but that isn't what you actually said. Incidently, I don't even agree with what you meant to say either but it isn't what you actually said.

[Romulox]

102. This is tedious. nt

[Donnachaidh]

93. Chinese Drywall for starters. And I'm sure there are other materials that can be listed.

And they won't be looking at the 90's as the golden age. They'll be pointing out that the American worker was shafted by it's government during this time.

[mod mom]

75. we don't need no stinkin facts. BTW you left off Most Favored Nation Status for China

and how good ole Bill was kind enough to do a favor for his most prominent financier, Jackson Stephen, and allow the WTI Toxic Waste Incinerator to be built FEET FROM AN ELEMENTARY SCHOOL on the banks of the Ohio River despite campaign promises and actual scientific testing:

Ask Hillary About This Tonight. I Dare You.
by Zwoof

Thu Jan 31, 2008 at 03:40:46 AM PST

-snip
While I was writing the original piece on the history of this foul project, a new ruling from the Ohio EPAallowed this incinerator, located 1,100 feet from an elementary school, to accept even more hazardous waste (anthrax, radioactive waste, infectious medical waste and mixed hazardous waste from Hurricane Katrina) than the original permit that was shrouded in corruption and approved by the Clinton Administration

Clinton and Al Gore promised the residents of East Liverpool, Ohio that they would not allow this incinerator originally approved by Bush '41 to operate. However, a Clinton EPA appointee, recommended by his classmate Hillary Clinton, approved the permit.

This is a tangled tale of corporatism, broken promises and an environmental disaster waiting to happen.

-snip

Stephens "extended a $3.5 million line of credit to campaign through the Worthen Bank, which is partly owned by the Stephens family. The Clinton campaign deposited up to $55 million in federal election funds in this bank." (Source: The Nation)

-snip
http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/1/31/21045/9822/688/446786

WHAT A SWELL GUY! :sarcasm:

[Liquorice]

7. I absolutely adore Bill Clinton. He's the best. nt

[bigtree]

8. kick

[Panaconda]

10. So a whitewash

of the brutal sanctions on Iraq, bombing of Afghanistan, Sudan and Kosovo?

Oh yeah and NAFTA? Glass-Steagall? Etcetera...

When asked on US television if she thought that the death of half a million Iraqi children was a price worth paying, Albright replied: “This is a very hard choice, but we think the price is worth it.”

.....

# Amy Goodman:

... many say that, although president Bush led this invasion, that president Clinton laid the groundwork with the sanctions and with the previous bombing of Iraq. You were president Clinton’s U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.... the U.N. sanctions, for example ... led to the deaths of more than a half a million children, not to mention more than a million Iraqis.

# Governor Richardson:

Well, I stand behind the sanctions. I believe that they successfully contained Saddam Hussein. I believe that the sanctions were an instrument of our policy.

— Governor Richardson Calls for an Exit Strategy in Iraq and Stands by the Clinton-Era Sanctions, Democracy Now, September 22, 2005

So that is what passes for a hero?

[bigtree]

13. pay attention

This post is about Bill Clinton's campaign efforts on behalf of our Democratic candidates,

[TBF]

20. So as long as we campaign for democrats the attrocities

are forgiven? Murder is given a pass? Nice...

[DemocratSinceBirth]

22. Couldn't The Same Charges Be Lodged At The Current Occupant Of The White House?

~

[bigtree]

25. you must be opposed to those in our party who served along with him then

. . . all of the Senators and Congressfolk who acquiesced to those policies. It gets ridiculous when you start calling these folks 'murderers' and such. But, you carry on.

[TBF]

36. Yes the enablers are complicit.

How would you like it if another country decided they wanted our resources and would do anything possible to get those resources at whatever price they deemed suitable?
They make deals to get the resources, and they move in their military to protect their "investments". Let's say a few Americans take offense to being ripped off and start fighting back (becoming "terrorists" of course). Would you want that country to come in with their drones and start blasting innocent civilians?

[Panaconda]

29. Pay attention

Try not to lionize one with so much blood on his hands.

Validating Bill Clinton is in the service of the propagandist. Let's be clear about that.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

14. I Am Glad His Immediate Successor Repudiated And Repealed Those Policies

:sarcasm:

[TBF]

21. Of course he didn't, and the current one hasn't either.

Imperialism marches on.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

26. I Respect Your Opinion

But by employing your metrics or analysis we are forced to conclude neither Obama or Clinton are any good.

[TBF]

32. To clarify,

things are remaining the same economically for the working class. There are cultural issues on either side of the aisle that people focus their attention on and then we vote based on those. But the economics remain the same or actually worsen for the vast majority of us.


