Bill Clinton was on the stump earlier this week for Maurice Hinchey. Clinton, as part of his remarks, asserted that half of Republicans need psychiatric help:
I guess that Clinton didn’t see the irony of those words rolling off his tongue in the presence of Hinchey.
It is time to put to bed, as well, Clinton’s crazy claim of credit for balanced budgets. Clinton was forced into fiscal responsibility by Republicans in Congress and by peeling back defense spending as part of the “peace dividend” from the the collapse of the Soviet Union. If Clinton had his way we would have had massive new federal spending — remember the failed attempt at HillaryCare?
Clinton also benefited from the high tech bubble which grew during his presidency and started bursting in March 2000, his last year in office. George W. Bush inherited Clinton’s tech wreck as well as Clinton’s failure to address the growing al-Qaeda presence around the world, but you will not hear that part of the story because Bush did not, unlike our current President, spend all his time blaming others.
There is an irrational exuberance once again this election cycle. It is the media’s portrayal of Bill Clinton as a success story, which is crazy.
——————————————–
Related Posts:
Reporting From Ithaca: Is Maurice Hinchey Really In Trouble?
Now You Can Feel Sorry For Me
Follow me on Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube
DONATE
Donations tax deductible
to the full extent allowed by law.
Comments
"Clinton was forced into fiscal responsibility by Republicans in Congress"
Why didn't that happen with Bush?
The National Bureau of Economic Research said that the recession began in March 2001 (not 2000), after Bush took office.
But that didn't stop Bush from blaming it on Clinton: “When I took office, our economy was beginning a recession.” — Bush, 8/7/02
“The president inherited a Clinton recession and turned it into the early stages of Bush prosperity.” — Secretary of Commerce Don Evans, 9/2/04
“In terms of the economy, look, I inherited a recession, I am ending on a recession.” — Bush, 1/12/09
The Bush administration also went out of its way to blame Clinton for 9/11:
"Nobody organized this country or the international community to fight the terrorist threat that was upon us until 9/11. … We were not left a comprehensive strategy to fight al-Qaida." Condoleeza Rice, ignoring the fact that she had nine months to address the issue.
Bush himself blamed Carter, Reagan, his father and Clinton, anyone but himself:
"They looked at our response after the hostage crisis in Iran, the bombings of the Marine barracks in Lebanon, the first World Trade Center attack, the killing of American soldiers in Somalia, the destruction of two U.S. embassies in Africa, and the attack on the USS Cole. They concluded that free societies lacked the courage and character to defend themselves against a determined enemy."
Why did Sandy Berger steal all copies of a certain document?
The MSM needs to have a liberal hero. Obama turned out to be a great disappointment so they have to reach back into the recesses to find one. They probably picked Clinton, not just because people did for some reason tend to like him and forgave hi his foibles, but for the fact that they think Hillary is going to be the democratic nominee in 2012 and they need to start giving them a propaganda push.
Jacobson rightfully cites Clinton's legacy; namely, Newt and the Republicans in Congress saved his and the country's bacon.
As for Hinchey… Calling in Bill "Zipper-gate" Clinton to campaign for you = "Desperate times call for desperate measures".
As for Timothy… There's a new therapy out for Bush-hate Syndrome. It's called "Bush-whacking", wherein the afflicted wears a shock collar and every time he starts to reflexively sputter "Bush, Bush, Bush", like someone with Turrets, the therapist gives him a solid jolt or three.
It works, too! I've seen a similar "treatment" have marvelous effects on my pit bull.
REAGAN VS. OBAMA IS LIBERTY VS. TYRANNY
http://heir2freedom.blogspot.com/2010/10/reagan-vs-obama-is-liberty-vs-tyranny.html
My opinion of the Clinton administration is higher than yours appears to be, but I agree that the Republican Congress played a major role in the success of his Presidency.
Next month I'll vote for divided government, not for a restoration of the Bush/Rove/DeLay/Lott GOP.
The press loves to say that Clinton had a budget surplus, but a deep look at the numbers shows it wasn't so. People like Martin Weiss were pointing this out 10 years ago. Clinton "borrowed" social security and Medicare money and claimed a surplus. It was classic off-the-books "we don't count that" Wall Street style chicanery. I am not saying only Clinton did it. There was "off the books" accounting before him and after him and it's as bad as ever today. Clinton benefited from the tailwind of a Wall Street boom, which, as it may yet turn out, was built on fraud.