Jump To » Mobile / Confirm Them / Right Shelf / Sports / State Blogs / About / Contact / Help / Posting Rules / Conservative Book Club / Human Events
Running Away From Success
No, He Really Doesn't Want The Clintons On His Team
By Dan McLaughlin Posted in 2008 | Obamafiles | The Best Democratic Primary EVER — Comments (16) / Email this page » / Leave a comment »
One of the striking things about Barack Obama's campaign is that, for all his rhetorical nods to centrism and non-partisanship, he has systematically burned his bridges with every effort made by electorally successful Democrats to actually put centrism and moderation into practice, and even gone out of his way to distance himself from some of the more popular aspects of his party's record, while embracing ideas the national Democrats have run away from as being electorally poisonous.
There's a case to be made that the economy of the 1990s was not, fundamentally, as good as it looked at the time (recall the popping of the internet bubble); that some of the credit for that economy goes to the post-1994 policies of Republicans in Congress and at the state and local levels in places like Michigan, Wisconsin and New York City; that some also goes to historically unique factors (the rapid expansion of democracy and world trade and a time of unprecedented peace, as well as technology spending in advance of Y2K); and that the Clinton Administration's greatest contributions to the boom years were policies Obama now explicitly opposes, from NAFTA to capital gains tax cuts. But despite all of that, the good economic times under the last Democratic president is an asset with the public's goodwill that no sane Democrat would tamper with.
But Senator Obama has the audacity to do just that:
Barack Obama on Thursday laid much of the blame for America's unfolding credit crisis on the financial deregulation of the 1990s in his hardest hitting attack so far on the economic legacy of Bill Clinton’s administration.
+++
Without mentioning the Clintons by name, the clear target of Mr Obama’s speech was the economic record of the 1990s. Hillary Clinton has portrayed her candidacy as offering a return to the economic successes of the 1990s. She has also presented herself as more competent on the economy than Mr Obama.
In his address Mr Obama associated Mr Clinton’s abolition of the Depression-era Glass-Steagall Act in 1999 with the financial scandals that rocked the early years of the Bush administration and which led up to the bailout earlier this month of Bear Stearns.
Mr Obama also ascribed the bankruptcy of Enron and WorldCom in 2001 and the subsequent lack of oversight of the US sub-prime mortgage market to the influence of special interests and lobby groups in Washington DC dating from the Clinton era. And he contrasted his refusal to take campaign donations from lobby groups with Mrs Clinton’s acceptance of such funds.
“This was not the invisible hand at work – it was the hand of industry lobbyists,” he said. “Instead of establishing a 21st century framework we simply dismantled the old one – aided by a legal but corrupt bargain in which campaign money all too often shaped policy and watered down oversight. In doing so we encouraged a winner take all, anything goes environment that helped foster devastating dislocations in our economy.”
+++
Mr Obama on Thursday also attacked Mr McCain, whose response to the sub-prime crisis “amounted to little more than watching this crisis happen”. But economists said the significance of Mr Obama’s speech was in offering the most clear distinction so far with Mrs Clinton on the economy.
By distancing himself from the Clintons, Senator Obama is just underlining the obvious: that on economic matters, his proposals would be more of a return to the only other Democratic president of the past four decades: Jimmy Carter.
« Bearers of False Witness and the False Witnesses They Bear — Comments (2) | Hillary's Inconvenient Truth — Comments (6) »
Running Away From Success 16 Comments (0 topical, 16 editorial, 0 hidden) Post a comment »
Sure, make fun of a decade
by simpson316
that was marked with overall economic growth. Who is advising this guy?
Fighting for conservatism one day at a time.
I disagree.
by mikefisk
Mainly for one reason: You're being too harsh on Carter. After all, it was the Carter administration that helped bring in deregulation in the airline industry... yeah, made no sense to me when I first read it, but it happened.
Of course, progressives treat "deregulation", in any of its forms, as a four-letter word, which goes to show another problem of the modern Left... always oversimplifying things by leaving two-thirds or so out :)
"No matter how much lipstick you put on the taxation pig, it's still a pig... and it's currently snout-down in your wallet." - Michael Fisk
Just a reminder........
by wolfgang
....that Fed Policy and tactics were not directly interventionist in the early nineties. Allen Greenspan, one needs only to look at who he's married to in order to gage which way he leans in the political wind, in his capacity as Chairman of the Federal Reserve, did not begin his credit loosening policy until some four to six months before the end of the Bush '41 Presidency. When your tactics are best described as pushing on a string, four months is just not enough time to see a result. What it meant is that when Bubba came into power, a full fledged economic recovery was well under way, none of it his doing at that point, leaving him with no need to spend precious time fretting about getting people back to work but giving him more time to spend searching for young females to give saxophone lessons to.
I have a real problem with your argument
by sinz52
There's a tendency by political activists to attribute any success of their political opponents to luck.
Liberals also refused to give Reagan any credit for the good economy of the 1980s, instead assigning all the credit to Fed chairman Volcker, who was appointed by Carter. The same argument that you're making now with Greenspan.
And my answer to them is the same as my answer to you: There's not that much that a President can do by himself to make the economy better. But there's an awful lot a President can do to make the economy worse. It's like a pilot flying an airplane: If he's doing a good job, the passengers find the flight uneventful to the point of being boring and tedious. That's the best you can hope for: Mr. President, don't screw things up!
