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Subscribe to RSSPreviewing his primetime speech tonight at the Democratic convention, former President Bill Clinton tells NBC's Brian Williams that he will explain why President Obama's economic approach "is right" and will "pay off" if he's re-elected.
Clinton also says in the interview that no president, in four years, could have restored the current economy "to full health" after the financial collapse of 2008.
Former President Bill Clinton, who will address the Democratic National Convention tonight, told NBC's Brian Williams why he feels President Obama needs to be reelected.
BRIAN WILLIAMS: Cover of Newsweek, "Why Barack needs Bill." Why do you think Barack needs Bill? What do you have to offer?
BILL CLINTON: I really don't know. I've always been mystified by that. I was honored when he asked me to nominate him. I hope what I can do, because we did have a good economy, because we did have the longest expansion in history, is explain why I think his approach is right and it'll pay off if we renew his contract. Explain why the economy he faced was much weaker and different than the one I faced, so that there's no way any president, no president could have restored it to full health in just four years.
The rest of Brian Williams' interview with Clinton will appear on NBC "Nightly News" beginning at 6:30 pm ET.
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Clinton's speech was the best summation of the "state of the union" and the the lies continuing to spouted by the GOP. It is so sad and so scary that 50 % of the people in this country can't handle the truth.
Yes he told us the job was too big for the Democrats and they could not handle it.....That is what I got out of it. Great speech to tell us why the 4 years of Obama was a failure. That is the same as your parents giving you note for school on why you did bad on a test.
Mike, perhaps you need closed captioning turned on on your TV. You obviously did not hear Clinton say rather forcefully that no president past present or future could have fixed the BushyDick fiscal fiasco in 4 years. Put it this way - how long does it take for you to get yourself in debt for a car - 1 hour? how long does it take to pay off this debt ? 5 years?
Lets put it to you this way - to clean up the mess would you be willing to have your wages garnished to the tune of $100,000 for every member of your family every year until the national debt is paid off?
Look you and people like you do not like the fact that Obama, in spite of best efforts of GOP in congress has slowly and painfully brought us out of a recession brought about by BushyDick, a recession that has reverberated around the world just like the first great depression did. and now your kind want to go back to the Bush League fiscal fiasco , damned if I can understand that!
Ok ...Let me get this STRAIGHT .....
4 YRS AGO..Hope and Change...We the Democrats will get us out of this mess if we are elected..."I want The Job" . Promise after empty Promise
Democrats this is the message you are sending the Country:
Fast forward to today....
Clinton....we cant do the job it was too big
Axelrod...We cant balance the budget...nor do we want too
Obama...Give me an Incomplete...because I didnt get the job done
And you still want us to vote for you ?....Really?...Just because you like the job?
Well it did take the GOP 8 years to screw it up!!
The debt....."THEY BUILT THAT"!!!
Obama just passed 16 trillion in debt. He promised he would have it paid down 50% by re-election time. The Dems - repaved the debt and have no intention of trying to get it down.
Okay what else did you learn from FOX?
$16 TRILLION DEBT IS AS MUCH FROM REPUBLICAN POLICIES AS DEMOCRATIC WITH LESS GOOD TO SHOW
Bill Clinton was superb in showing that we have a President who is on the job paying attention to the correct agenda and how different it would be under Romney/Ryan. One area I wish Bill Clinton had hit harder was the blame game for the national debt. How much of the deficit and national debt is attributed to closing the two wars down while mitigating our losses because of them, tax cuts for the wealthy which still sit in their portfolios, and no-bid contracts to Haliburton? DOES THE CONGRESSIONAL BUDGET OFFICE HAVE A BIG PIE CHART TO PUT THINGS IN PERSPECTIVE? ZEEK
Not when the Dems are Majority...CANT POINT FINGERS THERE
But Obama was sure able to make it worse in three and a half years!
Barack Obama:
Alias Barry Soetoro pawns himself as Barack Obama, the humanitarian, the POTUS, the campaign for hope and change. But we know better. Barry is a radical Marxist who was raised by Communist parents and Communist grandparents. His mentors were known Communists, his contacts in college were strictly Marxists supporters, Marxist professors and a group of Pakistani activists as stated in his book, "Dreams From My Father".
Barack Obama, tell us about Frank Marshall Davis or Bill Ayers. Surely you remember Mr. Davis. After all, your mother knew him all too well. Mr. Ayers, a known terrorist, responsible for at least a dozen bombings, helped your early Illinois campaign by raising money, thru his organization Underground Weather. Davis, a well known Communist. Tell us about your trip to Pakistan ('81) with Pakistani Wahid Hamid.