Americans tread water in gulf between rich and poor
Faces of new census report reflect frustration and resignation

By JIM FITZGERALD, VICKI SMITH
The Associated Press
updated 10/2/2010 9:37:04 PM ET 2010-10-03T01:37:04

MOUNT VERNON, N.Y. — A Wall Street adviser leaves early for work to avoid panhandlers at his suburban train station. In coal country, a suddenly homeless man watches from a bench as wealthy women shop for dresses. A down-and-out waitress sits glumly on her stoop across the street from a gleaming suburb. A freshly elected politician loses his day job.

They're the faces of a census report released this week showing that the gap between the richest and poorest Americans is wider than ever...

Much more here: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39466469/ns/business-eye_on_the_economy

[Upton]

12. I really like Bill Clinton..always have.

I know he's not popular with some folks here at GD particularly, but then again some people just get a kick out of complaining.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

31. That's OK.. He's Becoming More Popular With Historians

Last I checked he's closing on the top third\ of presidents. That's not too shady.

[AndrewP]

81. Same here

I was a 19 year old that barely gave a rats ass about politics, then I got involved after following his 1992 campaign. I still find him to be an incredible mind.

One of the things you get to experience by being a Clinton fan is listening to a lot of people rag on him. But that's life.

[Romulox]

15. NAFTA - unrec. Repeal of Glass Steagall (wish I could unrec twice!)

:puke:

[TBF]

23. No worries, I can help you out with that 2nd unrec. nt

[DemocratSinceBirth]

35. Thanks For Reminding Me. I Almost Forgot To Reccommend It

~

[Romulox]

41. That's very sensible of you. nt

[JNelson6563]

19. I'm glad he's out there helping Dems get elected!

:toast:

[bigtree]

44. me too

We need his energy and commitment repeated a thousand fold.

[TheKentuckian]

45. I'm not going to unrec but will register that Clinton is a major contributor to the clusterfuck of

today and likely tomorrow and I'm not talking blow jobs but China, welfare deform, and going full throttle on a lot of absurd corporate trade policies and deregulation to such a great detriment as perhaps eventually proving fatal.

You gotta own the downside too and it has shown to be fairly fucking brutal. With Clinton's downside Reagan's victory was complete and Junior Bush was a romp in the winner's circle.

Now the once in a generation guy we put in to rally the people and communicate the promise of a real future has tended toward solidifying this nightmare much more than repudiating and reversing soul crushing trends.

A short season of boom is inconsequential when it comes at the cost of devastating structural problems.

Accepting we are not on track regardless of management and shitcanning the hero worship and hurray for our side nonsense and demand the needs of the people and our land, water, food, and air be paramount as logic clearly fucking dictates.

[bigtree]

49. that's a pretty quick brush over the largest economic expansion in history

. . . to blame him for the policies of his predecessors.

'A short season of boom?' That just doesn't square with the facts of his terms in office. It wasn't 'inconsequential' to the millions of poor and working-class Americans who benefited while he was in office. Not to mention the economic incentives he fostered and enacted to go along with deficit-reducing budget. Lot's skipped over to blame Mr. Clinton for the mismanagement of the folks who followed him in office.

http://www.clintonpresidentialcenter.org/the-administration/record-of-accomplishment

[DemocratSinceBirth]

52. How Could The Longest Economic Expansion In The History Of The Republic Be Accurated Called

How could the longest economic expansion in the history of the republic accurately be called a "short term boom?

[TheKentuckian]

73. Because that is all it ended up being, a castle made of sand that stole substance from the future

[bigtree]

76. you mean my job, my steady increase in income during his term

. . . all of that 'stole' from the future?

Fantastical.

[Gaedel]

82. About 1998

The overall boom had ended. The first six Clinton years saw a very broad and deep economic expansion. This came to an end in 1998. There began a "stealth bear market" in which many stocks were trending down. It didn't show up in the traditional measures like S&P and NASDAQ because they were being driven higher and higher by the dot-bomb bubble. Much of the Clinton surpluses in the last two years of his term were real, but transitory. The winners in the dot bomb bubble were getting out and the overall tax take by the government was inflated by capital gains.

There were three great shocks to the market which greeted GWB. They were the dot bomb meltdown, the Enron disaster, and 9/11. The drop in the income tax take was a result of reduced economic activity, dearth of capital gains, and the Bush tax cuts.

There was another big inrush of tax money in 2006 and 2007 as people cashed in their capital gains from the real estate boom. Obama's deficit is due more to decreased tax take than it is to increased spending.

