Former President Bill Clinton was on The Today Show this morning. He gave team Obama some kudo’s on handling the economic stimulus bill, telling NBC’s Ann Curry that he thought President Barack Obama is “off to a good start.”
Clinton, who left his successor with a federal budget surplus, offers George W. Bush’s successor high marks for winning a $787-billion economic stimulus one month in office – a spending plan that pushes an already swollen Bush-era federal deficit well past $1 trillion.
The former president, in an interview aired this morning on NBC’s Today show, says the new president and his economic team have handled a controversial stimulus well – “given the fact that they had to do it in a hurry.”
Clinton, was optimistic on the current economic crisis, saying that the “nation will get through” it and suggesting that the stimulus package will be “our bridge over troubled waters.”
Ann Curry asked Bill Clinton if he thought “‘the greatest threat to U.S. security now is the global economic crisis – as the Obama administration’s director of national intelligence has reported.”
“In the short tern,” yes, Clinton says, yet terrorism remains a longer-term threat. In the face of the short-term threat, he says, Obama has gotten a good start. He also has offered Obama some private advice, but declines to discuss it in this interview. [...]
“Given the fact that they had to do it in a hurry and he had to deal with Congress and the inevitable compromises, I think he got quite a good bill out of this,” Clinton says. [...]
Of course, the political battle over the stimulus package is not over. In fact it is probably just beginning. The sides have been drawn and Republicans will continue to press that they think the package will be a failure.
Bill Clinton did not hestitate to remind viewers on The Today Show that perhaps ”the economy would not be in the shape it is in today, if his economic team still had been in place.” He’ll get no argument from me on that one. Times were good, economically speaking, in my opinion when Bill Clinton was President.
All eyes are now on Obama’s team to see what will happen with this package, which he will sign tomorrow. I am determined to remain optimistic, because watching the economy sink lower daily is just too damn depressing.
UPDATE: More good stuff from Bill Clinton… Clinton was in Austin, TX, over the weekend hosting the Clinton Global Initiative University. CNN’s John Roberts interviewed him. The text of the interview is here.
Bill is being a good trooper. I agree that it’s not fun thinking about what’s really happening. However, I’m an optimist. I firmly believe that there is a real value bottom, which probably relates a lot more to actual value companies which produce needed products and do it well and efficiently.
Those are the companies which are not going to go away. There is an economic basis, in short, whch is solid.
Living through it while we find that may not be too much fun.
O.K. changing the subject a bit here…..but have you seen Andrea Mitchell’s reporting live from Tokyo on Hillary’s Asian trip?
Andrea’s got the best camera filters on herself, and the worst on Hillary. They show her pale and drained. Dang, Andrea, you are scum!
In the CNN interview with John Roberts, Bill Clinton does a nice job of backing Obama up on the stimulus plan and refuting Republican talking points.
I love how Clinton encouraged kids right out of HS to go to college. Young people listen to Clinton and Obama, that’s very apparent.
Where is everyone. Normally I see many more posts on here during the day. Must be the Holiday weekend because yesterday was like this too.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znrjbo9QRLk
Those were the days!!!!!!
Betsy Says:
February 16th, 2009 at 4:27 pm
Where is everyone. Normally I see many more posts on here during the day. Must be the Holiday weekend because yesterday was like this too.
Were all working two and three jobs trying to catch up on the mortgages.
slow day
Betsy Says:
February 16th, 2009 at 4:27 pm
Where is everyone. Normally I see many more posts on here during the day. Must be the Holiday weekend because yesterday was like this too.
I wondered the same thing, Betsy. Where is everyone?
Hi Guys~ lynnette…I so agree with you about Andra Mitchell! She always tries to put Hillary in the worst light. She has CDS to the max.Just think about it her husband was part of the fall of this country and she continues to hunt the Clintons who actually help the country.
Anybody see’House of Cards’on CNBC,Greenspan was really disgusting,blaming everything on congress. I lost whatever respect I ever had for him.
hi dafederalist. Do you still work for Sprint. They are my wireless provider.
Frontline is doing a story on the bank meltdown Tuesday.In the promo they talk of a day when everything just stopped and if the feds had not stepped in we would have had bank runs like during thr 30s.There was a silent online run happening.
Everybody should make sure to watch the Alexandra Pelosi documentary tonight on HBO.
Right America: Feeling Wronged – Some Voices from the Campaign Trail
8pm ET
http://www.hbo.com/docs/programs/rightamerica/index.html
Clinton and Greenspan had the proper relationship. They worked together well but didn’t trust each other, and they knew that their ultimate aims were not the same. So no, the worst failures of Greenspanism wouldn’t have happened if Clinton were still in office.