I MISS the Clinton years of PEACE, PROSPERITY AND BUDGET SURPLUSES. DO YOU?

Question

Let's look at facts...
Clinton Administration developed the nation's first anti-terrorism policy, and appointed first national coordinator of anti-terrorist efforts.
Clinton Administration stopped the Al Qaeda millennium hijacking and bombing plots.
Clinton Administration stopped the planned attack to kill the Pope
Clinton Administration stopped the planned attack to blow up 12 U.S. jetliners simultaneously
Clinton Administration stopped the planned attack to blow up UN Headquarters
Clinton Administration stopped the planned attack to blow up FBI Headquarters
Clinton Administration stopped the planned attack to blow up the Israeli Embassy in Washington
Clinton Administration stopped the planned attack to blow up Boston airport
Clinton Administration stopped the planned attack to blow up Lincoln and Holland Tunnels in NY
Clinton Administration stopped the planned attack to blow up the George Washington Bridge

Clinton Administration stopped the planned attack to blow up the US Embassy in Albania
-- Tried to kill Osama bin Laden and disrupt Al Qaeda through preemptive strikes (efforts denounced by the G.O.P.).
-- Brought perpetrators of first World Trade Center bombing and CIA killings to justice.
-- Did not blame Bush I administration for first World Trade Center bombing even though it occurred 38 days after Bush left office. Instead, worked hard, even obsessively -- and successfully -- to stop future terrorist attacks.
--Named the Hart-Rudman commission to report on nature of terrorist threats and major steps to be taken to combat terrorism.
-Clinton Administration sent legislation to Congress to TIGHTEN AIRPORT SECURITY. (Remember, this is before 911) The legislation was defeated by the Republicans because of opposition from the airlines.

-Clinton Administration sent legislation to Congress to allow for BETTER TRACKING OF TERRORIST FUNDING. It was defeated by Republicans in the Senate because of opposition from banking interests.
-Clinton Administration sent legislation to Congress to add tagents to explosives, to allow for BETTER TRACKING OF EXPLOSIVES USED BY TERRORISTS. It was defeated by the Republicans because of opposition from the NRA.
-Clinton Administration increased the military budget by an average of 14 per cent, reversing the trend under Bush I.
-Clinton Administration tripled the budget of the FBI for counterterrorism and doubled overall funding for counterterrorism
-Clinton Administration detected and destroyed cells of Al Qaeda in over 20 countries
-Clinton Administration created national stockpile of drugs and vaccines including 40 million doses of smallpox vaccine.

-Of Clinton Administration's efforts says Robert Oakley, Reagan Ambassador for Counterterrorism: "Overall, I give them very high marks" and "The only major criticism I have is the obsession with Osama"
-Paul Bremer, current Civilian Administrator of Iraq disagrees slightly with Robert Oakley as he believed the Clinton Administration had "correctly focused on bin Laden.
-Barton Gellman in the Washington Post put it best, "By any measure available, Clinton Administration left office having given greater priority to terrorism than any president before him" and was the "first administration to undertake a systematic anti-terrorist effort"

Answer 1

Those were good old days. They can return, or something similar if we elect all Democrats to both exexutive and legislative branches. We can move this country forward. It is called progress and where we get the word progressive for those who want things to improve for everyone. Unfortunately we have been bogged down with people who want the country to go backward in progress or at least stagnate.

Answer 2

Let's look at the facts:

In the 1990s the terrorists were committing terror attacks on a smaller scale and training to commit them on a larger scale.

Yes Clinton stopped a few but take a look at some of the tools used - - - pretty similar to the tools used today, except that nobody claimed civil rights violations.

In the 1990s yes, we had prosperity - just like the 1980s and just like today. Except that we get less help from the Fed today than we did from '97-'99. We had budget surpluses for a short period because Rubin refinanced long bonds with then-lower-yield short bonds, which isn't possible today, because the Fed had to raise short term rates.

Answer 3

I miss the relative prosperity of the mid-late 90s, yes, but that had everything to do with the internet bubble, and nothing to do with who's butt was behind the big desk in the oval office.

As for 'peace,' I seem to remember some rather unpeaceful stuff going down in Kosovo and Somalia, not to mention a terrorist attack on the WTC.

Answer 4

Oh Yes, how I miss him so much. But, Hillary is going to bring him with her 2008 , he will once again fix all in the 8 years while she is President it want take him a year he will have the budget balanced and all Foreign Policy will be number one behind us. They loved Bill Clinton and if he had of went in , which he wouldn't do unless he was certain that Saddam had all these things Bush lied about and would never pull a preemptive strike, he would never break the 2ND Constitution or any Constitution. If he had of ever went to war I guarantee you all the other countries would have stood behind him all the way.

Answer 5

The Clinton Administration also gave up the chance to have Bin Laden dead when the Saudi's offered him up to the U.S.

The Clinton Administration warped our financial situation as a country.

And the Clinton Administration brought shame and lies to the Oval Office.

I don't miss him a bit. Good Riddance.

Answer 6

Yes, I do. And I wouldn't care if he banged a hundred interns along the way, so long as he kept the country on track. THAT is what I elected him for, not his sex life (or lack thereof.)

Answer 7

Yes! We need that brilliant mind back in the White House.

Answer 8

You know that just because YOU say all of these things doesn't actually mean they are true. Furthermore, if the majority of your reasons why clinton was a good president are because he allegedly stopped planned terrorist attacks. Should not Bush get credit for the numerous terrorists who have actually been tried for their planned attacks. i.e. the terrorists in new york who planned to blow up the Herald Square subway station. See that is an example of an indisputable fact that can not be denied, whereas everything you state did not lead to a single arrest or conviction. Hmmmm.

Answer 9

Yeah, right :-( He inherited all that prosperity and budget surplus from Ronald Reagan's presidency and by the time he left office, we were paying higher taxes and inflation was running wild, leading to a huge recession!

Answer 10

I agree. I miss the way things use to be when Clinton was president. Bush is an illiterate idiot. I roll my eyes every time he opens his mouth to speak. I know some people are going to vote for Hilary, but I'm not too sure about that. She's different that Bill. I don't vote because every president we have seems to do something that pisses me off. I didn't like the fact that Clinton legalized abortion at full term pregnancies. That's murder. I don't mind the abortion thing when they're only a couple months pregnant, because it is their bodies, they can do what they want, but full term was ridiculous and twisted. And now Bush, whom I loath, is against Gay Marriages and rights and that REALLY pisses me off. I'm not gay, but I'm American I believe in equal rights for everyone no matter WHAT they're sexual preference. For once I'd like a president who actually lived up to the American Society and not the American Politics!