I think we all know by now, or we should, that if there's one thing that old "Slick Willie" enjoys more than a trip down to the local porno theater, it's standing in front of a microphone surrounded by television cameras. Both have pretty much the same effect on him, if you get my drift. Also, if there's anything else that we know about ex-president "BJ" Clinton, it's that he's rather fond of stretching the truth, sometimes up to, and often times past, the beaking point. And, if you happended to be watching the Democrat Convention on Wednesday night, you witnessed another one of his forays into unchartered territory for him, where instead of blowing his horn his job was to blow Barry's. (No pun of any kind intended)
When old "Slick Willie" took the stage at the Democratic National Convention on Wednesday, he was greated with much adulation. He then launched into what was nothing more than an exercise in pure exaggeration, as he set about telling just how great of ajob Barry is doing. He did his best in attempting to portray Barry as being some great pragmatic compromiser who has been stymied at every turn by those evil Republicans. There was, however, no mention of the role that Barry himself has played in grinding any hope of compromise to a halt on some of the most important issues facing our country. You see, Democrats define ompromise as forcing the Republicans to surrender their principles and do what they're told.
And as to be expected whenever dealing with "BJ", the actual facts of the matter are deemed as being something that are expendable, and can be sacrificed if they constradict the point that he's attempting to make. And this speech on Wednesday was no different. After all, "Slick" couldn't place blame where it actually belongs, because that would have essentially defeated the purpose of this entire week. So instead, "BJ" did what "BJ" does best. He LIED! Because that's what Democrats always do, because that's what they have to do. Let's face it, if the Democrats were ever genuinely honest about what it is that they wanted to do, no one, not even blacks, would vote for them.
That was among the lines by the former president and others Wednesday that either cherry-picked facts or mischaracterized the opposition. A look at some of them:
"SLICK WILLIE": "When times are tough, constant conflict may be good politics but in the real world, cooperation works better. ... Unfortunately, the faction that now dominates the Republican Party doesn't see it that way. They think government is the enemy and compromise is weakness. One of the main reasons America should re-elect President Obama is that he is still committed to cooperation."
THE FACTS: From "Slick's" speech, voters would have no idea that the inflexibility of both parties is to blame for much of the gridlock. Right from the beginning Barry brought in as his first chief of staff Rahm "Dead Fish" Emanuel, a man known for not getting along and for coining the phrase, "Never let a crisis go to waste." One of the more high-profile examples of a deal that fell apart was the outline of a proposed "grand bargain" budget agreement between Barry and John Boehner in 2011. The deal would have required compromise from both sides. It slashed domestic spending more than most Democrats wanted and would have raised some taxes, which most Republicans oppose. Boehner couldn't sell the plan to Tea Party factions in the House or to other conservative activists. And Barry found himself being accused of going too far by some Democratic leaders. The deal died before it ever even came up for a vote.
In another instance, Barry appointed what was descibed as being a bipartisan group, known as the Simpson-Bowles Commission, to recommend ways to fix major fiscal problems like Social Security and Medicare. It came up with recommendations that many said would have very little effect on actually fixing our fiscal problem. But the commission issued its recommendations falling three votes short of formally endorsing them. And Barry chose to walk away from the report. He later incorporated some of the less contentious proposals from the report into legislation he supported. But that ensured the tough compromises would not get made. The problem with compromising in Washington is that there are few true moderates left in either party. The notion that Republicans are the only ones standing in the way of compromise is more than a little inaccurate. It's an exaggeration of the facts repeatedly made by Democrats.
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"SLICK WILLIE": Clinton suggested that Barry's health care law is keeping health care costs in check. "For the last two years, health care spending has grown under 4 percent, for the first time in 50 years. So, are we all better off because President Obama fought for it and passed it? You bet we are."
THE FACTS: That's wishful thinking at best and at worst pure dishonesty on the part of "BJ". The nation's total health care tab has been growing at historically low rates, but most experts attribute that to continued uncertainty over the economy, not to Barry's health care law. Two of the main cost-control measures in Barry's law, a powerful board to keep Medicare spending manageable (rationing) and a tax on high cost health insurance plans, have yet to kick in. Under the law, Medicare has launched dozens of experiments aimed at providing quality care for lower cost, but most of those are still in their infancy and measurable results have yet to be obtained.
Naturally, former administration officials love to claim that the law deserves at least part of the credit for easing health care inflation, but even they acknowledge that the lackluster economy is playing a significant role. Meanwhile, people insured through the workplace by and large have seen little relief from rising premiums and cost shifts. According to the supposed nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation, the average premium for job-based family coverage rose from $13,375 in 2009 when Barry took office to $15,073 in 2011. During the same period, the average share paid by employees rose from $3,515 to $4,129. While those premium increases cannot be blamed on the health care law, neither can Democrats claim credit for breaking the back of health care inflation.
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"SLICK WILLIE": "I know many Americans are still angry and frustrated with the economy. ... I experienced the same thing in 1994 and early 1995. Our policies were working but most people didn't feel it yet. By 1996, the economy was roaring, halfway through the longest peacetime expansion in American history."
THE FACTS: The "Slickmeister" is counting on voters to recall the 1990s wistfully and to cast a vote for Barry in hopes of replicating those days in a second term. But what "BJ" rather conveniently leaves out is the abrupt downward turn the economy took near the end of his own second term and the role his policies played in the setting the stage for the historic financial meltdown of 2008. While the economy and markets experienced a record expansion for most of the rest of Clinton's two-term presidency, at the start of 2000, there were troubling signs. Then-Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan warned in February 2000 that "we are entering a period of considerable turbulence in financial markets."
Sure enough, the tech-heavy Nasdaq composite stock index and the Dow Jones industrial average both peaked in March 2000. The bursting of the high-tech bubble dragged down the economy and markets through the rest of the year. From September 2000 to January 2001, when "BJ" left office, the Nasdaq dropped 46 percent. Even now, in 2012, the Nasdaq has not returned to its 2000 peak. By March 2001, the economy toppled into recession. Also, as president, "BJ" 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 "BJ'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.
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And these are just a few of the more obvious liberties that "BJ" thought it appropriate to take during his silly little speech. And besides using the opportunity to toot his own horn a little, I'm not all that sure what, if anything, he might have actually accomplished last night, in the way of convincing any of those, who for whatever bizarre reason still find themselves sitting on the fence, to vote for Barry. I just don't think he made much of a compelling case. So while old "Slick" is alawys good for a little comic relief, he's really not good for much else. And really all he did last night was to attempt to put lipstick on a pig, but then that has pretty much been the mission of this entire charade of a convention.
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