Jim Hightower: Bill fixed our economy the same way a veterinarian fixes your dog.

[Miles Archer]

The danger of bringing back Bill to a Hillary Clinton White House

Does Hillary Clinton really think Americans are eager for eight more years of her husband's policies?
Jim Hightower

Thursday, Jun 9, 2016 05:58 AM EST

http://www.salon.com/2016/06/09/the_danger_of_bringing_back_bill_to_a_hillary_clinton_white_house/

2016 has been a wild political season. This year, despite the unnerving presidential freak show the Republicans are putting on, Hillary Clinton is the one who recently stunned me. Attempting to convince very wary working class families that she will stand against the abuses of her Wall Street financial backers, while also lifting up the poor and shoring up the middle class, Clinton made this horrifying, spine-tingling declaration: She’ll Bring Back Bill! Specifically, Hillary promises that her former-president husband will be put “in charge of revitalizing the economy.”

Good grief! Isn’t Bill the big galoot who turned his economic policy over to Wall Street’s Machiavellian, Robert Rubin? Yes. And didn’t Bill break his 1992 campaign promise to raise the minimum wage in his first year, putting it off until his fourth year, and even then providing only a token increase that still left the working poor mired in poverty? Yes, again. And didn’t he push into law a “welfare reform” bill that has shredded the safety net for America’s poorest, most-vulnerable people? Afraid so.

Moreover, wasn’t it Bill who literally rammed NAFTA down our throats, creating that job-sucking sound that continues to devastate today’s middle-class? Yep, he’s the one. And didn’t he also collude with laissez-faire ideologues and plutocratic Republicans to deregulate Wall Street so global speculators could wreck our economy by playing casino games with our bank deposits and home mortgages? Yes, him again.

By the way, since leaving office, Bill has amassed a personal fortune through smarmy, often-secret deals with Wall Street banks and global corporations. Why would Hillary threaten workaday Americans with another poke in the eye from this Big Money con man? Instead, she should use Bill’s gift of gab by making him her official “Walmart Greeter” for White House visitors. Bill fixed our economy the same way a veterinarian fixes your dog.

[brooklynite]

1. Six...

[floriduck]

2. Perfect!!

[Hortensis]

22. Are you kidding, Floriduck?! Bill fixed the economy after

Bush I left it desperately in debt. Not accidentally either--a standard GOP tactic is to run the nation into extremely serious debt so that incoming Democratic administrations can't fulfill their promises. In this case just how terribly bad it was was kept secret by Bush until right before the inauguration.

Faced with impending disaster, Bill had no choice but to make rescuing the economy his first priority, which he did, balancing the budget in record time and putting the economy on a steady course of growth and job creation for the rest of his term. Like Obama, he also scored a bunch of victories against a hostile GOP congress by outmaneuvering its leadership.

What and who he is now, I really don't know, but back then people in the know considered him brilliant for a reason.

[Miles Archer]

31. I did pretty well as a self-employed business person from 2001-2008

Around 2008, the clouds started coming over the horizon, and by 2010, I had hit the wall.

Things are going pretty good in 2016...remarkably well if you compare them to 2010. But I am repairing the damage that was done between 2010-2015, and there's a lot of damage.

I don't question for a minute that things fell off the cliff pretty quickly after Bill left office.

I'm not so sold on the NAFTA and Welfare Reform side of it.

That, and the fact that in 2016, he's been somewhat of a loose cannon.

As I've said elsewhere, if Democrats take their worst fears about what he "might" do, and he doesn't do any of those things, he obviously has the intelligence to accomplish things that will be applauded, rather than attacked.

Same for Hillary.

On June 9, I just don't know what the agenda will be. None of us do.

[Hortensis]

32. Well, on the plus side we will probably have

a good continuity between the two administrations. That she would do some things different from Obama shouldn't distract people from realizing how similar their ideologies and goals are.

Many of us were not happy with some of the ways in which Bill set out to steal national support from the Republicans by doing things the nation as a whole strongly indicated it wanted from its government. However, this thread is about what he did with the economy, and his record in that regard is very good. Hightower is a blatant liar plain and simple.

