Bill Clinton lowlights

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

The Defense of Marriage Act
Nafta and Gatt
Financial deregulation
Telecommunications deregulation
The Religious Freedom Restoration Act, which served as the basis for the Hobby Lobby Supreme Court decision.


I only bring this up because I'm afraid to have him back in the WH. Run Bernie, RUN!

[Thinkingabout]

1. How many of these items passed in Congress with veto proof vote?

[Township75]

4. Don't know, but if they were veto proof it should have been easy for him to veto it and not deal

With repercussions. It would have passed and he didn't stop it even if he tried

[Thinkingabout]

16. Might be informative for you to check, I know a couple passed in the high nineties.

That would make it veto proof.

[awoke_in_2003]

23. God forbid...

somebody stand on principles.

[Thinkingabout]

24. This is how our system works, just as we would not want to have a president as a dictator,

Ted Cruz needs to have checks and balances, would not like President Cruz to stand on his principles.

[Township75]

30. It might but the answer didn't depend on it

If I am against something I will stand against it even if the opposing side has the votes.

You wouldn't just because they could overcome your opposition?

[Thinkingabout]

32. Could you accept the responsibilities of president, doubt you would do well in not executing your

responsibility of the office as we know as president, the president is not a dictator.

[Township75]

51. I could and would be fine

Because I know that if congress has the votes to over come my veto then the bill becomes law without me signature. And I wouldn't want it on there anyway. But you would ?!

[Thinkingabout]

54. in a situation where the vote was as it was on this bill I would do my duty in signing it.

[Township75]

55. If congress has the votes to override it doesn't need the

Signature of the president. It becomes law without it....presidential duty or not

[Thinkingabout]

57. There was enough votes to override a veto with the vote. There are times when one should

Realize when to hold'em and when to fold'em, Clinton realize this.

[former9thward]

58. Nice you knew what was going on inside Clinton's mind at the time.

But I think he disagrees with you.

Statement by President Bill Clinton
On Friday, September 20, prior to signing the Defense of Marriage Act, President Clinton released the following statement:

Throughout my life I have strenuously opposed discrimination of any kind, including discrimination against gay and lesbian Americans. I am signing into law H.R. 3396, a bill relating to same-gender marriage, but it is important to note what this legislation does and does not do.

I have long opposed governmental recognition of same-gender marriages and this legislation is consistent with that position. The Act confirms the right of each state to determine its own policy with respect to same gender marriage and clarifies for purposes of federal law the operative meaning of the terms "marriage" and "spouse".

This legislation does not reach beyond those two provisions. It has no effect on any current federal, state or local anti-discrimination law and does not constrain the right of Congress or any state or locality to enact anti-discrimination laws. I therefore would take this opportunity to urge Congress to pass the Employment Non-Discrimination Act, an act which would extend employment discrimination protections to gays and lesbians in the workplace. This year the Senate considered this legislation contemporaneously with the Act I sign today and failed to pass it by a single vote. I hope that in its next Session Congress will pass it expeditiously.

I also want to make clear to all that the enactment of this legislation should not, despite the fierce and at times divisive rhetoric surrounding it, be understood to provide an excuse for discrimination, violence or intimidation against any person on the basis of sexual orientation. Discrimination, violence and intimidation for that reason, as well as others, violate the principle of equal protection under the law and have no place in American society.


http://www.cs.cmu.edu/afs/cs/user/scotts/ftp/wpaf2mc/clinton.html

That is just on DOMA. It is well known Clinton supported the trade agreements and de-regulation. Nice try though...

[LuvNewcastle]

2. That shows you how far personality

will get you in life. Pretty damn far. He's very popular today even though he never got 50% of the vote in the elections. Hardly anyone can tell you anything good he did while in office. It's all a combination of personality and 90's nostalgia that makes him so popular today.

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

3. Plus - He's such a good ol' boy!

[arely staircase]

5. eight years of peace and prosperity

Nightmare I tell ya.

[LawDeeDah]

7. It wasn't peace and prosperity for Iraq.

Thousands upon thousands died while Clinton was in office but somehow that doesn't count in the revisionist books.

[arely staircase]

8. compared to what came next

I would say that is debatable.

[LawDeeDah]

13. I could show some photos of what the cruel sanctions did to the children of Iraq

but I won't because they are too horrible. Clinton had a large part in weakening and destroying the strength of Iraq so George Junior could do what he did and take over the slaughter, could take over like Bill took over from Poppy - 3 Presidents involved in the destruction of the Cradle of Civilization.

[arely staircase]

15. yes. and it still wouldn't make Clinton's sanctions policy remotely as savage

and disastrous for the entire world as Bush's war of aggression, the invasion and brutal almost decade long occupation. The two just aren't in the ball park.

[LawDeeDah]

17. To the dead it is the same ball park.

Sorry, but I can't see how Bush Junior the dry drunk, mass murderer doing what he did absolves anyone from their own bad deeds.

