Larc,
Clinton made his first, and probably most serious, mistake early in his first year when he took on the military, pledging to allow homosexuals into the armed services. Although the compromise of "don't ask, don't tell" was reached after a bitter debate among the military and conservatives, personally I believe the old boys never got over Clinton's mastery of the media and going to the people with his agenda. He refused to play their game, played his own, and won over and over again. Made 'em mad as hell and there wasn't a damn thing they could do about it.
Now, as for his accomplishments, here's just a small number:
Crime
* The Brady Bill -- imposes a five-day waiting period on handgun purchases so that background checks can be done to help keep handguns away from criminals.
* The Crime Bill -- he had pledged to put 100,000 new police officers on the street - the number of new cops eventually topped 110,000; made more offenses eligible for the death penalty; the "three-strikes-and-you're-out" provision; banned the manufacture of deadly assault weapons, while also protecting hunters' rights by exempting over 650 hunting rifles
Families
* Family and Medical Leave Act -- covers over 42 million Americans; offers workers up to 12 weeks of unpaid, job-guaranteed leave for child birth, adoption, or personal or family illness.
* Expanded the Earned Income Tax Credit to cut the taxes of 15 million families with incomes of $27,000 or less.
* Ordered the U.S. Justice Department to conduct the first-ever crackdown on deadbeat parents including an Executive Order cracking down on "deadbeat dads" who were federal employees.
Cutting Bureaucracy
* Despite the bold talk of Republicans like Reagan who didn't come through, following the recommendations of the National Performance Review, he cut the federal bureaucracy by one quarter of a million jobs -- its lowest level since the early 60s, including the reduction of the White House staff by 25 percent (was Aldrich, author of Unlimited Access fame, one of them? <g>)
Education
* Under Clinton's Direct Student Loan program, students can borrow money directly from the government at a lower interest rate and with many flexible repayment options, including the option to repay with a percentage of their after-graduation salary. Taxpayers will save at least $4.3 billion over five years.
* Clinton's Safe and Drug Free Schools and Community Act and the Safe Schools Act provide funding to schools to fight violence and drug abuse. Schools can use up to 25 percent of their funds to purchase metal detectors, develop safe zones, and hire school security personnel.
Economic
It's agreed on that his efforts domestically produced a historically strong economy, benefiting families across the board. No need to go into detail here, but here's one example of many:
* Passed NAFTA. Exports to Mexico has risen 113 percent from the year before NAFTA was implemented.
The Environment
* Clinton's last budget asked for $42.5 billion in environmental spending, hailed by conservation groups as one of the most aggressive environmental budgets in years.
* Worked in many areas to improve the environment, including the reduction of arsenic in the water supply and land conservation.
* Removed a third of the national forest (58 million acres in 39 states) from logging land road building, and by extension gas and oil exploration (fought and since rescinded by Bush).
[Bush, on the other hand, has shown a notedly blatant disregard for national and world environmental issues. He has been unequivocal in his support of big business to the detriment of the American people by rolling back campaign promises on clean air; reversing Clinton administration initiatives on drinking water; and promoting new oil exploration in previously protected regions.
In March, just days after taking office, he rejected the Kyoto Treaty designed to reduce and clashed (in June) with European leaders in a debate over global warming. Only as a result of bad pr has Bush and his Party done an about face on some of these issues. Otherwise, their unabashed intent has been manifest.]
World
* Hosted the signing of the Israeli-Palestinian Declaration of Principles in September, 1993, and the signing of the Israeli-Jordan Washington Principles in July, 1994 -- historic agreements between the leaders of Israel and her Arab neighbors to settle differences by peaceful means.
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Like I said, this is just a few of his accomplishments. Clinton was a great prez, and I'm not being facetious when I say that.
Like it or not, he was more than "a good talker" as someone said. He has extreme intelligence, uncommon for a Commander in Chief, and with it, his legendary charisma, and his clear vision for where he thought the country ought to go, did a lot of good for a lot of people. If it weren't prohibited by the Constitution, I have no doubt that he'd be President right now. Beyond the reach of his conservative enemies -- long after they are dead and gone -- history will be very kind to him.
Bush, on the other hand, has been given a lot of "don't-judge-him-so-harshly, he's-doin'-a-good-job" leeway, especially here lately due to the 'crisis.' When the record is examined carefully, however, his apparent dyslexia and sub-par intellect are the least of our worries. His record up to this point in time is pitiful. But, as has been said, we'll have to give him more time. Maybe he'll do SOMETHING other than helping his corporate buddies in the oil and gas, logging, and mining industries get richer or saying "Charge!!" from the comfort of the Oval Office. Let's hope so.
You gotta hand it to him though: his approval rating since Tuesday has soared. Why that is is a mystery, in view of his lack of known activities other than news and press conferences, TV ads and psa s. Seems that in following the overwhelming productivity of Clinton, the American public expects little from the Golden Boy, and are proud of it. Whatever. I see little to cheer about.
tj
p.s. As far as blaming Clinton for the economic downturn in 2000, economists were warning of a market correction up to eighteen months before it happened but moves by the Administration forestalled its arrival. Also, Clinton can hardly be blamed for the softening in the tech industry, which helped to superficially shore up the market to begin with.
On the negative side, under Clinton, the military and intelligence communities were depleted. Our security was so lax that the Chinese stole valuable military secrets. I think Clinton's policies allowed this to happen.
I don't know about this... I will do some research. Where there budgetary constraints? One thing I know - intelligence gathering began to come less from people on the ground and more from satellites, wire taps and computer based technologies that allowed for tapping emails, etc. These techniques were seen to be more effective, and in many cases they probably were.
And correct me if I'm wrong... without going into a debate on the Chinese, I believe the latest tragedy originated from the other direction, and reports suggest that as poor as Clinton supposedly left the intelligence gathering apparatus, there are accumulating reports that suggest that the Bush Administration was given ample warnings by the French and Israeli secret services, which were subsequently ignored.
What good is intelligence if you ignore it? Oh... but I was talking about Bush.