Lots of Presidents have come into office and then left the office with a worse economy than when they got into it: Hoover. Lyndon Johnson. Carter. Bush 41.
If a President can leave office with the economy in better shape than it was when he entered it, then he deserves a lot of credit for not screwing things up--there are so many ways he can screw things up. So I give both Reagan and Clinton credit for presiding over economic improvement. Lots of other Presidents didn't fare so well.
Great post Dan, right on the money....
by GordonTaylor
If Obama is so good.....
by Spartan4Life
.....why is he going to lose Pennsylvania, a pretty representative state IMHO, by double digits to Mrs. Clinton?
When I hear all this hooey about what a great uniter Obama is, I just roll my eyes. He says he is going to get Republican votes? I'll believe it when it happens.
Clinton got distracted so the economyboomed
by lanceevers
The reason the economy boomed under Clinton was that Clinton's administration got so distracted with Monica etc.., that he didn't have TIME to get many laws passed. Government left them alone; businesses prospered. The media, having anointed Obama to replace Hillary whom they had anointed previously, don't want to admit that he has feet of clay. Have you looked at his Senate web site? He's advocating a program to fight GLOBAL poverty which will cost about half the entire federal budget if he means what he says.....
Fan of
http://www.scragged.com
ALL of em did bad stuff!
by ERICthePATRIOT
Both parties have to clean up their act.
Regan broke the unions.
Clinton passed NAFTA. When Rush said Clinton did a good thing and all parties were agreeing I knew NAFTA was evil!
Bush got us in an unconstitutional was as congress did not declare this war and Bush has spent us to near economic death.
My GOP party needs to return to a Real GOP party.
1.One of small goverment (like when I say small I mean most of it shut down like the IRS, SSI, DOE, DOA, but keep OSHA and other good things like that)because we can't afford it anymore.
2.A party that leaves all other countries alone unless messed with. My momma said never poke badgers with sticks cuz that's how my daddy died!
3.A return to State's rights!
I might think of other stuff later but I gotta get back to work.
Did I say I love the USA!
In all liklihood both. Comments like this-"Regan broke the unions", give you away. First you don't have the decency to spell the man's name right, and then you make the commnet that he broke the unionis. The unions are a disgusting abuse of power, adn breaking unions is one of the proud accomplishments we hold as conservatives.
A party that leaves all other countries alone unless messed with. My momma said never poke badgers with sticks cuz that's how my daddy died!
This quote gives you away. We are not a bunch of stupid redneck nationalistic hicks that don't understand the consequences of war. Now run back to Kos where you belong, I'm sure the man with the big stick will be here shortly.
"Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice.Let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue."-Barry Goldwater
Mitt-Mitt for VP!
RonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaul!!!!!
by Jeff Emanuel
RonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaul
RonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaul
RonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaul
RonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaul
RonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaul
RonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaul
RonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaul
RonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaul
RonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaul
RonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaul
RonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaul
RonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaul
RonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaul
RonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaul
RonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaul
RonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaul
RonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaul
RonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaul
RonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaul
RonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaul
RonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaul
RonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaul
RonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaul
RonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaul
RonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaul
RonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaul
RonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaul
RonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaul
RonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaul
RonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaul
RonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaul
RonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaul
RonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaul
RonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaul
RonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaul
RonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaul
RonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaul
RonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaul
RonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaul
RonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaul
RonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaul
RonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaulRonPaul
!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
RonPaul!RonPaul!
RonPaul!
RonPaul!
RonPaul!
RonPaul!
RonPaul!
RonPaul!
RonPaul!
RonPaul!
RonPaul!
RonPaul!
RonPaul!
RonPaul!
RonPaul!
RonPaul!
RonPaul!
RonPaul!
RonPaul!
RonPaul!
RonPaul!
RonPaul!
RonPaul!
RonPaul!
RonPaul!
RonPaul!
"Extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice.Let me remind you also that moderation in the pursuit of justice is no virtue."-Barry Goldwater
Mitt-Mitt for VP!
OH YEAH! (NT)
by Neil Stevens
HTML Help for Red Staters
"If we want to take this party back, and I think we can someday, let’s get to work." – Barry Goldwater
Ron Paul
by absentee
Ron Paul, he's got brains and he's got ...
absentee
"Nothings true if it's on T.V."
by simpson316
Did that include the inordinate amount of press that a candidate who only got 6% of the vote got?
Fighting for conservatism one day at a time.
blog advertising is good for you
Washington Times
Recent comments
I think I just threw up a little
by bluechiplawsome are "oriented" to marry their moms-nt
by gamecockWuss wuss wuss wuss
by Neil StevensObama's on the tube running
by John WayneKeep in mind, this in UNCONFIRMED.
by St. Louis Conse...About that term
by SteveLAThanks!
by ZootSuitAChance: As You Can See...
by Wubbies WorldThen what sense does the McCain quote have?
by jaszkowskiMore good news for Coleman
by IlliniconAChance: I Agree! and I Won't Give Any a Free Pass.
by Wubbies WorldSorry about typos...my
by John WayneI am and...
by Steve FoleyI'll settle for that Zoot
by E Pluribus Unum
blog advertising is good for you
get your job site
at simplyhired.com
The Fuzzy Puppy of the VRWC.I've been usurped!