[arely staircase]

19. well obviously not but I think we can make distinctions between the relative badness of things

unwise to pretend otherwise

[tenderfoot]

10. Oh, I know. He so made W look like a pussy cat in comparison!

[Spider Jerusalem]

31. Eight years of, in retrospect, unsustainable growth

fuelled by reckless deregulation. That "prosperity" was largely illusory. Sure, we had a massive expansion of the tech sector as technology matured, but the dot-com bubble had burst by Clinton's last year in office. Meanwhile, NAFTA and most-favoured-nation trading status with China resulted in tremendous job losses in industry (the textile industry, for instance, which was upon a time a major employer in much of the South, lost over two million jobs between 1994 and 2002). And the deregulation of finance that happened under Clinton led directly to the financial crisis of 2008. We had peace and prosperity in the 1920's, too; no-one these days would argue that Coolidge and Hoover were great presidents.

[arely staircase]

49. all periods of economic expansion are unsustainable

So far anyway.

[Spider Jerusalem]

52. Pretty much, because capitalism's foundational basis is fundamentally flawed.

Doesn't mean that implementing the same sorts of economic policies that already led to one depression was a good idea.

[arely staircase]

60. fair enough, as to the

cyclical nature of capitalist economies. And I agree economic policies affect those cycles. But I do not believe the prosperity of the Clinton years was due to the dot com bubbles. Not entirely anyway or even mostly.

[Spider Jerusalem]

62. Of course it was.

That and maturing new technologies creating new employment opportunities and an awful lot of paper wealth. Just like what happened in the 1920's. (That, and historically low oil prices; oil hit an inflation-adjusted all-time low in 1998 thanks to the Asian financial crisis reducing demand elsewhere.) Go and ask someone in a former mill town in Appalachia whose job got outsourced to China about those prosperous Clinton years. (While you're at it go and ask a real economist about why deregulation and allowing commercial banks to issue securities were terrible ideas, no matter how much money they made for anyone at the time.)

Here's the thing: in the light of history? 20, 30, 50 years from now? I fully expect that Clinton WILL be viewed as the Calvin Coolidge of the late 20th century. The rising prosperity of the 1920's was the result of the expansion of industry thanks to new technologies...cars, radio, refrigeration, aviation, and so on...but the stock market crash was the result of laissez-faire policies and lax regulation. That post-WWI era of prosperity may have been a good thing for those lucky enough to experience it for the few years it lasted, but the policies that created it led to the 1929 crash. (Just as deregulation and the repeal of Glass-Steagall and so on led to the 2008 crash. Insanity: Doing the same thing and expecting different results.)

[LeftyMom]

65. Peace? You didn't read past the first page of the paper in the 90s, did you?

It was not exactly the low ebb of US foreign intervention.

[arely staircase]

66. how many Americans died in Clinton's foreign wars?

Oh, I guess it wasn't peaceful for Serbian mass murderers. But Clinton did that without a single dead American. Somalia was cleaning up a Bush I mess. Did a whole bunch of Americans get killed in the 90s and it was on the Lifestyle page?

[LeftyMom]

69. You do realize that non-Americans are people?

Bombing them is still war, however one sided the suffering.

Sanctions also killed about a million people in Iraq between the wars.

[True Blue Door]

6. Bill was the perfect portrait of the Southern centrist.

Terrified of what conservatives thought of him, constantly seeking the approval of vicious degenerates who didn't deserve his consideration, never settled enough in his own values to do a Gandalf "You Shall Not Pass!" move.

When I think about the Clinton administration and compare it with what we have now, that's when I realize the Obama administration isn't merely good, but Great.

People who think this President capitulates have fucking amnesia.

[sendero]

48. I see the exact same thing..

.. in Obama, from ACA to the TPP to all the anti-transparency crap.

We haven't had a real Democrat since maybe LBJ.

[arely staircase]

50. or a true scotsman nt

[dsc]

9. The religious freedom restoration act was a liberal idea actually

to blame it on Bill Clinton, not to mention the failure to forsee it being used in Hobby Lobby (as literally every single solitary person on earth did) is just plain ridiculous.

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

33. So now I'm ridiculous?

Shit, that's what my wife keeps saying. Sharon, is that you?

[appalachiablue]

11. welfare 'reform'?

[bravenak]

26. I agree.

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

34. Please add anything I've missed. Good one.

[nationalize the fed]

59. Starting the first PNAC war

might qualify.

Yes, the 78 day bombing of Serbia was a PNAC project. Here's the proof:



http://web.archive.org/web/20030210080835/http://www.newamericancentury.org/balkans.htm

[LawDeeDah]

61. Aw, that must have been the Peace and Prosperity days...

for the PNACers and insiders, anyway.

[appalachiablue]

63. You covered it all. Looking back at 1992 there was such excitement and possibility with the Clinton-

Gore election. Riddance of Bush, Reagan after 12 years of Occupation for one. They were new youth, brains and energy esp. in DC where I was. Don't enjoy looking back at the harm done but it's real and warranted. And there's a lot- NAFTA job losses, mothers and kids sent into poverty from welfare cuts, the immense Glass-Steagall deregulation heist, pushed by Rubin of Citibank who's head Sandy Weil had wanted it for a long time. Rubin got out, missed the later burndown. Lots of $ made in those years, MBS, housing, dot coms, tech. And the first SUVs! as someone noted.

[Jenoch]

12. You forgot to mention the Oval Office blowjob and subsequent lies.

The Telecommunications Act of 1996 pretty much destroyed radio broadcasting.

[Thinkingabout]

18. The bill passed on votes of 81-18, 414-16, 91-5, these are veto proof.

[Jenoch]

20. Yeah, I'm not blaming Clinton.

Were the Republicans in power in both houses of congress when that passed? The consolidation of ownership of broadcast licenses has been bad for radio. Television had already mostly been corporate before 1996.

[Travis_0004]

21. Clinton signed it into law and praised it

Its not like he didnt have options. He could have vetoed it and forced congress to override him. He could have at least admitted he didnt like it, but realized the support it had in congress and not signed the law. Instead he choosr to sign the law and sing its praises.

[Thinkingabout]

22. Did you look at the vote count Congress had on this bill?

[AtomicKitten]

29. He ran ads touting signing DOMA during his reelection campaign.

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

36. I don't give a rat's ass about his sex life - that's between Hillary and Bill.

And I would have lied too, because it's nobodies business. That's just my opinion.

[wildbilln864]

14. things that make me go hmmmmm!?

[JonLP24]

25. Rwanda

I just watched "Sometimes in April"

[JI7]

28. if he had gone into rwanda i'm pretty sure some would be claiming that was an example of the US

starting a war there.

[NanceGreggs]

27. Always heartening to see the newbies ...

... getting into the Dem-bashing right from the get-go.

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

37. Thanks, but I'm republican-lite bashing.

And I don't want HRC in there either.

[Scuba]

56. +1,000

[stevenleser]

35. He can't be "back in the WH". He served two terms. With that phrase you outed yourself. nt

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

38. Is he not still married to Hillary Clinton?

I know who you are Steve, and I give you great props for your work on/against Fox News. Please don't jump to conclusions about me. You're the 3rd person on this thread to insinuate I'm some kind of troll.

[stevenleser]

41. That does not imply he will be in a policy creating position. In fact its sexist to imply that

because Hillary is a woman, if she was President her husband would be creating policy.

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

42. Oh great, now I'm sexist. You're pulling out all the stops today, Steve.

I NEVER said what you are suggesting. I simply said I don't want Bill back in the White House.

WHY?? Because that means Hillary is POTUS. She is not my idea of a progressive. I will throw everything I have towards getting Bernie Sanders elected. Now, PLEASE, stop insulting me.

[stevenleser]

44. I didn't say YOU were sexist, I said what you were positing was sexist. nt

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

45. Well, in my world that would make me sexist. Thanks for the discussion.

[stevenleser]

46. Only if you cling to it after it has been pointed out. nt

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

53. You pointed it out based on an erroneous assumption on your part.

I'm probably one of the leftist leftists on this site. But I keep bumping up against people that want to challenge everything I say. I don't mind admitting when I'm wrong, but too many people on DU seem to take great pleasure in willfully interpreting people in the worst light. I'm not saying you did so, but it happens enough to make me very wary of what I say. And I still can't seem to win.

Have a good day, Steven.

[JonLP24]

64. 2 for the price of 1?

She certainly had a role in public policy in public policy during Bill Clinton's presidency. Why wouldn't it be the same or imply it is sexist as the first gentleman in this case would be an ex-President.

This is JMO but I think Bill Clinton would have a better chance of winning a general election than Hillary Clinton so if she were to run, I'd fully expect him to have a strategic prominent public role in her campaign.

No one said he would be creating policy but would he have a role? I'd think so and a Hillary Clinton would probably market that. I wouldn't have a problem with it myself if he did nor did I in her case. Lets be honest here.

[Iggo]

39. Welcome to DU.

[Elmer S. E. Dump]

43. Thanks, Iggo!

[pampango]

40. GATT was an FDR/Truman era organization signed in April, 1947. Clinton was 8 months old.

Wages went up and unemployment went down after NAFTA - UNTIL, you guessed it, a republican president was inaugurated. The economy went to hell after that. You can blame that on NAFTA if you wish, but I think Bush had something to do with it.

[NCTraveler]

47. Then Bush was elected and it turned your frown upside down. nt.

[arely staircase]

67. +1 nt

[TBF]

68. AFAIK Bill Clinton cannot run again -