And, yes, let's hope age has settled this loose cannon down a bit better.

[NCTraveler]

3. My vet did an amazing job.

Delicate hands moving with extreme care to ensure the goals would be accomplished.

[Armstead]

23. But the animal had their gender destroyed

Helpful for the owner, but not necessarily appreciated by the animal.

Being effective at neutering the middle and working class and poor still means the neutering has been accomplished.

[tonyt53]

4. Ask average working Americans how they did under Bill, and they will tell you differently

Yes, the average American is eagerly awaiting.

[qdouble]

5. Bill Clinton is not responsible for any of the growth

during his presidency but responsible for the collapse 4 years later.

Can't wait until this right wing anti democrat garbage settles down on here.

[Blue_Tires]

33. +1

[Orsino]

6. Sick burn.

As long as we understand that the Big Dog was mostly just going with the flow, I have no problem with laying the biggest share of the blame at his feet.

[Miles Archer]

8. I have no problem with his being in the mix...

...as long as everything Hightower laid out doesn't become a "template" for 2017-2020.

[oasis]

7. Hightower's cute. He and Bernie can go play dominos in the park.

[Miles Archer]

11. YES! Because ageism is FUNNY!

Bye now.

[oasis]

13. I was referring to their irrelevance and soon to be idleness.

Folks of all ages play dominos, monopoly, scrabble. Do some research before popping off.

[TwilightZone]

15. My nephew is 15 and plays dominoes with his friends.

Sometimes in a park. It's not an activity just for old people.

It's interesting that you made that connection, though.

[TwilightZone]

17. Pretty sure it was sarcasm.

The "bye now" was a pretty good clue.

The poster seems to be asserting via a sarcastic joke that dominoes in the park is ageist. I tend to disagree.

[rhett o rick]

18. I posted in the wrong place. Thanks for pointing it out. nm

[rhett o rick]

19. What a lowdown lousy thing to say. We have to be careful criticizing Hillary because of her gender

but you get to joke about Sanders' age. Be interesting to see if you get shut down after the 16th.

[oasis]

21. See post #13. The same sentiment applies to anyone who

attempts to distort what was actually written.

Reminds me of Sarah Palin's fake outrage to Obama's "lipstick on a pig" remark.

[rhett o rick]

24. This isn't the first time you've disparaged Sen Sanders for his age.

[oasis]

26. Prove it.

[rhett o rick]

28. You mean you are denying it? After the above post?

[oasis]

29. I'm waiting. Put up or move along. nt

[rhett o rick]

35. LOL. So forceful. Maybe that works for your side but not my side.

[AzDar]

9. K & R

[PDittie]

10. Looks like Hightower's going to get banned after the 16th

[Miles Archer]

12. Maybe.

Skinner referenced criticism of Clinton in the spirit of her succeeding.

I know the Hightower piece spares no punches, but the "2 for 1 Deal" isn't that great of a deal for some people, and part of suggesting ways for Clinton to win would be giving some reassurance that Bill won't follow the exact path that he did during his presidency.

[Buns_of_Fire]

14. She probably could have gone her whole campaign without threatening that.

Just let it be kind of a surprise after her inauguration. We like surprises.

[bvar22]

25. Jim Hightower is a national treasure,

and a sharp tongued, outspoken Texas Democrat.


On Democratic Party Clinton "Centrism":
[font color=firebrick size=3][center]"The only thing in the Middle of the Road
are Yellow Stripes and Dead Armadillos."--Jim Hightower
[center][/center][/font]
[font size=1] Yes. I know that is an Opossum, but it still makes the point.

[Autumn]

37. Not if he continues to write things like that.

[Skwmom]

27. The fact that the Democratic Party is pushing to put them back in the Whitehouse is ...

[azurnoir]

30. here's a table of median incomes by educational level and gender 1990-2010

the Clinton years might not have been quite as rosy as claims would lead us to believ

http://www.infoplease.com/ipa/A0883617.html

[hobbit709]

34. And remember what he said about the middle of the road.

[Buns_of_Fire]

36. Jim and Louden Wainwright had it pretty well covered.