Share with us your ideals of socialism, after all you're a member of the Democratic Socialists of America (DSA), referred as the "New Party". Please tell us why you have been influenced by the writings of Karl Marx, the prelude to Communism. Share with us your association with Rev. Jeremiah Wright. Do you justify this man's message by condemning our country by saying, "God bless America? No, God Damn America"? Was this a forethought supporting your belief in Marxism?
United States of America………………you didn't build it Barack Obama.
Barack speaks nothing (in public anyways) of his father Frank Marshall Davis nor his Idol, the Pentagon Bombing Domestic Terrorist, Bill Ayers
Clinton stated a plain fact last night:
"I didn't hate Republicans more than they hate this President"
Republicans are yet to explain to the American people that since January 2009, they just didn't want to work with Obama.
Didn't the Bush Administration take us into 2 unfunded wars and at the same time cut taxes?
How much have we gone into debt for these wars?
Oh yeah, I remember when they told us Iraq would pay us back for the war with their oil.... LOL
in the end it will be Obama,he's our best bet for now.Let Mitt go tend to his suitcases full of money,costumes,dog cages.The presidency to Mitt is too make more business friends,make more money,he's a snake in hiding.I don't trust him.
Yet another lie from Slick Willie, Reagan inherited a much higher unemployment rate, inflation rate and interest rate than Soetoro yet this time in the Reagan Administration the Media Elite and the Federal Reserve were complaigning that the Ecomony was growing "too fast". Conclusion = Barry Soetoro, you are NO Ronald Reagan as you are a Presidential Failure
I see (for a change) that there is a more 'balanced' commentary on this site, e.g. both 'for' and 'against' Obamas' ability of restoring the economy in 4 years.
Bottom line is: "Does Obama deserve another 4 years to 'fix' the economy?"
I say "if the trend in all of the economic indicators was moving in the right direction as the election looms nearer, there might be some reasonable encouragement for keeping Obama as our President. However, the 4 million jobs that Dems keep touting as encouragement does not even keep up with population growth. A total of 8 million jobs were lost during Obamas' tenure to date.
If you take into account that 10 million people have gone onto disability roles (no longer considered to be in the work force), 10,000 people per day reaching retirement age with at least half quitting the job market, and several million who have simply given up looking, Obama is AT LEAST 4 million jobs short of keeping up with 8.3% that are officialy unemployed. Add to this dismal jobs failure is triple number of Americans on food stamps (very clearly a record number of people and record percentage of the population), growing number of welfare recipients (also a record of numbers and percentage of the population). It might be possible to consider 4 more years...if the trend of these numbers was decreasing.
However these numbers are NOt decreasing. So, what's the score? has Obama showed a definate trend in improving the jobs market? Has Obama defined a plan to improve these numbers? Has Obama defined a plan to reduce the deficit and the debt? If so, perhaps I've missed these plans. The closest direction Obama has indicated to debt/deficit is to tax the rich. Obviously, this will hardly put a dent in the deficit not to mention the morality of punishing those who have already provided 90% of the tax revenues while 50% of workers contribute NOTHING towards federal taxes.
Frankly, I don't see how you can justifiy collecting more taxes from anybody without first creating a plan that shows how these increased taxes will help the economy, e.g.Obama must 1st show us citizens that there is a realistic plan to reduce spending and pay down the deficit with any increased taxes rather than pissing away any increased revenue.
Bottom line: No increased taxes without a plan to reduce spending. No increased taxes without a jobs plan that makes sense. Obama has never run a lemonade stand and it shows. Obama is simply not qualified to remain in office.
mj-1451595 ......id love to know where you got your info on the reagan years, i was in the military at that time and your seriously have no idea what your talking about so please dont be a moron like the rest and verify your bs before you post, and if your dumb enough to believe the bs that clinton spewed, even clinton doesnt believe what he said he was playing the good little dem clinton is too smart to bash obama but hes also not stupid enough to believe obamas crap either
From the look on Bills face when near osama is "Priceless". You can read the disgust he has for this fool of a president. And Clinton is voting for Romney. Start guarding the White House property, before moochelle steals us blind.
@dennis yeah i caught that also kind of like "yeah im up here making my speech but we both know your a moron" look he gave to obama, also when he was talking about obama achievements i swear itr almost looked like he was bout ready to burst out in laughter. he got us out of afghan and iraq?? really then why are american soldiers still there dying?? dont take credit until the last american is out of that hell hole
Clearly, you see what you want to see.
clinton is a very eloquent speaker, but you cant fool america for another 4 years oblammo doesnt have the skills of knowledge to help this country.
Intrepid ... How should we count the jobs... The way Dems count them ? or the way the rest of the country counts them.
Mike -Pa
HE said NO ONE that means Democrat OR Republican could not fix this economy in four years even FDR so shut your trap !
How about NO LIES that would be a good start !
At least the Democrats know how to ADD and SUBTRACT all the republicans know how to do is cut taxes for RICH people who don't need it.
President Clinton hit it out of the ball park!
Missy ...he pretty much said the Democrats could not handle the job task and they failed...how is that hitting it out of the Park?
That's not what I heard. Sure, the Democrats have made their mistakes but President Clinton says that we must go forward and forward we shall go.
Missy,
"President Clinton hit it out of the ball park!"
Yes, he did. I thought his speach was great. He really connected with the audience. And one thing I particularly liked is that he did not insult all Republicans. He payed his respects to those past Republican presidents he thought had done good things, pointing specifically to Dwight D. Eisenhauer, and recalled the "good old days" when Democrats and Republicans used to work together to accomplish things and pointed out that in many places they still do work together. The only Republicans he bashed were the leaders of the new Republican Party, the party of "no".
I stand corrected. I'm not a baseball person.
:)))))))))))))))
mike-Pa,
"he pretty much said the Democrats could not handle the job task and they failed..."
I listened to President Clinton's speech from beginning to end last night, and I did not hear him say any such thing. Nor would he have said any such thing since he was speaking in support of President Obama. It would not have made any sense at all. Which Clinton were you listening to anyway? There must be some other Clinton if that is what you heard.
I spcifiacally heard him say they could not handle a job this big.....Not only did Obama fail but he would have also...ok....That dooes not make me feel any better.
mike-Pa,
"I spcifiacally heard him say they could not handle a job this big....."
Are you sure you hadn't had just one beer too many while you were watching it? What Clinton said was that the economy was in such bad shape when Obama was elected that Obama could not have done much to improve it in only four years. Clinton said that no president could have done much to improve such a bad economy in only four years.
I get it ...so that means he could not handle the job....I like President Clinton....What President Clinton said for OBAMA is equivalent to your mother writing a note to the teacher explaining why her son did bad on a test.... I did think Clinton spoke well ..had a good message ....but ...that was the message..Obama could not handle the job he wanted so badly 4 years ago...
Mickey...very possible i had a couple of beers also...you may be right there.
mike-Pa,
"very possible i had a couple of beers also..."
Cheers! I just hope it was a better beer than Gibbons that you drank. I used to know a guy who said that Gibbons is the only brewery that can put a head on water.
I cant say it was much better. It was Iron City.. Mickey... I promise you one thing... If Clinton was running for President we would be voting for the same guy.....
mike-Pa,
Iron City? I don't think I have ever tasted that brand. Is that another Pennsylvania brand?
it is a Pittsburgh Beer...You have to acquire a taste for it...it taste a lot better when the Steelers are playing
mike-Pa,
"it is a Pittsburgh Beer..."
I can see then why it's called "Iron City". I guess when the Steelers are playing, you don't really taste the beer that much because you're concentrating on the game. Pennsylvania is my old home. I was born and raised there, but I don't live there anymore. Sometimes I wish I did. I love Pennsylvania and miss it.
That may be true that four years is not enough time to restore, but Obama has made it worse. More debt, more spending, favors to unions, botched energy investments, a doubting private sector, control by executive orders.....
TROLL ALERT ! this one is a Troll please ignore !
Repubes minds are like steel traps, they refuse to accepts truths or facts. Seriouly open up those tiny little minds, turn the channel from the Faux New and try to learn the issues and facts unless deep down you are all just afraid and don't like the black man in the white house! Get over it!!!
OBAMA 2012!!!
It has nothing to do with the color of his skin, it has everything to do with his inability to lead this nation out of a recession.
The facts include that fact that Bush spent way too much money and took our national debt to a new high. Facts also include the fact that Obama spent at a rate that is unfathomable.
So I'm not all that crazy about Romney, but at least the Republicans are saying that we need to stop spending. And yes that means budgets will be cut.
@j-860182 the repubes?? guess your as bad as them since you have a serious issue with the facts and the truth your just used to being led around by the nose by your so called leader obama, i seriously have no opinion on his being black white or green he lacks the skills to help this country recover instead of just going by what the demosplats tell you, your a sheep and you know it you dont think for yourself and you need to be told how to live. you say facts and truths so far the dems have twisted the facts so much and guys like you fall in line....your a tool just like all these other oblammo followers surprised you morons are what is killing this country
Americans think that hitting a keybotton on their i-phone / computer will bring them a answer. They overly rely on this "Techno Magic " to solve problems. We're Impatient with longer than usual "Processes". Well, I got news for you, Since I'm a recovering Alcoholic (7 months), I've revised my thinking on how long it's REALLY going to take. I swear, Americans must be plagued with Attention deficit disorder--We want a solution yesterday, But yesterday is gone-So slow down. I think that's why they cant understand other cultural attitudes(Chinese,Arabs,Greeks), But they have been here LONGER----Patient Perseverance will get us through this. And if you think going forward is long and difficult, How much LONGER will it be if we go in Reverse?
...Clinton is a sleazeball and King Obama is a shuckin' and jivin' fool. ...You would have to be some sort of zombie to believe either of them.
Hey getagrip, try harder and I'll bet you could get even more racist.
I doubt he has to try, Chip. His racism probably comes naturally to him. He inherited it from his parents, most likely. Most racists do. It's a genetic defect.
TROLL ALERT ! this one is a Troll please ignore !
you might be a tea partier if you mow the front yard and find five cars that you did not know you had
...Democrat Welfare trailer trash more likely.
So by the Dems standards, when the dot come bubble burst in the eyar 2000, that was Bill Clinton's fault, right? After all it was his policies that lead to the burst. And by their standards Bush saved the downward spiral from hitting rock bottom. And then was able to navigate through the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center.
I'm not even a Bush fan, but by these standards he wasn't so bad after all =0)
...Good points, @proud.
Nice post Proud. If Bush wasn't so bad, why was he in the witness protection program during the republican convention?
Ed, no one wants to come near Bush - luckily he has a ailing father who also was once president as a guise to not come near the Republican Convention.
That's my point, according to the Democrat's standards, he'd be king!
Come to think of it, where are Romney and Ryan these days?
HMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM.
:)
only thing i have to say tho that moron job1 is take your obama/biden crap and shove it your delusions are sickening i have a new term to cover you obama idiots your all a bunch of stupid blind obamatard sheep, yeah keep fooling yourselves all oblammo can do is point a finger and say it wasnt my fault it was them oblammo hasnt helped the economy he has hurt is made it worse hasnt kept any of his promises and hes taking credit for what other did accomplish (what he was there and what he fired the shot that killed bin laden the way the dems make it sound he can also walk on water...oh wait hes muslim not christian
Not having a very good 2 weeks are you?
@ed, wth are you talking about LOL cmon i know in columbia mo you got that moonshine maybe ya need to put the jug down
TROLL ALERT ! this one is a Troll please ignore !
From NY Daily News:
"Clinton supported the 1999 repeal of the Glass-Steagall Act, a law dating back to the Great Depression that separated banking from high-risk financial speculation. Robert Rubin, who had been Clinton's first treasury secretary, helped broker the final deal on Capitol Hill that enabled the repeal legislation to pass. Some financial historians say the repeal of the law paved the way for banks to invest in risky investments like mortgage-backed securities and collateralized debt obligations that played a role in the 2008 financial meltdown."
Nice try. Trying to discredit a messenger with an approval rating through the roof? Good luck with that.
...A lot of us were intelligent enough to know Clinton was a dirtbag while he was still in office, @Ed.
actually ed, PROUD is absolutely spot on, proud doesnt have to discredit him these are the facts and never forget clinton lied and perjured himself but thats ok right look again clinton isnt as popular as you think
Ed: I like how facts from Clinton's presidency is (according to you) supposed to discredit him. Just providing some information that people tend to forget. I myself feel Clinton was a good president, but here is omething he did while president.
What is the Right's obsession with Barney Frank and the stock market crash of 2008? It was deregulation that crashed the economy, not Frank, not Dodd. I give up on these Republican Base Fox watchers. Words fail me. Obama is supposed to fix an economy that crashed almost as hard as the Great Depression without Republican help. After all they are bound and determined to make him a one term president. For the last 2 years they have blocked everything he has asked for. Tea Party cares for the Tea Party, not the American people. I have never, in my life, seen so much hate and disrespect from the congressional Republican senators. Usually the parties work together. Not now. How many times has Obama tried to reach across the aisle and gotten his hand slapped? Too many to count. To me, the far far far far Right is no better than the Taliban. They are out to bring our country down if they don't get their way.
lene...and how many times have the repubs tried reaching out to oblammo only for him to slap thier hand away if you are going to start a rhetoric please remember there is always 2 sides to all stories the dems stonewalled anything the reps tried getting thru and the dems returned the favor...getting real tired of this well she is meaner than him crap
VK.
Not many. Not when there are secret (now public) meetings to plot strategy to undermine his efforts. Not when a Majority Leader openly expresses the #1 desire is to prevent the President from a second term. I give the Republicans credit for this: they no longer try to hide their agenda or their disdain. At the least, it gives independent thinkers the ability to observe, assess and choose for themselves.