[DemocratSinceBirth]

83. It's Not Bill Clinton's Fault The Republicants And George Bush Pissed Away The Surplus

~

[Kurt_and_Hunter]

55. Sure, but that's kind of side-ways to the OP

The OP just says he's a good politician who is popular and is working hard campaigning for Dems.

I agree with all that

[bigtree]

57. we do get distracted

:dunce:

[Romulox]

59. He's a "good politician" whose past or policies aren't relevant to his present advocacy?

That's a strange sort of argument to me. What makes him a "good politician" if his record can't stand up to any sort of scrutiny, for example?

On the contrary, I think Bill's "Third Way" politics have become an ideological straight-jacket for the Party, leading us unrelentingly farther and farther to the Right.

[leftstreet]

77. A 'good politician' - who ends up as a catalyst for a leftist revolution?

Er...I guess that could be seen as a positive

Clinton's administration DLCed the party so far to the right that historians will note it as nothing less than a catalyst. This is what happens when greedy capitalist owners forget to leave a fucking relief valve (see FDR) and things eventually explode

[Dont_Bogart_the_Pretzel]

54. Great man until he suppored bluedog loser blanche lincoln over Bill Halter

[bigtree]

56. not a smart move

. . . it appears. That's politics, though.

[whatchamacallit]

60. A lot of binary thinking in here

IMO history will reveal Bill Clinton to be a blessing and a curse.

[bigtree]

62. as are most politicians

In this election, he's been a 'blessing'.

[jesus_of_suburbia]

65. Thanks, Bill!

K&R


:kick:

[Bragi]

67. Sorry, he's too much a defender of war criminal Bush for me /nt

[DemocratSinceBirth]

85. Why Doesn't The Current AG Indict Him Then?

~

[Bragi]

87. Excellent question /nt

[BlueIris]

69. Not perfect, but still a great President, skilled campaigner,

and someone I genuinely believe wants balance and fairness to reign in this world.

[BlueDemKev]

70. Love that guy!

Bill Clinton was the greatest thing to happen to the Democratic Party in the last 40 years. Sharp as a tack, realistic, brilliant, and knows how to be pragmatic in his pursuit of progressive goals.

WE LOVE YOU, BILL!!!!!!!:applause:

[HughBeaumont]

72. Lot of good things happened on his watch. Lot of bad things also happened on his watch.

The main bad thing was and is his apparent belief in "TEH FREEEEEEE MARKETZ", as evidenced by his Gramm-Leach-Bullshit Act (effectively repealing Glass-Steagall) and his signing of a Bewsh I leftover called NAFTA. Lots of blue-collar work got killed during his term, and I cannot forgive his corporate appeasement which led to that to this day.

Problem is, thanks to this bar-lowering of what a Democrat should presently be (more centrist than even slightly to the left of Evan Bayh), it's now par for the course economically for Democrats to appease the wealthy first, foremost and often times, ONLY.

Both parties seem to be on board with this unfettered crapcake of a system, its thirty-year lack of success be damned. Its sustainability is about as solid as an average person's job security. Its foundation now depends on an outdated plantation format as its blueprint, non-union low-cost labor for its industry and manufacturing and consumer spending with an average wage that cannot keep up with its necessity. Its progress mirrors the rise of the average American wage in real dollars.

And to top this off, we're now SO afraid to tax the wealthy for whatever reason.

Hey, at least Clinton did that. A little.

And that toothy deep-fried son of a bitch Phil Gramm needs to be JAILED.

[Donald Ian Rankin]

78. You just described every US president except Harrison. NT

[ProudToBeBlueInRhody]

74. Viva Clinton!

Keep getting the message out, Bill!

Nice to see the extreme left still hates him as much as the far-right nutbags do.

[Lindsey]

80. I've adored President Clinton from the beginning to now. Of

course he didn't do "everything" perfect but my God, look at the incredible things he did while he was in office and what he's doing now. I can't believe I met him at his book signing in L.A. when he was promoting his book. The line was absolutely unbelievable. I arrived at the signing at around 2 in the morning and I just barely got into the signing before the cut-off.

[Bluenorthwest]

84. Bill is a great campaigner, willing to work the trenches

even with his high status. Policy disagreements aside, the man can do some politicing, he's one of the best ever.

[mikeSchmuckabee]

86. HE'S THE MAN!

When's he going back on fox to squeeze that hairlipped scumbag's head until it pops like a pimple?

[bigwillq]

88. Thanks for DADT!

:eyes: :mad: