William Jefferson Clinton, Having Trouble with the Truth Once Again
From Politico:
Bill Clinton thinks he deserves more credit for reforming welfare and balancing the budget.
“I go crazy every time I read the conventional wisdom,” he said Friday night at his presidential library in Little Rock, Ark. “So part of the Republican narrative is that I was ‘saved’ from myself by the election of the Republican Congress [in 1994] that ‘forced me’ to do welfare reform and ‘made the balanced budget possible.’”
Clinton said reporters and commentators “keep saying this, overlooking all relevant facts.”
The 42nd president said Arkansas had been a test case for reform during his governorship. At the federal level, he said 43 states received federal waivers to implement welfare reform before the GOP-controlled House passed the final bill.
“And yet I kept reading how this was ‘a Republican idea,’ just because President Reagan had a good story about a welfare queen and a Cadillac who didn’t exist,” Clinton said.
Leaving aside the graceless dig at Ronald Reagan, who set in place the regime of low taxes that created the longest economic expansion in American history, here's the "relevant fact" you need to know about Bill Clinton and welfare reform:
Speaker Newt Gingrich and the Republicans who then controlled both houses of Congress enacted welfare reform three times before Clinton finally signed it.
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Mar '11
Re: William Jefferson Clinton, Having Trouble with the Truth Once Again
Cognitive dissonance?
Re: William Jefferson Clinton, Having Trouble with the Truth Once Again
Unfortunately, it seems that the former president's skin is as thin as his conscience. This would be an unseemly exercise under any conditions, but former President Clinton is really letting his imagination get the best of him. The reality seems to be that our 42nd president's legacy is in relatively good shape with a broad swath of the American people (justly or not). He ought to take a page from his successor's notebook and learn that there's nothing more graceless (and seemingly desperate) than trying to relitigate such matters after the fact.
Sep '10
Re: William Jefferson Clinton, Having Trouble with the Truth Once Again
Could this be perhaps for Hillary?
Jun '10
Re: William Jefferson Clinton, Having Trouble with the Truth Once Again
Success has a thousand Mac Daddies.
Sep '10
Re: William Jefferson Clinton, Having Trouble with the Truth Once Again
The former "fat kid from Arkansas" is being upstaged by a "fatter" kid from New Jersey, Newt Gingrich is getting lots of unrebutted air time, Hillary probably had a hand in assassinating an Al Qaeda operative, his heart medication causes angry outbursts, and his weepy self referentialism is being outclassed by a White House narcissist of biblical proportions. This is all of a piece with his blaming Bibi for the collapse in the "peace process" or "congratulations on self detonation, you did it your way" and its nice that he's playing the crazy uncle in the attic to mask a pseudo-Freudian predilection to scuttling Hillary's stealth primary stalking horse.
Did I miss anything?
Sep '10
Re: William Jefferson Clinton, Having Trouble with the Truth Once Again
That depends on the meaning of his.
Jun '10
Re: William Jefferson Clinton, Having Trouble with the Truth Once Again
I once heard a White House insider describe Clinton as a seducer. The person described how Clinton used his personal charisma to convert his subordinates and the press into adoring sycophants. Anybody who resisted Clinton's charm was given a double dose of personal attention until he converted. I suppose the "truth" in Bill Clinton's world is an inconvenient nuisance that gets in the way of his narcissistic need for self-aggrandizement. Saying that Bill Clinton is "having trouble with the truth" is a rather too kind euphemism for a habitual liar of his ilk. Has there ever been a man who wasted an abundance of God-given talent for baser ends?
Re: William Jefferson Clinton, Having Trouble with the Truth Once Again
And that, Pseudo, depends on the meaning of the word, "miss." I for one, don't miss a thing about him.
Re: William Jefferson Clinton, Having Trouble with the Truth Once Again
I do wonder, though, since in his mind the '94 election was of no great consequence, how he accounts for the nation's great rebuke of him and his policies in that election in the first place?
Mar '11
Re: William Jefferson Clinton, Having Trouble with the Truth Once Again
In a similar manner to how Obama rationalizes 2010 I imagine, "These damn, foolish peasants do not appreciate how lucky they are to have such great men in the White House."
Feb '11
Re: William Jefferson Clinton, Having Trouble with the Truth Once Again
Republican presidents seem to manage to conduct themselves with dignity after leaving office, basically retiring from view and generally refraining from commentary on their successors. On the other hand, Democrat presidents are like recurrent herpes except that instead of plaguing an individual for the rest of his life, Democrat ex-presidents torment the country for the remainder of their lives. In one or five years Obama will be joining Clinton and Carter. Heaven help us.
Edited on Oct 1, 2011 at 3:55pmMar '11
Re: William Jefferson Clinton, Having Trouble with the Truth Once Again
I recall James Carville being asked a question like that after the 1994 election. He responded something along the lines of, "We just didn't do a good enough job getting the word out about all the wonderful things this adminstration has done." Made me want to gag.
May '10
Re: William Jefferson Clinton, Having Trouble with the Truth Once Again
Just when Obama was beginning to make Clinton look better by comparison (as far as Democrat presidents go, that is), he goes and reminds us of what a lying, classless jerk he still is.
May '10
Re: William Jefferson Clinton, Having Trouble with the Truth Once Again
LOVE this comment. Well said!
Jul '10
Re: William Jefferson Clinton, Having Trouble with the Truth Once Again
"Do you know who I am? I'm the big rubber clown doll......"
Clinton to Gingrich
I remember this guy always reminding Us that "I've never worked harder....." every time He signed something.
Jan '11
Re: William Jefferson Clinton, Having Trouble with the Truth Once Again
You know what's sad, though?
I'd still rather have Clinton than Obama.
Oct '10
Re: William Jefferson Clinton, Having Trouble with the Truth Once Again
Clinton has a point; he was on the forefront of the welfare reform movement at the state level before becoming president (he was chairman of the National Governor Association's committee on welfare reform). He was more conservative as governor of Arkansas than as president.
His contributions pretty much ended when he was elected president, and Republicans revived and completed the effort. He deserves more credit for what he did as governor of Arkansas, but not for what he did as president of the United States.
Apr '11
Re: William Jefferson Clinton, Having Trouble with the Truth Once Again
I'm sure Bill Clinton does feel unappreciated. Look at it from his perspective. Every Democratic U.S. president and near miss (Algore) since 1976 has gotten a Nobel Peace Prize, except for Clinton. Let's hope they don't give one to John Kerry or Hilary, it might give Bill a stroke.
By the way, someone needs to remind him that he vetoed welfare reform twice and only signed it on the third attempt, when there were enough votes in Congress to override a veto.
Re: William Jefferson Clinton, Having Trouble with the Truth Once Again
KC Mulville: You know what's sad, though?
I'd still rather have Clinton than Obama. · Oct 1 at 7:24pm
Me too.
Re: William Jefferson Clinton, Having Trouble with the Truth Once Again
If Clinton had been President in 2010, he would have done a 180 degree turn after the midterm election. He would have negotiated a budget and tax deal with Paul Ryan; the economy would have begun turning around; and we would now be facing the prospect of his re-election. The Great Fornicator was nothing if not flexible. And, as Newt Gingrich remarked, he never ceased to learn. Barack Obama is incapable of correcting course because he is unwilling to learn.